Zap Apples

The zap apples are magical apples that grow in the Everfree Forest. They appear and disappear quickly in the span of five days, which is why they must be harvested very quickly. 

Theere are five signs that signal when they are ready to be harvested.

The first sign is the howl of timberwolves. The beasts are strangely attracted by the Zap Apple Trees during the time that the apples grow.

The second sign occurs the next day after the first sign, a sudden strong wind starts blowing and the skies get covered with dark clouds. The naked trees starts buzzing with blue sparks around their branches, and soon the sparks disappear and big leaves sprout, which grifix call "zap apple leaves". The clouds quickly disperse, and once the storm is over, the apples will be due in exactly 4 days.

The third sign  is another sudden wind and gathering of dark clouds, and a flock of crows circles above the orchard, making an apple shape with their flight pattern. Glowing teal flowers sprout on the trees and blossom into star-shaped flowers, accompanied by blue electric sparks. The clouds quickly disperse and the flowers stop glowing but remain on the trees.

The evening before zap apple harvest, the zap apples sprout on the trees after a meteor shower. In this stage, the apples are small and grey. This is the fourth sign.

For the last sign, the weather changes abruptly for a final time before the zap apples are ready to harvest. There's a lightning storm over the orchard, then a rainbow shines over it, and the zap apple trees are once again teeming with electrical sparks. The zap apples turn from gray to rainbow-streaked, and rainbow-beams fire all across the orchard from the apples. An aurora-like rainbow shines behind the apple trees and the zap apples change shape from small round apples to larger, more elongated and squarish. The apples are now ready to pick.

Grifix use the zap apples for baking and making jam, similarily to ponies. The zap apples have a lot of medicinal uses, but because they only grow one day per year, the healer usually slices them very thin and dries them, or uses the jam if she is out of slices. There must always be a few jars put aside for the healer, in case of emergency.