The Apples Secret

It had been 3 weeks since the conversation between the three ponies and Apple Jack's dreams had escalated. She had found herself waking up by her Granny's tree each morning. Apple Jack's appetite had been dropping as she started to take over everyone's chores to make her forget the nightmares, but nothing helped. On this day, Apple Jack decided enough was enough and went to Rarity's to go to the spa and relax. However, the light silver unicorn had the same idea and they met each other on the road. Rarity trotted up to Apple Jack and saw how skinny and dirty she was, "Oh my Celestia! Apple Jack, darling, what's happened to you?" Rarity gasped.

"Nothin', just been working hard and I guess I've lost my appetite in the process"

"Well then, there's no time to waste. We are going to the spa and fix you right up!" Apple Jack agreed happily and followed Rarity to the spa. Upon arrival, they had Apple Jack clean up before joining Rarity to the steam room. Apple Jack walked in and saw Rarity waving her over. "Apple Jack, are you ok? You look terrible! You know, you can always tell me anything" Apple Jack sighed,

"I know, Rarity. It's a matter of fact, I was hoping to come to the spa with you today"

"Oh? Well, this is a first. I'm the one usually asking you to come here. Is everything alright, darling?"

"No, nothing is alright. Granny's death has been playing in my dreams since... well, ya know"

"Have you talked to Twilight?"

"Not exactly" Apple Jack looked away, "I told her and Starlight the same thing I told you, but not everything."

"Apple Jack," Rarity scooted closer to Apple Jack to comfort her, "You should go and talk to her. She can help you-"

"She can help me, but can she understand what I'm going through? You know us Apples, we're connected. If she can't understand, then how do ya know it'll work?"

"It's worth a shot, isn't it?" Apple Jack sighed and gave in.

After their spa day had finished, Rarity invited Apple Jack to stay the night with her so she would have a friend there with her. Apple Jack accepted the invitation and went to Rarity's boutique, her home. After a day full of fun and helping Rarity with her work, they went to bed. "Don't forget your promise, Apple Jack" Rarity reminded Apple Jack.

"I won't" Apple Jack yawned, "Goodnight Rarity"

"Goodnight Apple Jack, sweet dreams" Rarity closed her eyes and went to sleep. Apple Jack took a deep breath and relaxed, hoping for a good night's rest. However, the minute she closed her eyes, she felt a light breeze. She opened them to find herself in her orchard, but something was very wrong. She looked around at the trees and saw what looked to be dark sap trailing down the bark. Apple Jack walked up to one of the trees and touched the sap and sniffed it, it was no sap she ever smelled before, but the smell was familiar to her. The moonlight lit through the branches, making the dark liquid more visible to see. Apple Jack backed away from the tree horrified, it was blood. She stumbled into the tree behind her and jumped away, the trees had pony faces screaming in agony. She ran from the trees, trying to get away, but the farther she ran the deeper in she went. She couldn't escape. "Somepony! Anypony! HELP ME!"

"Oh Apple Jack, no one's coming to save you" Apple Jack stopped dead in her tracks. That voice, she thought, i-it couldn't be! Apple Jack slowly turned around to see who the voice belonged to. It was Granny Smith. Apple Jack's eyes were filled with tears, she ran to her grandmother and hugged her tightly. Granny comforted the orange mare, calming her down.

"Oh, granny! What's happening to me?!"

"A warning, my child. When I discovered the zap apples, we made them in every baked good we could think of plus the jam. However, my sister, Honey Crisp, made them into a tea, but she could never get it right. So, she took some honey from the flash bees and she thought she had finally made it right."

"Honey Crisp?" Apple Jack never knew she had a great aunt named Honey Crisp nor did she ever hear of her.

"We tried to take her to a doctor, but when we got on the outskirts of the orchard, it was already too late" Apple Jack hadn't realized she and Granny Smith had walked to a very old tree and stopped. The tree was a light brown with yellowish-green apples beginning to turn red. In the bark, a young pony face was barely showing. "That's when we cut off this part of the orchard. Many ponies tried to steal our apples, but they picked these instead thinking they were safe enough to eat."

"So that's why there are so many trees here." Apple Jack looked around, realizing how many ponies had lost their lives to one single apple.

"The process for a pony to turn into a tree was sped up by zap apples."

"This is why you made me promise you. Why haven't you told us before?!" Apple Jack asked, still processing all of the new
information handed to her.

"Big Mac knows, that's why he barely ever speaks. Apple Jack," Granny turned to look at Apple Jack, staring into her eyes,

"Protect our family and guard this orchard with your life. No one must know of the orchard, not even your friends" Apple Jack's eyes widened.

"Granny, what do I tell my friends then? I can't just lie to them"

"They mustn't know the truth!" A light appeared behind Granny Smith, it seemed to be calling to her. Granny Smith noticed and smiled at Apple Jack, "It's time for me to go, Apple Jack" Apple Jack began to cry as she embraced her grandmother one last time.

"I'll miss you granny" Granny Smith comforted her, embracing her as tight as she could.

"I'll always be watching over you. Take good care of the family. I love you Apple Jack" Granny Smith kissed Apple Jack's forehead.

"I love you too, granny" Granny let go and walked into the light.

Apple Jack woke up and looked over to see Rarity was gone. She yawned and stretched her limbs, got up, and walked downstairs. Rarity was humming to herself as she cooked breakfast. "G'morning darling, did you sleep well?" Rarity asked. AppleJack made her way over to a seat at the table.

"I uh- slept fine" AppleJack said, not knowing how to respond to the question. Rarity turned around and served some strawberry cheesecake stuffed french toast for Apple Jack and herself.

"No nightmares?" Rarity asked as she passed some syrup to AppleJack. She took it and poured it on her french toast, thinking of a response.

"Uh no... No nightmares"

"That's good! Once we're done, I suggest we head over to Twilight's immediately"

"Right..." AppleJack still processed what she had seen in her dream, still unsure if it was real or fake. If it was real, what would she tell her friends? What could she tell them? She didn't like having to lie to them for something that could possibly be just a dream. As she finished her french toast, she thanked Rarity and helped her clean up.

Once they arrived and entered the castle, they were surprised to see Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash in the main room talking to Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer. They turned to see Apple Jack and Rarity entering the room, "Apple Jack" Twilight said surprised. Before anything else, Pinkie Pie tackled AppleJack into a hug and cried.

"We were so worried about you!"

"Is everything ok?" Fluttershy asked, concerned. AppleJack pushed Pinkie Pie off of her and sighed.

"What're y'all doin' here?" She asked.

"We were worried about you, duh. I came to visit you and your brother told me you were busy with chores, HIS chores!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "I was hoping to catch a game with you and chat, but he said it wasn't a good idea because you've been having nightmares."

"Once I came back to Ponyville Mrs. Cake told me you stopped by to talk to me and that you looked really tired. On my way to you, I ran into Twilight who filled me in" Pinkie Pie explained before bouncing back over to Twilight. Fluttershy spoke up as well,

"Apple Bloom and her friends brought Winona over concerned for her health. When I asked The girls where you've been, they told me you've been working in the orchard nonstop"

"Applejack," Twilight came forward and stood in front of AppleJack with a concerned expression, "I know it's difficult to discuss, but it's time to talk about how you're feeling. It's going to eat you up if you keep holding it in. We're all here for you, please" AppleJack began to tear up, she knew this fact all too well, but she had promised her grandmother to not tell them the truth. She drew in a deep breath,

"I've been dreaming of mah life with Granny Smith's and-... And, the day she died. She didn't die of natural causes" The girls were shocked.

"What happened to her?" Fluttershy asked. AppleJack turned away from them.

"We don't know, Granny refused to see a doctor. Right before she died, I arranged a day for a doctor to come to see her, but it was too late. Big Mac took her body to be buried with our family." Apple Jack broke down crying. Rainbow Dash landed by her side and brought her in for a hug, the other girls walked over to her and embraced her as well. AppleJack was thankful for the group hug as a part of the weight on her shoulders was lifted. Starlight then got a thought, hoping it was a way to set AppleJack's mind at ease. Once the hug broke, Starlight whispered to Twilight and they headed to the library.