I play a cleric in my party. Previously, we've been asked to recover and return a certain plot-important NPC who didn't exactly want to be transported...
We killed him, transported the corpse, handcuffed it, and then raised him at the destination. It's a lot easier to transport a body than a live half-elf who is actively trying to escape.
Just say "Why don't we just use the knife multiple times to cut the apples into quarters so two people get 3/4 of an apple while one gets half an apple? One person gets a quarter apple less than the other two but it's not a big deal is it?"
Whoever complains about this approach gets stabbed.