Bittersweet Apple Acres (DARKFIC)

Chapters

The New Victim
Dinner Games
Breakfast Stories
Dinner With the Apple Family
Through the Grinder
Epilogue: The Results

The New Victim

Ponyville was quiet, as everypony heard a loud alarm in the distance. The alarm blared from Sweet Apple Acres, immediately sending everypony into a state of panic, knowing that it only meant death. It was the Apple Family's alarm, and meant that they needed ponies for their production line, now that they had run out of the required materials they needed to make their applesauce, composed of a very special ingredient that gave it that sweet and bitter taste. Everypony knew what gave it that taste, which is why they were hiding in any place they could find.

The special ingredient was pony blood, however the Apple Family didn't just use a pony for their blood, but also the food that they ate. Sweet Apple Acres was a slaughterhouse for ponies, and anypony that was ever taken to the Sweet Apple Acres were never heard from again. The process was haunting, and was only known of, due to one of the Apple Family's own kin revealing what really goes on behind the barn doors, and the punishment was death. The young filly was Apple Bloom.

Ever since, anytime the alarm rang, everypony resorted to hiding in places that the Apple Family would never think to look, now that they knew that there was nothing "sweet" about Sweet Apple Acres. Over twenty ponies had been forced from Ponyville to their assured deaths, and now only thirteen or less remained, hiding for their lives.

The alarm stopped, as everypony settled into their hiding spots, praying that they would not be found. The sound of the Big Macintosh's large hoofs pulling the apple cart became louder, as the Apple Family arrived just outside of Ponyville. The cart had stopped, but the fight for survival had only just begun, because the one Apple that most ponies feared due to her being persistent, was the third youngest; Applejack.

Her hooves planted on the ground, hitting with loud thumps that sounded like thunder to the inhabitants of Ponyville, along with her lasso wrapped around her neck. The lasso was her key tool to the ponies that ran either out of fear, or somehow escaped. The lasso was something everypony feared, because Applejack never missed her target. Nopony had ever escaped the Apple Family's clutches. Once you were in Applejack's lasso, you were done, never to be seen or heard from ever again.

Applejack wasn't surprised that Ponyville was empty of its inhabitants, because ever since Apple Bloom had spilled the beans on what really happens behind the doors of Sweet Apple Acres. Whenever the Apple Family arrived, Ponyville was a ghost town. She stepped forward, standing next to her brother.

"Must we do this every time?!" shouted Applejack. "Why can't y'all just come willingly!? It doesn't really matter what any of you ponies do. We've got all day, and even if we have to flip this entire town upside down, we'll find ya."

Applejack's tone had lowered, as she stomped her back-right hoof against the ground, alerting the ponies in hiding that she wasn't kidding. Her persistence was strong, and she wouldn't give up until somepony eventually was either found or surrendered. The Apple Family wasn't amateurs to luring ponies out of their hiding spots, and knew how to lure their prey out of hiding using more than just one tactic. They never had to do any searching. That was always the Apple Family's last resort, and had never had to resort to doing so, because fear was their key element.

Applejack started with her usual tactics. "Think about what y'all are doing, hiding away from us," she said in a grim voice. "All that y'all are doin' is starvin' yourselves. Without our applesauce, you will die of starvation, and we know just how much all of you love the sweet taste of the applesauce we provide."

Applejack wasn't lying. It was true that their applesauce was the only source of food available to the Ponyville inhabitants, and unless they have their special ingredient, the Apple Family would be unable to make the applesauce. Most ponies would rather die, but if this tactic didn't work, Applejack had other ways of luring a pony out of hiding.

"Being stubborn, as usual," said Applejack. "Alright, what about your fillies and foals? Think about them. Do you like to see them starve? If that's the case, then we should just take all the applesauce you selfish ponies have, and let all of you starve. You'll be thinkin' twice about your decision when your fillies and foals are cryin' to you for food that you so selfishly gave up due to your own selfishness!"

Applejack's words caused the ponies to become motivated a little, staring at their fillies and foals in their arms, and the outcome that would happen if the applesauce were to be taken. Applejack decided to do something that would motivate at least one pony for sure.

"Better yet, JUST SMASH THE JARS OF THE APPLESAUCE!" exclaimed Applejack. "MAKE EM' SUFFER!"

Applejack's older brother, Big Macintosh followed his sister's words. He unhooked himself from the apple cart and proceeded into a nearby shop where over twenty jars of the applesauce remained stacked upon the shelves. With a hard buck against the wall, the jars of the applesauce fell from the shelves and landed on the wooden floor, smashing to nothing but shattered glass.

Below, the ponies could hear the glass shattering, and knew that Big Mac would just continue to do as Applejack said, until nothing was left. Some foals were starting to cry, giving the Apple Family a perfect chance to find them, and take them by force.

"KEEP SMASHIN' THEIR ONLY FOOD SOURCE TO NOTHING, BIG MAC!" commanded Applejack. "ONLY A FEW SHOPS REMAIN, BEFORE THERE'S NOTHING LEFT!"

Big Mac didn't hold up, and did as his sister said, erupting the sound of shattering glass once more, causing the ponies to panic. The Apple Family's persistence was working once again, and soon they'd have their prey.

The shattering glass continued, until there was only one shop left, and the ponies were starting to get scared. How would they survive if the Apple Family gave them no food? The moment was approaching. Somepony would give in.

Applejack decided to give the ponies a final nudge, knowing it would work. "Only one shop remains, everypony! Unless you want your fillies and foals to die of starvation, somepony needs to come forth," threatened Applejack. "Big Mac, finish...

Applejack was interrupted.

"STOP!" yelled a fellow earth pony. His mane was red in a spiky style, and his body was a light brown.

Applejack expressed an evil grin, seeing her persistence had paid off once more as the earth pony walked closer.

He spoke from under his breath. "I'll go," said the pony.

Applejack giggled. "State your name."

"My name is Crimson Flash," he spoke.

"Well, Crimson Flash, be proud that you just saved your stubborn folk from starvation," spoke Applejack. "Now, to be sure you can't pull anything along the ride back to the farm, I'm going to have to lasso ya'."

Crimson Flash was terrified, as Applejack prepared her lasso. She spun it in a 360 pattern, until it was at the right speed, then tossed it violently at Crimson Flash, wrapping him up tight. The rope was so tight that Crimson had a hard time breathing, and the pain increased intensely, as Applejack tugged the lasso once more, breaking some of Crimson's ribs. He shouted out in pain, as Applejack grabbed a sack of some sort from Granny Smith, and placed it over Crimson's head.

She tightened the sack to where Crimson could only inhale the smell of the sack, which was a horrid smell of death. Crimson gagged, followed by a series of vomiting, only for it to be thrown back into his face. The acid burned, and the smell was putrid, causing Crimson to vomit more and more.

Applejack walked to Crimson, grabbing his head and pulling it back, causing his own vomit to fall back into his mouth. The pony choked while gagging from the taste of his own stomach acid.

"Swallow it!" commanded Applejack, thrusting Crimson's head back harder.

Crimson had a hard time hearing Applejack through his gagging and choking. As a way to get his attention, Applejack slammed the pony in the side of the head with her right hoof. Crimson coughed, as Applejack gave him the command again.

"Listen to me when I'm talkin' to you!" she yelled.

Crimson couldn't breathe or talk, as Applejack thrust his head back more violently.

"Swallow it, and if you upchuck it again, I'll make you swallow it again!"

Crimson heard Applejack loud and clear and swallowed his own vomit, nearly vomiting again. Applejack threw Crimson's head forward, colliding it to the hard ground. It wasn't enough to knock out Crimson, as he whimpered, refusing the urge to vomit. He breathed heavily, as Applejack along with Big Macintosh threw the fragile pony onto the wagon, hitting the wooden surface of the wagon hard.

Applejack turned toward Ponyville.

"Next time, we won't be so nice!" she said, making her way onto the cart.

Big Macintosh hooked himself to the front of the cart, then trotted out of Ponyville, back to Sweet Apple Acres.

The ride seemed like eternity for Crimson Flash, as they approached the farm, hearing the faint squeaking sound of the rusted sign just above the entrance of the farm. The squeaking sounded more like the screams of all the victims who had met their fates just beyond the doors of the barn. Even though his head was covered, Crimson could still see through some small holes in the bag over his head. The sight was faint, but he could see that they were just outside of the barn.

His heart raced, as the cart came to a halt, and listened as he heard Big Macintosh make his way to the back of the cart. Crimson knew that he was finished, feeling a hard kick to his right flank, causing him to fly out of the cart, hitting the ground hard. He landed right on the side of his rib cage, hearing two ribs snap. The pain was too severe not to scream, which he did. Applejack grabbed him hard, kicking him with her right leg into the side of his body. The pain increased, causing Crimson Flash to start crying.

Applejack didn't approve of his screaming nor his crying, leading to her dragging his fragile body to a nearby water tap, and placing his head right beneath the tap. She pumped the tap, until water came pouring out, drowning the pony. He struggled to breathe, coughing from the water entering his nostrils. The water was becoming unbearable, until Applejack stopped pumping the water, and thrusted Crimson's head forth, relieving his nostrils of the water, but he still coughed and struggled to breathe.

"Did I tell you to scream!? Did I!?" exclaimed Applejack, still gripping Crimson.

Crimson struggled to answer, causing Applejack to become furious. She violently placed his head beneath the water tap again, and once again pumped water out of the tap, drowning the helpless pony. After drowning Crimson once more, Applejack stopped pumping water, and thrusted his head forward, relieving his nostrils once more of the cold water.

"I won't ask again!" yelled Applejack, holding Crimson's head forward.

Crimson couldn't answer, so instead he shook his head, hoping Applejack would accept his attempt at an answer.

"Hmm. I'd rather you answer me with words, but I guess I'll make an exception, for now that is," she replied.

Crimson was relieved, but he knew that Applejack was only playing with him. He knew his nightmare had only just begun, and the worst was yet to come. He just had no idea how far the Apple Family went with their torture. This was only the mild stages of his torture, and what ever was behind those barn doors was where the true torture would begin.

The sound of the barn doors opening sent a chill down Crimson's spine, knowing that this was it. He wanted to take a breath of fresh air, but the putrid-scented bag over his head was preventing that. Now he knew the bag's purpose, to prevent any fresh air from being inhaled, because the Apple Family liked their prey as miserable as possible. He couldn't move or breathe, as Applejack dragged him beyond the barn doors, into the Sweet Apple Acre's slaughterhouse.

Applejack removed the sack, hearing the barn doors shut. His vision was blurry for a second, as he tried to regain full vision on what stood before him. Once his vision was clear, all he saw was a gigantic machine. It had a large opening at the top of a flight of stairs, composed of a row of rotating blades, a single chute leading to just above a conveyor belt.

Above the conveyor belt was a large number of small tubes, designed to extract what ever went through the blades to flow into jars along the conveyor belt. It wasn't hard to figure out what the machine was designed for, due to a brown substance caked on the ends of the small tubes. Crimson recognized the substance as dry blood.

Applejack untied her lasso from Crimson's body, and carried him up the stairs, seeing he was far too weak to even try and fight her. At the top of the machine was a metal plate just above the entrance to the machine, which was caked with blood. The metal plate had four metal rings designed to hold the victim's limbs against the wall.

"Get against the wall!" commanded Applejack.

Crimson had nowhere to go except through the machine, so he followed Applejack's orders, and stood up against the wall, as Applejack locked Crimson's limbs in the restraints, and around his neck, so he couldn't attempt any sort of escape. The smell of urine and feces lingered below him, from past victims. Another distinct smell lingered as well, but he was too weak to even tell what it was. He gagged from the feces, but didn't dare vomit.

"Enjoy your stay in the slaughterhouse, sugar," said Applejack in a sarcastic tone. "Don't worry, we have many plans for ya. Especially me."

Suddenly, Applejack jumped Crimson's level, invading his personal space, and landed a french kiss. Crimson wanted to push her away, but the restrains were too strong, so Applejack continued to french kiss him, sticking her tongue deep into his mouth. Biting her tongue would do zero good, so Crimson didn't even attempt that, and just allowed her to torture him. She finished, pulling her tongue out of his mouth, and wiping away saliva from her mouth.

"Dinner will be ready soon," said Applejack. "Hope you like apple liver."

Applejack walked out of the room, hearing her sinister laugh echo throughout the room.

Dinner Games

Once the coast was clear, Crimson didn't hesitate to vomit from the smell of the horrible content below him. The metal restraints hurt him as he lunged forward from the force of his body extracting the vomit. As much as it hurt him, he didn't care. The smell below him was too putrid, burning his nostrils, and despite the taste of stomach acid still present in his mouth, he knew that it would be best to get used to it. The torture was only starting.

The disgusting taste from Applejack's tongue entering his mouth was still there as well. It was as if she were trying to suffocate him with her tongue that tasted like rotten apples. She had stuck her tongue so far into his mouth that it nearly was down his throat, and even Crimson knew that this wasn't the only time he'd have to deal with Applejack's cruel sexual behavior. He was sure that he'd be facing much worse. The question was, just how much worse would it get?

Crimson then knew what the other smell was that he could smell. It was the smell of sex, a scent he had only experienced once in his short life, when he had lost his virginity. The thought of him being forced to have intercourse with one of the demented Apple Family members caused his entire body to quiver, following his limbs attempting to shake free of the restraints. There was no use in trying to break free of the metal restraints, seeing the restraints were solid steel. He started to retch, but nothing came out, due to there being nothing left. If intercourse was part of the torture, what else would he have to face? He'd soon find out.

Crimson was awoke by the sound of the slaughterhouse door opening. Hearing Applejack's hooves against the concrete floor making her way up the stairs to him, until she stood face to face with him. She was holding a plate with her right hoof, with some sort of content on the plate's surface. Crimson was too weak to even open his eyes, so Applejack gave him a bit of a nudge. She grabbed a metal brand with the letters "AF" at the end of the metal bar.

"Wake up, sugar!" commanded Applejack. "It's time to eat!"

Crimson just remained unconscious, infuriating Applejack.

"Okay. Fine. Guess were goin' to have to do this the hard way," said Applejack, gripping the sizzling metal brand.

Applejack wasted no time and thrusted the brand along the surface of Crimson's right flank. The brand sizzled against Crimson's flesh, as he screamed from the brand burning his skin. The smell of burnt fur lingered, following the smell of burning flesh, as Crimson opened his eyes. His body tensed up against the metal restraints, nearly snapping his limbs. Applejack just looked up at Crimson with an annoyed look on her face.

"Good, yur awake," she said. "How dare you ignore me when I offer you food! When I tell you to open your eyes, I mean OPEN YOUR EYES, unless you want to be singed by this here metal brand! GOT IT!?"

"Y-Y-Yes," replied Crimson.

"Hmm, I'd prefer if you call me your "sweet Applejack," she said. "Yeah, because I am your "sweet Applejack," right?"

Crimson didn't bother arguing, despite him calling her anything "sweet" made him want to gag. Applejack was growing impatient, resulting in another brand to his left flank.

"RIGHT?!" she yelled.

"YES! MY SWEET APPLEJACK!" yelled Crimson, both his flanks burning like fire.

"Ah, thank you sugar," she said playfully, kissing him on the lips. "Now, we're going to play a game called, "Dinnertime."

Crimson didn't like the sound of the game Applejack was playing with him, as he saw her pull out a large knife. He gulped from the sight of the knife.

"What kind of game is it, my sweet Applejack?" asked Crimson in a weak tone.

"The rules are simple, all you have to do, is not gag or spit out the food," explained Applejack.

Crimson looked at the food on the plate, and it looked like something that had been pulled out of a trash can and put on a plate. He wanted to gag, but refused the urge to.

"What if I do, my sweet Applejack?" he asked, not wanting to know the answer.

"If you do, I get to land a nice slow cut with this knife to wherever I desire, except the neck. That would kill you, and we don't want that now, do we?"

Applejack's words were like poison to Crimson. She was going to do whatever she could to torture him, while not killing him. CrImson knew that he was going to gag, because just the sight of the food was making him sick.

"What exactly is on the plate?" asked Crimson.

"Well, I told ya earlier, just before I left, but seeing you're low on hearing I'll repeat myself. It's apple liver."

Immediately, Crimson gagged, changing Applejack's mood from pleased to angry.

"Gagging already, that's not very nice!" she said, cutting him slowly across his upper chest.

Crimson screamed, as blood started pouring out of the open wound. Applejack placed a bucket beneath him to catch the blood, seeing that was what he was being used for.

Crimson attempted to stop screaming, but was silenced by Applejack instead, shoving a piece of the apple liver into his mouth. The taste of it immediately causing Crimson to gag, resulting in another cut just above the abdominal area. Once again, blood came gushing out of the wound, as Crimson started to scream and quiver.

Applejack was growing tired of Crimson's screaming.

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP!" she snapped, hitting him across the face with her right hoof.

Crimson spat out some blood, landing in the bucket below, along with some tooth fragments.

"IF YOU DON'T STOP YUR' SCREAMIN', I'LL RESORT TO SOMETHING I KNOW YOU WON'T ENJOY, BUT I WILL!"

Applejack's words spiked Crimson's mind, remembering the smell of sex being present. He knew very well that's what she was talking about, so he either had to some how get past her sick dinner games or be forced to have sex with her. He immediately silenced himself, looking into Applejack's eyes, seeing only pure evil.

"I see you've caught on," said Applejack with a smirk. "Now open wide, sugar, unless you prefer the other option."

Crimson opened his mouth, as Applejack shoved another bite of the horrid apple liver into his mouth. The taste was horrible, but he somehow managed to swallow the content without gagging.

"How is it?" she asked.

"Delicious, my sweet Applejack," he lied.

"Such a sweet one," she said, preparing another bite. "HEAR THAT GRANNY SMITH!? HE SAYS IT'S DELICIOUS!"

Applejack laughed, shoving another bite into Crimson's mouth. Crimson had become fond of the taste, so it didn't bother him anymore. It tasted disgusting, but it was better than envisioning himself having intercourse with one the Apple Family's kin. After multiple bites, Applejack had grown bored, seeing Crimson was actually doing what she said. The apple liver was gone, which was a relief to Crimson. This torture section was finally over, or at least he thought it was, until Applejack stood inches away from his face. She stared at him with a seductive grin.

"What are you doing, my sweet Applejack?" he asked.

"Getting you ready, sugar," she replied with an evil giggle.

"Ready for what?" He had become scared, not knowing what Applejack had in store for him. A trip through the grinder just below him? More torture?

She closed into him, until she was up against his soft, sweat drenched body. She rubbed up against him, breathing in his face. Her breath was warm and smelled like death, similar to the sack that had been placed over his head.

"I'm going to take you on a ride you'll never forget," she whispered into his ear.

"What are you talking about, my sweet Applejack?" he asked, confused on what she had planned.

"Look down," she said, directing him.

Crimson looked down as she said, not wanting to risk anything, only to immediately figure out what she was talking about. He had an erection, caused from her rubbing against him.

"No! Please!" he begged.

"Too late, sugar, she said, getting into position. "It looks like your body wants it."

Applejack laughed, as she got on all four hooves, and shoved his genitals into her vagina. She moved back and forth, hearing Crimson's pleas for her to stop, even starting to cry. His rising heart rate caused more blood to leak out of the wounds Applejack had cut into Crimson Flash, leaking down his body, into the bucket, as Applejack continued to move back and forth. The cries for her to stop only made her speed up, until finally she felt Crimson climax in her.

That wasn't enough for her, so she continued to move back and forward, feeling herself start to come close to climax. It wasn't much longer as she sped up, and finally climaxed, moving forward, and spraying all her body liquids onto Crimson Flash. She even managed to get some into his mouth, causing him to gag. Applejack stopped him right there.

"Swallow it," she commanded.

Crimson couldn't do anything, so he listened to Applejack, and swallowed her body liquid.

"Now, now, don't cry. There will be plenty more of that in time," she said, gathering up the plate, and watching as the final bits of blood dripped from Crimson's body, into the bucket.

"Sweet dreams, sugar," said Applejack, french kissing Crimson. Once she finished her cruel sexual act, she made her way out of the slaughterhouse.

Once she was out of sight, Crimson resumed to crying. He knew it wasn't his fault, but what could he do. Applejack claimed she'd be forcing him to have sex with her more. His mind was blank as he passed out from the thoughts of the dirty deed Applejack had just done.

Breakfast Stories

The next morning, Crimson peeked his eyes open, confused on where he was at first, but once he came to realization on what had happened the previous day, his confusion disappeared. The entire night, he had been dead weight in the metal restraints, causing his limbs to ache. He didn't know if that was an intended step in the torture, but nonetheless, it was painful. Crimson braced himself upward, using any bit of strength he had left in him, wondering what Applejack had in store for breakfast.

He was incredibly dehydrated and needed some water, due to his mouth being completely dry with only the taste of vomit, rotten apples, and even the apple liver he was forced to eat. The cuts that Applejack had made on his upper and lower chest looked infected, and it wouldn't surprise Crimson if they were, seeing the same knife was probably used on many other past victims for many other methods of torture designed to slowly kill the victim. The thoughts of the methods made him shiver, causing him limbs to surge in pain from them pounding against the hard steel.

After a few minutes, he attempted to calm himself, hearing the sound of only the wind creeping through holes in the barn wood, and the row of saw blades below him creaking from the wind's force. He had never felt so weak in his entire life, and Crimson had had many weak moments in his short life of nineteen years.

Crimson was born in the local Ponyville hospital, and weighed the usual weight of a newborn foal. His mother, Hazel Flash had gone through a twenty-hour labor, until finally the time had come for Crimson to be born. His father, Maroon Flash was a hard-working stallion that had a full-time job in a faraway place, and due to his occupation, couldn't attend his own son's birth. Hazel understood the reason, due to them being a poor family, and needing money in order to keep a roof over their heads.

Everything was working out fine, until one day, an accident occurred on Maroon's work site, and the result was over twenty ponies ending up in the hospital with severe injures, while a mere five lost their lives in the accident. Maroon was one of those five ponies, immediately causing everything to go south for the Flash family.

The fatality devastated Hazel, while young Crimson was too young to even know what was going on. At first, Hazel had thoughts of suicide, but knew that Crimson needed her, and suicide would only make things worse for the young foal. Times were hard, but Hazel managed to raise Crimson into a healthy earth pony. Once again, everything seemed to be back on track, until the first alarm rang from Sweet Apple Acres.

The Apple Family arrived, but nopony knew of the horrors that happened beyond the barn doors, so nopony suspected anything. The Apple's arrived asking if anypony could lend them a hoof at the farm, due to Big Macintosh being sick. Nopony suspected anything, so five ponies volunteered to help out at the farm. One of those five were Hazel.

Time passed. Crimson waited for his mother to return, but she never came. The following day, Applejack came alone, and lied through her teeth that there had been a terrible "accident" on the farm. Everypony believed her, seeing her story was believable. She claimed that the ponies were helping to lift bails of hay, and just out of nowhere the hay pile was tipped over, and landed on the ponies that had volunteered, snapping their necks and killing them.

Seeing it's a common farm accident, nopony thought otherwise. That was, until a filly who had snuck onto the wagon, told the real truth of what really happened. The ponies were unsure to believe Apple Bloom or not, seeing she had always had a wild imagination, but from the descriptions she gave in the true story, it was beyond anything a filly as young as Apple Bloom should even know about. The words were still burned in Crimson's mind.

"She's lyin'! My sister along with Big Mac and Granny Smith slaughtered those ponies! The new grinder that our family just purchased isn't meant to grind up apples! It's meant to grind up ponies, after they're tortured in the most horrible ways possible! Believe me when I say this! Don't listen to my sick and twisted sister! SHE'S EVIL!"

Apple Bloom's testimony against Applejack was literally unbelievable, until the Ponyville inhabitants watched as Applejack's true colors were revealed. After the testimony, Applejack kicked Apple Bloom so hard it broke her small rib cage, while she called Apple Bloom a "no-good disgusting rotten apple." Apple Bloom pleaded for mercy, but through her pleas, Applejack did the unthinkable in front of Ponyville. She placed her hoof on Apple Bloom's small neck and pressured down on it, until there was a "snap" sound that would haunt everypony's eardrums for the rest of their lives.

Ever since, Ponyville had been in fear of the Apple Family, unable to do anything about the family's twisted killing lifestyle. The ponies tried to leave Ponyville, but had been stopped each time by other members of the Apple Family. The inhabitants of Ponyville were literally trapped and had nowhere to go, except to their deaths when their time came.

Crimson's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door opening below him. He could've only assumed that it was Applejack, coming to feed him something terrible for breakfast. What sick and twisted game was she planning this time? Crimson didn't have to wait long, as Applejack walked up the flight of stairs carrying a plate of what looked like pancakes. Strangely, they didn't look gross, only delicious.

"Mornin' sugar," she said in a normal tone. "How was yur' night?"

Her behavior was not of a psychopath, but of just a normal pony. This had to be another sick game that Applejack was playing. He didn't want to risk anything, so he quickly answered Applejack.

"It was ok, my sweet Applejack," he lied.

Applejack expressed a normal smile. Crimson was having a hard time figuring out if Applejack was just playing with his emotions, or if she was actually being nice.

"That's good," she said, preparing a bite for Crimson. "It's usually, "it was horrible," "let me go," or "you're crazy."

"Can I ask something, my sweet Applejack?" asked Crimson.

"Usually, I'm the one that supposed to do that, but I suppose one question wouldn't hurt," replied Applejack.

Crimson looked at her confused. Yesterday, she was branding his flanks, drowning him, slicing him open if he gagged, breaking his bones, and even forcing him to have sex. Now, here she was, the same Applejack, being polite. Crimson couldn't let his guard down though. The Apple Family was very cunning, and knew how to give their prey false hope. She had to be playing with him, but what sort of game? Was she playing a bipolar game?

"Well, are you going to ask, or just sit there all day with a stupid look on your face?" asked Applejack.

"Sorry, my sweet Applejack," he said.

"It's fine. Just ask already."

Crimson didn't want to push his limits, so he went on with his question. Something nopony knew.

"I'd just like to know what made your family become murderers?" he asked, gulping.

Applejack looked at him funny, then proceeded to answering.

"Finally, a question that nopony has ever asked," she said.

Crimson was shocked.

"Nopony ever asked that?" he said.

"Nope," claimed Applejack.

"Well?" said Crimson.

"I'll tell ya', while you eat your pancakes for me. Is that fair?"

"I suppose," he said, as Applejack shoved a bite into his dry mouth.

"Well, it all started one day during Applebucking season," said Applejack. "It was a normal day, nothing different. I was finishing up in the orchard, and my back hooves felt like they were full of lead. I finished bucking the final tree, when I suddenly felt a surge of pain through out my back legs. It was no surprise to me, seein' I'd faced multiple sprains before, but this one was different. My hooves were bruised and startin' to crack. To help settle the pain I sat down against a tree and relaxed my back hooves on an apple basket."

The story interested Crimson, as he ate the pancakes, not noticing anything bad about the pancakes, only that they tasted like regular pancakes. Applejack continued with the story.

"I thought it was empty, but it turns out there was one apple in that basket. I had no idea that my hooves were bleedin', and the blood had actually soaked the apple, until I decided to have myself a bit of a snack. The day was so overwhelmin' I wasn't even paying attention to the blood on the apple, and took a large bite out of the apple. At first, the apple tasted like iron, due to the amount of blood on the apple. I was about to spit it out, until I mixed the blood with the sweet juice of the apple. That's when it happened, and I tasted it more and more, only for me to love the taste."

Applejack stopped for a moment, shoving another bite into Crimson's mouth. Crimson knew that couldn't be the only reason. How did she get her family to agree with this lifestyle?

"My sweet Applejack, how did you get the others involved?" he asked.

"That's what comes next," she said. "I knew this could be the discovery that could save our farm, seein' Sweet Apple Acres was tight on money and literally fallin' apart. However, I knew I had to convince Big Mac and Granny Smith another way, so I came up with a plan. To get most of the iron taste out of the apple, I sliced the apple into slices, and blended it together, until it was an applesauce. I presented it to Big Mac and Granny Smith as a dessert one night, while keepin' Apple Bloom out of it, seeing she was the biggest loud-mouth around."

Crimson knew very well what Applejack was referring to, hearing the sound of Apple Bloom's neck snapping echo in his mind. The sound made him quiver as Applejack continued.

"They all tried it, and loved the taste. Not long after tryin' the applesauce, I revealed what the special ingredient was that gave it that "special" taste. As expected, Big Mac and Granny Smith were surprised, and wondered if it was worth it. As a start, I volunteered to donate the blood for the applesauce, and seein' I'm old enough to make my own decisions, Big Mac and Granny Smith had no way to stop me. Everythin' was goin' just fine, and nopony knew that my own blood was in the applesauce, until I was caught in the act."

"I was at a rodeo, sellin' the applesauce, and as usual, ran out of applesauce, seein' it was a high seller. When I got the chance, I moved to an area where I thought I wouldn't be seen, and pulled out a pocket knife so I could cut myself. Once I made the cut and started bleeding it into a jar, a local rodeo pony walked near my hidin' spot, and was caught. Nopony was ever supposed to find out the secret ingredient, so it had to be done."

Crimson felt a chill run down his spine, as Applejack continued.

"The pony looked at me, as I pulled the knife out toward em'. They did the usual speech, "oh, I swear I won't tell anypony," but I knew that was dead lie, so I grabbed my lasso, wrapped em' up, and finally slit their throat."

The story had just taken a scary turn, and Crimson knew that they had to be coming close to the end. Applejack continued, shoving the few remaining bites of the pancakes into Crimson's mouth. He still couldn't tell the type of game Applejack was playing.

"Once I saw the amount of blood gushing out of the pony, I knew that I alone wouldn't be able to provide the required amounts of blood for the applesauce, and the production was too great to just call it quits. I grabbed the jars I had, placed it by the pony's neck, and within seconds, I already had enough blood for over twenty jars. That's when it hit me. Maybe, me alone wasn't enough, but with some persuasion and trickery, we could use other ponies for the production of the applesauce, and y'all know the rest from there."

Applejack had finished, and CrImson couldn't believe what he had just heard. Applejack could've started a secret blood donation program or something, rather than taking a dark and grim path. He was shaking a little, which Applejack noticed.

"Ahh," she said in a sarcastic tone. "No need to be frightened, sugar. Like I said when you first arrived. We have many plans for ya', especially me."

Crimson was expecting the worst, but instead Applejack just gave him a wink and gathered up the plate and fork. Immediately, Crimson was confused, until she placed a bucket beneath his body, meaning he was about to lose some blood. His heart rate started to speed up, not knowing what was coming next. The nice Applejack was gone, and psychopath Applejack was back.

Applejack grabbed the knife from the plate, which he recognized as the same knife from the previous night.

"What are you doing, my sweet Applejack," he asked.

She gave him a sinister giggle, then proceeded to what she had planned.

"Oh, it's so cute you call me "sweet," when I'm as cold as ice, sugar," she said in a low tone. "We've gotta get y'all opened up."

Applejack's words made his heart drop, as she took the tip of the large knife, and cut it straight down from his upper chest wound, to the one on his lower chest.

Crimson screamed from the blade's slow movement. Applejack was making sure that Crimson felt every bit of the pain, cutting at an accurate speed. The knife hit many nerves, causing him to jump. Each time he jumped the blade would sink deeper into his flesh, causing him to start breathing heavily and scream more and more.

Applejack finished the cut, then watched as tons of blood came gushing out of the open wound. It fell into the bucket below, creating a low thumping sound against the metal surface of the bucket. Crimson felt as if he was done for, but the incision that Applejack had made was not enough to kill him. As the blood fell into the bucket, Applejack added to the torture and reopened the wounds that she had made with the knife the night before, causing more blood to gush out of Crimson's body, into the bucket below. Crimson was close to passing out.

Applejack noticed the young pony slowly starting to pass out, and slapped him hard across the face, keeping him awake.

"Now, now. We can't have ya' fallin' asleep, when I'm going to need you wide awake while I close the wound," she said evilly.

She turned away from him, only to turn around and slap him hard across the face.

"Tell me I'm "sweet"! she commanded, slapping him again.

Crimson struggled to stay conscious, causing Applejack to get irritated.

"Tell me I'm "sweet"! she commanded, hitting him harder than before.

"Y-Y-You're s-s-s...

Applejack slapped him again, giving the same command.

"Y-Y-You're...

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" she shouted into his ear.

"Y-Y-You're s-s-sweet," muttered Crimson.

Applejack punched him hard in the face, knocking some teeth out.

"LOUDER! YOU'VE SAID IT MULTIPLE TIMES BEFORE, SO WHY CAN'T YOU SAY IT NOW!?" commanded Applejack, already pulling her hoof back for another punch.

"YOU'RE SWEET!" he yelled with every bit of strength he had.

"See. Was that so hard?" she said calmly.

Just when Crimson thought it was safe, Applejack punched him again. This time, hard enough to knock him out.

"But, I'm not sweet. I'm your worst nightmare," said Applejack with a laugh as Crimson passed out.

Dinner With the Apple Family

Crimson opened his eyes, noticing that he wasn't alone. Applejack was still there doing something to his body, and it didn't take long to figure out what she was doing. A sharp pain surged throughout Crimson's body, as she stuck a needle with some sort of metallic thread attached into one side of the open wound down his chest. He screamed, but only for a second, seeing the pain wasn't as severe compared the many other things Applejack had already done to him.

She noticed that he was awake, and didn't hesitate to silence him, due to his struggling making the stitching process difficult.

"Don't struggle!" she warned, giving him a very stern look in the eyes.

Crimson knew he didn't have a choice, so he did his best to keep himself calm. Applejack continued with the stitching.

"What are you doing to me?" asked Crimson in a weak tone.

"What does it look like?" she said annoyingly. "I'm closin' ya' up. We need more blood, and leavin' this open would cause infection, makin' y'all useless."

Crimson looked down at his chest, noticing the deep cut Applejack had made nearly stitched shut. The stitching job looked as if it had been done by an amateur doctor, meaning it was only temporary. Through his weak vision, he managed to mutter out some words, as Applejack continued the stitching.

"Why don't you just kill me?" he asked, staring at the grinder just below him.

"Because, that would be no fun, sugar," replied Applejack.

"Fun? How could this possibly be fun?! You used to be a positive influence to everypony, and now, they fear you!"

"Trust me, sugar. If you had a taste of it, you'd want more."

"I would never torture my own kind, nor kill them so I could continue to make money off of an applesauce! I'd find another way!"

Applejack was growing tired of Crimson's yelling.

"You'd best keep your voice down, or I'll give you that "special" punishment again!" she threatened.

Crimson knew what Applejack was talking about, so he just kept his voice down, while Applejack finished up her work. Once she was finished with the stitching, she turned to him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked.

"Well, we gotta get ya' cleaned up for dinner," she replied.

Crimson was confused.

"Dinner?" he said, confused.

"Y'all will be joinin' the rest of us for dinner, sugar," she concluded.

Crimson saw this as an opportunity to escape, knowing that the dinner that Applejack was referring to wasn't anything delicious, only disgusting. Applejack could read him easily, knowing what he was thinking.

"Trust me, sugar, you'll be far too weak to even try any sort of escape," she said. "Yur' limbs will be so weak, you won't be able to walk, so I'll be escorting you to the dining room. Think of it as a date."

Crimson's hopes were dashed, realizing Applejack was correct. He had no feeling in his limbs, especially his front legs, seeing the blood flow had been cut off to them. To add to the torture, he had no interest in being escorted by a monster. An escort that Applejack had described as a "date." The thought of him dating a monster made him shiver.

"I'll go grab some sponges, along with some water, and we'll get y'all cleaned up, sugar," clarified Applejack.

Crimson nodded his head, knowing it was best not to argue with Applejack, watching her as she walked down the stairs, out of sight. Once he heard the door shut below him, he immediately knew that if he was ever going to get out, now was the time to come up with a plan. Not much time remained before he would be going through the grinder.

He immediately pondered over his options of escaping, knowing the time was short. He was too weak to speak, so he thought of ways to escape deep in his mind. The only thing he could think of was somehow managing to weaken the restraints, but they were on him tight, and were replaced whenever a new victim came into the slaughterhouse. Through his desperation, he attempted to loosen the metal restraints binding his front hooves. His front hooves were far too weak to even move, so he resorted to his back hooves, containing more strength than his front hooves.

He lunged them forward with every bit of strength he had left, ignoring the aching in his limbs. He continued to lunge the his back hooves, praying that the metal restraints would weaken or budge, but unfortunately, the restraints were too strong. He needed more strength, even if he did, he was unsure if he would be able to weaken the restraints. They were stuck to the wall tight, forged to remain there the entire time a victim was locked in them. He stopped lunging, hearing the door below open.

Applejack returned with a bucket of water and a blood-soaked sponge, looking up at Crimson. She noticed he was sweating, and due to her dealing with multiple victims in the past, she knew what he had been trying to do.

"It's probably best you didn't manage to break free," she said, dipping the dirty sponge into the water. "You would've went headfirst into the grinder. That would've been a shame."

Applejack gave Crimson a deadly look. Impersonating the sounds of what would've happened if Crimson would've managed to break free and fall into the grinder. The sounds made him quiver, wondering if it was best he didn't break free.

"Sorry, but it's never that easy, sugar," she said, giving him a wink. "Now, time to get ya' cleaned up."

Applejack placed the sponge along Crimson's body, and started washing away the dry streams of blood from the wounds.

"Why?" questioned Crimson.

"Didn't I already tell ya' the answer?" she replied.

"No. Why did I lose so much blood?" he claimed. "The amount of blood that I lost was more than I should've lost."

Applejack gave him a grin, continuing to clean around the wounds.

"Oh. Remember those pancakes I fed ya'? Well, a strong blood thinner we use on most victims was in the batter, that causes yur' blood flow to increase massively. That's why y'all lost that much blood. Did ya' really think those were "normal" pancakes? Ya' make me laugh, sugar."

Crimson was shocked, and now knew he had to be careful. Nothing was safe as long as he was here, and somehow he had to get out.

Once Crimson was cleaned up, Applejack proceeded to unlocking his limbs from the wall, knowing he was far too weak to do anything. First, she released his front hooves, falling like rocks. They were floppy, and to Crimson felt as if they were made out of gelatin. He couldn't even feel his front hooves, nor support himself, so it was clear Applejack had him trapped. Next, came his neck, which didn't feel any different, but Crimson's breathing increased, and didn't feel as constricted. His back hooves were last, as he fell like a stone, but Applejack made sure he didn't fall into the grinder, wrapping him up with her lasso, and covering his head with a sack.

"Can't have ya' seein' where the exits are, now can we," said Applejack, dragging Crimson down the stairs, hearing his back hooves hit each step, causing them to ache.

Once they were on solid ground, Applejack placed him on all four hooves, struggling to keep him up. To keep him balanced, she placed his left front hoof over the back of her neck, and escorted him into the Apple Family dining room as if Crimson were her date.

In the dining room, Crimson could hear the sounds of hooves against the wooden floor, as Applejack settled him into a chair. She didn't lock his front hooves into restraints, but his back hooves were locked against the front legs of the chair. It was clear he wasn't going anywhere, and he was trapped in a dining room full of killers. Applejack lifted the sack from his head, only for him to see that he was seated at the far end of a wooden table with each dinner plate covered with a metallic lid.

Seated to the left of him was Applejack's older brother, Big Macintosh, staring at him with an evil grin. To the right was Applejack, and at the opposite far side of the table was Granny Smith humming a tune of some sort. The sight of the murderous ponies was terrifying, and nearly made Crimson urinate all over the chair.

"First, I'd like y'all to welcome our special guest, Crimson Flash," said Applejack. "He's also my date, seeing he just loves his "sweet Applejack" very much."

"Y'all have never been very good with dates," said Granny Smith. "Every time you bring one to the table, they seem to disappear."

"This one is different, Granny," replied Applejack, hitting her hoof hard against the table. "He's special, and does love me! Don'tcha think, Big Mac?"

"Eeyup," replied Big Mac.

"Well, now that everypony is here, we are going to play a game," claimed Applejack. "The rules are that nopony gags or spits out their food, otherwise there will be consequences."

The sound of this "game" Applejack was referring to was reminding Crimson of the previous night, but he knew that the consequences had to be more severe. He took deep breaths, knowing that this was going to be difficult.

"The consequences will get worse the more somepony gags or spits out their food. The first punishment will be a simple cut in any place of the pony's choosin' except the neck, because the neck is no fun. Second punishment will be an even deeper cut in a place of my choosin', and if the pony screams, the cut will deepen. Third punishment will be a brand of the Apple Family official brand to the forehead. Fourth punishment will be a brand to the left side of the face. Fifth punishment will be a brand to the right side of the face. Lastly, the sixth punishment will be a 50/50 choice, which will be one, spend the night in my room and allow me to do ANYTHING to you, or two, a trip through the grinder."

Crimson's eyes bulged at the sound of the last option, and now knew this is how all the victims went, after multiple tortures. Crimson didn't know what to think, as Applejack yelled the words that would begin the sealing of his fate.

"Soup's on, everypony!" yelled Applejack, starting the lift the lids off the platters, only to reveal horrid looking content.

Crimson wanted to gag, but managed to keep himself under control.

"Hold it together, Crimson," he said to himself. "Hold it together."

The first platter was placed before each of them, which looked like some sort of animal.

"First servin', roadkill," stated Applejack.

Crimson nearly gagged, but once again, controlled himself. He grabbed the provided fork and knife, and cut into the horrid meal, only to see a pus leak out of the opening, and only got worse as he tore off a piece, revealing the insides of the dead animal. Pus gushed out, along with some maggots, and a horrid smell that burned every nose hair within his nostrils. He couldn't hold it back anymore and gagged to the point of where he threw up all over himself.

The smell and texture of the meal caused him to vomit again, soaking the floor and plate with his own stomach content. Applejack rose from her chair with nothing but anger in her eyes. She stood next to him.

"NOW, IS THAT ANY WAY TO ACT AT A DINNER TABLE?!" she yelled. "YOU WILL EAT IT!"

Applejack violently lunged Crimson's head forward, straight into the roadkill, hearing the gushing of the pus and the stiff flesh of the animal break like a bone. He gagged massively, and vomited into the animal's body, feeling the maggots and pus against the inside of his mouth. It tasted unlike anything Crimson could describe, as the maggots, pus, and rotten flesh leeched into his mouth. Applejack pulled his head back so far he was choking and gagging on the content in his mouth then placed his head back into it's normal position, immediately starting to gag.

"YOU SWALLOW THAT FOOD! IT TOOK GRANNY SMITH ALL DAY TO COOK THAT!" commanded Applejack.

Crimson attempted to chew the content, but his gag reflex was too strong, and immediately puked again, lunging the horrid content back onto the plate, along with the vomit.

"HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT MY FAMILY'S COOKING! APOLOGIZE!" she commanded.

Crimson couldn't take it anymore, so he used a free hoof and gave Applejack a taste of her own medicine. He landed a nasty punch straight to her face, and knocked her into the stove, accidentally planting the left side of her face on one of the burners. She screamed from the third-degree burn singing the entire left side of her face. Crimson had had enough, and didn't care what was coming next. He was finished.

Applejack raised her head from the burner, and quickly looked at herself in a nearby mirror. The left side of her face was singed beyond repair, and now, she literally looked like a monster. She turned to Crimson.

"LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME! I LOOK LIKE A MONSTER!" she yelled.

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU ARE ONE!" stated Crimson.

Applejack gritted her teeth, and gave the final command, sealing his fate.

"We've played with him enough! It's time to fire up the grinder, because he's goin' through!"

Crimson was scared, but at the same time, he didn't care. He'd be free of the torture in death. Big Macintosh stood up, and walked out of the room, into the slaughterhouse to fire up the machine. Applejack walked up to Crimson, whispering into his ear.

"You are going to pay for what you've done to me," she said, as she undid the restraints from his back hooves.

She wasn't gentle with him, dragging him into the slaughterhouse, as Big Mac fired up the machine. Crimson listened as the machine erupted to life. The conveyor belt started moving, and the sounds of the rotating blades erupted from above where he was originally bound to the wall. Applejack carried Crimson up the stairs, until they were right before the entrance of the machine. The blades rotated as Applejack lifted Crimson up headfirst, before the rotating blades, and drew his face closer to the grinder. Just as he was about to be eaten up by the blades, the machine came to a stop.

"Big Mac, what are you doing!" she yelled.

"It was me," stated Granny Smith, who had commanded Big Mac to shut off the machine.

"Granny, why you stopping me from putting this garbage in the trash where he belongs!?" questioned Applejack.

"We need to talk about somethin, and it's important!" said Granny Smith with a stern voice. "Calm yourself, and get him back on the wall! Then get back into the house!"

Applejack didn't like this, because right now she just wanted to see Crimson dead, but she knew she couldn't argue with Granny Smith.

"Fine!" she exclaimed, turning Crimson's head to where she was face to face. "You got lucky this time, but next time, you won't be so lucky!"

Applejack grabbed Crimson, and placed him against the wall once again, locking his limbs in the restraints. Once she finished locking Crimson to the wall, she proceeded out of the slaughterhouse, back into the house with a loud slam.

Back in the house, Big Mac and Granny Smith were seated at the table. Applejack wasn't pleased, seeing her once beautiful face was now scorched for the rest of her life. She wanted Crimson dead.

"Why did you stop me from killin' that trash!?" asked Applejack.

Granny Smith gave Applejack a stern glare, causing Applejack to calm down, and take a seat.

"We need him, Applejack," stated Granny Smith. "He could be the key to keepin' our production going for the rest of our lives and beyond, due to the number of victims gettin' smaller."

"What the hay are you talkin' about?" asked Applejack.

"I'm talkin' about keepin' our family alive for generations, and seein' I'm not in the day and age to even have children anymore, I'm makin' a proposition for ya', Applejack. It's against our family's heritage to breed with another family member, so I figured that y'all could use that Crimson feller' as your ace breeder. You've always wanted a young feller to love, right? Well, now ya' got one, and you just nearly turned him into nothing but muck."

Applejack liked and hated the proposition, seeing Crimson had made her look like a monster. It was tempting, so she decided to add a few conditions.

"So, yur' plan is to have me breed with Crimson, and produce foals, so our family can grow and never die?" she asked.

"Correct," assured Granny Smith.

"Temptin', but I have a few conditions, seein' Crimson is more tricky and rebellious than others I've tortured in the past."

"What are the conditions?" asked Granny Smith.

"I get to torture him in any way of my choosin', including the forbidden ways, I'm left alone while I do the breedin', and the first foal I ever have is slaughtered. He must suffer some way for what he did to me, and if goin' through the grinder isn't the way, let it be him seein' his own child die before his eyes. If you agree to the conditions, we have a deal, Granny."

Granny Smith didn't agree to some of the conditions, mainly, the "forbidden" tortures. She had no choice though, therefore she gave the final verdict.

"I agree with the conditions, Applejack," agreed Granny Smith. "Start first thing tomorrow."

"Absolutely," said Applejack, as she licked her lips, knowing that this plan was going to be a benefit for her, but torture for Crimson. She laughed at the thought of it.

Through the Grinder

The night was long, as Crimson continued to try and weaken the restraints, seeing that was his only option. Tomorrow, it would be his turn to die, so if he had any hope of escaping, he had to do something and fast. Even if he managed to get out of the restraints during the sleeping hours for the Apple Family, he wouldn't be safe. Not by a long shot. First, he'd have to escape the slaughterhouse, then would come the next step before he was even safe. He'd have to escape the Apple residents that guarded the outskirts of Ponyville.

The Apple's worked like a wolf pack, and Applejack was the alpha-mare, while the others were just pawns. Crimson had never encountered the other Apple residents, but he had seen them before. The main Apple's that guarded the outside of Ponyville were Apple Fritter and Braeburn. Apple Fritter was quick and agile, while Braeburn was more intimidating and strong. Nopony had ever escaped the outside of Ponyville, because each time they were stopped. Apple Fritter and Braeburn made the perfect alliance; wits and strength. What came after them was unknown to everypony.

For hours on end he attempted to loosen the restraints, and still it had not felt like he had even managed to weaken the steel. His limbs were aching from putting pressure against the steel, but he knew he had to stay strong, otherwise he was dead. He was exhausted, but he had come close to death today, and was only saved by some faraway angel giving him a second chance. The madness with Ponyville had to end somehow, and the only way to get help was to somehow escape this forsaken prison born from greed and desire.

After a whole night of struggling to break free, Crimson's heart dropped at the sight of sunlight peeking through the cracks of the rotten barn wood, meaning his time had come. Despite his effort, the Apple Family had won, and another innocent pony would be imported into the slaughterhouse as soon as he was grinded up and put into the applesauce just like many other countless victims. As much as he hated to know that another one of his Ponyville kin would be put through the torture he has experienced, he had to face facts. His day had come, and soon Applejack would come to seal his fate.

He decided to try one last time, and lunged his limbs forward, praying for the constraints to weaken. His attempt failed once more, and the metal constraints were not even budged. Crimson was exhausted, tired, and weak. He wanted to die, and knew he would soon, yet he had a feeling that Applejack would have much more than just a simple trip through the grinder planned. He knew she was going to make his final moments the most miserable moments of his life.

About an hour later, the door below creaked open, meaning Applejack had arrived. Her hooves clamped against the hard floor, up the stairs, as she arrived at the top of the stairs. The left side of her face was bandaged, and she was dressed in an unlikely outfit, designed to make her look attractive, but Crimson knew there was nothing "attractive" about Applejack, and she was evil to the core. The bandages didn't surprise him, but the outfit she was in.

"What's up with your get up?" he asked. "Do you do this with all your victims before they go through the grinder!? Try to seduce them!?"

Applejack just ignored him, and grabbed a whip she had brought. Crimson had no idea what was going on, but he didn't expect any different.

"What are you waiting for, you dirty mare?! Get it over with!" he yelled.

Applejack giggled, holding the whip in her mouth.

"Y'all ain't goin' through the grinder," she said in a low voice.

Crimson was immediately confused.

"What are you talking about? I thought you wanted me dead?"

"I did," she said. "That was until Granny Smith convinced me otherwise. She offered me a proposition I just couldn't refuse, seein' it gives me somepony to love, and lots of other gimmicks that benefit me."

Crimson was starting to shake, as Applejack continued her explanation.

"It was all perfect. Too perfect to pass up! You and me, Crimson! TOGETHER FOR ETERNITY! HELPING THE APPLE FAMILY GROW!"

Crimson was starting to understand, but still didn't understand the FULL price of Applejack's proposition.

"Please. Just kill me," he pleaded.

Applejack placed her hoof upon his bruised cheek.

"I can't do that," she said, beginning to draw in closer to Crimson. "Not when you are my ace stallion to breed with for the rest of our lives."

Crimson's heart stopped from the sound of Applejack's words, as he started to feel her caress against him. It was just like the first time. Crimson knew that the worst was coming, and he didn't want to EVER face that torture again. Now done, Applejack started to get herself into position. Crimson started to struggle more violently than he did the entire time he was here, hoping for a miracle to happen.

Applejack started to move back towards his body, as Crimson started struggling harder, feeling the wall start to shake. Applejack was inches from him, when suddenly the restraint on his right back hoof came clean off the metal wall. He had a free limb, and just before she could connect, he landed a hard kick with his free hoof straight to Applejack's rear, and before she could become aware of the situation, she was lunged forward into the non-mobile grinder headfirst. The kick was hard enough to push Applejack's entire head through the row of blades.

Crimson knew he had an opportunity to escape, now that the grinder was blocked, and Applejack was struggling to get herself out. The weight his free limb was pulling down on his whole body, so he quickly thought of his options of escape. He couldn't just slide out of the metal, seeing his limbs were stuck tight, and he couldn't reach or grip the key on Applejack's belt. He only had such little time to get out, so he couldn't wait to build up a sweat to try and slide out. He knew what he had to do, and it was going to cost him more than one hoof.

Crimson braced himself, as he pushed his body away from the wall with every bit of strength he had. The metal restraints started to dig into the flesh of his limbs, causing him to start bleeding. The restraints dug into the skin, past the meat covering the bone, and as much as he was screaming, he knew this was the only way. The metal dug into the bones of his hooves, and being so close to escape, he was running out of strength. He wasn't going to let his only chance of escape fail, so using his free limb, he pushed his body away from the wall, digging the metal into the bone. With one final thrust using his free limb, one of his front hooves snapped.

The pain of the snapping limb made him scream and cry, as he pushed more and more into his broken limb, planning to sever it. It took three hard lunges, but finally his front left hoof was free, and bleeding profusely. The weight of his body had increased, but he needed more, so he did the same process with his other front hoof, until it too severed clean off. Blood leaked out of the open wound, as he fell forward onto Applejack's back, snapping her spine.

Using his mouth, he grabbed the key from her belt, and managed to unlock his back hoof from the restraint, struggling to stand straight. He felt light-headed, but now was not the time to pass out. He had to get out. He took a hard tumble down the metal stairs, seeing his front hooves were now gone, and only bleeding like crazy. He'd die of blood loss if he didn't get them covered soon, so he stood back up, and made his way toward the barn door, but realized the moment was perfect. Applejack was finished, and now she was about to pay the ultimate price for her dirty deeds.

Using the wall as a guide, Crimson made his way toward the switch that started up the machine, and listened as Applejack pleaded for his mercy. He only ignored her, and stated something before finally pulling the switch.

"Just like you. I'm not sweet, I'm as cold as ice," he said, starting the machine.

Applejack's blood sprayed everywhere from the top of the machine, as it ate her head alive. The sound of her screams were silenced in mere seconds, hearing the sound of only her skull cracking, and her blood gushing throughout the machine, as her head was severed clean from her shoulders. The machine continued to run, shredding away at whatever was left at the base of her severed neck. Blood continued to gush everywhere from the punctured arteries within her neck, as her headless body finally went limp, and Applejack was gone forever.

Crimson didn't celebrate, only rushed into the Apple's residence, hoping to find something nearby that could close off the wounds he had. Inside, there was nothing except a running stove, and a set breakfast table. There was not a single towel or anything that he could place over the wounds until he found a hospital. He had to think fast, seeing the Apple Family could be back any time, and quickly, found a solution, even though he wouldn't like it. The burner on the stove would be able to stop the bleeding and close off the wound, otherwise he'd be easy to track, because of his blood trail.

He took a deep breath, and placed one of his hooves along the surface of the burner, immediately feeling excruciating pain. He held it in place for about ten seconds, making sure he closed off the wound fully. He did the same with the other hoof, starting to feel a bit nauseated. Despite the pain, he had to get out, so he ran back to the inside of the slaughterhouse, unlocked the barn door with the key he had taken from Applejack, and ran as fast as he could from the once welcoming Sweet Apple Acres.

Crimson ran in the opposite direction of Ponyville, hoping not to run into any Apple locals. Luckily for him, there was nopony in sight, and he had managed to make it a great distance from Sweet Apple Acres. He hid away in a thick area where he couldn't be seen, and looked at his front hooves that had been burned to a crisp. Many things ran through his head, both positive and negative. Was he truly out of the Apple Family's clutches? How was he going to stop the Apple Family's murderous cycle? Who could help him?

All he knew is that he had to somehow get help from a distant place. Ponyville was the worst place to go right now, until he could get the right help. He refused to ever go back to that farm ever again, and wouldn't rest until the Apple Family were put behind bars where they belonged. Justice had to be done, for already too many lives had been taken. He knew he wasn't going to get anywhere, until he had strength, so he made sure he was hid well, and closed his eyes into a long sleep.

Epilogue: The Results

After escaping Sweet Apple Acres, it took three long days before Crimson was finally able to find help in a nearby town. Nopony had ever known of the horrors that happened within the farm, just as the Ponyville inhabitants never knew until one spoke the truth. Apple Bloom is the one member of the Apple Family that Crimson along with every past victim could accept, seeing she turned against her own family, even if it cost her her life.

Crimson was admitted into a hospital immediately, where he remained for several months, while the Royal Guard in Canterlot was gathered to finally put the Apple Family where they belonged. The Royal Guard infiltrated the farm, only to find every member of the family in a pool of their own blood. Once Crimson had escaped, it had violated a rule within the Apple Family's heritage, "If anypony is to escape from the farm, all family members must commit suicide. We were brought into the world as one, and we all go as one!"

After searching the farm, many disturbing things were found, such as victim's belongings, an entire cellar with jars full of pony blood, collected from their tortures, and countless photos of the victims being tortured. There were also over five-hundred torture devices found in the family's farmhouse, including whips, countless knives, used gag devices, and twenty separate brands, designed to mark the victims.

A diary of each victim's experience was found in Applejack's bedroom, each one dated and described very violently. There were also items designed for hard intercourse found within Applejack's room, including spandex clothing, a spiked whip, and modified sex kits, designed to torture the other pony. Other disturbing items included chunks of flesh cut from the victims flanks, showing a brand "AF" on each, along with other organs including hearts, tongues, and other parts of the body that are best not to be mentioned.

Books and charts stolen from the Ponyville Hospital were found as well. This is how the Apple Family knew how to torture somepony without killing them. The books and charts were given back to the hospital, however they refused to take them, due to them being used for nothing but evil reasons. The items were confiscated as evidence in the most disturbing case ever recorded in Ponyville; The Apple Family Massacre.

Braeburn and Apple Fritter were the only Apples not to commit suicide. They were found just outside of Ponyville performing sexual acts, and were arrested by the Royal Guard. Their sentence was life in Canterlot Prison with no chance of parole. The two were investigated as well, and all that was discovered is that both were having a secret relationship, which didn't help in the case, but was kept anyways.

Sweet Apple Acres was investigated more, and what the Royal Guard found would seal the farm's fate. Stuffed victims were found within the walls of the farm, and from the autopsy reports were found to only be about ten years old, which is around the time when the Apple Family's killing spree started. The twenty victims found within the farm walls were proposed as the very first victims, just before the grinder was imported, and from the looks of the bodies, were tortured severely. Their cause of deaths were all the same; unknown.

After the full investigation, Sweet Apple Acres was demolished to nothing, and is now a restricted area for anypony to enter. It is only a place of misery and torture, and is best to be left to rest. Nopony has ever been to the area since the demolition, knowing that the Apple Family was still there, waiting.

As for the only survivor of the Apple Family Massacre, Crimson recovered from his injuries, but his life is far from normal. After experiencing a horror as great as the Apple Family Massacre, he couldn't live a normal life, traumatized from the torture he had faced. The young earth pony lives in a quiet area of Ponyville, and is having regular therapy sessions, hoping to recover from the true horror he had to live through. However, it returns each time he sees the branded "AF" on his flanks. A small reminder of his experience in the slaughterhouse.

The following injuries are what he endured within the time he was trapped in the slaughterhouse.

Four broken ribs

Two bruised ribs

Broken jaw

Four lost teeth

Six severely chipped teeth

Fractured nose

Severe concussion

Fractured eye socket

Three lacerations

Severe dehydration

Fractured eye socket

Severe burns to the flank area

Stomach infection

Two severed limbs

Countless surgeries were needed to make Crimson into the pony he is now. He is able to walk, eat, and talk normally, thanks to the help of some prosthetic hooves, two months of recovery from the surgeries, six months total to heal all the broken bones, and an estimated 10-12 years of professional therapy. The road will be hard for Crimson, but he's slowly getting back on his hooves. He now is married to a mare named Daisy Bloom and has a son and daughter. The horrors from the Apple Family Massacre remain with him, but with his wife and kids to look to, he is thankful that he never gave up, and lived to tell the tale.