The Future Will Change

“...I’mma damn cow!” Applejack lamented her appearance. She was essentially a female ox-minotaur now with an orange color scheme and…enlarged bosoms as a result of mutation. “Is this some kinda magic spell? I need’ta call Twilight…”

“Yeah, sis, about that…” Applebloom would relay what she had seen on TV including all of the cases of mutated animal-folk that had been quarantined and arrested on sight.

“...gyatdayum,” Applejack’s tail swished nervously in response, “So I can’t be seen out in public. Well that’s just plum great. So yer sayin’ this is all due to some kinda disease? Or is it magical, maybe?”

Bloom shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno. Maybe Twilight knows? She’s the smarty-pants of ya’ll group ain’t she?”

“Good idea,” Applejack nodded, and took out her phone to give Sci-Twi a call.

It didn’t take long for her to answer. “Hello? Applejack?”

“Yeh, have ya watched the news lately, Twi?”

“...I have, and I’ve experienced what they’ve described.”

“...yer a varmint too?” Applejack muttered in horror, “...damn. Looks like our options are gettin’ slimmer.”

Twilight hesitated for a moment, and sighed over the phone. “Yeah…it appears I’ve been transformed into a corvus--”

“A ‘whoovus’?”

“...a raven. Hang on let me show you. Turn on your phone’s camera.”

“Mah what?” Applejack held her phone away from her face and tried to activate the camera. “...argh…I ain’t used’ta this stuff. Applebloom?”

Applebloom rolled her eyes and activated her sister’s facetalk camera. They could both see Twilight Sparkle had become an anthropomorphic raven with a dark-violet set of feathers all over her body and a matching beak.

“Yeesh. You weren’t kiddin’, Twi,” Applejack whistled as soon as she saw Twilight on the facecam. “But ya know, ya don’t look all that bad if I’m bein’ honest.”

“Thanks, but I don’t think the public would have the same reaction,” she replied as she nibbled some of her arm’s feathers. “It all started after I watched a movie called Enchanted Torment with Spike. I wish I could figure out how it cursed me but the movie has deleted itself from my streaming service so I can’t access it anymore.”

“Ah--damn,” Applejack huffed. It looked like they wouldn’t be able to use the film as a method of figuring out where this curse had come from. However, Applejack had a more pressing question on her mind. “...hold on--Twi you said you watched that movie with Spike, right?”

“Yes?”

“...Spike’s a dog, ain’t he?”

“...yes?”

“...from what I can tell, so far, humans are bein’ turned into critters. But what happens when a critter watches it…?”

“...” Twilight froze. She hadn’t considered that until now. In fact, she hadn’t seen Spike at all that day.

Applejack tried to get her attention, “...Twilight?”

“I’ll call you later, Applejack. I need to check on Spike!”

And with that, she hung up.

“Guess she didn’t think about that ‘til ya mentioned it to ‘er,” Applebloom commented from the couch.

“I can understand,” Applejack was sympathetic given her usual work, “When you get yourself in a routine of feedin’ yer pets or farm animals, ya don’t really realize somethin’s off until someone else points it out. Regardless…I need’ta figure out how I’mma work the cider stand…”

“But people love ya, sis,” Applebloom replied, “You ain’t got nothin’a worry about…I think.”

“...considerin’ I look mighty different than mah usual self,” Applejack pointed out that she no longer resembled a human being, “I dunno about all that. Might be best if I just lay low and don’t do nothin’ that could land me in a bear trap…or ox-trap I guess.”

Applebloom stretched her arms upwards. “Don’tcha worry, sis. I’ll handle the Cider stand. Reminder: I’m like 20 now.”

Applejack stared at her sister for a moment, realizing how developed she had become. Applebloom was standing at a staggering 5-foot-10, had a rather curvaceous appearance with wider hips and a more pronounced bustline.

“...that’s right, I keep forgettin’ you ain’t exact my little sister no more,” Applejack snorted as she affectionately patted her sister’s head, much to the latter’s visible chagrin. “How’s things goin’ with you and yer man?”

“About the same as you and yours,” Applebloom rolled her eyes and playfully swatted her sister’s hand away. “He’s been treatin’ me well. Don’t worry.”

“Good. Now get yer purdy little self on down to the stand. I’ll help ya however I can.”

And so Applebloom would take up the management of the Cider Stand for the first time on her own. Applejack would help her by carrying the barrels of cider from nearby where most of the customers couldn’t see her. It was pretty much all going well for the most part.

But then she heard a distant cry for help.

“HELP! HE’S TOUCHING ME!”

“Shut up and keep quiet!”

“...?” Applejack’s bovine ear and tail flicked. “...what the? Applebloom, didja hear…?”

Nope. She didn’t. Applebloom was busy serving cider to customers. It must have been Applejack’s sensitive ox ears that allowed her to hear such a thing. Without warning, she took off like a stampeding bull with her rope at her side. Something about that cry for help sounded…eerily familiar to her.

“...is that him again?”