Applejack is Allergic to Apples

by Arakos

Rating: everyone
Tags: Applejack, Apple Bloom, Comedy, Twilight Sparkle, Big Macintosh, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Zecora
Length: 5158

Applejack deals with a medical complication she never expected.

Applejack develops an allergy she never expected to have to deal with, and it could bring shame onto her whole family. She has to cure it, at all costs.

Published 2012-08-29 01:14:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-08-29 01:14:02 UTC

An Ailing Apple

“Sweet buckin’ Celestia, I’m late!”

Applejack thrashed around as she tried to toss off her tangled bedsheets, tumbling onto the floor in a mangled heap of linen and orange fur. Finally extricated from her cozy shackles, she swiped the nearby hatrack with a flick of her tail, flipping her trademark stetson off the top and neatly onto her head as she dashed down the hallway, nearly bucking her bedroom door off its hinges in the process.

I can’t believe I slept in so late! Apple Bloom and her friends kept me up all night and... no, I can’t blame this on anypony else. It’s my own fault. I just gotta work twice as hard today.

Applejack rounded the corner leading into her kitchen to find three fillies were already sitting around the dining table. As she dashed past, she grabbed an apple with her tail and downed it in a single gulp, not even pausing to savor the flavor of her pilfered breakfast.

“Hey! That was mine!”

Applejack stopped at the door and turned around to see a very annoyed orange pegasus staring daggers at her.

“Sorry Scootaloo, I’m kinda in a hurry. There’s plenty more apples though, help yourself.”

Scootaloo opened her mouth to respond, but Applejack had already disappeared.

*THWACK*

“C’mon apples... why won’t you fall off? I ain’t got all day!”

*THWACK*

“Nothin’.” Applejack circled the stubborn apple tree. She attempted to size up her foe, but she couldn’t shake off an irritating itch at the back of her throat. She wiggled her tongue around to try and get at the offending rash, but just couldn’t reach.

“I’ll just have to deal with it I guess. There’s too much work to do today.”

*THWACK THWACK THWACK*

The tree stood firm, not giving up a single apple to Applejack’s repeated assault.

“I’ll uh, I’ll just get Mac to try this one later I guess.” Applejack turned toward the next tree down the line, and shuffled over in a manner characteristic of most slugs. Her breaths were much shorter than before, and her lungs were working overtime to keep up with her body’s demands for oxygen.

*Thud*

“Not this one too! I don’t understand... I think I just gotta... sit for a minute.”

Big Macintosh had been watching his sister work on her last couple trees with concern. The resulting sound of hooves hitting bark had become softer after her last couple of attempts, and her pace had slowed considerably. Mac had never known his sister to exhibit these behaviors unless she was suffering from extreme exhaustion, and they had only been working for an hour now.

*Thump*

Mac’s eyes widened as the rest of his body snapped to attention. Even when experiencing severe fatigue, there was one thing that Applejack never did when there was work left that needed to be done.

Is she... oh dear Celestia she is. She’s actually taking a break. Something must be wrong.

Mac dropped the apples he was carrying and made his way through the orchard to get a closer look.

“Alright, that’s enough of that.” Applejack picked herself up, still breathing heavily. “I’m gonna get these apples down if it’s the last thing I do!”

Applejack carefully picked out her next target, purposefully avoiding her previous tormentors. She turned her back to the tree, and bucked as hard as her body would allow.

*Thud*

She turned her head toward the tree, with a triumphant grin that quickly fell flat when she saw each and every apple stuck in their original positions.

“I just... I mean I don’t... this tree and...” Applejack was hyperventilating now. She had never been unable to buck three trees in a row. Sometimes, there’s the occasional stubborn one, sure, but those you just move on from. Two is quite the coincidence, but not unheard of, but three?

“Alright, just calm down AJ. You got this. It’s just a tree. I just need to apply more force. It’ll work.” She backed up from the tree so she could get a running start. She focused on one spot on the tree, to the exclusion of the rest of her surroundings. With a final breath, she charged, unleashing a primal scream as she ran. As the gap between mare and tree closed, Applejack pivoted on her left front hoof, turning a complete 180 degrees, and unleashed a devastating kick into the tree’s soft fur.

Wait, fur? Trees don’t have fur.

Applejack turned around to see her hooves planted firmly into Big Mac’s side. Startled by her brother’s sudden appearance, she lost her footing and fell face first in the dirt. After spitting out a mouthful of soil, she jumped up to face her brother.

“What the hay do you think you’re doing? You should know better than to stand where I’m buckin’, you coulda been hurt! Wait, you aren’t hurt are you?”

“Nnnope,” Mac drawled, “Not by a kick like that. AJ, what’s wrong with you? You normally don’t have this much trouble after only an hour of work.”

“What are you trying to say? That I’m weak? It ain’t me! It’s these stubborn trees!”

Mac raised a single hoof and tapped the tree that Applejack had been assaulting for the past ten minutes. Apples tumbled onto the ground like they had just been asking to be bucked. “I don’t think it’s the trees, AJ. I suspect even Apple Bloom could’ve bucked that one.”

Applejack couldn’t decide whether to be worried or infuriated. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and settled on dumbfounded. Her back legs gave out and she landed squarely on her rump. On top of everything else, she couldn’t seem to get that itching sensation out of her throat, and it was getting worse. She wiped her hoof across her nose which had inexplicably started leaking.

Mac raised an eyebrow at his sister’s display, particularly once the hyperventilating started up again. “I think you might want to see a doctor, sis.”

“Yeah, maybe I’ll do that.”

“Hmm, very interesting.” Applejack’s vision had begun to lose focus now, and she could barely make out a pink mane in front of her. The rest of the mare’s face was obscured by a clipboard. “Symptoms include shortness of breath, an itchy rash in the mouth and throat, sudden fatigue, and loss of strength. Is that accurate?”

“That sounds... about the... things alright,” Applejack informed the poster on the nearby wall.

“And loss of focus. Okay, so you say that all you’ve done today is eat breakfast and immediately start working in the fields?”

Applejack snapped to attention. “Work? Yeah, I got a lotta work to do. Been buckin' all day. You know what’s wrong with me yet? I really need to get back.”

“Well, let me try something real quick. This may help speed up the diagnosis.” The blurry form of the pink maned mare walked to the other side of the room, rummaging through some drawers. She pulled out a small tube that Applejack couldn’t quite identify and headed back to where her patient was sitting. “Now this will only sting for a moment.”

“What, sting? Why would it WHOA NELLY THAT SMARTS!” A sharp pain shot briefly through Applejack’s leg as the needle drained its contents into her bloodstream. The pain subsided quickly, and her vision slowly returned to normal. The itch still remained, but it was less distracting now. “Whoa now, what was that?”

The now visible Nurse Redheart was scribbling something on the clipboard again. “I just injected you with a dose of epinephrine, a common treatment for severe allergic reactions. You should have been more careful, food allergies can have disastrous effects.”

Applejack was giving the nurse a bewildered look. “But, nurse, I ain’t got no allergies. I never have!”

“So this is a first for you? Hmm...” Redheart continued scribbling her notes without raising her eyes to look at the panicked mare in the room. “Well, you should be able to determine what caused it fairly easily. What have you eaten today?”

“Apples.”

At this new information, the nurse’s expression finally changed from mild disinterest to surprise.

“Just... apples?”

“Yep. Grabbed a single raw apple for breakfast and got straight to work.” Applejack paused for a moment. As soon as the realization hit, her breathing started to speed up again. “Wait wait wait. Are you saying I’m allergic... to APPLES?”

“If that’s all you’ve eaten today, then there aren’t any other options. I must admit, this is quite a surprise even for a trained medical professional like myself. There are very few instances where somepony suddenly develops an allergy to something that they eat quite as frequently as you do.”

“Well, you can cure it right? With whatever was in that needle, right? That did the trick, just give me more of that!” Applejack’s whole world was crumbling around her, bit by bit. A whole life spent never eating another apple? She just couldn’t do it. No, she wouldn’t do it. It just wasn’t right.

“I’m sorry Applejack, but that only reduces the symptoms caused by the allergy, it doesn’t cure it. On top of that, if you relied on it too frequently it would become less effective. Eventually it would stop having an effect on you at all. No, this should only be used in emergency situations.”

“Well uh... how bad are the effects then? I mean, I only got a little light headed and itchy. An occasional apple wouldn’t hurt, as long as I didn’t eat them before work, right?” Applejack was getting desperate now.

“That’s not such a good idea either. The effects of food allergies can be very severe. You were lucky this time, getting here when you did. In prolonged examples, the rash in your throat could close your airways, resulting in strangulation, and I think you know where that leads.” Nurse Redheart raised a hoof, cutting off Applejack as she tried to ask another question. “And no, I will not supply you with epinephrine if you are just going to ration it as part of your regular meals.”

Applejack couldn’t bear it anymore. Tears began to well up in her eyes. “Well wha... what am I supposed to do? I can’t live like this forever. You must have something, anything!”

“I’m afraid not. I’ll supply you with a personal epinephrine dose, for emergency use only.” Redheart narrowed her eyes in Applejack’s directions, thinking intently. “And I think in your case, I’m going to restrict your supply to only one per week. You should be able to make do with that.”

Big Macintosh stood up as his sister walked out of the examination room. “You look better already, AJ. So, what was it?”

Applejack forgot about this part. She couldn’t tell her own brother that she was allergic to their prized crop, their namesake even! No, she would take this secret to the grave, at least where her family was concerned. There was just one problem.

“Oh uh... yeah that. It was uh...” Applejack paused for a moment, eyes darting back and forth, trying to come up with any other disease she could think of. Anything but this. “Poison joke. Yep, that was it, got some of that... poison joke pollen in my nose. Right funny joke it played too, huh huh, me, not bein’ able to buck apples. What a riot, right?” Her eyes continued to look at everything in the room other than her big brother.

“Uh huh. Well, glad that’s all sorted then.” Mac could tell she was lying of course. Applejack couldn’t tell a lie to save a whole crop of apples. He knew better than to press her though. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound too severe if she was willing to cover it up like that. Probably just something really embarrassing. “Alright then, you all set to get on back to the farm?”

Applejack dropped her impeccable poker face and jumped back into the conversation. “Actually, I think I’m going to go see Zecora. If we got any of that uh... poison joke around the farm, she’ll know best how to deal with it.”

“Mmhmm. That’s probably not a bad idea. You go take care of your... poison joke problem. But remember, we got a lot of work to make up for back at the farm, so don’t take too long.”

“As if I would leave any work unattended. Who do you think you’re talkin’ to?”

“Certainly not a liar.”

Even Applejack could detect the sarcasm in that remark. “You just shut it.”

“And that’s the long n’ short of it.”

“Hmm. A dire problem for you indeed. With luck, I may have just what you need. Please wait here while I check in back. I’ll return quickly, my dear Applejack.”

Applejack sat patiently by the door while the rhyming zebra disappeared into her store room. She looked at all the knickknacks adorning the walls, and a shiver escaped her lips as she turned away.

I’ll never get used to this place. It’s too creepy. Sitting alone in this room always made Applejack uneasy. The fact that it was located in the Everfree Forest didn’t help matters at all. Zecora returned from the back as she promised, but she didn’t look particularly excited.

“Applejack, please control your ire, for I do not have what you desire.” Zecora raised a hoof to her face and pressed it against her forehead. “It seems somepony has pilfered my stores today. Otherwise, I could have fixed up a helpful nasal spray.”

“Oh, it’s okay Zecora, I appreciate you tryin’. You really ought to get some locks on this place though, or at least set up a camera to catch em in the act. Seems like you’re gettin’ robbed every other week.”

“Oh, it’s not as often as that, and of many things, I am not a rat. I think I know the culprit too.” Surprisingly enough, the corners of her mouth turned up a bit at this. “I believe it’s somepony very close to you.”

“Can you be a bit more specific? I’m friends with pretty much everypony. Good for business you know.”

“This information, I will not tell, for I know this pony very well. I do not wish her any harm. Besides, do you not have business on your farm?”

“Oh horse apples, you’re right! Thanks anyway Zecora, I gotta book it outta here.”

Zecora spoke up quickly before she could leave however.

“If information you seek, speaking of books, the library is always a good place to look. If books don’t help, perhaps a unicorn? She might fix you with her magic horn.”

Applejack smacked her face with her front hoof. “Twilight! Of course! Why didn’t I think of that?” Applejack dashed off in the direction of Ponyville. “Thanks a bunch, Zecora! You’re the best!”

Zecora waved at her retreating visitor. “Sometimes help is closer than you think.” Zecora turned back to her hut as Applejack disappeared in the distance. Her smiled was replaced with a frown as she remembered her stolen stock.

“Right now though, I think I need a drink.”

“I don’t know Applejack, allergies aren’t the same as normal sickness. Usually viruses and bacteria are easy enough to remove with either medicine or magic that is focused enough to work on the microscopic level. Not many unicorns can pull that off. Besides–” Applejack interrupted Twilight before she could launch into another boring lecture.

“Twilight, I know for a fact that you can do it. Remember when they called you in to help with the uh... baked bads incident a while back?” Applejack’s face flushed red in embarrassment as she remembered the disaster she had a hoof or two in causing. “It’s the same thing. Food was makin’ ponies sick, and now food is makin’ me sick. Just do what you did then!”

Twilight’s horn glowed bright magenta as Applejack’s hoof was removed from its position over her mouth. “As I was saying, even if I could focus well enough to affect microscopic organisms, which I can”–At this, Twilight raised her head in a prideful, if not slightly pompous pose–“allergies don’t work the same way. Allergies are caused by an overactive immune system that is trying desperately, though mistakenly, to combat a foreign substance that may, or in your case may not, be harmful when inhaled or ingested.”

Applejack looked at Twilight with a blank stare on her face. “So uh, can you do it or not?”

Twilight sighed. “I can affect foreign microbes, but I can’t directly modify your personal biological structure. In short, I can cure the flu, but I can’t stop your allergies.”

Applejack rubbed her hoof on her chin as she thought for moment. “So, you can’t do it, but maybe there’s something in one of your books?” she asked a little too hopefully.

“I doubt it, but I can at least take a look.” Twilight magically pulled a pile of medical books off of various shelves adorning the walls of the library. She opened them each, reading chapters faster than most ponies can read the table of contents. “Honestly, I’m surprised Redheart didn’t tell you any of this. You should make it your first priority to gather all information about your affliction so you can avoid unnecessary problems in the future. Ooh, this might work.” Twilight stopped for moment as she read an interesting entry.

Applejack nearly jumped as this new information filled her with hope. “What is it Twi? What’s it say?”

“Well, I can’t cure your allergies, that much I knew.” Applejack sagged as her newfound hopes were dashed like the many apples she would never be able to eat again. “However, I can do something that might help you a little. This spell will allow me to conjure a substitute that tastes similar to whatever you’re allergic to, without the harmful pathogens that are causing you discomfort.” Twilight readied the spell, but stopped suddenly. One important piece of the formula was missing.

“Hey Applejack?”

“Yeah? You gonna cast the spell?”

“In a minute. Before I can, I need something else to complete the formula.”

“What is it? I’ll fetch it if Spike isn’t around to find it.”

“It’s not a thing. I just need to know what I’m trying to conjure.”

“Oh, right. That. Well it’s uh...” Applejack scrunched up her nose as she tried to form her next sentence very carefully. Her eyes shifted around the room as she thought furiously about how to get out of this situation.

Unlike Big Macintosh, Twilight was having none of it. “Applejack, the spell won’t be very helpful if I conjure the wrong food. You’re either going to have to tell me what it is, or I can’t help you.”

Applejack understood the logic in her words. In her mind she weighed the pros and cons of this most difficult of choices. Tell Twilight about her apple allergy, and at least have something that tasted similar to apples to satiate her hunger, or lie and lose apples for the rest of her life. In the end, her lust for the red fruit won out over her shame.

“Twilight, you gotta promise not to laugh.”

“I promise?”

“AND you can’t tell nopony what I’m about to tell you!”

“Of course! I would never tell anypony your secret. Losing a friend’s trust is–”

“Yeah, I heard that before already. Just Pinkie Promise would ya? I’m kinda in a hurry.”

Twilight huffed at her friend’s rude behavior, but complied nonetheless. “I promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Twilight completed the accompanying motions and the pact was sealed. “Now will you please tell me what you’re allergic to?”

Applejack sighed. She couldn’t delay it any longer.

“Apples.”

Twilight let loose a snort. “You’re allergic to what?”

“Apples! And you promised not to laugh.” Applejack’s face turned a deep shade of crimson as her shame made itself apparent.

“I didn’t laugh, that was a snort. Promise kept. But still, I’m really sorry about that Applejack. That must be harder on you than I thought,” Twilight said with a touch of sympathy in her voice.

“My life has been nothing but a swirling torrent of misery and despair since I found out this morning, for sure,” Applejack deadpanned. “Now, can we just get this over with, I NEED to get back to the farm.”

“Okay, this should be easy. Let me just review the spell real quick.” Twilight glanced over the page one more time. “Ah, that’s strange. This one has a vocal component too. I guess it’s to more easily determine what you’re conjuring. Clever. Alright, I’m starting.”

Applejack stepped back to give the unicorn some space. She knew the possible consequences of Twilight trying out a new spell.

“Apple Kadabra.” The books on the table began to flip through their pages as a stiff breeze worked its way through the room. Twilight seemed to be in deep concentration has her horn glowed an even brighter magenta than before, even starting to turn white.

“Apple Kawhat now?”

“Tofu Kazam!”

Applejack tried to yell as she was buried under a mountain of apples. Twilight’s glow faded and she ran over to her fallen friend.

“Oh my gosh, Applejack! I’m so sorry, I didn’t take into account the location that the apples would appear. I was just thinking that they were for you, so they must have used you as an anchor.”

Applejack pushed her way through the apple avalanche and popped her head out next to Twilight. “I’m fine Sugarcube, but what was that hooey you were speakin’ before? I ain’t never heard of a tofu before.”

“Oh, that. Well the spell called for two vocal components. The first part was the object that is being conjured, an apple in this case. The spell is commonly used to create food substitutes, though it can be used for a variety of other things I suppose. Anyways, the second vocal command is the material that the object is to be made out of. In this case, the book suggested tofu. Apparently it can be used to mimic a wide variety of foods, so I made the apples you see here out of tofu.”

“Well they look real enough.” Applejack picked up one of the fake apples. “The texture could use a little work though.” She eyed the apple, hesitating for a moment. “This isn’t gonna hurt me, right Twi?”

“It shouldn’t. Besides, you have that epinephrine Nurse Redheart gave you right?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Well, here goes nothin’.” Applejack bit into the red fabrication in her hoof. She chewed on it for a bit, examining every inch of the strange material with her tongue. “It’s got a similar flavor to be sure, but it’s a little off. Mmm, it’s not as juicy as a normal apple.” She swallowed the artificial apple chunk and inspected the remains left in her hoof.

“Well? Does it pass?”

“It certainly don’t stand up to Sweet Apple Acres quality apples, but those are out now I suppose. This’ll do in a pinch, but you couldn’t have fooled me with it. I give it... a C-.” Twilight glared at her. “Uh, A for effort?”

“I assure you, if you cook it up right, nopony will notice.” Twilight caught her friend’s apprehending stare out of the corner of her eye. “At least nopony that doesn’t happen to be an expert on apples and apple farming.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of. Thanks, Twi. I’ll be right back with a cart to load these into.” Applejack shuffled out of the door looking like the whole of Equestria had just beaten her in an iron pony competition.

“No problem?” Twilight couldn’t tell whether to be sympathetic toward her friend, or simply irritated at her picky attitude.

“Alright everypony, eat up,” Applejack announced less enthusiastically than normal. Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh looked at the dishes before them. Something was off about the spread tonight.

“Hey sis?” Apple Bloom piped up, “Why’s everything lookin’ all fancy?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, normally we just have some baked apples or somethin’. Tonight though we got, well what is this?”

“That’s a Red Apple Salad. It’s got celery, pineapple, pecans, and a bit of whipped cream, all topped with a lemon dressing. Oh, and some apples.” Applejack had attempted to overwhelm the apples with a variety of other, strong flavors using a recipe she had learned from Rarity a while back.

“There’s something off about it though.” Apple Bloom picked at the apples in the salad. Big Macintosh tried some and nodded in agreement.

“Eeeyup.”

Consarn it, the lemons and pineapple were supposed to overpower the subtle taste of the apples. At least that’s what I think Rarity said.

“Ehehe, that’s probably the dressing, messes with the flavor a bit. It’s still good though, right?”

“I guess,” Apple Bloom conceded this point to her sister. “What about this thing though?” She poked at a bowl filled with an unidentifiable liquid.

“Well that there’s a soup. Can’t very well have just a salad now can you?”

“Well actually–” Apple Bloom was quickly cut off as Applejack continued.

“That there soup is a baked potato soup, with onions, parsley, garlic, basil, salt, pepper, and a little bit of hot sauce for good measure.” Applejack’s siblings both stared at her inquisitively. “Oh, and I tossed some apples in there.” She hoped that with this dish, even if the over abundance of spices didn’t mask the taste of the apples, the hot sauce would surely dull her family’s taste buds to prevent them from tasting much of anything. An old trick she learned at one of Pinkie Pie’s parties.

Apple Bloom was the first to try it. “Well, it tastes alright, I suppose, but there’s something off about this one too.” She chewed one of the apple chunks slowly as she tried to discern the soup’s odd flavor. “I can’t really taste em, but the apples feel, softer than normal, I guess?”

“Eeeyup.”

Applejack started to sweat a little. “Look I’m sure it’s just the broth makin’ em soft. They been sittin’ in there for a while, they’re perfectly fine. Eat up now.” She wiped her hoof across her perspiring forehead as she sat in her own chair at the table.

“AJ, what’s goin’ on with you today?” Big Mac finally decided to intervene. “You been gone most of the day with a full field of apples that still need to be bucked, and when you finally get back you spend all your spare time in the kitchen. It ain’t like you to shirk your duties like that.”

Applejack couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Shirk my duties? I would never shirk my duties, you take that back this instant!”

“You sayin’ I’m wrong?”

Applejack shrank back in her chair. “No. I’m just sayin that you’re uh... inaccurate?”

“Oh oh I know!” Apple Bloom interrupted the impromptu staring contest going on between her older siblings. “You must have wanted to try some fancy dishes of your own when you ate those apples we cooked up at breakfast. That’s it isn’t it?” Apple Bloom’s excited face turned to a scowl as she remembered Applejack’s theft that morning. “Scootaloo was mighty angry you stole that apple she was working on.”

Applejack whipped her head around to stare at her younger sister. A stern expression crossed her face. “What do you mean, ‘cooked up’?”

Apple Bloom tried to hide under the table once she realized that Applejack was none too happy about her ‘experimentations’. “We was tryin to get our cutie marks in cooking. We tried bakin’ muffins, makin’ taffy, all sorts of things, but we hadn’t tried apples yet. We couldn’t afford to get any ingredients of our own, so we stopped by Zecora’s hut and picked up some spices.” Apple Bloom sat up a little in her chair, trying to retain a little bit of dignity. “We were gonna pay her back, honest we were, but we needed them right then. Anyways, I think the apples turned out alright, well at least mine and Sweetie’s did.” She glared at her older sister. “We didn’t get to try Scoot’s. Somepony stole it.” Her face softened as she finished her story on a slightly depressing note. “We didn’t get our cutie marks either.”

Applejack didn’t soften her own gaze however. “Apple Bloom. What exactly did Scootaloo put in her apple?”

“I don’t know, but she went a little nuts with it. You know how she is, can’t be subtle about anything. I’m surprised you didn’t notice, but you did eat it kinda fast.”

Big Mac had fully caught onto what had happened now and was trying to hide a wide grin behind his hooves. His cheeks were puffed out as he stifled a laugh. Applejack shot a piercing glance in his direction.

“Not. A. Word.” She returned her attention to the yellow filly trying to sneak away from the table. “Apple Bloom!” She stomped over to a pile of fresh, real, apples on the counter. “You and your friends didn’t touch these ones, right?”

“Nope, those are just regular apples.”

Applejack hesitantly picked up one of the apples. She stared longingly into its shiny red surface. The smooth texture on her hooves was perfect. She took a deep whiff, the scent of a fresh apple, made of apple, filled her with an ecstasy she hadn’t experienced since at least that morning.

“Oh my, it has been too long,” she lovingly cooed at the pinnacle of perfection she held in her hoof. Her siblings were staring with looks of confusion and, in Mac’s case, amusement. Applejack brought the apple to her lips, quivering with anticipation. She hesitated briefly as she made sure her epinephrine was still hidden under her hat. She couldn’t be too careful here.

She bit into the apple.

Euphoria washed over all of her senses as she finally chewed on a real, honest to goodness, Sweet Apple Acres apple. The texture was perfectly crisp, the juice dribbled down her chin, and the taste. There were no words to describe the taste. Best of all, there was no itching, no sweating, no loss of focus at all. She could breathe, which she took full advantage of as she bathed in the aroma of the object she craved.

Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh watched in awe as their sister enjoyed an apple far more than any pony ever should. They were almost afraid to interrupt her in her moment of bliss, but when she finished she turned her head slowly towards the two of them. Her face was perfectly serene, almost angelic, as she took a breath to speak. She looked her younger sister in the eye.

“Apple Bloom?"

"Yeah sis?"

"Go to your room.”

Big Macintosh laughed.