The Factors of Disharmony

Of course, all of the ponies were completely unaware that their original friendship was in danger. They were virtually delusional. They were convinced that the draconequi were their friends and that they were all still friends too. But they were beginning to change rapidly, growing closer to their draconequus "friends". In the course of a couple months, the new ponies were nearly complete. In just a few days, it would be too late.

"Hiyahh!" The now almost wholly gray Applejack grunted as she bucked the apples off of a tree. Lies was by her side as usual, for it was Applebuck Season once again. Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom were elsewhere on the farm, with the other trees. As the two friends bucked away, they chatted in low voices, enjoying the breeze and eachother's company and the conversation. As it moved away from apples and over to stallions and coltfriends, Applejack suddenly became fidgety and nervous. Finally, she gave in. "Uh, Lies?" She whispered. "Yeah, what?" Lies nonchalantly replied. "Can ah tell y'all somethin'?" Lies neatly kicked another tree and watched the apples rain down into the baskets. "What?" Applejack facehoofed a little bit. "I mean, I need to tell y'all a secret. And I need y'all to promise, no, Pinkie Pie Promise, not to tell anypony ever. Okay?" Lies widened her magenta eyes innocently. "Of course ah won't tell anypony yer secret, ah'm a good friend!" Lies then proceeded to smile reassuringly. "See? Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" She enthusiastically moved her arms in a cross shape over her heart, flapped them like she had wings, and put her hoof over her eye. Applejack took a deep breath. "Ok... Here goes!" She gulped nervously, and opened her mouth wordlessly a few times before finally speaking in a strained whisper. "Ah... Ah have a crush on Carrot Top... Ah'm a fillyfooler."

Lies saw the trembling earth pony and smirked inwardly. Instead of teasing AJ as she wanted to, she put her lion arm around her shoulders in a comforting gesture. "Hey now, it's A-OK. Ah won't judge y'all by y'all's sexual orientation, that's a stupid thing for anypony to do." Applejack half-smiled at her. "Really? Y'all really think that?" Lies smirked a bit. "Of course really. I said it, didn't ah?" Applejack returned the smug look. "Yeah, well, unfortunately, a lot of the ponies out there just don't think like us, Lies." The pony and the draconequus laughed together for a while, before they began to buck apples once more, this time in silence.

The silence, contented at first, quickly grew awkward. Then Applejack spoke up again. "Um, Lies?" Lies figured Applejack would pipe up again, and was wondering what secret she was going to learn now. "Mmhmm?" She said. "Can ah ask y'all's advice?" Lies rolled her light magenta eyes ever so slightly. "Sure." Applejack released a sigh of relief, with a big puff of air. "Wwhhheeeew. Good. Ah'm just so glad I can rely on y'all like this- ah think y'all really has become mah bestest friend here in Ponyville. Scratch that actually, y'all are just like another of the Apple family! Y'all are just like- mah sister." She said warmly, and the two creatures hugged. "Awwww. And y'all know that ah couldn't possibly be more grateful to y'all for taking me in and givin' me a good, comfortable home." She paused lightly to trot over to the table with the refreshing apple juice and took a deep swing before speaking again. "Well, AJ, how about that advice question y'all had?" Applejack nodded, and continued her nervous question.

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Apple Bloom was downright tired from helping Big Macintosh out with the applebucking. She and her brother had finally finished their section of the orchard, seeing as this was the last day of Applebuck Season. AB was curious as to how Applejack and Lies were in terms of progress. She was a great help around the farm, but was extremely talkative when she was in a good mood or doing something that she enjoyed. And she looovvedd Applebuck Season. So the entire week, she had talked Big Mac's ears off. "Hey Mac?" She inquired loudly. "Eeeyup?" He responded. "Do you have any idea from here whether or not AJ and Lies finished their section? 'Cuz, if they did, then we are done! YIPPEEEE!" She did a quick backflip but landed on her back painfully. She got back up, tripped a couple of times before being picked up and placed in the cart of apples. "Thanks Mackie! Well, how 'bout that question ah was askin' ya?" Big Macintosh shook his head slowly. "Eeenope. Actually, look there. They are done." Apple Bloom jumped onto her brother's head, trying to see. She succeeded. "Huzzah!!!" She yelled as she rejoiced in the sleep she could get. Nopony in the Apple family (here in Ponyville anyways) ever got any sleep in Applebuck season. "Aren't you excited about getting some rest ternight?" Apple Bloom recieved the usual reply. "Eeeyup." The two siblings made their way over to the refreshment table, only to stop dead in their tracks. The two ponies (Apple Bloom and Big Mac still thought that Lies was a pony) were speaking with eachother in hushed whispers. Big Mac silently dragged Apple Bloom away from the scene, but as she followed him back to the barn, curiosity got the better of her. So she silently crept back to the clearing where the two ponies were speaking.

"Well, AJ, how about that advice question that y'all had?" Apple Bloom recognized the voice as Lies because it was scratcher and maybe one or two at the most pitches higher. Advice question? Apple Bloom thought to herself. What could mah sister possibly ever need advice on? Whah, she's an advice GIVER, not an advice TAKER! Ah'm supposed ter be the advice taker! She continued to listen. "Do y'all think ah should tell mah family? Like, tell them about, well, ya know, the thing?" Lies turned around, resting her gaze on the bushes Apple Bloom was hiding in, but only to smirk evilly for a second, and taking no notice of the yellow and reddish pink filly. "Of course not! They would judge you. I've come to know y'all's family well enough now, and y'all have known them forever, so y'all should agree with me. They'll judge you, trust me." Apple Bloom thought she saw a faint aura of constantly changing colors, always two at a time that clashed and looked horribly chaotic together. It was around the face of the light creamy yellow pony, and as Apple Bloom watched, little threads of the ugly magic started to stretch their way towards Applejack's own green eyes. On a side note, AB swore that AJ's eyes looked rather gray today. As a matter of fact, her whole body, coat, mane, and cutie mark looked gray. Even her hat did, but Apple Bloom dismissed the phenomenon as a trick of the pale blue light of the rising moon. Applejack spoke once more. "Okay, but mah only beef with that advice is that not telling them mah secret is hidin' somethin' from them. That's not entirely being truthful with them. It's practically tellin' them a lie!" Apple Bloom watched in horror as the magic started moving faster, little tendrils snaking out as if alive, as if having a personal purpose for their movement. Lies brushed away Applejack's concerns. "No. No, no, no, it's not a lie. Ah promise that it isn't a lie. And even if it was, think about this, dear Applejack." The magic was now touching Applejack's eyes, binding the two together. Applejack collapsed, trembling, as Lies spoke again, her voice losing its Southern accent and also possessing hypnotizing undertones that sounded almost... Male. And very, very, very familiar.

"Oh come now, dearest Applejack... You claim that you have never spoken a lie, or an untruth, or anything of the sort." The hypnotized Applejack nodded weakly from her cowering position on the ground. "Only once, last spring, when i lost the rodeo championship and never won the promised prize money. It was wrong and also painful and I have repented for it many times over." Lies jumped into the air, transforming into a draconequus. Apple Bloom cowered behind the bush, terrified. What Lies really was looked an awful lot like Discord! Lies flapped her wings a couple of times and stretched her different legs. "Anyways," she silkily purred, "I want you to ponder this well. Keeping a secret isn't a qualified lie. And even if it was..." When she spoke the last words, her voice was her own no longer, but instead was the voice of Discord himself, as if Lies was just his puppet. "what is one half-lie against a lifetime of honesty, truthfulness, and undecieving mannerisms?

Apple Bloom didn't know what to do. She could ask Applejack about it later, but she doubted that she would tell her what was going on. And she was pretty sure Big Mac didn't know anything about it either. So she reasoned that the only viable option left was running, so she whipped around, and fled the terrifying horrors she had witnessed. The last thing she saw before she left was her sister collapsing on the ground, unconscious- and one shade grayer.