The grass glistened with morning dew in Ponyville. The air smelled of flowers and flora. Winter had passed, and the forests were now littered with green leaves and shrubs. At this early of a time, the only two ponies awake were Applejack and Fluttershy. Applejack was busy sorting apples for the Blossom Festival that would occur in Canterlot. Although she was hesitant, Applejack had eventually agreed to receive help from Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle. They would meet soon, but Rarity and Twilight were not awake yet.
Fluttershy was, like always, in the forest. She had started her morning by helping the robins build a new nest.
"Would you prefer oak or spruce twigs, Mister Robin?" Fluttershy inquired, her mouth full of sticks. "Oak? I thought so."
She dropped the twigs in front of the robin, then turned to find more. "The best tree is north of here. It's got a lot of loose branches and twigs."
Fluttershy stopped at the tree and began to pull on the sticks. The tree was dying, and it was now much easier to break them off. She headed back and gave them to the Robin.
She began to search for tall grass when she realized what time it was. "Oh no, Mister Robin! I have to leave to help Applejack prepare for the Blossom Festival. Tell Misses Robin I had to go when she comes back with the leaves!"
Fluttershy took off towards Twilight's house, the place that they had all agreed to meet. She saw Rainbow Dash on her way through the clouds, diving and resurfacing in air.
Fluttershy spotted Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie at the door of the house from above. She gradually lowered, exhibiting precaution. Her hooves touched the dirt and her wings folded.
"Hey, Fluttershy! Guess what, guess what, guess what!" Pinkie Pie bounced up and down, trampling the grass beneath her.
"Wh. . . what?" Fluttershy asked.
"I found my toothbrush this morning! It was in the toaster, isn't that weird?"
"Well that's. . ."
"Oh, oh, oh, also, I'm going to have a play date with Rainbow Dash later today! We're going to bake cupcakes!" Pinkie Pie was jumping in every direction by now.
"Well, while you do that, we're going to help Applejack bake desserts for the Blossom Festival! She should be here by now, though. She probably lost track of time again," Twilight ambled. She rotated her head, squinting her eyes. "I wonder where Rarity- there she is!"
Rarity walked towards them, her hooves clicking on the gravel. She was still not within earshot, but Pinkie yelled anyway. "Hey, Rarity! I found my toothbrush! It was in the toaster. Cool, huh?"
Rarity contorted her face. She wasn't amused. She neared them and began to speak. "Sorry I'm late! I had trouble with my alarm."
"It's okay," Twilight chided. "Applejack isn't here yet."
It was silent for a moment.
"Well, I gotta go!" Pinkie giggled. "I should get ready for Dash and me to bake the cupcakes. . ." She stared into empty space for a moment, then turned and galloped home.
Fluttershy looked towards the sky. "Oh, the birds are singing a lovely song. . ."
It was silent again. The wind rustled the leaves, and the trees groaned as they moved through it.
"Hey, y'all!" Applejack called from a distance.
"You're late!" Twilight replied.
"Yeah, sorry, the foals were doing a lousy sorting job."
"The foals?" asked Rarity. "Are your cousins over again?"
"No, silly!" she laughed. "Come on, the farm's on the other side of town! We ain't got all day!"
They all trotted behind her for about five minutes. The sky was becoming overcast with clouds, and every now and then the sun would be covered in them.
When they arrived, they were quickly greeted by the smell of smoke.
"What is that?" coughed Rarity. "It smells like a faulty curling iron!"
"It smells like it's polluting the air!" Fluttershy cried. "This is toxic!"
Applejack giggled. "Y'all are sure funny! This here is the new farm!"
"New farm?" asked Twilight. "It looks the same to me, other than the smoke."
Applejack began to trot towards the barn, closely followed by the other ponies. "We've upgraded just about everything! The faster we can make the food, the more money we can get! It sure is like a dandy game! How much money can we get? Heheh!"
"How do you make the food faster now?" asked Fluttershy.
"The foals, a'course!" Applejack pushed open the barn doors.
Inside was a horrific scene. It was a dark, smokey room packed tight with children. They were all miserable, some crying, others injured. They were all at stations, working certain machines or mixing ingredients. Some of the foals were missing limbs or body parts. They were all poor and dirty, all helpless and overworked.
Applejack grinned. "This here is the new farm! Welcome to the sweatshop!"
"Sweatshop!?" Rarity gasped. "You own a sweatshop!?"
"Now we do, thanks to modern technology. Boomin' speed, bustin' cash!"
"You're making children do all of this work!? What's WRONG with you!? Do you even FEED them!?" Twilight raved.
"Of course we feed 'em!"
"Wh. . . what do you feed them?" Fluttershy inquired nervously.
"We uh, well we feed them uh. . . horse byproduct. . ." Applejack stammered.
"Horse byproduct!? WHAT!?" Rarity screamed.
Applejack defended herself. "Horse meat has lots of protein. . . and it's really cheap."
"This is disgusting." Twilight said flatly.
"Well don't leave just yet! Y'all haven't seen the grand tour!"
The three ponies looked at each other, then back at Applejack.
"Fine," said Twilight.
Applejack walked into the barn. The ponies began coughing violently, their eyes itching. They watched the children slave away. One foal grabbed a fritter from a box, hoping no one had spotted him in doing so. A stallion cantered over and grabbed the child by his leg, forcing him to turn. The pony whipped the foal on the back repeatedly. The child began to scream. Blood flew in every direction as the whip raised from the foal's back. The ponies turned, unable to watch any longer. Fluttershy was crying.
Applejack looked happy as ever. "Now if y'all will come down in this here room, I'll show you the storage."
The ponies walked down a staircase into the basement, then into a dark room, and Twilight tripped.
"What was that!?" she screamed.
Applejack lit a candle, and it became clear what Twilight had tripped over. Two bodies lay on the floor, both foals. Everypony but Applejack screamed. The bodies were matted with blood, one was missing a leg and the other was missing half of its face. Flesh was absent in many parts of the thin, bony bodies. Maggots crawled throughout them, and the stench was unbearable. Rarity vomited. Fluttershy began to cry harder.
"Oops, wrong room," Applejack laughed.
"What. . . are these!?" Twilight cried.
"What, those? Those are dead ponies, dumbo."
"But why are they. . . how did they die!?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe they starved, maybe we whipped them too hard, maybe they killed themselves. Could be a number of things."
"This is horrific," Rarity moaned.
"I wanna go home. . ." Fluttershy whimpered.
"What are you talking about!?" Applejack chuckled. "You ain't even seen the storage room yet. Trust me, we got mountains full of pies, cakes, turnovers, fritters. . ."
She led them out of the room, into another dark room in the basement. It was a hallway, and multiple rooms opened on each side. They walked towards the end of the hall, but Twilight stopped and turned.
"What. . . is THAT!?"
"What, more dead ponies?" Applejack asked.
"No that. . . wall. . ."
They all turned in walked in. It was barely visible, but the wall was dripping with red liquid, stained, like a canvas. A pool of blood formed at the bottom of the wall, surrounding a lifeless lump. It was another pony, but it was mangled, a pulp. She had been dragged across the wall, leaving blood everywhere.
Rarity choked, then spoke. "What did you do to that child. . ."
Applejack wasn't phased. "She wasn't perfect, so I turned her into art."
"Applejack. . . this isn't art. . ." Twilight moaned. Fluttershy bawled.
"Come on, let's go to the storage room. I ain't got any time for your criticism."
They turned and continued down the hall. They entered the room at the end of it, and Applejack illuminated a candle. It was too small to illuminate the entire room, but there were stacks of boxes, too many to count.
"Oh my God. What is that!?" Rarity gasped. A body was lying in the pile of boxes.
"That's not the only one. . ." Fluttershy pointed to another. The entire mountain of boxes was littered with dead children. They were all red with blood, missing body parts, covered in maggots.
"Look at all of this!" Applejack giggled. "Now y'all don't tell me you've ever seen this much money in one room! I'll be rich!"
"Applejack, you're sick," Rarity muttered, trying not to vomit.
"I'm not sick, I'm rich!" Applejack laughed.
The three ponies turned, leaving Applejack behind. They walked into another corridor, and there was candlelight at the end. They peered into a room to their left, and the sight was repulsive.
There were three live ponies chained to a wall, all foals, crying, mangled, starving, diseased. It was almost too dark to see, and the ponies backed out, searching for an exit. Behind them they could hear Applejack calling.
"Come on guys, don't make me come over there! You ain't even seen the sorting room yet!"
She began walking towards them. They ran to the end of the hall and entered a dimly lit room.
"Oh my God," Twilight screamed. "OH MY GOD!"
The room stretched endlessly from end to end, the walls lined with gallows. Children were tied to nooses, dangling from the ceiling. Pools of blood lay beneath each of them, and they were all mangled.
"Where's the exit!?" Fluttershy screamed.
"Don't leave, now! Y'all don't wanna disobey me like these foals did!" Applejack yelled from behind them. "Don't be rude, now!"
The ponies sprinted forward, a staircase in view. Applejack was chasing them now, angered and yelling. They surfaced and ran, only to be pursued by Applejack.