Chapters Rarity hummed as she trotted along the main road in Ponyville, a small saddlebag on her back. She was visiting Applejack to drop off a new hat she had made to replace AJ’s old one. Applejack had accidentally ripped her usual hat while climbing a tree to get that one last stinkin’ fruit when she was bucking apples, and appealed to Rarity to make her a new one. This Rarity had done, and was now delivering a leather headpiece to Applejack that would make any self-respecting cowpony jealous.
Rarity looked around Ponyville and saw, to her approval, several ponies wearing her designs. Even Derpy was wearing something, a pair of yellow socks. Rarity smiled. She then spotted Pinkie Pie bouncing down the street towards her.
“Pinkie, darling! How lovely it is to see you! I was just on my way to visit Applejack and drop off her new hat. Care to come along?” Rarity didn’t particularly want Pinkie to come along, but refusing to offer seemed like a bad idea.
“Oh, hi, Rarity! I was just going to Sugarcube Corner because Mrs. Cake wants me to help her with a new recipe! I finally get to make my Cherry-Chongas! Or is it Chimi-Cherries?” Pinkie mused. “Which do you think sounds better? Chimi-Cherry, Cherry-Chonga, or maybe Chimi-Cherry-Chonga!”
Oh no, not this again, thought Rarity. She cleared her throat. “I think the Cherry-Chonga sounds best, but that’s just me, dear.”
“You’re right, that does sound the best!” exclaimed Pinkie. “Well, sorry I can’t come with you, Rarity, but I really have to get going! See ya!” Pinkie twirled her legs around like Roadrunner and sped off.
Rarity shook her head and chuckled. That Pinkie was the most random pony in Equestria. Rarity noticed that she was already coming to the outskirts of Ponyville, and turned in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. Even though Rarity hadn’t been here very often, the path wasn’t hard to miss; apple trees lined the road leading up to the large farm. Rarity began walking up the road towards the acres of apples.
When she arrived at the barn, she saw Big Macintosh gathering baskets together and hoisting them up into a large cart. Applebuck season was nearly over, and only the farthest away, longest-ripe apples remained to be bucked.
“Why, hello, Big Macintosh! Where’s Applejack? I have something to give her,” said Rarity.
“She’s buckin’ apples,” replied Big Mac.
“Oh, I see,” said Rarity. “Are you heading out there too?”
“Eeyup,” he confirmed.
“Mind if I come with you, dear?”
“Nope.”
Ten seconds later, Rarity was riding in Mac’s cart as the two of them headed out to the fields that contained the last apples of the season. As she looked around, she realized that the rolling hills of green were very beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that they deserved to have their own recognition in Ponyville. Perhaps a new fashion line would do, thought Rarity. She whipped out her emergency sketchbook and quill and began drawing furiously, her magic gripping the writing utensil.
Time passed. After about forty-five minutes, an exhausted Big Mac stopped walking. “Are we there?” asked Rarity. “Eeyup,” panted the stallion, before collapsing on the ground.
Rarity stepped daintily out of the cart. She looked around for Applejack, but could see no sign of the orange earth pony. She did, however, hear a sound. Was that…a munching sound? No, thought Rarity, Applejack would never eat on the job. Something was up.
Walking in the exact middle of the road to avoid getting anything whatsoever on any part of her body, Rarity was still sketching a dress, but her mind was occupied with thoughts of Applejack. Why on earth would she have any reason to eat the very apples she was harvesting? For the munching sound was the unmistakable sound of crunching apples. Some horrific event must have traumatized her to eat emotionally, Rarity reasoned. Yes, that was it. Just after this thought crossed her mind, the eating sound stopped.
“Applejack?” called Rarity. There was no answer other than a groan. Rarity dropped her sketchbook and quill and broke into a trot, then a gallop. She came over the top of a hill and saw Applejack on the ground, surrounded by mountains of apple cores.
“Applejack!” Rarity levitated the cores out of the way and rushed to Applejack’s side. The earth pony was doubled up on her side, clutching at her chest.
“What happened to you? You ate too many apples, didn’t you? Shame on you, Applejack. You should know better than to eat on the job. Why—”
Applejack silenced her with a groan. “No—no, tha’s not it, you don’ understand,” she said. “Rarity—No time t’ explain. Go find Fluttershy. She’ll—know what t’ do.” Another moan of agony escaped her lips.
“I-I don’t understand,” replied Rarity, taken aback. “Why would Fluttershy—”
Applejack interrupted again. “Jus’ do it!” she yelled. “Ah don’t know what’s goin’ t’ happen t’ me, but tell Big Mac…tell him t’ initiate Plan A.J.D. Got it?” She was starting to gasp for breath.
Rarity nodded, small tears forming in her eyes. “I got it, but—”
“See ya after all this is over, Rarity,” said Applejack. Her voice was barely a whisper. “I promise y’all will see me again.” She closed her eyes and rolled onto her back. Was she gone?
“No. It’s not possible,” whispered Rarity. She put her head on Applejack’s chest. For a horrifying moment, there was no pulse. Then there was a slow thump. Another, ten seconds later.
Rarity was relieved that her friend was alive, but she had no idea what to do. Then she remembered Applejack’s words:
“Find Fluttershy. She’ll know what t’ do.”
Rarity stood up slowly. She concentrated hard on her horn, and blue magic enveloped the limp orange mare. Applejack’s body was lifted into the air and settled on Rarity’s back. She started walking towards Big Mac’s cart, her body numb with shock, her mind more so. What was going on? How had Applejack known what had been happening? And why had Applejack insisted on going to Fluttershy for answers, even though she had no medical experience?
Rarity came over the top of the hill and spotted Big Mac’s cart. She went closer and used magic to deposit Applejack in the cart, then looked around for Big Mac. She spotted him some feet away, kicking an apple tree with his hind legs to shake the apples down.
“Big Mac! Come quick!” shouted Rarity. Big Mac turned and trotted over.
“Eeyup?” he said.
“It-it’s Applejack,” was all she needed to say. Big Mac looked in the cart. His face was entirely occupied by horror.
“We need to get to Fluttershy’s house. Can you make it?” asked Rarity.
The stallion’s face hardened into a look of sheer determination. “Yep!” he said. Big Mac hooked himself up to the cart, turned around, and took off in the direction of Ponyville.
Big Macintosh hurtled down the street, pulling a wildly swerving cart behind him. In this cart was a hysterical Rarity. The body of Applejack was also in the cart. Although Applejack was not dead, she seemed very close to becoming so. As Rarity tried her best to stay in the cart and keep an eye on Applejack, she thought she noticed something. Was Applejack turning...green?
As the cart thundered down the main street in Ponyville, it attracted as much attention as a royal chariot. Ponies stared in wonder as Big Mac whooshed past them like Rainbow Dash running away from Pinkie Pie, or more accurately, like a stallion trying to save his sister from impending doom.
Rarity’s attention was now entirely focused on Applejack, and while she had no idea what was going on, she was sure of one thing: Applejack was, most definitely, turning green. No doubt about it.
After what seemed like hours, but was really only about three minutes, Big Mac arrived at Fluttershy’s tree home. Rarity hopped out of the cart and galloped at full speed toward Fluttershy’s door. The magic she summoned to open it was not needed; Rarity crashed right through the wooden portal, leaving a unicorn-shaped cutout in it. “Fluttershy!” she yelled.
Fluttershy squeaked in alarm, and the squirrels she had been feeding ran in all directions. Rarity, barely glancing over, used her stored-up magic to bring them back together, huddling in a ball in the corner. “Fluttershy, dear, I need your help,” Rarity said, pretending to be out of breath, like the drama queen she was.
“Oh, Rarity, it’s you,” said Fluttershy softly, her initial fear draining away as she realized it was her friend and not a dragon of any kind. “Thank you for gathering up the squirrels for me. Do you really need my help? Gosh, I—“
“Fluttershy, there’s no time to explain. Come outside with me!” Rarity used her magic to yank Fluttershy after her as she ran out the door. “B-but wait…why do you need my help?” Rarity didn’t answer.
As soon as they were outside, Fluttershy saw the cart and a piece of leather peeking out of it. “Oh no, what happened?” asked a shocked Fluttershy, rushing over to the cart.
“I-I don’t know,” confessed Rarity, staying in the doorway. “I found her surrounded by mountains of apple cores, and in the next thirty seconds, she was completely still…but not dead. That’s was so puzzling about this whole thing. She’s still alive, but…barely.” Rarity felt tears welling up in her eyes but blinked them away. She had to be strong throughout this ordeal.
“Are—are you sure she isn’t d-dead?” stammered Fluttershy, her voice breaking. “I c-can’t hear anything through th-this…this shell.”
“What shell?” asked Rarity, intrigued. She walked over and looked in the cart, and sure enough, the peculiar greenness that had been enveloping Applejack was now a shell-like covering, like a beetle’s carapace. A sour smell, like a crushed caterpillar, rose from the totally inert body. All the features were the same, even her cutie mark, but seemed molded in transparent green stone.
Fluttershy looked hard at Applejack. Suddenly she gasped. “I know what’s going on!” she said. “But I’d rather have everypony around when I tell them. Can you get Pinkie Pie and Twilight to meet me and Rainbow Dash at the library?”
Rarity nodded. “Good. Hurry!” said Fluttershy, making sure she was heard.
Rarity didn’t waste a minute. She turned in the direction of Ponyville and sped off, a look of determination on her face. As she raced down into the town, she couldn’t help but wonder—how did Fluttershy know what afflicted Applejack?
Fluttershy turned to Big Mac. “Can you take Applejack down to the library for me?”
Big Mac nodded. “Yup.”
“Okay. Please hurry!” she pleaded. Big Mac turned around and headed into Ponyville, following the cloud of dust left behind by Rarity.
Fluttershy, as determined as Rarity, flew up into the sky in the direction of Cloudsdale. Flying at speeds close to Mach 5, she nearly created a sonic rainboom in her haste to get to Rainbow Dash. The fact that she was clearing the sky of clouds was unknown to her, but greatly appreciated by the ponies down below. As she raced through the sky, she couldn’t help but wonder—was she wrong?
* * *
Rainbow Dash was reclining on her favorite cloud in her bedroom in Cloudsdale when she heard a sound. She’d heard it before, but this was much louder, which was saying something. It was the sound of Fluttershy—flying?
Fluttershy burst right through the right-hoof cloud wall and shot through the left-hoof one. A few seconds later, she poked her head through the hole she made. “O-oh, I’m so sorry, Rainbow Dash,” she said softly. “D-did I scare you?”
The answer to this question seemed obvious: Rainbow was now cowering under the cloud, her forelegs covering her head and her eyes squeezed closed as if expecting an explosion. She opened one eye, then, seeing Fluttershy, zipped out from her hiding place. “Course not,” she scoffed. “I was…practicing. Yeah. In case of…uh...you know.” She blushed slightly, embarrassed at the fact that she could not come up with an excuse.
“Oh, I see,” said Fluttershy, coming in the room and hovering above the floor. “Um, I need you to come with me to the library.” Here she looked away. “O-only if you want to, though. It’s sort of an emergency.”
“An emergency?” The cyan mare always helped out with emergencies, whether it was a bunny trapped in a tree or a full-scale changeling invasion. She put on her ‘hero’ face. “What kind of emergency? I’ll assist in any way I can!”
“Oh, um, well, it’s kind of about Applejack,” supplied the butter-yellow pegasus.
“Applejack?!” Rainbow Dash’s hero face fell faster than a hiker whose rope has been cut, and was immediately replaced with the look of determination that everypony seemed to be wearing these days. “I’m on my way!” She faced the floor and dove straight through it, creating a third hole in as many minutes.
“W-wait up, Rainbow!” called Fluttershy. She positioned herself above the hole in the floor and followed suit.
* * *
Down in Ponyville, Pinkie Pie was at Sugarcube Corner, mixing up the ingredients to make her Cherry-Chongas. She was repeating an odd chant over and over to herself: “Cherry-Chonga, Chonga-Cherry, Cherry-Chonga, Chonga-Cherry!” She giggled. “What a tongue twister!”
Suddenly, Rarity burst through the door of the kitchen. “Pinkie! Come with me! There’s no time to explain!” she exclaimed.
“Oh, hiya, Rarity! I’m just finishing up my Cherry-Chongas! Would you like to try some?” she offered.
“There’s no time,” panted Rarity. “I need you to come with me right now!”
“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie answered. “Just give me one teensy-weensy second…”
“Nope!” Rarity used magic to drag Pinkie after her and out the door.
“Hey!” protested Pinkie. “I wasn’t done!”
Rarity stopped and relinquished her magical grip on the pink earth pony. “Sorry, dear. It’s just that Applejack has been overtaken by some kind of mysterious disease, and Fluttershy knows what it is, but she won’t tell anypony until we’re all there, but I don’t know where Twilight is and I need to find her!”
“Twilight?” For a moment, she forgot about her cherry dessert and turned to face Rarity. “She stopped by earlier and told me that she was going to Zecora’s house for some magical plants.”
“Oh, that’s just perfect,” said Rarity, her voice dripping with exasperation. “Now how am I supposed to get her in time?”
“I’ll do it!” offered Pinkie Pie. She zoomed off. Fifteen seconds later she returned with Twilight, who was looking extremely confused and scared. “Here you go!” said Pinkie.
“What in the name of Celestia is going on?” asked Twilight. “One minute I was talking to Zecora, and the next I’m here! Pinkie, what was so urgent that you had to break the laws of physics?”
“Well, I don’t know what physics is—” Figures, thought Rarity. “—but something’s wrong with Applejack, and we all need to be at the library so that Fluttershy can tell us what’s going on. We have to hurry, or Applejack might not get better in time!” exclaimed the pink pony.
“Applejack? But why—” began Twilight.
“There’s no time to talk now! The fate of Equestria is at stake!” Pinkie interrupted. She zipped off toward the library.
“Is the fate of Equestria really at stake?” Twilight asked Rarity.
“I honestly don’t know,” replied Rarity.
Rainbow Dash screamed down into Ponyville, her thoughts shooting across her head almost as fast as her body was shooting across the sky. She hadn’t gotten much information about Applejack, but she knew one thing: if Fluttershy came up into Cloudsdale to tell her something, she knew it was serious.
Fluttershy followed Rainbow, albeit slightly slower. She was nearly 100% sure she knew what was happening to Applejack, but a small part of her whispered: Am I wrong?
The pair of pegasi sped down into Ponyville, but continued to fly, low to the ground. Today it was a bit more busy than usual because of a special sale at the market, but Rainbow’s haste was so great that she paid no mind whatsoever to the ponies milling about in the streets. She continued flying in a straight line to the library without as much as a backward glance. Fluttershy, as kind as ever, helped the pedestrians regain their bearings (and their groceries) before speeding off in pursuit of Rainbow Dash.
“Hey, Fluttershy!” Fluttershy looked up and saw Rainbow Dash flying ahead of her. “Don’t worry! I’m sure Applejack will be fine!” RD called. Fluttershy nodded, comforted by the cyan mare’s words, but still insecure.
* * *
“Come on! Rainbow and Fluttershy are probably already at the library!” called Pinkie Pie. She resumed her frantic bouncing and looked back with impatience at the two unicorns doing their best to keep the pink pony in sight.
“Well, Pinkie, it would be a bit easier to keep up if you would just slow down!” Rarity huffed.
“Don’t be mean, Rarity,” scolded Twilight. “She’s just worried about Applejack.”
“Oh, all right. I apologize,” Rarity called, though whether Pinkie had heard or not was a mystery. She then stopped short, realizing something. “Say, Twilight,” she began. Twilight slowed down and looked back at Rarity. “Yes?” she responded.
“Couldn’t we just teleport to the library?” asked Rarity.
Twilight looked ahead nervously, where Pinkie was quickly becoming no more than a speck on the pony-crowded horizon. “Well, I would, but my magic is acting up a bit,” she explained hurriedly. “That’s why I stopped by Zecora’s house—to see if she had any herbs that could help.”
“Oh, I see,” said Rarity. Realizing how far they were behind Pinkie, she abruptly broke into a gallop and ran after her. Twilight followed, startled by the sudden takeoff. As Twilight caught up with her, Rarity said, “My magic isn’t working today either. Why, when I tried to lift up a piece of fabric for a new dress earlier, it ended up transforming into a pig! A rather large and unusually shaped one, in fact. Although it does make an excellent model, its dirtiness is astounding! Ugh!”
“Oh dear,” responded Twilight. Although she felt sorry for her friend, she couldn’t help but smile a little at the thought of a pig wearing one of Rarity’s dresses. Galloping faster, the two unicorns sped off in hot pursuit of Pinkie.
* * *
All five mares arrived at the same time in front of the library, which seemed impossible, but then again, Pinkie was with them, so nothing was impossible. They rounded on Big Mac, who simply nodded his head in the direction of said library.
There was a venerable stampede to get into the book-filled tree, which was halted by the sight of Applejack lying on a makeshift operating table, surrounded by several medical supplies. A slow beeping from the heart monitor threw the grimness of the situation into sharp relief. At the sight of the five ponies, Spike walked over from where he was sitting next to Applejack and gave them all a sad smile.
“Hey, guys,” he said. Immediately, the ponies began firing off questions about Applejack.
“What’s wrong with her? Did you find out?” asked Rarity.
“Can you do anything to help her?” queried Fluttershy.
“How come she’s green?” wondered Rainbow Dash.
“Is it a curse?” yelped Pinkie.
Everypony fell silent and looked at her. “What?” she asked. “It could be.”
They all took deep breaths and were about to start a new onslaught of questions when Twilight appeared in front of them. “Fluttershy, didn’t you say that you knew what Applejack turned into?” she asked.
“Oh! Oh, yes, of course!” replied Fluttershy, suddenly remembering. She trotted over to the table. All the others crowded around Applejack, glancing down at her with worry.
“You see, as soon as I saw Applejack in the cart, I knew exactly what was happening. I’ve seen it before when I’ve taken care of caterpillars. They eat a lot, get bigger, and then wrap themselves up in a nice, cozy cocoon until they turn into butterflies. Then they break out and fly away.” Fluttershy took a deep breath, winded by the long speech.
The room was filled with a shocked silence so thick you could cut it with a pair of safety scissors. Then Rainbow Dash burst out, “Are…are you saying that she’s a…a chrysalis?”
Fluttershy nodded. “Exactly.”
