//------------------------------// // Family Feud // Story: Applejack Through the Ages // by Paradise Oasis //------------------------------// Family Fued It's not fair... it's just not flanking fair. That she could get away with something like this, ruining my special day... it's enough to make this mare buck in anger. Can you believe it!?! The whole castle is buzzing about that stupid apple bucker! Just because she made up some story about being the original element of honesty, and these stupid ponies lap up her lies like someone put sodas in their troughs. I spent a whole month getting ready for this years Cherries carnival, which is usually the talk of the castle this time of year, and now all of my hard work and planning is going to be overshadowed by this sudden 'revelation'. Is there nothing I can do that that Applejack won't mess up for me!?! I really shouldn't be surprised, it's in that liar's blood to ruin things for the Cherry family. Ohhh, you want a family history for your class, baby Cherries Jubilee? Well, you sit right down there and listen to your mama! Cherry Jubilee, the great matriarch and founder of our clan, was the first victim of the Apple family. She showed a moment's weakness, bestowing kindness on the original Applejack, and what was her reward? Her Cherry works destroyed, many many years of running a successful business going up in smoke in a single moment because of the 'great hero' of Equestria! My ancestor's business was ruined by the cowgirl pony, and we've never forgotten this crime against our house! You think we're bitter for carrying a grudge this long? Other generations of our family later suffered from her descendants, more than I can count on my four hooves. Cherry Treats, the great fashion model of Manehatten... she lost a wonderful fashion show, the pivotal point of her career, to an upstart little bimbo named Apple Jewel, who couldn't even sew her own dresses. Ever heard of Cherry Pie, the famous baker of Coltonville? That's because she couldn't compete with Apple Pie, and her Magic Kitchen bakery with it's fancy-schmancy apple treats! Cherry Sweet fell prey those accursed apples in the old west, and Cherry Blossom was their victim in old Ponyville after that! Every few generations we are put down by an Apple, and forced it takes just as many generations to pull ourselves back up by our horseshoes. My own grandmother had her life ruined by an Apple a century before my birth. I had come back to Dream Valley, hoping to make a life for our clan here. I worked hard, spending many years of my life picking cherries, and working my way up the ranks to be in charge of the castle's entire cherry orchard. I married your father, and carefully built a life for our family here. My cherries were the most desired fruit in the entire valley, and I had finally achieved the success we had so long been denied! But then... that apple bucker came along, and just like EVERY OTHER TIME the Apples had come in and ruined things for us! People stopped ordering cherry cola at the Satin Slipper, and her stupid cider became the drink of choice. Oh, she did have her bad luck over the years- I laughed my flank off when she got turned into a dragon by Tirek, and was thrilled when she stayed behind when the rest of us moved to Paradise Estates. But I just know she's going to wreck things for you and I at Dream Castle, kid, and we'll be rode out the the valley on a rail, just you wait. Grrrr.... That stupid old nag, what does she know about farming? Oh how I hate Applejack, I hate the fake folksy wisdom, and the silly pony act. She always takes credit for the accomplishments of others, and builds her glory on my misery. All of those acres she's wasting on apple trees could be used for a good crop of cherries, and it's an insult to us agricultral ponies that her grubbing in the dirt with her hoof is classified as 'farming' by other equines! But don't you worry none, kid. We Cherries have struck back at the apple buckers many times over the decades. It was a Cherry nurse at the retirement when an elderly Apple sold the family farm... who do you think it was that convinced the old mare to sign the papers she couldn't even read anymore? And Apple Jewel and Apple Pie's careers... don't think we didn't make life miserable for the element of honesty's descendants. This feud has raged for well over a thousand years, kid. And it's going to be up to you to make sure baby Applejack's life is made a living hell when the time comes. What?!? That little brat said she wants to be FRIENDS!? Like buck I'm going to let you be friends with an Apple! No, I don't care if your father says it's all right, your father and I don't exactly see eye to eye on stuff like this anyway! And don't you be sneakin' behind my back and try to be friends in secret, cause you bet your bottom end I'll tan your flank red if I find out you've been nice to her! Look kid, I know I must sound harsh for saying all this about a little filly, but you gotta understand what that whole family has done to us. Tell ya what, kid... we'll go listen to AJ tell her brat her fairy tale, then after she's done, I'll tell ya what really happened. Then maybe you'll understand why we both hate each other so much. Oh, and don't worry about your presentation to miss Cheerilee, kiddo... we'll give that old mare a show about the Fibber-jack family your whole class will NEVER forget!