Apple Jack 64

(Thump!) (Thump!)

It was sunny day over Sweet Apple Acers...

(Thump!) (Thump!)

...the birds were singing, and the insects were buzzing about...

(Thump!) (Thump!)

...and as one would expect, the Apple family was busily bucking away at their apple trees.

(Thump!) (Thump!)

Two fillies in particular, were bucking their hind legs against the timber of a full apple tree sitting alone amongst a grove of other empty apple trees.

(Thump!) (Thump!)

This tree was proving to be their greatest challenge yet faced today. No matter how hard or fast they kicked, the apple tree stubbornly refused to drop its precious harvest for them to collect. The fillies tried to "thump" the tree again.

(Thump!) (Whoosh!)

"Aaagh!" The filly who missed the tree cried out. She had lost her balance and quickly toppled over onto her stomach. The other filly soon rushed to her side.

"Yah alright there, Cuz?" The filly offered her hoof to help her friend back up.

"Yeah, Ah'm alright Babs." The other filly took her hoof, and was quickly pulled back up into a stand.

They turned to address a mare standing nearby. She was standing idly with a wooden wagon strapped tightly to her barrel.

"Ah don't think this one's ready ta be harvested, Applejack." The one of the filly who missed the tree called out. The mare grimaced at her statement.

"That's nonsense, Applebloom!" The mare called back. "That tree's just bein' stubborn, try whackin' it again!" Applebloom and Babs turned away from Applejack, and grimaced warily at the tree they had been bucking. They had been whackin' for the last half hour.

"...And hurry! We need ta get this grove finished and move on to the next one before lunchtime!" With a sigh, the two fillies stalked back over to the tree and began bucking its trunk again. The two put all their strength into their hind legs and delivered two powerful kicks into the trunk of the apple tree.

(THUMP!) (THUMP!)

Suddenly the sounds of branches rustling, and apple stems breaking filled their ears. Applebloom and Babs Seed looked up in surprise to see the literal fruits of their labor falling out of tree and into the awaiting baskets below. The fillies squeed in delight.

The fillies rushed into each other, and formed a tight embraced as they danced giddily on their back hooves. "We did Applejack! We did!" Applebloom squealed.

"We bucked that apple tree fer all its worth!" Babs agreed.

Applejack chuckled goodheartedly, and shook her head with moderate amusement. "Ah remember my first successful apple buck." She thought. Her grin grew wider upon recalling the memory.

Applejack sauntered over to the apple baskets holding the fruit from the fillies' apple buck. She eyed the apples like an inspector eyes the products on a production line. None of the apples looked damaged, or even bruised. It was official, the girls had completed their first full-fledged apple buck without a single mistake. Applejack couldn't have been more proud.

Applejack unlatched herself from the wagon and turned to the fillies, she gave them a smile. "You two did an excellent job! Yer both gonna make great apple-buckers one day." The fillies both cheered in delight.

"But remember, things like apple-bucking take time and require a lot of practice. Ya shouldn't be going crazy just yet because ya bucked one apple tree right." The fillies nodded to prove they understood.

"Don't worry Applejack, we won't overdo ourselves." Applebloom said.

"Yeah, we're just gonna buck eveahy tree on the farm before the rest of yous get a chance!"

Applejack chuckled at her younger cousins statement. "Ah'm glad ta hear it." She rustled Applebloom's and Babs's manes, making Applebloom need to fix her bow and forcing Babs to blow her one long bang out of her eye. "But for now that can wait. Right now, the both of ya should be drinking some frosty apple juice to celebrate the hard work ya've done so far."

The fillies smiled, they liked that idea.

"You two go on ahead. Ah'm just gonna pack up these baskets, and Ah'll meet ya back at the house." The fillies nodded, before quickly turning on their hooves and rushing off in the opposite direction. Applejack quickly began picking up the baskets and placed them down in the back of her wagon. She rigged herself back up in the wagon's harness and began trotting back towards the Sweet Apple Acers farmhouse.

She chuckled to herself lightly. "Sure is lookin' ta be one hay of an Applebuck season."

Applebuck season was a important time of the year for the Apple family. Usually around the same time every Summer, when the sun was out and the weather is at its warmest, the apples trees in Sweet Apple Acers grow fruit faster than any other point throughout the year. This requires them to be harvested quickly, or risk having the fruit rot of the branches in the Summer heat.

Usually, most Applebuck seasons are small enough in size that only Big Macintosh and Applejack are needed to harvest all the trees. But this year was different. Not only had this Applebuck season been the biggest on record for Sweet Apple Acers, but all two hundred trees that make up their orchards were producing full branches of flawless fruit. The four Apple family members that ran the farm were simply not enough to cut it for this big of a workload.

Applejack had been spending the last two weeks calling up friends and family to help her harvest their produce. Of all the ponies she called only Braeburn and Babs Seed (with permission from her parents) were able to assist, the rest of her extended family each had their own farms and businesses to take care of, and most of her friends were away on some kind of extended friendship map mission.

"Must be one Tartarus of a friendship problem they're dealing with." Applejack chuckled to herself imagining what her friends could be dealing with that would require them to be away for two whole weeks. She was sure glad she wasn't in any of their shoes right now. Of course, it wasn't so good to be herself right now either. This year's harvest had been running her and five family members ragged. Even with the help of their two late arrivals, eight ponies was not efficient enough to tackle a Applebuck season this size.

Applejack sighed in irritation, but continued her stride back to the farmhouse unimpeded. She, nor her family, were strangers to hard work, and if there was one thing an Apple never did it was leave a job unfinished. She, her family and her friends were going to kick this harvest in the tail, and sell every one of its perfect apples at the market for a nice profit—and that was an Apple family promise!

Applejack soon arrived at the farmhouse with her wagon full of apple-filled buckets. She noticed Big Mac and Braeburn leaning on the railing of the farmhouse porch with cold bottles of apple cider held in their forelegs. Granny Smith was rocking back and forth contently in her rocking chair behind them. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was slow, but somehow Applejack knew her grandmother wasn't asleep.

She parked her wagon in front of the porch (and the leaning stallions) and unhitched herself from the harness. Big Mac reached down into a cooler full of ice that was right next to his back hooves. He pulled out a bottle of cider and tossed it over the railing at his sister.

"Heads up!" Braeburn called to the farmer mare.

Applejack turned, and without hesitation snatched the bottle from out of the air in the crook of her hoof. She bit onto the bottle cap closing the bottle and pulled it off with her teeth. Applejack then happily began to chug her beverage, before removing it from her lips with a satisfied smile.

"Aaaaahhh~" She sighed in relief. She didn't normally like to see her family lounging about all at the same time, especially during a harvest, but for right now it didn't seem to bother her as much.

The farm went silent, only the sounds of the breeze rustling apple trees and birds singing could be heard amongst
the orchards. The Apples felt so content, they hoped the serene moment would last forever.

For what felt like an eternity, no pony felt like saying anything

...

Then suddenly, Big Mac spoke: "Eeyup."

"Eeyup." Braeburn added.

"Eeyup." Applejack continued.

"Mmmm-Hmmm." Granny Smith said, proving to everypony present that she was, in fact, not asleep.

...

"It's been a good harvest this year, ah tell ya what." Apple stated after another lengthy peaceful silence.

"Ah'll drink ta that." Braeburn greedily took another swig of his cider, nonalcoholic of course. Being drunk and kicking trees was a good way of getting a pony hurt, and the Apples had a schedule to keep.

Applejack turned towards her cousin and big brother. "How much of the orchards ya think we bucked clean so far?" She asked.

Braeburn shrugged. "Ask yer brother, he's the one who's good at all them fancy mathematics."

Big Mac only shook his head and smiled. It wasn't his fault he was the only member of his family who opted to pick up a book in his spare time.

With a chuckle, he answered Applejack's question. "Ah'd say we've harvested about 1/3 of the farm clean by now, and if Ah were ta estimate... Ah'd say if we keep at this pace, we'll have the rest of the farm done by tomorrow afternoon."

If Applejack's feeling of pride wasn't high already, it was definitely skyrocketing now. Nothing made the farmer mare happier then knowing a job was well-done. Especially, when that job is achieved by the combined teamwork and hard work of her own flesh and blood kin... and maybe a couple of her friends as well.

Brisk trotting could be heard coming from the far side of the farm house, the Apple family turned to address the noise.

A mare with a light blue coat and dark blue styled mane trotted into view out from behind the side of the house. She smiled upon seeing Applejack and quickly galloped over to greet the mare. Her cutie mark depicted a star with five diagonal music notes surrounding it.

"Applejack your back!" The mare squealed. She hugged the farmer mare with a strength that only the bestest of friends could provide. "It feels like I haven't seen you all day!"

Applejack returned the mare's hug and smiled. "That's probably because we haven't seen each other all day, Rara."

The mare chuckled. She back up, then quirked her eyebrow upon noticing two fillies missing from her friend's entourage. "Where's Applebloom and Babs Seed?"

"Their in the farmhouse." Braeburn answered. "Applebloom wanted to show Babs some apple core dolls she made last week."

Rara shifted her head to look around the mare, and noticed the large wagon of apple buckets she had been towing. "I see you've only come back to give me more work to do." She stated with a smirk.

"And Ah appreciate every apple you check for quality, Rara." Applejack threw back just as playfully.

Rara released a mock sigh and placed a hoof on her head dramatically. "Does a hardworking mare ever get a break?!~"

"Ah still can't believe I'm workin' a harvest alongside the Countess Coloratura." Braeburn said after another quick sip of cider. "Ah swear, the stallions back home are never gonna believe this."

"Eenope." Big Mac agreed.

Coloratura turned back towards Applejack and began trotting towards the wagon. She hitched herself up in the wagons harness and began trotting back the way she came. "I'll go check these apples out real quick, and be back to share cider with you when I'm done."

"Thanks Rara. Ah really do appreciate ya taking time off of yer tour to help us out on the farm."

Coloratura smiled. "I'm happy to be of help, Applejack. Personally, I'm just glad to finally get away from the paparazzi. I swear sometimes, the life of a superstar is not what everypony thinks it is."

Applejack, Big Mac, Braeburn and Granny Smith all chuckled. "Ah'll take yer word for it." Applejack stated.

"APPLEJACK!!!" A sudden scream from inside one of the orchards caught everypony's attention. They all turned, and saw a pink blur galloping swiftly through the trees.

The blur was unrecognizable as it grew closer to the farmhouse. It stopped abruptly in front of Applejack without even a skid, even despite how fast it had been running. The blur turned out to be a pony, who was wildly gasping for breath.

"Big! (Gasp!)...Musical! (Gasp!)...Cider! (Gasp!)...Quick!"

"Pinkie!" Applejack grasped the pink pony on the shoulders and shook her lightly to calm her down. "Get a hold of yerself! Yer acting like the entire farm just caught fire."

Pinkie Pie was the only other pony besides Applejack herself that hadn't been called away by the magical map in Twilight's castle. She had been more then happy to help the Apple family harvest their apples when they asked. She believed it was some kind of obligation she had to fulfill, seeing as the Pie and Apple families were somehow related.

Pinkie Pie calmed herself and steadied her breathing until she was able to speak clearly again.

"Good, now what in the hay's got ya so riled up, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

Pinkie Pie took a few short breaths before answering in quick succession. "Those two meanie-mean sales-pony brothers just showed up at the front gate. I knew you wouldn't want to talk to them, so I told them to go away and that Applejack doesn't want to talk to your meanie-mean faces. But then they said they had something super important to say to you, so I came rushing to find you."

"Sales-pony brothers..." Applejack quickly nit her eyebrows in a fowl scowl. "Those two lyin' hucksters have a lot of nerve steppin' hoof on my family's farm again!" Applejack growled.

"Big Mac yer comin' with me. Ah may need ya to kick two ponies out on their tails. The rest of ya keep doin' what yer doin', this won't take long."

Big Macintosh placed his drink on the porch railing, before trotting down to meet with his sister. The other ponies present quickly returned to their work and leisure without question.

"Lead the way Pinkie." Applejack stated sternly.

"Okie-Dokie-Loki!~" Pinkie said cheerfully. She began bouncing away in the opposite direction with Applejack and Big Mac following closely behind.

In front of Sweet Apple Acers' front gate a strange contraption was parked. It was make of wood, glass and steel with large wheels and two steam engine-like smokestacks sticking out its back. The machine resembled a small locomotive and was painted a bright red to draw the eye. Two stallions were pacing worriedly in front of the machine, they had been waiting to talk with Applejack for an awfully long time.

"Here we are!~" A singsong voiced called out from the orchard. Pinkie Pie lead Applejack and Big Macintosh out onto the dirt road in front of Sweet Apple Acers.

"Wow, it really doesn't take that long to travel the acers in Sweet Apple Acers when you use a transition." Pinkie Pie stated offhandedly. "I'll need to remember that if I ever need to find you guys again in this story."

Applejack and Big Macintosh ignored their maybe cousin and instead opted to glare hatefully at the two stallions trespassing on their front yard. The stallions only smiled back, conveying a confidence only two hardened con-ponies could muster after years of success in their craft.

"Flim. Flam." Applejack addressed the two stallions. "What in the hay are ya doin' on our farm?"

"It's nice two see you too, Ms. Apple-Jaclyn. You too Mr. Macintosh." Flim addressed them with a sleazy smile.

"You'd better watch yerself mister!" Applejack warned. "Only the closest members of my family can use my full name, no pony else. Not even my closest friends have that privilege."

"Eeyup." Big Mac stood strong while backing up his little sister.

"So hostile, aren't they dear brother?" Flim turned towards his brother.

"Indeedly so, brother of mine." Flam answered. "But are idle threats really all you have to say to us, Ms. Applejack?"

"Oh, Ah have plenty ta say to the both of ya." Applejack stated. "Its just none of it is appropriate language ta say around Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie Pie's ears cocked upwards upon hearing her name. "Is this conversation going to turn into one of those talks where I need cover my ears and leave the room?" Pinkie questioned.

"Yer fine darlin', just stay where ya are." Applejack stated calmly.

"Okie-Dokie-Loki!~"

"Formalities aside, my brother and I are actually here to discuss a business proposition with you two and your lovely family." The brothers both smiled in a way that reminded Applejack of used cart sales-pony trying to trick a ignorant foal into buying a piece of junk wagon.

Despite her gut feeling telling her otherwise, she decided to at least hear the con-ponies out. "What ya peddlin' this time?" She asked unenthusiastically.

Flim quickly cut to the chase. "We would like to buy your farm."

The Apples were struck silent.

...

"You have five seconds to get off my property right now." Applejack's words were covered in venom, and she looked about ready to rip somepony's head off.

The brothers began to look worried. "Come now Applejack, you haven't even heard how much we're offering." Flim requested.

"Ya heard my sister, get goin'!" Big Macintosh looked down right sinister as he stood over the stallions in an attempt to look threatening. It worked, and the stallions slowly began to slink away, but they did not run.

"At least look at the check we brought!" Flam pleaded. "We made quite the mint before we were kicked out of the Las Pegasus hotel business, I assure you." He floated the written check over towards Applejack in the green glow of his magic. Applejack ripped the check out of the air with her teeth.

"Ah don't care if yer offering me all the treasure in Equestria! Ah am not-" Applejack quickly glanced at the check and felt her jaw drop. She did not realize so many zeros could fit on a scrap of paper, and those were most definitely commas and not decimal points she was seeing.

Applejack tore her gaze away from the check and its fowl temptation. She waded up the piece of paper and tossed it back at the stallions, who were still cowering under the imposing figure that was her big brother.

"We are not sellin' you Sweet Apples Acers!" Applejack stated with authority. "Now take yer oversized juicer and get yer swindlin' hindquarters off my family's property, before we decide ta toss you out ourselves with the juicer landin' on ya!"

The stallions look at each other, then at the mare and stallion scowling in their directions. The only pony who didn't seem to be consumed with hate right now was the pink one, who seemed to be sitting contently, abd humming some kind song to herself as she ignored what happened in front of her. The stallions slowly got back to their hooves and climbed onto their large parked contraption.

The stallions looked to have distraught faces, but that did little to cool Applejack's ire. In a last ditch effort Flim said to Applejack, "Please tell me you'll at least consider our offer?" He seemed to have a hint of hopefulness in his voice.

"Never!" Applejack shouted.

Flim and Flam blinked in surprise. Their frowns quickly deepened. "Then I expect bad tidings in your future, Ms. Applejack..." The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 shuttered to life as the stallions lit up their horns, they began chuffing away in the opposite direction. Flim looked back to finish his warning. "...For you, and your family."

His words didn't sound openly spiteful, but Applejack never-the-less took them as threat.

"Way to go Applejack!" Pinkie cheered. "You sent those meanie-mean pants away with your toughy-tough act!"

"Ya think they'll be back?" Big Macintosh asked.

"Ah do." Applejack answered. "Ah don't trust them snake-oil sidewinders. Ah'm sure they're up to somethin', they wouldn't be willin' to give up so many bits if they weren't."

Pinkie cocked an eyebrow quizzically. "How many bits were on that check anyway?"

Applejack answered quickly, practically ignoring Pinkie's question. "Doesn't matter! What does matter is that we keep our harvest safe from anythin' those two have planned. We need the income from Applebuck season to keep Sweet Apple Acers runnin', and Ah'm sure they already know that."

Applejack turned to Big Mac. "Ah want you and Braeburn patrollin' the orchards tonight, make sure those con-ponies don't get anywhere near our apples ifin' they come back. Me, Rara and Pinkie will take over in the early morning when the two of ya'll need yer shut eye. Ya'll understand the plan?" Applejack asked sternly.

Big Mac and Pinkie nodded to prove they understood. "Eeyup." They both said in unison.

Pinkie squeed quietly to herself. "Yay! I got to say the line!"

"Good." Applejack stated. "Then let's go tell the rest of the family."

"It is finally finished..."

"After many months of endless toiling in secret, the instrument of my revenge is finally complete!"

Deep in the Everfree forest, near the Castle of the Two Sisters, a strange new structure towered over the landscape. Its large and imposing form casted a long shadow over the already dimly lit forest.

The momentous structure stood as tall as a monolith and was made of black crystal and metal. Like a twisted dark version of the castle that towers in the Crystal Empire, the structure reveled in a regal yet menacing air. Large steel ramps climbed upwards toward the top of the imposing structure, with a large bolted iron hatch in its center and a small solitary window near its top.

Inside the highest room at the top of the tall tower, a wicked unicorn king cackled. "I've been waiting a long time for this moment, Deadwood. Soon, those who cost me my kingdom will learn the price for defying me!" The King spoke in a low and gravelly voice, like the growl of a lion. He sat upon a throne of solid obsidian crystal, carved to resemble an ornate and more regal style chair. Beside his throne a lone timberwolf sat. It obediently remained still as its master slowly and sinisterly stroked it head.

"They will soon learn to fear the wrath of King Sombra!" The unicorn king cackled maliciously.

It had taken him a long time and much hard work to reach this point. It had taken Sombra months to fully regenerate himself after his humiliating defeat back in the Crystal Empire, and ever longer to find the hiding place of the six mares who had beaten him. But now was the time for his revenge. His crystal tower was now fully constructed and his secret weapon was now fully operational. All that was left to do now was turn it on and watch the fireworks.

A wicked smile spread across the stallion's dark gray muzzle as he used his magic to activate a large crystal screen in front of his throne. An image flickered on the screen for a brief moment, before shifting into a clear view of Ponyville in front of the King. King Sombra snickered with fiendish glee. Using his magic, he levitated a small device from the floor that resembled a small speaker to an old phonograph, and moved it in front of his mouth. A long cable ran from the bottom of the device and into the crystalline floor below.

"Engineering! Activate the Blast-o-Matic and set its coordinates for the small mudpony village outside the forest." The King commanded into the speaker. "I want to see cottages burning within the next five minutes."

Using his magic, Sombra levitated another phonograph speaker-looking device from the floor and placed it over his ear. He heard one of his subordinates from engineering speaking to him from the other end of the line.

"Right away your Majesty!" Another growling and gravely voiced replied through the speaker.

Sombra leaned forward in his throne, anticipation for victory fully taking over his mind. He waited... his mood slowly shifted to irritation, when he noticed his weapon wasn't being pointed at Ponyville.

"Where is my weapon!" Sombra growled. He picked up his speaker. "Engineering! Why hasn't my doomsday weapon been armed!"

The same growling voice that replied before, whimpered as it addressed the King. "These controls are being finicky, your majesty." King Sombra growled in response. The engineer on the line suddenly had all the encouragement he needed to get the weapon working again.

"Don't worry I can fix!" The engineer shouted in a panic.

"Maybe if I..." (CLANK)(CLANK)(CLANK)(CLANG)

Sombra placed his face in his hooves as the sounds of banging metal began to subside. A sudden rumbling began to shake the crystal tower. Sombra's wicked smile returned and parted his lips as he turned to look at the crystal screen.

Outside the tower, the large bolted metal hatch slid open. A large gaping black hole now encompassed the center of the structure, the tower began to shake much more violently. A long cannon like device slid out of the gaping hole in the structure and held itself perpendicular to the tower. The weapon was made of wood, glass, crystal and steel, with multiple electrical and magical currents rushing through visible wires on its surface. A giant diamond shaped black crystal tipped the end of the device, with its sharpened tip pointed in the direction of Ponyville.

With bated breath, Sombra watched his machine. He excitedly waited for it to fire and destroy the small village outside the forest.

...

He waited...

...

...and he waited...

...

...until he couldn't stand waiting anymore.

In clear frustration, Sombra grasped his communicator in the crook of his hoof, nearly crushing it in pure rage. "My weapon isn't firing!" He shouted. "WHY ISN'T IT FIRING!!!" Deadwood the timberwolf, who had been obediently watching his master, was now hunkering down on the floor with his tail shivering between his legs. He cowered and slowly backed away from the clearly enraged stallion.

On the other end of the line, Sombra's engineer could be heard whimpering like a crying baby. "I'm sorry sire..." The engineer spoke with all the courage someone pleading for their life could give. He verbally gulped. "...I think...I think I broke something."

"AAARRRRRRRAAAAAAGGHH!!" King Sombra forcefully threw his communicator onto the floor, shattering it into a million sharp metal pieces. Deadwood immediately bolted out of the room. "FOOLS! I'M SURROUNDED BY FOOLS!!!" Sombra slammed his hoof on the armrest of his chair, cracking it slightly. The grey stallion seethed in frustration as his breathing slowly, but surely, returned to an even pace.

The King looked towards the still active crystal screen, it irritated him that the mudpony village was still standing and that he could still see it. Using his magic, he levitated a third phonograph looking speaker from the floor and moved it in front of his mouth. (The unicorn king had a tendency to break a lot of his own equipment, especially the minions he found to be incompetent.)

He spoke into the communicator. "I want everyone who has even a semblance of understanding for this device to start repairing it immediately!" He threatened. "If the Blast-o-Matic is not fully operational by tomorrow afternoon, heads will roll! Starting with your Engineer!"

The voice on the communicator stuttered in response, the engineer was clearly now aware of the price of failure. "We'll get it fixed your Majesty. I promise!"

The unicorn sighed and placed the communicator on the arm of his chair. He turned towards the screen. "Delays...Delays..." He tapped his hoof lividly on his throne's armrest. "This may prove troublesome to my plan." He mumbled to himself.

Using his magic, the screen began shifting through different images of different locations around Ponyville.

Back while his tower was being constructed, Sombra had been taking the opportunity to spy on his enemies during his free time. He wanted to make sure none of those six mares, or even their baby dragon, caught wise to his plan before it was too late to stop him. Using his magic and a crude disguise (it is amazing how many ponies a sombrero and fake mustache can fool), the king had grown around Ponyville, as well as much of the surrounding area, tiny black crystals that he could use as cameras for his giant crystal screen.

Flicking through the different images on the screen, he quickly found there was no sign of any of the mares. The clothing mare's shop was closed; The rainbow pegasus was not in the sky; the animal care-giver was not in her cottage; and the young alicorn and her dragon were missing from her castle. The only mares of the six he could find were the country mare and the pink one... and they seemed completely preoccupied picking useless fruit. Almost like it was the most important mission they'd ever have to accomplish.

King Sombra's eyes widened suddenly. He began to cackle.

The two may have been lowly mudponies, but heroes never-the-less always proved to be thorns in the King's side. They weren't worth his time exterminating, but perhaps distracting them could prove just as entertaining. He did need to get them out of the way after all.

"GUARDS!!!!" Sombra shouted. His voice echoed loudly through the tower's many corridors.

The pounding of multiple paws against the crystal floor soon drew Sombra's attention. He turned towards the corridor that led to out of his throne room.

Two large canine-like creatures where rushing down the hallway. They resembled bulldogs in appearance, but had bodies more similar to a gorilla or ape. They wore two different color vests, the larger more muscular dog a grey vest, and the leaner more wiry dog a red. They stopped right in the throne room's doorway and gave the King a respectful salute.

"Rover!"

"..and Fido!"

The two dogs spoke one after the other as more pounding resounded from the hallway behind them.

"Wait! I'm coming! I'm coming!"

A smaller bulldog-like creature was running down the hallway franticly.

"SpoOOAAAAGGH!!"

The smaller dog slipped on the slick crystalline floor and plowed into the backs of the other two dogs in front of him. They all fell face forward into the ground and began sliding across the floor.

"AAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!" (CRASH!!!!)

The three dogs crashed head first into the back of King Sombra's thick, and very hard, crystal throne. Sombra placed a hoof on his brow in a very clear irritated expression.

The dogs suddenly stood up to their full height and saluted again, this time with much more noticeably flattened faces.

"Diamond Dogs reporting for duty!" They exclaimed in unison. The little dog spit out a tooth as he spoke.

Sombra stared flatly at the three diamond dogs standing before him. They were supposed to be the smartest dogs in their pack. In fact, they had been the leaders of their pack before Sombra had came along and subjugated them—and it was that truth alone that made Sombra question everything he knew about natural selection. Never-the-less, despite their stupidity, the diamond dogs still had their fair share of uses—namely as distractions.

"I have a mission for you three!" Sombra ordered. Turning his head he pointed towards the screen. The image on screen flickered until it showed a pleasant view of a roaming orchard of unpicked apple trees.

The smallest dog, Spot, tilted his head in confusion. "You want us to go grocery shopping?"

Sombra growled. "NO YOU IDIOT!" He shouted. The dogs huddled together in fear.

"I want you to steal every last apple from these fields. You are going to do everything in your power to keep the farmer that owns them distracted, at least until the Blast-o-Matic is fixed." He turned to give the three dogs an evil glare. "This time I want no mistakes!"

The dogs suddenly began smirking sinisterly. "Don't worry your excellency." The dog in the red vest, Rover, replied. "We'll grab every dog available and steal all the farmer pony's fruit before she even wakes up in the morning." The other two dogs cackled wickedly in agreement.

"I hope, for YOUR sake, you're right this time." Sombra turned back towards the screen as the diamond dogs ushered themselves out.

The king quickly lit his horn and the screen shifted to another image. One of Applejack busily bucking away at a tree.

King Sombra smirked triumphantly. "While you and your friend are be busy looking for your precious produce, I'LL be preparing my special crystal-flavored surprise."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"