Such
things happen.
Applejack and her family were
suffering from a bad case of bad luck. It seemed like every day, something bad
happens. The first bad thing that happened to them was a bad harvest. Then
their collie dog, a perfectly healthy animal, developed a bad illness. Then
after that, their apple cart broke in half. Just like that. “I have no idea
what is happening to us” Applejack said as Twilight Sparkle paid a visit one
day, “It’s like somepony put a curse on us!”. “Calm down Applejack” Twilight
said “there must be an explanation to all of this. Now, tell me when it
started?”. “Well I guess it started after we had that bad encounter with
Midnight Sun” Applejack said.
A week earlier, Applejack and
Big Mac were delivering some apples to the local shop. They had just finished
emptying the cart and when they were just reversing it out onto the street
again, when a large cat suddenly jumped out from behind a stack of newspapers
and ran out in front of Big Mac. This caused him to jump and to lose control of
the cart. It sped out of control down the street and ended up in the ornamental
garden of an elderly unicorn named Midnight Sun. And by the time Big Mac and
Applejack had managed to get the cart back out, the garden was completely
ruined. “We’re really sorry mam,” Applejack said, “we’ll pay for the damages”.
Midnight Sun did not reply. But her eyes gave away her feelings. They were
angry and full of rage. “I had spent years perfecting my garden!” she snapped
back at Applejack “now it is all ruined! You will be sorry for this!”
“We thought that she was going
to take us to court over it” Applejack said “But luckily we payed for the
damages and that was that. But then this string of bad luck began to happen
and… I have a feeling that Midnight Sun is behind it” “Don’t be silly
Applejack” Twilight said “there is no way a unicorn would be able to put a
powerful curse on you. You are just jumping to conclusions”.
After Twilight had left,
Applejack was sitting in her kitchen. She was still thinking about what
Twilight had said. “Maybe I am jumping to conclusions” she thought “but perhaps
Midnight Sun is behind all of the bad luck we’ve been having? But how do I even
know if it’s true or not?” Then she suddenly remembered something that Granny
Smith had said about finding out if a unicorn is giving you problems. “You go
and find yourself a black walnut tree,” she had said “and you draw a picture of
the unicorn you think is causing you grief. It does not have to be a perfect
drawing, but the image of the unicorn has to be in your head while you draw it.
Then you mark where their heart is with a cross. Then you take an iron nail and
hammer it into the cross just an inch. Then each day, you hammer it in another
inch. And if that unicorn is causing you grief, they will begin to feel pain
where their heart is. And each day, it will get worse and worse and they will
have to stop. Or the pain will kill them. But if they find out that it is you
that is causing them pain, they will either come by or send someone else to ask
or a particular item. And if you give them what they want, that breaks the
spell of the nail and they will carry on tormenting you!”.
That was what her nice and
kindly old grandmother had said. But Applejack knew better. “That’s just an old
wives tale” she thought “it can’t be true”. Then the next day, Big Mac fell
down the stairs and broke one of his front legs. This was the final straw for
Applejack. It is one thing causing someone a lot of bad luck, but it is another
thing to harm one of her family members. Throwing all logic out of the window,
Applejack set out to end this once and for all. She borrowed a crayon from her
sisters room and then got a hammer and an iron nail from the shed. She then
made her way into the nearby forest and found herself a black walnut tree. She
drew a picture of Midnight Sun on the tree and marked an X where her heart is.
Then Applejack took the nail and hammered it in just an inch. It was only when
she was walking back home when she begun to calm down. “Maybe I was just
overreacting?” she thought “it properly wouldn’t work anyways”.
The next day however, a
pegasus arrived at the farm while Applejack and her family were having
breakfast. “I’m sorry to bother you” he said, “but Midnight Sun asked me to
come here on her behalf and asks if she can borrow a cup of sugar?” Applejack
froze at this. Was it a coincidence? It cannot be? But then she said, “tell her
that we’re sorry but we don’t have any sugar at the moment”. Then after the
pegasus had had left, Applejack went back into the forest and drove the nail in
another inch. The next day the same pegasus was back. “Midnight Sun is
beginning to get sick” he said, “she was wondering if you have any sugar?” “I’m
sorry but I still don’t have any” Applejack said. And then she went back into
the forest and drove the nail in another inch. And the next day the same
pegasus returned. “Midnight Sun is getting sicker” he said, “she is wondering
if you’ve got any sugar?” “Tell her that I still don’t have any!” Applejack
said, “and I won’t be getting any for a long time!”. Just as the pegasus left,
Big Mac turned to Applejack. “You have to stop this!” he said, “if this is
really happening it will be murder!” “I’LL STOP WHEN SHE STOPS!” Applejack snapped
back. And with that, she went back into the forest and drove the nail in
another inch.
Later that day, Applejack was
sitting in her garden. Her conscious was playing up and she was beginning to
feel guilty. She wanted to go and pull the nail out. But she did not want the
bad luck to remain. She was still thinking about this when she heard her front
gate open and slammed shut. She looked up expecting it to be one of her
relatives or friends. But instead saw Midnight Sun making her way towards her. She
was struggling to stay up straight and she was clearly having breathing
problems. “Maybe I am killing her?!” Applejack thought. She got up and was
about to head off towards the forest, but Midnight Sun was already standing in front
of her. Her eyes were ablaze with hate and rage. “First you destroyed my
garden!” she said, “then you refused to give me a bit of sugar!” She swore at
Applejack… and fell dead at her feet.
“I’m surprise that she died
like that” Twilight said when she visited days later, “she had a bad heart. It
was going to give out one day” “Well… somepony I know fought that she was the
cause of the bad luck that we’ve been having” Applejack said, “and that they
drew a picture of her on a tree and drove a nail into it to try and stop her”. “Oh
that’s a silly superstition” Twilight said “we don’t believe in that sort of
thing do we?!”.
