An Apple Sleep Experiment

When Lyra regained her consciousness, she found she had been restrained to what felt like an old stump or a tree.. Her front hooves were secured above her head by something sharp and when she tried to move them it sent searing pain along her hooves and a fresh trail of blood that trickled onto her brow. Her heart started beating faster and her breaths became hard and labored, her torso was crushed against the apple tree in what she assumed to be rope, limiting the use of her lungs. Slowly, Lyra’s senses began to intake her surroundings. A rancid odor of death and decay grew with every labored breath. She thrashed her head back and forth trying to avoid the trail of blood from her hooves getting in her eyes. It took several minutes for the immense headache and blurred vision to ease enough for her to see where she was. At first, she could only make out trees and a sunset. She guessed that she was in some part of the Apple family orchard that had been long forgotten as evidenced by the mangled, overgrown branches and the piles of dried leaves littering the ground around them. As her vision progressed, she realized that the strange lumps on the trees weren’t branches and the piles below them weren’t leaves. She closed her eyes tightly, her mind putting the pieces together as her other senses were violated by her current reality. On her next intake of the rancid odor her eyes flew open and she let out an ear-piercing scream of terror. The remains of the missing ponies of Ponyville had been the objects she’d seen in her haze, or rather, what was left of them. Gardening tools and worn rope adorned the apple tree trunks, holding only sparse pieces of the ponies they had once held in place. The rest of said ponies laid in misshapen heaps at the base of the trees: bones, entrails, and colorful coats now stained crimson with the odor of their death carried in the breeze. The tree directly adjacent to Lyra’s showed a worn and bloodied hoe had been sharpened and slammed into the tree trunk. Resting atop the blade was the head of Bon Bon, the terror still stamped clearly on her face from her final moments of life. The rest of Bon Bon’s body had not been completely severe by the hoe, her spine was exposed from the neck and her broken body hung awkwardly around it.

Lyra sobbed openly, too traumatized to understand what was happening or how to get herself out of harm’s way.

“Look who finally decided to join us.” Applejack whispered.

“A-applejack?” Lyra gasped in relief. “Thank Celestia, hurry get me down from--“

Applejack effectively silenced her when she lassoed a rope around Lyra’s neck and pulled it tight; effectively choking her words.

“Taint very nice ya know.” She said, staring at her with unforgiving eyes. “Every time Ah try to talk some sense into ya, ya refuse to listen. Ya up and die, ya see?”

Lyra sputtered and gagged, still trying to process what she’d seen and connect the carnage to a pony she had once called a friend.

“But Ah keep bringing ya back. Ah know how you rich ponies are… think yer so much better than us country ponies. So much cleverer… every time you try and hide ah find ya, don’t ah?”

“Applejack…” Lyra groaned in a voice barely above a whisper. “I’m… not…”

“SHUT YER TRAP!” Applejack screamed, slamming a shovel against the unicorn’s head so violently that it caused the skull to fracture. “You had yer chance to speak. It’s mah turn. We Apples have been on this farm for nearly four generations. Why… we founded this town. If my granny hadn’t…” Lyra whimpered weakly in confusion, Until that point she hadn’t made a sound. AH SAID SHUT UP!”

“IT’S RUDE! Where was ah… oh yeah, and then Pinkie Pie was handing ‘em out like they were free samples. Wait, no… it was Rarity…” Applejack muttered under her breath. “And then Fluttershy wanted to gather ‘em up like they was tame critters and Ah weren’t gonna have none of it, y-ya hear!?”

Lyra was hyperventilating at this point, using all of her strength to catch her breath under the grip of the rope.

“Who are you?” Applejack snapped. “What are you doing here?! These here are MAH apple trees! Who sent you?”

Lyra could only reply by looking Applejack in the eye, trying to convey her plea for mercy.

“HE sent you, didn’t he? He wants the farm… yer a spy!” Applejack screamed angrily. She released the rope from under her hoof allowing Lyra to breathe again. She gasped for several moments, grateful for the oxygen she had been denied. She didn’t notice Applejack’s momentary absence until it was too late. Applejack screamed and thrust the shovel in the mare’s side, slicing it open on contact.

“We don’t take kindly to spies ‘round here.” Applejack whispered. She pulled the shovel loose and stared at the fresh blood in its blade. “You can tell yer boss Filthy Rich he aint gettin’ this farm…”

“Please…” Lyra gasped moments before the shovel punctured her skin a second time. She cried out in weak agony, feeling her warm blood seep into her lungs rapidly.

“Ah’ve worked too hard for too long to let some city pony with deep pockets take…” Applejack started but was cut off when Lyra coughed up blood and accidentally spat it on her face. Applejack breathed slowly, allowing the anger to come to a boil. She screamed again and thrust the shovel at the mare every time she dared to splash her with blood. By the time she had finished, Lyra barely looked like a mare at all, just the loose-hanging remains of a demolished creature.

“Filthy?” Applejack asked, looking at Lyra’s remains and then all around her. “Got away again…” she hissed under her breath. “Don’t you worry… Ah’ll find ya… Ah’ll keep findin’ ya. Can’t hide forever ya coward.” she said, pulling the garden sheers loose from the hooves it held in place against the trunk. Lyra’s remains sloshed awkwardly onto the ground, freeing the rope that had been tied around her torso. Applejack’s movements were slow and deliberate, aside from the occasional twitch. Determined to find and punish Filthy Rich for his crimes, she left her little corner of the orchard in pursuit; unaware that his remains had already painted the orchard floor red from Applejack’s rage.