Once upon a time there was a beautiful horse named Apple. Her coat was as white as snow, and her mane was as black as a raven. She lived on a small farm with her step mother. Her stepmother was a dark brown horse. Her coat was like dark chocolate, and her mane was a dark brown almost black.

Apple’s stepmother’s name was Liquorice. She was envious of Apple’s jumping skills. She had Apple do work around the farm like plowing the fields to keep her from jumping. A magic carrot told Liquorice who was the best jumper of all the mares. Everyday Liquorice would go in her stall and ask “Carrot Carrot in my stall who is the best jumper of them all?” The carrot would reply that she was the best jumper of them all.

One afternoon Apple was in the pasture when she wished the one who would care for her would find her. She gazed into the water trough and saw another face. It was a little girl’s face. Apple was frightened by the little girl. Apple jumped right over the girl and ran into her stall. The little girl said “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you."

“That was quite a big jump. My name is Penelope.” But Penelope couldn’t convince Apple to come back out. Apple watched Penelope from the safety of her stall. Licorice was walking back to the stalls when she saw Apple and Penelope’s interaction and was jealous.

She furiously galloped to her stall and asked “Carrot Carrot in my stall who is the best jumper of them all?” The carrot replied “Apple is the best jumper of them all.” All the dirt and the mud couldn’t weigh down Apple, as she jumped over the girl. During nightfall Liquorice ordered a wolf to chase Apple into the woods and get rid of her.

Later that night the wolf chased Apple deep into the woods. When the wolf tried to attack Apple, Apple jumped right over the wolf. She ran as fast as she could through the thicket of trees. Apple galloped for a couple minutes, then she slowed down when she thought she lost the wolf. Apple was too tired to go any farther and collapsed to the ground.

Apple woke up to the sound of birds chirping. She followed some birds who led her to a big bright red barn. The barn had windows traced in white paint, and there was big sliding doors with white paint in a big X shape. She walked inside and found no one was home. She saw different sized stalls and areas for animals. She looked around and saw one stall with the name Doc engraved above the entrance. She also saw another area with the name Happy engraved above the entrance.

While Apple explored the barn she found more engraved names: Bashful, Dopey, Sleepy, Sneezy, and Grumpy. Feeling sleepy Apple walked into the stall with the name Doc above the entrance, and fell asleep on the soft hay covered floor. When the inhabitants of the red barn came back, they found the big sliding barn doors were open. They cautiously walked toward the barn and peeked their heads inside. They saw Doc’s stall door was open and saw an animal they didn’t recognize.

The animal started to stir. The inhabitants darted behind the opened stall door. Apple opened her eyes and spotted eyes watching her every move. Apple said, “Hello.” The inhabitants asked “Who are you?” Apple replied ‘I am Apple.” One of the inhabitants was a goat and he said “Go back to where you came from.” Apple begged them not to send her back to her evil stepmother, Licorice.

The goat said “If Licorice finds you here she will take vengeance on all of us.” Apple replied “If you let me stay I will help you with chores like plowing fields.” The inhabitants took a vote. They all said, “You can stay,” besides the goat. When the goat herd all of them say she could stay he fainted. Apple replied “Thank you.” The inhabitants said “You are welcome.”

You can stay.

Apple remarked “If I am spending the night I think I should know your names.” There was a donkey named Doc, a chicken named Happy, a dog named Bashful, a cow named Dopey, a sheep named Sleepy, a pig named Sneezy, and a goat called Grumpy. Back at the farm with Liquorice. Liquorice asked “Carrot Carrot in my stall who is the best jumper of them all?” The carrot replied, “Apple is the best jumper of them all. The wolf failed to get rid of Apple, for she jumped over him and was too fast for him to catch her.”

The carrot told Liquorice where Apple was staying. Liquorice was furious and decided to take matters into her own hooves. She made a potion that disguised herself as an old horse. Liquorice also made some poisoned sugarcubes. One bite from the sugarcubes would make Apple sleep forever.

The next morning the farmers were surprised to find all of the animals were already up. They were even more surprised to find a new horse in a stall. The farmers didn’t question it and got to work. When the farmers realized that Apple was willing to help, they hooked Apple up to a plow and started plowing the fields. A couple of hours later the farmers unhooked Apple to let her take a break and get a drink of water.

When Apple drank some water she saw another horse’s reflection in the water. The horse was gray with a black mane and had a bag over their back. The old horse asked “Are you by any chance hungry? You have been plowing the fields for a couple hours.” Apple nodded “I admit I am a little hungry.” The old horse said “Lucky for you I have some sugarcubes.