The Apple Family Trio were out working the fields, bucking the fruits off of their trees. It was almost dark out, so they were trying to finish up quickly. Star slammed another tree, the apples falling down into the bucket with ease. He picked up the bucket, now making it 5 on his back. The white earth pony barely broke a sweat as he carried the baskets back to the barn.

Big Mac watched his younger brother walk casually off with the heavy load. He looked a little green with envy. He was supposed to be the stronger, older brother. Now his younger kin was showing him up.

“Y'all okay there Big Mac?” Applejack asked, seeing the look on his face. The red pony didn't say anything, he just bucked the next tree, then collected the bucket. “Big Mac, you're not jealous of Star are ya?” She continued. He sighed, he hated being jealous. But he couldn't help it. It was his Apple Family pride, they all had it. Star was just better at controlling it, except that one time. The one time that changed it all. “Big Mac.” Applejack growled slightly. She got worried, because she saw her older brother struggling to carry 6 full buckets. “Don't do it.”

He sighed again. He picked up the last bucket. He suddenly felt the weight on his spine. He tried to hold firm, for a moment he thought he won. There was a sudden crack and he collapsed with a cry of pain. “Big Mac!”

Star Phantom in:

Apple Pride

Now in Amazing Apple-Vision

It was a week later. Big Mac stood on a hill overlooking the Acres with his sister Applejack by his side. Star was dealing with another ghost at the moment, the Box Ghost AGAIN! His entire waist was wrapped in bandages. It held his bones in place, enough for him to walk, but not enough to buck and carry heavy loads. This meant that AJ and Star would be doing on their own, and that’s not counting when his little brother would have to go and fight another ghost.

“Now don’t y'all worry ‘bout a thang, big brother.” AJ said confidently. “Ah can take care of everthin’ no problem.” Big Mac wasn’t so sure, he knew that Apple Family Pride could always cloud better judgement, especially Applejack.

“Ah know ya can, but one pony plus hundreds of apples just doesn’t add up.” He argued. He knew it was futile, but what kind of brother would he be if he didn’t try.

“Now don’t y'all start usin’ those fancy mathematics!” AJ shouted, getting angry now. How dare her brother question her strength and endurance. She can handle anything thrown at her. “Ah can handle this no problem or mah name ain’t Applejack!” She elbowed Big Mac in the sides. His eyes widened in pain, then narrowed at her. She laughed nervously. “Whoops, sorry.” Big Mac just sighed and walked away. AJ walked into the field grumbling to herself. “Big Mac never gives these kinds of talks tah Star, ah just wish ah had the chance tah prove myself.” She started bucking the apples, not noticing a mysterious fog appear on the ground.

“So you have wished it, so shall it be.” The fog disappeared as quickly as it appeared, leaving a glowing Applejack to buck her trees.

Not far off, on the other side of town, Star was fighting the Box Ghost for the upteenth time! He sent the annoying ghost backflipping into the fields with a hard uppercut to the jaw. The ghost slammed hard into the ground. He groaned as he got up, stars twinkling in his vision. He blinked and shook them away, revealing an entire herd of cows. The cows looked fearfully at him, he responded with awkward silence.

“Beware!” He shouted before flying away. His would be hauntees just stared at him, unamused. “Oh come on!” He shouted. “Fear me just this once!” He didn’t notice the ghostly fog appear under him.

“Eh, might as well take advantage of this idiot.” The fog started to take a shape in front of the herd. The form grew more detail, starting with the basic shape, then the skin texture, and finally the hissing sound. The fog took the form of… a snake! It hissed loudly, baring it’s fangs. The cows started to panic and stampede across the open plains.

Star blasted the Box Ghost with a ecto-ray, which disoriented him long enough to get sucked into the thermos. The half-ghost wiped his hoofs and was about to leave when he heard the rumbling. He looked down to see a huge cloud of dust rising into the air. He swore he could hear mooing in the dust. “Wait a minute.” He said. “Moving cloud of dust, mooing, starting after the Box Ghost shouts Beware?” His eyes widened. “A stampede…” His heart took a sudden vacation from his chest when he saw the stampede “Heading towards Ponyville!” He dove down to the ground, getting level with the panicking herd.

He flew up to the front cow. “Hey!” He called. “You know the Running of the Leaves isn’t for a few weeks right?!” The cow looked at him, confused. She started to slow down when the snake appeared in front of her.

“Ah, not until we get away from the snake, don’t ya know!” The stampede picked up speed. Star looked at her confused.

“What snake?!”

His thoughts were broken by a loud “Yeehaw!” He turned around to see Applejack and their dog Winona charging down from a nearby hill. Her body was glowing brightly. She ran past Star at en extremely high speed. Star stopped to watch.

“Wait, AJ?” He stared, completely dumbstruck. His twin caught up to the lead cow, throwing the lasso around her horn. She started pulling it, playing tug of war with the cow. The cow was winning, to say the least.

While the stampede was losing speed, it wouldn't be enough to stop before reaching the town. Star flew overhead toward the front. He aimed his hoof at the ground in front of them, an ecto-blast glowing in preparation. “Please work.” He muttered before firing a long beam ahead of the herd, scaring them. They turned to avoid getting hit or falling in the trench left behind. Of course, they turned in the direction that AJ was pulling them.

I gotcha now! She thought as the group came to a sudden stop. Once the herd came to a halt, Applejack spat out the rope in her mouth. “Phew, y’all ok there Bessie?”

The cow mooed before clearing her throat. “Oh yes, we're fine AJ.” She said. “We just saw a snake and you know how we get.”

AJ laughed. “Okay then, y’all be careful now.”

“We will, goodbye AJ, goodbye Inviso-bill.” With that, the herd headed back to their pasture. AJ turned around to see Star floating behind her, his front hooves crossed and his eyebrow raised.

“Hey Star, when did you get here?” She asked innocently.

“Oh you know, since the beginning of the stampede.” He said sarcastically.

“Wait, you were?” AJ asked. “Why didn't ya help me?!”

“Help you? I saved you!” He shouted. He landed on the ground, transforming back into his pony form. “You could've killed yourself with that stunt.”

AJ scowled. “Stunt, ya think ah did that fer fun?”

“Sure looked like it.” He said. “Worse yet, you almost destroyed the town. That stampede wasn't gonna stop AJ. They were too spooked.” Star sighed.

“I'm gonna make sure the cows are okay, maybe find that snake that scared them so much.” He said with a face that said we'll talk later. He transformed back into a ghost and was about to fly off when AJ bit on his tail. She yanked him back in front of her.

“Now wait just a corn pickin’ minute.” She snapped. “Ah did my best and ah almost did it. If y'all hadn't interrupted me, ah woulda stopped the stampede.” The angry mare got right into his face. “Y'all are just jealous.”

“Me, jealous?” Star raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Why would I be jealous, there's nothing to be jealous about.”

Both twins were silent for a minute before Star flew off, fuming. AJ just stood there, glaring at the empty space in front of her. “Dang it Star, I'll give him somethin’ tah be jealous about.” She growled before storming back off toward Sweet Apple Acres. She didn't notice her body glowing again.

It was a little bit later at the marketplace. Star was handling the apple cart. It was a pretty slow day, since most of the town was busy setting up for AJ’s award party. He hadn't spoken to her since their argument and the air between them was thick. AJ started working around the clock in the fields, anytime Granny or Applebloom asked her to take a little break, she would say “ Consarnit, ah need tah finish this up.” Star noticed how aggressive she's been getting lately too.

Normally, she would never snap at Granny or Bloom. Something was wrong, this wasn't Apple Pride, it was something worse.

Not far off, near the town fountain. A stallion that looked down on his luck pulled out a bit. “I wish I had a million bits.” He flipped the coin into the fountain. The water around it started to bubble and turn into steam. The steam grew thicker and became a dense fog. The fog formed around the stallion.

“So you have wished it, so shall it be.” A voice said.

Star gasped as cold air escaped his lips. He ducked behind the cart, transformed, and flew off. He flew toward the fountain where he saw the fog. He quickly grabbed the stallion and pulled him out. “Hey, what are you-” There was a low growl, the growl of a predator.

The fog took a different form. The top started to morph into the shape of a pony but the lower part remained a twisted cone shape. In a flash, the fog became a young mare with green fur, a black mane, and a gypsy outfit. Her eyes opened to reveal their blood red color. She glared at the half ghost in front of her.

“No amount of money's worth this!” The stallion ran, but he later informed everypony that he was NOT crying like a foal as he did.

“Fool, how dare you interfere with my wishing?!” She bellowed. Star had to cover his ears before he lost them.

“Call me a foal, but my Granny told me to never trust strangers that offer free stuff.” He quipped. “And you're the strangest pony I've met so far.” She roared before firing an ecto blast at him. It struck him right in the chest, sending him flying into the fountain.

“If that is the case, then let us become acquainted.” The mare said as she floated above Star. “I am Desiree, I grant any wish I hear.” She looked at him seductively. “Any wish.”

Um… ew. He thought before getting back up. “Okay then.” He muttered. “Hi, I'm Star…. Phantom.” I actually kind of like that one. “Now if you could just leave… please, that would be great.”

Desiree laughed loudly. “Not as long as there is a single pony with a wish.” Her body glowed as she suddenly got a little bigger. “And there are so many wonderful wishes.” She turned in smoke and disappeared into the water. Star tried to stop her, but it was too late.

“Darn it.” He changed back and stood up. “She got away.” He stepped out of the fountain and walked back to the cart, dripping wet.

It was almost sundown when Star came back to the Acres, tired and angry. First the ghost, then a sudden rush at the market, followed by a giant cotton candy monster that he had to fight. In other words, today sucked.

Let's just have dinner and go to bed. He thought as he walked down the path through the acres. He loved to do that sort of thing after a bad day, it usually helps his mood. What he saw certainly didn't.

AJ was still bucking trees. She hit them in a way that Star could tell was sloppy. She missed every third kick, and even when she did hit it, there wasn't enough force to knock all the apples down, which made the process longer. He sighed, then started walking over to see his sister, who just fell on her flank after missing another tree. She looked almost dead, not even acknowledging him as he stood next to her.

“AJ.” She snapped right awake. “Come on, it's getting late.

“No.” She yawned. “Ah’m fine.” The orange mare slurred as she attempted to get up.

“AJ, you're a mess.” Star grabbed her foreleg. “Come on, you're going to bed.”

She whipped his hoof away. “Ah said ah’m fine Star!” She glared daggers at him. He flinched back in shock. “Now, unlike you, ah have work tah finish.” AJ growled as she walked.

“AJ, please.” Star walked in front of her. “You need to relax, let me finish up this lot-”

“No!” AJ bellowed. “Ah don't need your help, if ah let y’all work, ya’ll just go and fight a ghost like ya always do!” Star immediately registered what she said and felt guilty.

“AJ, I'm sorry-”

“Sorry's not good enough, we need ya tah be here, maybe if ya didn't have yur powers, we wouldn't have this problem.” AJ said, looking him dead in the eye. “Maybe then Big Mac wouldn't have broken his bones if he didn't try tah beat ya!”

“He… he what?” Star asked feebly.

“He was jealous of yur powers.” She looked away. “So am ah.”

There was dead silence. “Just leave me alone.” With that, AJ walked away, leaving her twin behind.

Star stared into space for what felt like forever, until he finally organized his thoughts. “I need to talk to Big Mac.” He ran through the orchard toward the house.

His older brother sat there on the porch, looking at nothing. “Big Mac!” He blinked twice and looked at Star as he ran up from the treeline. “I need to talk to you!” BIg Mac sighed, he knew exactly what this was about. He motioned for Star to sit next to him on the porch, which he did so.

“Big Mac, did you break your back cause you're jealous of me?” Star said bluntly.

Big Mac sighed, “Eeyup.” He looked down at the floor.

“I'm sorry.” Star said. Big Mac’s head shot right up. He did not expect that.

“Why are you sorry?” He asked.

Star sighed, then looked away. “If I hadn't tried that stupid spell, none of this would've happened.” He looked back. “We would still be normal, I would still be normal.” His eyes started to water. “I just wanted to see Ma and Pa again so badly. I thought I was smart enough to figure it out. Turns out all I had was Apple Pride.”

Big Mac wrapped his front hooves around his little brother and leaned forward. “We all did Star, it wasn't your fault, never think it was.” Star took a few deep breaths and broke the hug.

“Thanks Big Mac, I'll do my best tah fix this, and I promise to make more time whenever I can.” Both stallions smiled, then frowned when they thought about AJ. “We have to help her, she's going tah collapse at this rate.”

“Eeyup.”

Star thought about what to do, then he remembered Desiree. “I have to deal with that ghost too.” He then got an idea. “Maybe I can kill two birds with one stone.”

It was next morning in Ponyville, and it could not be a worse day. Dozens of ponies ended up in the hospital for food poisoning, Rainbow Dash ended up in Twilight’s tree, and to top it all off, a horde of bunnies stampeded through town. All incidents had one thing in common, Applejack was the cause. Star witnessed the destruction with a calm demeanour as he walked up to the fountain that was somehow not destroyed in the bunny stampede. He pulled out a bit, through it in, and made his wish. “I wish Desiree would appear before me.” There was a few seconds of silence before steam rose from the water.

“So you have wished it, so shall it be.” The voice of Desiree echoed from the thickening smoke. In a flash, the wishing ghost appeared before Star, striking a rather sexy pose. Ew. “What is your wish?”

“I wish for you to turn everything back to normal.” Star said with determination. “Fix the town, and give my sister a break.”

Desiree laughed. “I can fix the town and turn everything back to normal, but your sister Applejack, she's the one that chose to work, I merely provided opportunities.” She explained. In a flash, the town was fixed and all the weird things that occurred over the past couple of days was erased. “Now, to make up for the last wish, what do you desire?”

Star smiled, “I wish you would go into the thermos!”

“So you have wished it, so shall it-” She never got to finish as she was sucked right into the thermos. “Wait, why did I grant that?” Star closed the lid in satisfaction.

“Now time tah talk to AJ.”

Star flew through the fields, looking for any signs of Applejack. Nothing, all the trees still had apples. With the way she was working, she could be anywhere. “Guess I'll have to do this on hoof.” He landed in a bush and quickly transformed. Star quickly looked around to make sure he wasn't seen by Granny or Bloom. All clear, so he kept up his search.

It didn't take long to find his sister then. She was right there. Hanging in the air by the cart she was supposed to pulling. Normally, the half-ghost would ask how she managed to do that, but then remembered who she was, Applejack always managed to do something like this when she was tired.

Star calmly walked up to the sleeping mare and sighed. He grabbed the cart and gently set it down right, then detached AJ and carried her inside.

Applejack groaned as she woke up. She blinked a few times to get the spots out of her eyes. Once they were gone, AJ got a good look at her roof. Wait, the roof?! She shot straight up. “The fields!”

“Are being taken care of.” An elderly voice finished for her. Applejack looked to see Granny Smith sitting in her rocking chair next to the bed.

“Granny?” AJ blinked again. “What happened?”

“Yur brother found ya passed out in the fields, he brought ya inside and took ovur.” The orange mare raised an eyebrow, then her eyes widened. Granny started to get up and walk toward the door. “Glad tah see y'all finally get some rest. Now stay in bed, Big Mac is outside, said he wanted tah say a few words to ya, once ya woke up.” With that, she left the room and was replaced by Big Mac a few seconds later.

The red stallion closed the door and stood there. There was an awkward silence that lasted for a few seconds. “Ah said some horrible things, didn't ah.” AJ questioned, though it sounded a bit more like a statement.

“Eeyup.”

AJ didn't even look at her older brother. “Ah need tah apologize too.”

“Eeyup.” Big Mac walked over toward the bed. “But that can wait, ya need more rest. Star is still in the North Field.” He explained. AJ nodded, then went back to sleep.

Star, in his officially dubbed Phantom Form, sat on a branch after finishing the last trees in the North Fields. He pulled out the apple he kept for a snack and took a huge bite out of it. He smiled in satisfaction, nothing can beat Apple Family apples when it comes to quality taste.

What Star didn't know was that he was being watched. Not far away, a pair of binoculars could be seen appearing out of a bush. Twilight pulled out her quill and notepad and jotted down some notes. Strange, my books on spirits say they only feed on the fear and misery of ponies and lack any taste for actual food, so why does Inviso-Bill seem to enjoy the taste of the apple?

The more she tried to figure it out, the more this spirit confused her. It didn't behave like any other spirit besides the fact that it was territorial and had a huge presence of dark magic. Maybe she would find out when she dissects it. With that thought in mind, Twilight pulled out her prototype Anti-Ghost magic blaster, Why do I have the urge to name it something with the word Sparkle in it?, and aimed at Inviso-Bill. She steadied her breathing and was about to pull the trigger when the spirit gasped, groaned, then flew off into the night sky.

Twilight sighed, then noted down the event. She teleported back to the library and decided to call it a night.

Author's Note

All, is as it should be. Sorry this took so long guys, just had to finish up papers, but now Winter Break is here and I can get some work done. I'll hopefully have the next chapter done a whole lot sooner. Until then, BEWARE!!!!