Applejack serenely trotted across the dewy and crisp grass, watching Princess Celestia raise her sun with her usual awe, hauling rosy apples in her saddlebags to the market, ready to sell the Apple families’ wares to the eager crowd. Big Macintosh trailed behind her, carrying several barrels on his back. She stopped by Twist’s house, where she would usually say hello to Apple Bloom’s friend and smell the pleasant flowers her mother grew outside. The orange earth pony stood confused, seeing all the flowers lying limp and lifeless in their pots, and more curiously, they key left inside the lock to the small house. She couldn’t fight back the temptation, and turned the key, intending to check if Mrs. Twist was okay – she’d never left her flowers like this as far as Applejack could remember.

Applejack numbly felt the apples spill out of her bag when she stumbled at the sight in front of her, her hoof raised to her mouth.

Apple Bloom’s neck clicked around, a giant grin plastered on her face and the orange and white fillies still cradled in her arms. Dried blood clung to ever surface, coated over her buttercup yellow coat and crimson mane, the sickly sweet smell lingering in the dark room. Apple Bloom’s eyes gave off a slight luminosity, the crack from the open door shining on her wide eyes, the larger than life whites glowing vividly, only her eyes and mouth standing out in the dark room.

Applejack stepped back shakily, allowing the door to swing open and reveal the full horror of what had happened.

“What in tarnation…” she yelled, shaking with fear. She saw her little sister, coated in blood and holding her dead friends bodies, another dead body behind her, a cutie mark lying discarded on the floor. She swallowed the hard lump in her throat and exhaled shakily.

“Sis?” Big Macintosh ventured, his heavy hoofbeats sounding behind her. He peered over his sisters shoulder, his eyes widening as he too realised.

“I…” was all Applejack could whisper, tears trickling down her cheeks as she looked at the husk of her sister, her pupils tiny and her body wounded. Big Macintosh pushed past Applejack, scooping up the filly in a fluid movement, not realising she had been holding a blade.

Big Macintosh groaned deeply as the blade sank into his shoulder, but he simply drew it out with his teeth and restrained the insane filly in his hooves, once his youngest sister. She screamed and yelled and pummelled at him, sliding out of his hooves in a bid for freedom. Applejack stood in shock, for once not knowing what to say.

“We’ll take ‘er to the loony bin, sis. It’s the only place she can go.” Big Macintosh said gruffly, finding his eyes wet too. Ponies all around stood in silence, staring at the psychotic filly covered in blood struggling to escape her brother’s arms, the well-loved orange pony trailing behind in a state of shock.

---

A lone, steel grey building loomed ahead, ugly and plain yet secure, for a heavy, wrought iron gate flanked its entrance with two burly ponies guarding it. Big Macintosh nodded towards Apple Bloom, showing the guards the crazed filly.

“Are you her legal parent or guardian?” one of the two questioned, looking Big Macintosh up and down.

“Eeyup.” He replied calmly, sniffling slightly as he gazed into Apple Bloom’s maddened eyes, looking for anything that could be his loving, caring sister before he gave her up to this mental prison.

“You too?” the guard asked, pointing at Applejack. Finding she still could not speak, Applejack simply nodded, tears still streaming freely down her freckled cheeks. The guards opened the gates briefly, allowing the three ponies to pass through before they shut with a loud clang, the noise echoing around the empty hill.

Big Macintosh lifted the heavy knocker to the door, letting it fall once, twice, thrice before a pony hurriedly answered. She kind-looking mare smiled warily at Apple Bloom, inviting the ponies inside.

“Hello, and welcome to the Equestrian Lunatic Asylum. Can we note down your names, for security purposes?” the mare said, holding a notepad and pencil ready.

“Big Macintosh.” He said bluntly, cradling the young filly in his hooves.

“Ah’m… ah’m Applejack.” She whispered. “And this here is mah sister Apple Bloom.”

The mare finished scribbling down the names and smiled patiently. “Please come this way.” She said, trotting to the left of the cold entrance. Three of the ponies trotted down the lengthy corridor, Apple Bloom still being constrained. The mare excused herself briefly, reappearing with a white jacket with straps and buckles dangling from it, hanging from a metal rack on wheels, with three straps on it – two low down on the frame, and one large one in the middle.

“If you could hold her arms out while we get this straitjacket on – don’t be afraid to be forceful. We encourage you to realise that she isn’t who she used to be anymore.” The mare said, smiling sympathetically. Applejack silently wondered how many times she had had to go through this routine before, seeing all sorts of fillies and colts in a ridiculously scary state. After much struggling, screaming and biting, Big Macintosh had managed to get the white garment on Apple Bloom, who now sat with her hooves confined against her chest, the buckles being done up by the mare. Big Macintosh helped lift Apple Bloom onto the frame, pulling the straps around her midriff and hooves tight. The mare pushed the rack along another corridor, taking his sister to a bare cell with cushioned walls and a lone slit of a window, the heavy bars blocking the sunlight and rendering the window useless.

The mare pushed a stack of paper towards Big Macintosh and Applejack, a series of boxes and dotted lines sprinkled upon all the pages.

Patient ………………. Is:

1. Mentally unstable: Yes/No

2. A danger to other ponies: Yes/No

3. Murderous/suicidal: Yes/No

4. Unable to recognise friends/family members: Yes/No

5. Part of a family where mental illness has occurred before: Yes/No

Applejack ticked all the boxes, except the last one. She and Big Macintosh scrawled their signatures, indicating that they agreed to any treatment the asylum found fit for Apple Bloom’s condition. They pushed back the forms and pencils, looking for one last time into their sisters eyes, tears freely pouring down their faces as the mare thanked them for their time and help and wheeled Apple Bloom away to be tested and to have a therapist conduct a report on her. They turned away and began the long walk home, dreading to tell everyone the news – especially about those who had died.

---

Patient Name: Apple Bloom

Patient Number: #O87WH7

Description of Case:  Found with dead bodies, identified as one ‘Sweetie Belle’ and ‘Scootaloo’. Patient #O87WH7 has been subjected to regular hypnosis sessions to learn more about her past. Patient #O87WH7 often becomes uncomfortable and can even cry uncontrollably when questioned on this subject. Patient had engaged in a plan to remove the cutie marks of fillies and colts in her school and enlisted the help of said ‘Sweetie Belle’ and ‘Scootaloo’. Questionably violent and sickening acts performed on members of Patient #O87WH7’s class, including but not limited to rape, murder and assault with a deadly weapon. Patient #O87WH7 has shown bouts of violence and abuse whilst institutionalized, and has been confined to a singular cell. Hypnosis has been proven to not work well on Patient #O87WH7, but when it has Patient #O87WH7 has mentioned demons inside her, a notion often linked to Lunar Lunacy. Patient #O87WH7 has been deemed to mentally unstable to be returned into society and should be held in secure conditions until further notice.

Suggested Treatment: Pericyazine (Neulactil)

Side effects: More sedating that chlorpromazine, and lowered blood pressure when treatment starts. Dosage: Usual maximum 300mg per day. May be given to fillies and colts for severe mental or behavioural disorders only.

Form: Tablets, Oral syrup.

A beige coloured mare finished scribbling down her report on her newest patient, Apple Bloom. She sighed as she watched the filly play with ABC blocks, the drug doing wonders to ease her mind, yet putting it back into a younger and more vegetative state. She tucked a strand of silvery hair behind her ear, adjusting her glasses and setting down the clip board she held in her hooves, sitting cross-legged opposite Apple Bloom. She smiled tentatively, watching the filly play with the wooden cubes.

Apple Bloom concentrated on the blocks, spelling out words with delight, her mind processing simple commands and emotions. The drug they’d given her to placate her mind was working at full capacity to keep anything related to the harvest at bay, but when her dosage level slipped down, she felt her mind cloud over with a rush of thoughts, of ecstasy as the memories flooded back and her previously dilated pupils shrank. The mare turned around to re-read her report, and when she looked back to Apple Bloom, the ABC blocks spelt one terrifying word.

Kill.

---

Author's Note: And with that, I give you Harvest! I hope you guys all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I really am quite sad that this project has come to an end. But it wouldn't have been anything without all your guyses' support, so thank you very, very much!