What in the name of Celestia?!
Applejack was tried. She was unsure what was causing this as she always woke early in the morning and she hadn't gone to sleep any later than normal. Yet today she was reluctant to open her eyes. It felt as though her eyelids weighed a thousand pounds as she attempted to force them open. Applejack was nothing if not stubborn however and as such she eventually opened her eyes.
Applejack heard a loud scream which she realized moments later was her own. She felt white-hot pain searing her eyes and quickly shut them. She heard the sound of two sets of hooves, one set large and the other small, coming up the hall. Next there was the sound of her bedroom door slamming and voice of Applebloom.
"Applejack are you ok-" The sudden silence scared Applejack more than anything Applebloom could have said.
"I can't open my eyes. Big Mac can you pull the curtains over the window?"
"Yep."
Applejack sat for a few seconds as she heard Big Mac do exactly that. Slowly she opened her eyes. The sight she was met with did nothing to soothe her fears. Her siblings stood before her looking confused, worried, and somewhat terrified.
"Okay what in the name of Celestia is going on?"
The two looked at each other nervously. "Well-" Applebloom began.
"It's better if you see fer yourself." Big Mac finished gesturing towards the bathroom down the hall.
Filled with trepidation Applejack began her walk down the hall. She knew it wasn't a long walk yet each step felt like it took an eternity and yet somehow went by too fast at the same time. Eventually she stood upon the threshold. Entering that room was hardest thing she'd ever done.
As she looked in the mirror Applejack felt her heart pound. No this wasn't possible, it had to be a dream, a nightmare. She could not accept the sight before her. She had long ears made for echolocation, fleshy wings like those of a member of Luna's guard, and worst of all, sharp fangs meant for sucking the life out of fresh produce.
On the outside Applejack stood frozen but internally she was having a break down.
'Don't panic there has to be an explanation.'
'An explanation! I'm an applerottin' vampire bat pony!'
'Panicking ain't gonna help no pony.'
'How in the hay did this happen!'
'I don't know but I ain't gonna find out if I don't try an' problem solve.'
The only other time she'd seen this was when Fluttershy had undergone that transformation a few days ago. That was because of a spell so maybe it was the same here? She needed to talk to Twilight... after she got a cloak on to block the light.
She went to her closet pulling out a dark green cloak with a red jeweled fastening shaped like an apple. It had been a gift from Rarity and Twilight after they found out about her late night deliveries. Rarity had made the cloak and Twilight had enchanted the jewel to glow in the dark. Normally she only used it for those late night trips but it would work just as well here. She looked at her hat sadly. Her ears were too big for it now.
Minutes later she found herself knocking on the door to the ponyville library. She waited anxiously. She hoped Twilight was home. A wave of relief fell over her as the door opened.
"Applejack what a nice surprise! Come on in!"
As she entered Twilight looked at her quizzically "What's with the cloak?"
She sighed. "Twilight I need to discuss somethin' with ya. First could ya shut the curtain?"
Twilight looked confused but she obliged. "What this about?" She said her excited tone replaced with worry.
Applejack stared at her hooves. "Ya have to Pinkie swear ya won't freak out."
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. Now what's this about?"
Slowly Applejack removed her hood letting her face be seen. Twilight stared, her mouth open. Her heart sank at the sight. She had hoped Twilight would have an idea of how this happened. From her reaction it seemed this was not the case.
"I woke up like this nearly blinded myself too. I thought maybe it was a spell or somethin'"
Twilight broke from her revelry. "Applejack if this is the result of a spell we have a powerful unicorn on our hooves. I couldn't do this."
"But ya did it to Fluttershy on accident how is this different?" Applejack questioned.
"Fluttershy was already a Pegasus so she had all the body parts a vampire bat pony does. You are- well were an earth pony. Whatever caused this had to change your physiological structure drastically."
She blinked. "Can you say that in ponish?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "You don't have wings Applejack. Your skeleton wasn't initially built with wings in mind so a lot would have to change in order for this to happen.
"So what yer sayin' is ya can't help?"
"No I'm just saying it might take a while. In the meantime you should go home and sleep. Your current form is nocturnal after all."
Applejack sighed. "I'll try Twilight these wings are really bugging me."
Twilight smiled "I know the feeling."
At home she tried to sleep. This was nigh on impossible however, as her brain filled with worries. The orchard was still recovering from Fluttershy's rampage. What if she had a similar outbreak? This in mind she got out of bed and locked the door. Feeling a bit better Applejack closed her eyes.
Applejack moaned as she regained conciousness. Her head hadn't hurt this much since she drank day old cider. Now that was a mistake. She frowned as she felt a light breeze. She didn't remember leaving the window open.
Slowly she opened her eyes, relived when she saw the curtains were closed. The last thing she needed was to fry her eyeballs. Her relief was short-lived as she saw broken glass on the floor. She must have broken the window. Fear filled her very core. What else had she done last night?
Swiftly she put on her cloak, unlocked the door and ran outside. Her fears were realized as she stared at the orchard. Hundreds of apple corpses littered the ground around her. Months of hard work had been reduced to nothing in the span of a night.
'I have ta talk to Twilight.'
She galloped over to the library apologizing to the numerous ponies she hit with her wings. She knocked on the door. Normally Applejack was a patient pony but today seconds felt like hours as she waited for Twilight to answer.
"Applejack are you alright?" Twilight asked, concerned.
"No, Twilight do ya have any leads on what could be causing this?"
"I'm afraid not but I was going to head over to Zecora's. You can come with me with you like."
Well it wasn't like she had anything to lose.
Zecora nodded as she finished her tale. "This is strange that much is true, for such a thing to happen to you."
"Do you know what could have caused this?" Twilight hoped.
"Though my knowledge is quite vast, I am afraid your journey lasts."
"So you don't know either..."
Applejack knew if she stayed at the farmhouse she was likely to ravage the crops again. This in mind she asked. "Zecora can I stay here tonight?"
The zebra was surprised. At least Applejack thought she was. Zecora was often hard to read."Let me see if I've got this right, you wish to sleep in my hut tonight?"
Applejack nodded seriously. "Last night I-I' She could hardly get the words out. "I destroyed a large part of my orchard..."
Twilight's eyes widened in realization. "You're a vampire bat pony near an orchard of apples. I'm sorry Applejack if I had realized you were going to-" She trailed off.
"It's my fault too. Anyway if I stay here as far away from my fields as possible maybe..."
Zecora looked at her understandingly. " I have a spare cot in the back, You're welcome to stay dear Applejack."
Applejack yawned. "Then I guess I'll get some sleep then."
Twilight looked at her determination in her eyes. "I'll keep looking for the cause. I promise we'll figure things out."
The next morning Applejack woke. Once again she did not remember what happened last night. She remembered going to sleep and then nothing. As she opened her eyes she was glad to find she had kept the cloak on. Thank Celestia considering Zecora didn't have curtains. As she moved to get up she noticed Zecora staring at her seeming upset. Applejack felt her heart freeze.
"What happened Zecora?" She asked nervously.
"I am sorry Applejack, but I could not stop your attack."
It felt like someone had taken a knife to her heart. She had to see the damage. Even if she didn't want to.
What Applejack saw hurt her soul. Apples, hundreds of apples on the ground, each one brittle,dry, dead. The skeletal remains of her trees loomed over her. Why would you do this? They seemed to ask. We thought you loved us. They seemed to cry.
Applejack was not very emotional outwardly. At least not compared to the residents of ponyville. She kept her feelings to herself not wanting bother the others. She was the rock of her band of friends, the one you leaned on when you needed somepony grounded. At the sight of such destruction she began to cry not a tear or two as she often did but a slow and steady trickle.
It had rained last night she noted. It seemed to her that heavens themselves had cried out in despair of her actions. Of course she knew this was not true the pegasi had scheduled this a week in advance.
She stared at the ground as though to avoid her actions. Beneath her feet was a puddle of water. Her reflection seemed to mock her, those hideous fangs gleaming. Filled with rage at what she had become she slammed her hoof on the ground. The dirt she kicked up entered the water muddying its transparency, hiding the truth.
Her resolved hardened this was not going to happen again. She began to run to Twilight's house for the third time in as many days. She didn't expect any answers but she needed her friend's support. Not bothering to knock ,it was technically a public building, she burst through the door.
"Twilight I need ya to hold me down with yer magic!"
The lilac mare blinked a blush slowly spreading across her face.
"That sounded better in my head." She muttered sheepishly.
"Did it happen again?" Twilight said sounding concerned.
"Yes an' this time it was even worse. My farm can't take this, we'll barely make it through winter as is. If I do it again..."
"It seems a bit extreme. Are you sure?"
"Twilight unless you've found a cure I have ta do this."
Twilight shook her head. "No I still have no idea what happened. I'm going to give it one more day of research then I'm asking Celestia." A brief silence. "You could hurt yourself Applejack. Your clearly running on vampire fruit bat instinct much like Fluttershy. If I restrain you, you'll try to release yourself by any means nessecery. So are you willing to take the risk?"
Applejack sighed. "I'm already hurting myself sugarcube. I've become my worst fear, a horrible pest who ravages my orchard, my livelihood, my family. This might be hard for ya to understand, but the orchard is as much a part of me as Big Mac or Applebloom. Seein' all this destruction an' knowin' I'm the cause, It hurts me Twilight. It'd be like if ya turned into a creäture that ate books."
Twilight winced at the thought. "Alright but I'm going to keep my eye on you."
"Thank you sugarcube."
As Twilight cast the spell, Applejack felt heavy the very idea of moving an inch now took more concentration than walking normally did. Slowly Applejack closed her eyes. She had the utmost faith that Twilight would stop her.
Twilight sighed it was getting dark and she still hadn't found any information on what could have caused this. She glanced at Applejack. Seeing her friend so upset was unusual. When Fluttershy was upset her first instinct was to comfort the mare. Rarity could usually be calmed as easily as she was riled up. Pinkie bounced between emotions like she flipped through books. Even Rainbow could be calmed with a little talking. Applejack was another case altogether.
Applejack was always the one who calmed her. She stopped her from getting lost in her own anxiety. She let her know she was doing well when she felt inadequate. She knew Applejack always meant that, as the element of honesty Applejack very rarely said anything she didn't believe with her whole heart. When she did she was very bad at it.
She felt useless. She didn't know how to comfort her friend. Any lie she could come up with would ring as hollow. She couldn't say everything was okay, like with Fluttershy. She couldn't easily fix the problem as with Rarity. She couldn't cheer her up like Pinkie, and she didn't have any answers to the problem as with Rainbow. The one she could do, research wasn't working.
Twilight noticed Applejack's eyes open and shook her head. 'Drown in self-pity later Twilight right now Applejack needs you.'
She could feel the effort of the bat fight her spell. Her eyes widened as she saw the mare's lip twitch. The strain Applejack would put on herself if she continued to fight the spell was great. Focusing her own mind she tried to send soothing thoughts through her magic.
'Everything is fine. There's no need to move. You have everything you need here.'
The bat did not agree struggling more fiercely managing to part its lips, baring its teeth.
Twilight really wished she had Fluttershy's stare. 'No don't do that. Stay here where it's safe.' She could feel the bat's will to move battling against her own. It wanted out, it wanted to escape and feed. It had to eat didn't she understand?! It began to panic mentally thrashing against her hold on it.
If Applejack kept this up she could be bedridden for weeks. Twilight didn't want to be forceful however and tried reasoning. 'You're right you need to feed. I have some fruit I could give you all you need to do is hold still.'
The bat seemed interested in her offer. It wanted the fruit now though. Slowly, never taking her eyes off Applejack, she opened her fridge taking out an entire bag of apples and throwing it at her. She watched as the bat devoured her offering in about a minute. She could feel it's hunger it wanted more.
'Yes I can get you more. Just give me a bit.'
The bat didn't want to wait for a bit and again struggled against her. Slowly but surely it moved its fangs down to bite its lip.
'It's trying to use pain to break free!' Twilight panicked ' I can't let it go Applejack would feel even worse.' She hadn't wanted to be forceful, it felt wrong to force her will on her friend like that, but now she knew it had to be done. Focusing, Twilight put all her magic into her next command. 'Go to sleep!' She felt the bat struggle against her words but ultimately it failed falling unconscious.
With the last of her strength Twilight walked to Applejack wrapping her hooves around her. "Don't worry I won't let you get hurt." She whispered falling asleep.
'Sweet Celestia it feels like someone's ripped my head in half.'
Applejack could feel a set of hooves surrounding her. Her mind felt like she should be worried by this fact, but her body was comforted by the warmth. Slowly she opened her eyes to find the comforting hooves belonged to Twilight. She gained some hope from this as it was unlikely she had moved if Twilight was holding her. She heard the mare yawn as she woke and found herself smiling. Something she had not done in days.
"Good mornin' sugarcube."
"Morning."
"Did ya find anything last night?"
"No I'll dictate a letter to Spike. If anyone knows what could have caused this it's Princess Celestia."
Before Twilight could call for her loyal assistant a couple of very light knocks came from the door.
"That sounds like Fluttershy's knock." Twilight said. Knowing Applejack was in no condition to get up she opened the door herself. As she expected it was Fluttershy. The mare looked angry something Twilight was not used to seeing.
"Fluttershy? What brings you here."
The Pegasus took a deep breath and said in a loud clear tone. "Discord explain yourself to them!"
Suddenly it all clicked into place. Discord was powerful enough to change Applejack physiological structure easily. Twilight felt as angry as Fluttershy did. Did Discord think this was some kind of prank?! As the draconequus appeared Twilight glared at him.
"Why did you do this?"
"Because I wanted her to feel what it was like being trapped as one of those things seeing as she made Fluttershy into one." Discord scoffed
Twilight was about to retort when Fluttershy spoke. "No Discord she didn't know that would happen to me and when she found out she sacrificed something important!"
"It just seems so unfair that you were forced into that situation over something as stupid as her apples."
"Discord those apples are important her. I understood why she was doing it even if I didn't agree. Now you change her back."
With a snap of his fingers Discord did so. Applejack was back to her old self.
"Thank Celestia." Applejack whispered, standing shakily
"Good now fix her orchard. The damage is your fault so you need to fix it."
Reluctantly Discord did so. "Her trees are fine now."
There was a silence before Fluttershy gave Discord a pointed look. "And?"
Discord looked confused. "And what?"
"Don't you think you owe Applejack an apology?" Fluttershy said as the mare in question finally made it to the door.
"Fine. I'm sorr-" he seemed to have trouble getting the words out. "I'm sor-" Again he paused "I'm sor-ry. I'm sorry."
Applejack sighed. "Look I understand ya didn' mean anythin' by it but it'll take a while before I'll forgive ya."
Discord slumped "That's fair."
"Now for your punishment." Fluttershy said sternly
"You mean apologizing wasn't the punishment?"
All three mares glared at him. "You're going to write 'I will not change my friends into dangerous creatures' two hundred times, without magic."
Discord looked like he wanted to argue but stopped before he did. "Fine..."
As the door shut Applejack smiled at Twilight. "Thanks fer bein' here for me."
"Of course, that's what friends do."
Applejack winced as she stepped down on her hooves. " I feel really sore."
"Sorry I had to get rough with you." Twilight apologized. This time Applejack felt heat rise to her own cheeks.
"That came out wrong." Twilight muttered.
"Could I stay another night? I don't think I can walk far."
"No problem I'll set up the cot."
As the two mares prepared to spend the day together Applejack had one last question. "Twilight?"
"Yes?"
"How do ya ever sleep with those infernal wings?"
Twilight chuckled. "You get used to it."
Author's Note
Remember this is season four Discord. The same season he betrayed everyone for Tirek.
The same season he nearly got Twilight eaten by a plant just so she'd 'prove' her friendship. This something season four discord would do.
Happy Nightmare night!
