How Many Apples 2: Applejack's Revenge

Life as a head was certainly much less work on Dash’s part. She could see why AJ liked to relax this way, especially after the best part of a week spent cleaning and using muscles she didn’t normally have to use. Now she was pretty much helpless. Not that AJ wasn’t keeping true to her word and putting her to use. She had loaned her to Big Mac for when he needed a paperweights when doing the accounts. Dash had tried her best to make small talk but given that the big guy was tired, trying to concentrate, and not really much for conversation, she had spent most of it just…being there. Not talking, not moving. Like a real, genuine object. She had spaced out for an hour or so thinking about that. Was she human like this? Or just a tool? She didn’t even get put to bed that night-she was simply left on the desk as everyone else went to sleep.

The following day didn’t get any more dignified. She had been sitting on her desk, bored as all hell, when in walked Applejack holding a broomstick and some tape.

“Good new, Rainbow Head! I just thought of a new job for ya!”

Rainbow didn’t even have to ask; her intentions were fairly obvious. Applejack picked up Rainbow and placed the tip of the broomstick up what was left of her neckstrump-Dash felt the hard wood pressing up against the roof of her mouth. Then Applejack taped her in place, and held her new broomstick proudly.

“Yup, you’ll be cleaning again in no time! And you’ll have company, too!”

“You’re gonna use me?” asked Rainbow, who then blushed at how she had phrased that. Applejack smiled.

“Not exactly.”

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A few hours later, Rainbow thought back fondly to her time spent as a paperweight. Good times. Or even back when she was just limbless and wingless. Yup, those were the days. She sighed, then cringed as her head bumped against a corner for the umpteenth time.

“Hey, watch it, you’re giving me brain damage!” she said, her words muffled slightly by the wood in her mouth. “Not that you’d understand that.”

Applejack’s body remained silent, as always. She was almost as bad as Big Mac for that. Why did no one want to talk to her anymore? Well, at least this one had an excuse. Still, headless or not, she was clumsy as hell. Rainbow wondered if AJ had been training her. She certainly seemed more confident and assured than that time in the hallway-she walked down the hallways mostly like a normal person, and seemed able to both understand and carry out simple tasks. Like, for example, brushing up dirt on the floorboards. Rainbow had cleaned them often enough, and yet there was still a surprising amount of dirt lying around-she wondered if Applejack had been sneaking dirt in from the fields just to keep her busy.

Rainbow had just about gotten used to having her hair dragged along the floor by the time her user finally stopped. She felt herself being lifted up so that she was face to face, as it were, with AJ’s body, although the face in front of her was deflated and had a permanent look of surprise on it. Rainbow felt her hands stroking her dusty hair with a tenderness that surprised her. She wondered what was going through its head, metaphorically speaking. Was it lonely? Did she know what she was? What happened when AJ reattached her skull-did she simply stop existing, or was it like a deep sleep?

“Oh, hey y’all!”

Applebloom made her way into the farmhouse, having been out with her friends. Headless AJ turned her “head”, apparently sensing the newcomer, who seemed rather unperturbed by the sight before her. She slowly lowered Dash and leaned the broomstick against a wall, with Rainbow’s head upside down on the floor, before suddenly leaving, as if embarrassed by something. Applebloom watched her go with her hands on her hips.

“Huh. You know, I’m gonna find out what’s going on with her one day. Twilight’ll be so impressed if I figured out what the deal is…”

She looked down at Rainbow for a second, looked away again, paused, and then looked back down, smiling brightly.

“Hey Dash, you don’t look like you’re having much fun down there.” She said. Dash just rolled her eyes and mumbled something inaudible. Applebloom squatted down next to her.

“Say…how’d you like to help me out with something real quick? I think you’d have more fun with me than with her. What’d you say?”
Rainbow thought the offer. Applebloom had been up to something, alright, and she had a worried feeling about it. But after the day she’d had, she’d do anything to escape being a broom, and so managed to mumble out a “yes.”

“Great! I’ll uh, go run you out of the tap first though….”

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After a quick wash in the bathroom, Applebloom carried Rainbow towards the little shed outside, which now had a hastily repaired roof. Applebloom held Dash close to her chest, which at least gave Dash something soft to rest against for a change. She was sure that a girl as sweet and helpful as Applelboom, who had just saved her from who knows what Applejack had planned, couldn’t be doing anything THAT weird. She relaxed a little, wondering what it was that she would be helping out with.

Applebloom opened the wooden door with one hand and stepped inside. Dash couldn’t quite see what was inside from her angle, but the place seemed to glow in a faint green colour, and could hear the sound of something bubbling. There was also another, louder, familiar sound. Something she’d not actually heard, come to think of it, for a little while. It was the sound of a dog barking.

“Hey girl, easy now! Lemme just set you down on something real quick, Rainbow Dash. Lesse,uh..”

Applebloom lowered Dash onto something soft and warm in the corner of the shed-Dash felt herself sink a little into it, and the back of her head was resting against a larger, harder surface that was equally as warm. It was comfy at least, though. Whatever enjoyment she got out of it was somewhat ruined by what she seen in the centre of the room. Or rather, who she seen. It was Winona. Or rather, her head. And it was attatched to what was most certainly her own naked body, on all fours and barking like…well, a dog.

“How ya doing, girl? Moving around ok?” asked Appebloom. Winona responded by going up onto her “hind legs” as it were, hands over Applebloom’s shoulders, and started to lick her face as the young farmer laughed and giggled, as though she was simply playing around with her beloved pet as always. This sweet moment was interrupted by the sound of Rainbow Dash spluttering in the corner, feeling somewhere between indignant and bewildered.

“Oh, sorry, I shoulda said I was trying out some stuff in here.” Said Appelbloom. “Don’t worry, I’m just seeing if I could do it is all. Been reading all about body magic, biology, all that stuff. It’s neat as hay, I say.”

“But…that’s…that’s me! My body! Mine!” cried Rainbow. Applebloom just shrugged.

“Well, y’aint using it now anyway. You’ll get it back, don’t worry. Oh hey, speaking of bodies, lemme get your new one! Hey girl, catch!”
Applebloom gave her pet a rubber ball to chase, then ducked out of view for a moment, looking for something. Winona went back down on all fours and chewed on her toy, giving Rainbow a view of her own ass in the process. Tearing her eyes away from the sight, Rainbow looked around the shed from her vantage point on the…well, whatever it was that she was sitting on. There were many bottles and jars filled with all sorts of mysterious liquids. Some of them had things inside them. For example, the jar directly across from it seemed to have a brain floating inside of it, turning in a very slow circle, bubbling occasionally. As she studied it, a drop of something warm and sticky splashed onto Rainbow’s head. There was a strange smell in the room…

“Found it!”

Applebloom reemerged from the depths of the shed. She was holding Winona’s body in her arms, which to be honest, was exactly what Rainbow Dash was expecting. She set it down on a workbench on the other side of the bench and walked over, before spotting what Dash was staring at.

“Oh, uh, how bout you just pretend you didn’t see that, hehe!” said Applebloom, throwing a sheet over the brain in the jar and hiding it from view. “Uh…now, let’s get you fixed up!” Picking her up, she carried her over to the workbench and plonked her down, before staring at her suddenly sticky hands

“Hmm?” she said to herself, licking her fingers.

“Yeah something kinda leaked onto me. It’s not anything gross is it?” asked Rainbow. Applebloom thought for a moment before smiling and shaking her head.

“Nope, definitely not! Now this won’t take a moment…”

After more than a moment’s worth of awkward stitching, Rainbow suddenly started to feel sensation in arms and legs for the first time in days. The feeling was alien, yet welcome for someone as active as her. She walked around awkwardly in her new body, feeling rather top heavy, but she managed a few steps as Applebloom watched.

“It worked! Ah knew it would!” cried Applebloom, ecstatic. “Come on Dash, how about I take you for a workout!”

“Yeah! I mean…sure” said Rainbow, embarrassed at sounding so eager to basically be her pet.

“Ok, let’s go! You too Winona, come on girl!”

Winona barked her approval and bounded out of the shed.

“You couldn’t have put clothes on her or something?” asked Rainbow.

“Don’t be silly Rainbow, you don’t put clothes on a dog! Now come on, get a run while you still can.”

Dash quickly got up and carefully trotted out, rather glad to be out of the shed. Applebloom went to join her outside before pausing for a moment. She walked over to the corner where she had placed Dash and ran a loving hand down the warm hand surface of the monster she had been growing in here. It rose and shifted to her attentions, leaking some more.

“Easy now. Wow, I can't believe how much bigger you are since I first took you from Big Mac. He won't believe it!" said Applebloom, shaking her head in disbleief. "Don't worry, ’ll get you outta this shed soon. Be a good boy until then, ok?”

With that, she walked out of the shed to join Dash, leaving her creation to steam away in silence.

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Getting to actually run around for a change was a much needed change in pace for Dash, as she chased after the rubber ball alongside Winona. The only problem was trying to get used to her new limbs-more than once she would go for a spring only to face plant into the dirt, which would send Applebloom into laughing fits. A part of her was worried that her head would fall off and roll away, which added to her unease in this body.

Watching her own body run around was…conflicting. Ok, so the whole having a dog’s head thing was weird. But thinking of her body being controlled by someone else-seeing it as well, right there in front of her-was pretty neat. Like an out of body experience, almost. Plus, it let her admire herself at angles previously thought to be impossible, which was always a bonus. Winona herself seemed to be having fun, even if she hadn’t quite figured out that moving around on two feet would probably be easier for her.

Of course, all good things had to come to an end.

“Applebloom, Rainbow! What in Equestria is going on out here?”

Applejack had appeared from the farmhouse. Applebloom waved at her sister, and went over and picked a tired out Rainbow up, cradling her dog body in her arms.

“Look, Applejack! Isn’t it cool?” she asked. Applejack sighed and put on her “Big Sister” voice.

“Applebloom, you can’t do something like that without permission.” She said. Rainbow perked up.

“Hey, I don’t mind.”

“No, silly, ah mean MY permission. And I specifically recall telling you that you’d stay as a head for the rest of the week. This is going against that, ain’t it? Sides, seems a little unfair to bring Winona into this, dontcha think?"

Applebloom sagged a little, head down.

“Sorry, sis.”

“It’s ok Applebloom. Just put poor Winona back together in that shed of yours. As for you, Rainbow…I think it’s time we take the next step.”
“Oh, really? Sure, leave it to me!”

Rainbow looked up, brow furrowed.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Oh you’ll see. Go ahead now Bloom, you know what to do. Then come meet me in yer room.”

Applebloom seemed to recover some of her pep. She found a loose thread in Rainbow’s neck and unthreaded it with one big yank. Dash felt her world spin in a horrible, familiar way, before her head rolled off her little dog body. Applejack caught her in mid air by the hair, and started to walk back to the farmhouse. Rainbow watched Applebloom shepherd Winona into the shed, still holding her body.

She was taken up to Applebloom’s room. Aj dumped her onto the bed and opened up the cupboard. From inside, she produced what looked very much like the same sort of jar she had seen in the shed. In fact, it was very much like the jar that had contained the floating brain. It was a little bigger, and had some mechanical looking stuff on the bottom of it. This did not comfort Rainbow, who was able to put two and two together even before Applejack produced the saw.

“Hey now, isn’t this going kind of far?” she protested.

“Rainbow, I dunno if you’ve noticed, but lately we don’t really know the meaning of the phrase “too far”. We had rules, and you broke em. Now simmer down and quit your complaining. Ain’t like you can stop me.”

She did have a point there. Rainbow was completely powerless. She felt the cold steel press against her temple, a centre metre or so above her brow, and then it felt it start to cut into the bone. AJ held her down with one hand, turning her head around as she went. After five or so long minutes, Applejack stopped. With one hand she yanked Rainbow’s skullcap off, exposing Dash’s brain. Setting the top of her head down on the bed, AJ savoured the strange sight, trailing a finger along the edge of Dash’s skull and rubbing her finger along the surface, watching the expression of panic on Dash’s face.

“Ah, I’ve waited a long time for this moment of payback. I spent 3 whole days as just a skull on a shelf when Twilight was fixing me up, you know that? No eyeballs, no ears, no tongue, no nothing.”

She jabbed her finger into the pink-grey mass to add emphasis to her words, causing Rainbow’s eyes to twitch.

“So pucker up, sugurcube, and take some well-earned medicine. See ya.”

“Wait-“

But then, for Dash, everything went black. Well, almost everything, She was still aware of being aware, which was something at least. And she could feel a pair of hands grasping at her, squeezing her tightly. Or at least it felt tight. It was as thought she were weightless and formless, a being of pure thought alone. It was peaceful and quiet.

And then with a rude jolt, her senses started to return. She could see dim, blurry shapes, as though in a very dirty fun house mirror. Then she heard voices.

“…right about…nnnnow. Yeah, she should hear us fine.”

“How will we know?”

“Oh, you can tell. When Diamond gets mad she kinda bubbles a whole lot.”

“Smart girl. Ok,let me test it out.”

Rainbow’s vision blurred into a tolerable range, and she made out Applejack’s loose face staring right at her.

“I sure do love the way my new toy looks. Good thing this is permanent.”

What? Permanent? But she said…Rainbow watched as her captors face changed as much as it could given its condition.

“Hah, look at that, you’re right Applebloom! That’s hilarious.” She chuckled before turning back to Rainbow. “Nah I’m just fooling. But uh, you’re definitely staying like that for the rest of the week. Cause we got ourselves a new maid. Come on in, sugurcube.”

“Yes, Applejack!” came a distant voice. Wait a minute. It sounded rather familiar. The door opened, and in walked Rainbow Dash, still missing the top of her head and wearing a new maid uniform. This one looked much saucier than the previous one-the chest window was much larger, and the skirt now only just went past her crotch. It seemed like she wasn’t wearing any underwear, either.

“Say hello to Rainbow Dash! Say hi to the brain, girl”

“Hello,brain!” said Rainbow Dash, sounding like she always did, but in a slower, slightly slurred tone. “I’m a maid!”

“Yup, we know dear” said AJ. She went to ruffle her hair, then stopped when her hand ended up inside the girl’s empty head. She retracted her hand, wiping it on her sleeve. “And I’m sure you’ll be a mighty fine one. Better than this one managed. Lessee, what do we call you now…ah yes. Brainbow Dash!”

Applebloom and Rainbow giggled at the name. “Brainbow Dash” watched on in helpless silence. It was as if her own body had betrayed her and sided with the Apples over her, showing pretty much zero concern about her own brain floating in a jar. Applejack handed her a duster and led her off to attend to her new role.

“See ya later, Brianbow”

Applejack left, leaving Dash in the room with Applebloom, who had whipped out a book and started to read on the bed beside her. All Rainbow could do was watch.