It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and Applejack was digging a hole. She wasn’t quite sure why she was digging the hole. It just felt like something she should do.
The day went on and Applejack began to sweat from the heat and exertion. The hole was three yards wide, and four yards deep at its deepest point. It was time to take a break. She put the shovel down to go get a drink, or rather…she tried to. A few half-hearted jerking motions later and she found herself still digging the hole.
“Uh-oh,” she thought. The shovel must have been enchanted. It was the only explanation. “Uh…hey, Big Mac! Apple Bloom! Granny Smith?! Is anypony out there?” She couldn’t see over the rim of the hole.
A few moments later and Apple Bloom peeked over the side. “I see that,” she said. “But why?” she asked, cocking her head.
“I don’t know. I think this shovel might be cursed,” Applejack said. “Could you do me a favor and get me some water and then maybe find Twilight?” She continued to dig the hole ever deeper, tossing each shovelful of dirt over the edge as she did so.
“Well, uh, keep it up then, I guess,” Apple Bloom said, confused, and turned away.
“What? Wait, Apple Bloom!” Applejack called.
Apple Bloom peeked over the rim again. “Why do you keep saying that?” she asked, starting to get a bit concerned.
“Saying what?” Applejack asked.
Though it wasn’t in direct response to Applejack's question, Apple Bloom happened to answer, anyway. “You keep just saying ‘I’m digging a hole,’” she said. “And you sound really cheerful about it. It’s…weird.”
Applejack felt like she might pass out if she kept digging much longer, but nevertheless she kept digging. It wasn’t like she had any choice. And if she understood what Apple Bloom was telling her correctly, the curse must even extend to what she was saying. At least it didn’t extend to her thoughts. Now that would have been dangerous.
With some effort, Applejack managed to lift one hoof from the shovel, still digging with the other, and make a motion like drinking from a glass. Then she found herself placing the hoof back on the shovel again.
“You want something to drink?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Yes,” Applejack said, thankful that Apple Bloom had understood. Then, remembering the situation she was in, she nodded vigorously.
Apple Bloom nodded back. “That shovel’s cursed, ain’t it?” Applejack nodded again. “You’re digging a hole. Got it.” Apple Bloom winked, and then she left. A few minutes later, she came back with a sturdy board, which she laid across the top of Applejack’s hole. Confused but with enough trust in her sister to assume she knew what she was doing, Applejack kept digging.
Apple Bloom left again and returned with a full bucket of water and a rope. She tied the rope to the handle of the bucket, then walked carefully across the board to the middle and tied the other end there. Then she slowly lowered the bucket down to Applejack, who was now about five yards deep. “I thought this might help in case you couldn’t keep your hooves off the shovel long enough to use a glass,” she said.
“Thanks, sugarcube,” Applejack said, and drank deeply from the bucket.
“Are you okay for now?” Apple Bloom asked. “I could go find Twilight, but I don’t want to leave you here alone if...“ Applejack nodded. After a moment of hesitation, Apple Bloom left.
Now that she’d at least had something to drink, Applejack wasn’t feeling quite so bad anymore. The hole was even deep enough that the sun was no longer shining on her. Its angle in the sky caused the edge of the hole to cast shade over the hole’s bottom few feet. She kept digging, and started humming to herself. This really wasn’t so bad after all. She could go like this all day!
A little while later and she was too deep to reach the bucket of water. But it didn’t really matter, anyway – she had stuck her face in the bucket as she neared that depth in order to maintain access as long as possible, and had ended up dumping the rest on herself after one last big swig. Now she was entirely focused on digging.
Lifting and tossing shovel after shovel of dirt, she continued humming to herself, singing the lyrics in her head to a tune similar to that which someone in the human world might think of as "The Farmer in the Dell" - “I’m dig-ging a hole! I’m dig-ging a hole! I’m dig-ging a ho-o-ole! I’m dig-ging a hole!” Before long, she had widened the hole enough that the board and the bucket fell in, and with a mighty toss of her head, she threw them up and over the edge. The hole was now about five yards wide and seven deep.
Applejack kept digging. She glanced up after a while and saw her sister and Twilight at the rim of the hole, looking down at her in concern, but she ignored them. She was digging a hole.
Twilight teleported down into the hole and tried to tell her something, but all that Applejack heard was a cheerful “You’re digging a hole.” Well, thank you Twilight for noticing! She kept digging.
Suddenly, Twilight tried to take the shovel away from her with her magic. Well, that wouldn’t do. She was digging a hole. Twilight tried again and again to wrench the shovel away from her, even casting a spell or two on it, but Applejack wouldn’t budge. Of course she wouldn’t. She was digging a hole. Twilight pulled even harder and Applejack snapped, bashing Twilight’s head with the shovel, knocking her out instantly. She heard Apple Bloom give a cheerful shout of “You’re digging a hole!” from the rim of the hole, waved to her with one hoof, then bashed Twilight’s head a few more times for good measure. Apple Bloom left.
After the last bash to Twilight’s head, Applejack suddenly didn’t feel like digging a hole anymore. She felt like filling this one in. Changing her focus from the bottom of the hole to one of the walls, she eventually managed to collapse it and create a slope that she could climb up. Once she had reached the top, she began to push the dirt that she had been throwing out back into the hole. Twilight’s body was covered immediately, and before long, the rest of the hole had been filled in, too. She smoothed down the top of the hole so perfectly that nopony would have ever known it was there and then set the shovel down.
Blinking a few times, Applejack looked around. What happened? The last thing she remembered was picking up an abandoned shovel that was on Sweet Apple Acres’ property for some reason, but she must have blacked out for a moment, because now it was on the ground again. A board with a bucket tied to it was on the ground a few feet away.
Suddenly, she saw Apple Bloom running toward her from the distance, with Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity following not far behind. As Apple Bloom neared Applejack, she skidded to a stop, staring at the ground in wide-eyed horror. The four members of the Mane Six who were with her stopped as well, staring silently at the ground, then at Applejack, then back at the ground again.
“What’s wrong, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.
The End
