Night of the Living Apples

Night of the Living Apples is the twelfth story arc of IDW Publishing's, spanning issues #32 and #33. In the story, apples at Sweet Apple Acres come alive and take over Ponyville.

Issue #32
One thousand years ago, when Princess Celestia banished Nightmare Moon to the moon, remnants of their battle—meteorites tainted by Nightmare Moon's magic—drifted through space. A thousand years later, the meteorites fall to earth and crash outside Sweet Apple Acres in the middle of the night. When Applejack goes to investigate, she notices apples falling out of the trees earlier than they're expected to. The apples, affected by the magic of the meteorites, suddenly come to life and swarm over Applejack.

The next day, the rest of the Mane Six, Spike, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo have a lunch outing and notice Applejack has yet to arrive. Unbeknownst to the ponies, more living apples appear to take Spike prisoner. When the ponies go to Sweet Apple Acres to check up on Applejack, they discover that she and her family have been captured and enslaved by the apples. Before the Mane Six can warn the rest of Ponyville of this danger, the apples' sheer numbers overwhelm them, and they are quickly captured as well. The apples' leader orders them to attack Ponyville, and they seize complete control of the town by nightfall.

Mayor Mare is forced to surrender Ponyville to the apple leader, and the ponies live under the apples' strict rule as they prepare to spread out and take over other cities. The Mane Six gather in secret in Fluttershy's cottage cellar to come up with a plan to stop the apples, but Fluttershy's animal friends have been unable to gather information. Twilight Sparkle suggests infiltrating the apples' ranks with a spy, and she uses a spell to temporarily turn Pinkie Pie into an apple.

Upon entering the now fortified Sweet Apple Acres, Pinkie finds Spike locked in a cage. She also meets Good Apple, an apple who doesn't share his fellow apples' desire for conquest and offers to help. Pinkie is discovered before she can free Spike and Good Apple from their cages, and she returns to inform her friends of their new ally.

Fluttershy learns from her animal friends that the apples are getting ready to invade Appleloosa. With the ponies quickly running out of time, Applejack suggests asking the vampire fruit bats for help. But Fluttershy says the bats' sanctuary is on Sweet Apple Acres, and even if she could get to them, she would have difficulty communicating with them.

This gives Twilight another idea. Using hypnotic suggestion, Twilight brings out the vampire fruit bat desire deep within Fluttershy and compels her into once again becoming Flutterbat.

Quotes

 * Scootaloo: —So do cutie marks arrive for a skill hidden in us we haven't found yet—
 * Sweetie Belle: —Or do we get to choose them based on what we love?
 * Rarity: I was already sewing and designing costumes before I had mine. It wasn't until I learned I could find diamonds and took my outfits to a new level that it appeared. So I'd say Sweetie Belle had it right. They represent what we love.
 * Twilight Sparkle: Yes, but I received mine when I did my magic test. I didn't realize I even had that power until then. I think it's more like Scootaloo says.


 * Twilight Sparkle: Go! We need to get back to town and warn everypony!
 * Pinkie Pie: Start the music! It's a chase scene!
 * Scootaloo: Don't worry about us! Just bring back help!
 * Sweetie Belle: Well, you can worry about us a little.


 * Mayor Mare: There must be thousands of them!
 * Nat Tally: Seven thousand four hundred and sixty three. That's assuming 144 apples in every cubic foot—
 * Mayor Mare: Stop counting and start running for your life!


 * Bad Apple: It's working! My plan is working perfectly! My victory will be both golden and delicious!


 * Apple Guard: Halt! Who goes there?
 * Pinkie Pie: It's just me! Totally an apple, just like you. Doing appley things.
 * Apple Guard: What your name?
 * Pinkie Pie: Um—Apple Pie?


 * Apple Guard 1: Did you see her tail?
 * Apple Guard 2: Come on, man, don't be so seedist.


 * Twilight Sparkle: Remember what happened to you? How you changed? That's still part of you. It's still there, just sleeping. We need to wake it up. So think about what it was like to fly at night. To be hungry for...
 * Fluttershy: Apples... I remember what it was like... What it was like to be... Flutterbat!