An alternate dimension. That's what that white filly called my home. Dimensional travel has always been seen as impossible. Until that moment. The first thing I noticed was that pink filly who looked like me. The second was that, in myself, I had become a filly. Then, the ponies around me. I was with my friends. I still remember the day that we formed our little group. It never would've happened if I hadn't met my dear apprentice. A sweet filly with her red mane down as she walked into Sugarcube Corner.
Apple Doom seemed to have lost her bow on her way there. Of course, I had just finished cleaning myself up after a successful harvest. Apple Doom was the younger sister of one of my neighbors, Applejack. A few of my other neighbors knew her, too, like Painbow Gash, Twifright Shatter, Shuttercry, Scarity, Necro Slainpony, Weepy Belle, Skullarue, and a few more. Of course, now I was looking at Apple Doom, and as she walked up to me, she said, "Hey, Miss Pinkamena! Ah'm here to pick up them cupcakes mah big sis ordered." I smiled. "Oh, hello, Apple Doom. They're right in the back. I'll go get them for you." I went to get the chocolate cupcakes, fresh out of the oven, and returned to the front room, where the kind filly was waiting for me. "Thank ya, Miss Pinkamena, I'll be sure these get to mah sis. You make the best cupcakes. It would be great to know how to make such delicious treats!" As Apple Doom turned to leave, I got an idea. It was risky, and would require an early harvest, but it could be helpful. "Hey, Apple Doom, maybe you could come over next saturday, and I could teach you to bake." She turned around, her eyes sparkling. "Really?" she asked in disbelief. After I nodded she grinned. "Sure thing, Miss Pinkamena! Ah'm so lucky to have such a nice neighbor!" And with that, she left, skipping happily. I smiled, then went to see who's number was next. Maybe an apprentice would do me some good.
The next saturday, as promised, Apple Doom ran through the door, eager as ever. "Hi, Miss Pinkamena! Are ya ready to start bakin'?" I smiled. "Of course. We just have to go get my secret ingredient from the basement. Follow me!" I went to the basement, where Roseluck Thorn was tied up. I'm gonna skip most of the details, but Apple Doom ended up having a ton of fun! As we washed our hooves, Apple Doom turned to me. "Miss Pinkamena, ah'd love to bake with you again." She smiled, and I smilde back. "I think that can be arranged."
After that, we got into a sort of routine. One week it was Apple Doom, the next me. The baker and her apprentice. Apple Doom kinda missed her bow. So, I decided to make a new one for her. Applejack only ever let her wear red, green, yellow, or white, the colors of apples. So, I decided to make a different color, as a kind of rebellion. I used skin from black-coated ponies as materials. I put it in a box, and decided that I'd give it to her when she got her cutie mark.
Then came our new member. I only know what she told me, but Apple Doom ran into the shop, covered in blood, a panicking Twifright Shatter following behind her. They quickly explained that Twifright was freaking out, and accidentally killed her dragon assistant, Spike. I led the two down to the basement, where Apple Doom put spike, who had apparently been in her saddlebag, and then cleaned up. We drained his blood, because we didn't really use that, and started harvesting the meat. That's when Twifright asked what we were doing. I didn't really have a choice, so I told her everything. Surprisingly, Twifright was actually calming down. Her next question was even more surprising. "Why aren't you using the blood?" I looked at her, confusedly. "Well, how are you supposed to make blood into dough?" She frowned. "So why not use them in drinks?" I paused. "Well, I don't really know... I guess you could try it." From then on, Twifright loved making drinks from the blood, but she did prefer dragon blood. Of course, we only dropped the blood off, so it was still just Apple Doom and I.
Next was that secluded mare, Shuttercry. Twifright had found her over the body of a small rabbit, her pet Angel. Long story short, Shuttercry started making cakes out of the pets of our victims. But we were still seperated. And it would stay that way until three months later. That's when I realized that ponies were going missing. Ponies who's numbers weren't coming up for quite a while.
Something was up. I asked Apple Doom, Twifright, and Shuttercry, but they were just as confused as me. Somepony else was behind this, and we didn't like being left in the dark. Our first stop was Scarity's boutique. However, when we mentioned dissapearing ponies, she screeched. We explained that we already knew about her dresses, but wanted to know if she'd been making extra. She said she hadn't, and next Shuttercry went to see Painbow Gash, but came back to tell us it wasn't her. Nopony else had ever done stuff like that before, as far as we knew, and we had no idea what to do. But then I remembered that new mare who had moved in right around the time that the extra ponies started going missing. Necro Slainpony.
Necro was a sweet mare, kind, helpful, and she always invited you to her picnics. She hadn't done as much as swat a fly since she moved here. Could somepony like that really be behind this? I knocked gently on her door, the other three standing nearby. The door opened quietly, and Necro poked her head out. "Oh, hello Miss Pie. What are you doing here? Did you change your mind about the picnic?" I smiled nervously. Something was strangely intimidating about the way she said picnic. "No, Necro, I just, uh, wanted to ask you something." Necro smiled, but said, "Sorry, Miss Pie, but I'm a bit busy for questions. I'm making a new set of plates! But you can tell me if you rethink the picnic!" She started to close the door, but I stopped it. "It's about the missing ponies." She stopped in her tracks, then a bitter look came over her face. "Oh. You're here about that. More biased jerks, in all likelyhood." Shuttercry shook her head. "No, not at all. We are far above that. We just want to know why there are extra ponies disappearing, and where they're going." Necro snapped her head towards us. "What? 'Extra ponies'?" I smiled. "Yeah! That's why my cupcakes are so good!" "You... Eat them? But... What do you do with their bones?" I gave her a confused look. "Uh... Throw them away?" She frowned. "Well, that's a waste. My plates are far more productive." That's how it started. The five of us, a little picnic every week. Me and Apple Doom brought the cupcakes, Shuttercry brought her snack cakes, Twifright supplied drinks, and Necro brought the plates. Soon we started workind together in the harvest.
Then Apple Doom got her cutie mark. There was one wall in the basement that I could never figure out how to decorate. It was Applejack's turn. Apple Doom insisted on staying anyway, and sat as we worked. However, a pool of blood ended up next to her, and she happened to be sitting by the un-decorated wall. By the time we looked back, she had created a lovely painting of an apple orchard with her hooves, and on her flank, were three red apples, but one was being painted red with blood. When we finished, Apple Doom asked if she could make an "apple" pie. That became her specialty. And I gave her the black bow I had made years before.
Then I get back to where my story began. Apple Doom, Twifright, and Shuttercry stood with me. Whe white filly gave a frustrated shout. "It's just like last time! Pinkie, I told you about what happened with Slainpony. Why did you use that spell?" The pink filly, Pinkie, frowned. "I thought I could get it right, Nessa! Bloom said it would be cool, and Fluttershy wanted to see if it worked..." I looked at the others, and we made a silent agreement, then I shouted, "Run!" We ran into the forest, outrunning the fillies who chased us. But then we ran into another filly. "...Necro?"
Necro explained that we had been pulled from our dimension by a failed personality spell. The Picnic traveled around Equestria. Eventually, we found that we were aging. Then, when we had grown to our own age, we decided something. "Let's go to Ponyville." Necro looked at me. "What?" I smiled. "Ponyville. Let's go. It's been forever, afterall." The others thought for a moment, and couldn't find a reason to argue.
So, off we went on our adventure to Ponyville, our home.