Chapter 1
"Aaaaand, done! Les' go, Applebloom!" Applejack said to Applebloom. They had been working in the Marketplace all day, and it was finally time to call it quits and head back to the farm for lunch with the family.
"Alraght! Ah can't wait ta get back home and dig in ta Granny Smith's apple craters!" Applejack fondly remembers the last time they had apple craters; Applebloom almost tore the house apart looking for the stash.
"Me too, sugarcube!" she responded, joining her eager sister in the trek home. After a few minutes of quietly listening to Applebloom go on about apple craters, Applejack found that she needed to use the bathroom.
"Applebloom, y'all go on ahead, Ah gots ta use the little mares room. Ah'll catch up with y'all, got it?"
"Sure thang, Applejack!" Applebloom skipped merrily the rest of the way home, making up little tunes about her beloved apple craters. Applejack, on the other hand, ducked into the nearest store, which happened to be Sugarcube Corner. She walked in and bee lined straight for the restroom. After she had done her business, she walked toward the exit with her normal pace. She looked around the store, and noticed something unusual. Twilight was sitting with a mare, having what looked like an engaging conversation. The other odd thing was that she was probably twenty or more years older than Twilight was! Aw, shucks, Twilight, y'all like tha older mares, do ya? Hehehe. Smiling at her friends taste in ponies, she left Sugarcube Corner, and walked back to the farm to enjoy lunch and dinner with her family.
The next day, Applejack got up early to go to the marketplace with Applebloom. Applejack had to show Applebloom how to sell the produce so she and Big Macintosh could buck more trees; if Applebloom could handle the sales, then it would free up the older, stronger of the three young Apple's to do the hard work, increasing their efficiency. It was a remarkable idea that was given to Applejack by Twilight, and they had all been very thankful. When asked, Twilight said that they could increase their income by up to 30% per month, under the right circumstances. Seeing no downside, Applejack immediately started teaching Applebloom how to sell produce. That day, Applejack decided she would teach Applebloom about the prices and haggling. She spent the whole day haggling, specifically to show Applebloom how it was done, then after lunch she talked to Applebloom, giving her a verbal lesson as well. She was in the middle of a small lecture-type instruction, when Twilight herself came to their cart.
"Hey you two. How are you?" Applejack stopped to address her friend.
"Really good this mornin', and yerself?"
"Pretty good, actually. I'll have a bushel of apples, please."
"Alraghty, that'll be six bits, please!" Twilight already had the bits in her hoof, and placed them on the cart. "Thank ya."
"Thank you."
"Yep, anytahm." Twilight turned to go, but Applejack stopped her. "Wait, Twilight." Twilight stopped, and turned to face her friend.
"Yeah?" Applejack could not pass up the opportunity to tease her friend about finally meeting a nice mare, and one so much older than her, too.
"Well, Ah just wanted ta say how proud Ah am of ya." One of Twilight's eyebrows raised, curious at Applejack.
"What?" Applejack smiled knowingly.
"Yup. I saw y'all in Sugarcube Corner, sharin' a milkshake with that one mare. Ain't he a bit old for ya, Twi?" Applejack chuckled at Twilight's surprised expression.
"What? Oh, no, AJ, that wasn't a date!" She said the last word with a chuckle. "That was my mom. I showed her around Ponyville, and treated her to some ice cream. I mean, it was Mother's Day." Applejack smiled weakly.
"Oh, uh, yeah. Tha's real nice, Twilight. Sorry about the confusion. Y'all h-have a n-nice day now." Her voice was quivering. Twilight wanted to press the issue, but Applejack was already getting back to the produce cart with Applebloom, so Twilight decided to leave it and continue on her way to the library. Applejack did indeed rush back to the cart, where Applebloom was grinning happily.
"While y'all was away, Ah done sold two bushels a apples!" She said this with pride, awaiting the much-sought-after praise from Applejack. She gave another weak smile, appearing to be in a rush.
"Tha's real nice, Applebloom. Say, how wouldja like ta take on a whole day ta yerself with tha cart?" Applebloom's eyes widened at the proposal, and then she smiled widely.
"Ah would LOVE ta! Thanks, AJ!"
"Sure, no problem." With that, she turned and walked, even though she clearly wanted to run, to the direction of the other side of town.
"Now Macintosh, remember ta stay away from the far edge of the Orchard. I ain't playin' 'round when I say I don't want y'all hangin' around near the Everfree, got it?" the dark green stallion asked.
"Eeyup."
"Yeah, dad, we got it! Come on, can we go now, please?" With a sigh, he consented.
"Yeah, go on an' play." With a delighted squeal, Applejack grabbed her big brother Macintosh and led him through the orchard, ready to play with him. She didn't get to play with him much anymore, not since he became old enough to start helping buck the trees. Normally, Macintosh would have waited four more years to help with bucking trees, but without Mrs. Apple, Mr. Apple was shorthanded in the orchard. "Gotta let 'em play now and then, don't ya, honey?" he asked to no one in particular.
"Woah, now, Applejack, Ah thank this here's far enough." Applejack turned around and looked at Macintosh with gigantic, wetting eyes.
"Aw, come on, Macintosh! It's been a year since ya started workin', an' we never get a chance ta play anymore. Can't we just go a little farther?"
"Aw, AJ, when ya turn twelve, y'all can help me an' we can play around plenty then."
"But tha's not fer another three years! PLLLEEEEEAAASSSSEEE?" She somehow made her eyes even wider and sadder looking.
"Fahn. But only a little bit, got it?"
"YUP!" She turned enthusiastically, and ran along into the orchard for a good minute and a half before stopping. "Raght here's good!" She took off her saddlebags, and pulled out a shiny red ball, then kicked it to Macintosh.
"Ah'll have a cider, hard." She slapped three bits onto the counter. The barkeeper took the bits, sweeping them into a pocket he wore about his neck, then quickly mixed the mind-numbing cocktail for his customer.
"That's much harder than the usual, Applejack. You OK?" Applejack took a swig of her drink before answering, shivering at the large quantity of alcohol.
"Yeah, Ah'm fahn. Jus' had a bad day's all." She took another gulp of her beverage, trying to forget; but the memories just kept playing.
They kicked and bucked the ball back and forth for a good fifteen minutes before Macintosh caught it under one hoof and stopped their volleying.
"Alraght, I'm gettin' tired. Imma sit fer a moment. Here, take yer ball back." He kicked the ball to Applejack, with a decent amount of force. However strong Macintosh might have been, he was not good at aiming; not at all. His kick shied left greatly, and even if it had been aimed correctly, it would have gone over Applejack's head anyway, seeing as how she was only about two and a half feet tall. Applejack turned and chased the ball. It soared, landed, then rolled to a stop against a tree, now about twenty or so yards from Macintosh. She finally caught up with it, grabbing it in between her hooves. She realized her environment was slightly darker than it had been a moment before, prompting her to look around. She looked up, and found that it was not an apple tree that she was under, just a plain oak tree. She looked around, noticing that she was practically surrounded by dark bushes. Her gaze went back to the orchard, and she began to walk back, when she heard the snapping of a twig. She stopped, and turned around to face the noise. She saw no creature, but instead she saw a pair of amber colored eyes peaking out at her from the bushes. She froze, staring into them. After a moment, she began to back away. They eyes, however, followed her movement. She saw a nose, then a snout. Eventually its whole face was showing. There were two more sets of eyes. She dropped the ball, then ran as fast as she could.
After finishing her third cider, she put her hoof on the table, then rested her head on her foreleg. She was able to block most of the emotion up to this point, but it was too much now. Her tears started to form, and she silently sobbed, keeping the physical motions to a minimum so she wouldn't be easily noticed by anypony in the bar. That night, it was just her, her cider, and her cruel mind.
She was five. Only a young filly, so young in fact she didn't even have a cutie mark yet. She sat by her mother, who laid in bed, next to a fireplace. It was fairly warm in the room. Mrs. Apple was sound asleep, snoring very quietly, so much so in fact that it was almost drowned out by the cackling of the fire. Applejack simply watched her mothers chest rise and fall, wondering why so much had changed. Yeah, her mom was sick, but she would get better. She didn't understand why everypony was making such a big fuss over a little flu.
There was a creak behind her, and she turned, curious as to who was coming in; it was Macintosh and Mr. Apple. They walked up to the bedside and sat down next to Mrs. Apple, just like they did every night. They sat for only a few moments before Mrs. Apple's eyes opened. When she saw who was near her, she smiled weakly, then coughed. Hard. She thrashed about as she did so, trying to unclog her lungs. It sounded painful. When she was done, she looked over to her family, smiling at their company.
"Oh. How nice to see you all here. I am so lucky to have such a kind, loving family." She said the same words so often, they all memorized every possible variant of the sentence. What they all had in common was the sincere message of love and gratitude; she always meant it with the whole of her heart. She tried sitting up, but after ten seconds of trying, she fell back onto the bed, breathing heavily.
"Honey, you shouldn't try to sit up. Save your strength." She stopped trying to get back up and smiled at her husband. She turned to her children, a tear in her right eye.
"Children, come here. Give your mama a hug now." They got up on the bed and gave their mother a huge hug, which she returned to the best of her ability. She separated from them enough to look into their eyes. She started with Macintosh. "Macintosh. My big, big Macintosh. Remember to always take care of your family. I can tell you'll be the biggest of any Apple to ever live on this here farm. And," she continued, turning to Applejack, "my dear sweet Applejack. I know you'll be just as capable as Macintosh. I want you both to know how much I love you, and how much I want you to know that I will always be with you, no matter what." This was really nice and all, but it was confusing the heck out of Applejack. She looked over to Macintosh, and saw that there were a few tears in his eyes. She looked at her father, who had tears coming down his cheeks. She looked back at her mom, and noticed her eyes were now closed, and she smiled faintly. Her breathing was shallow, and it was slowing. But this didn't make any sense, what was the big fuss about. Slowly, her breathing slowed, until it stopped. Macintosh and Mr. Apple were now crying, letting their tears fall onto the sheets. Applejack looked back to her mother, and let the realization fall on her. She tried shaking her mother, willing her to move. Come on, wake up. Nothing. Wake UP! Still nothing. WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP! She knew then that it was hopeless, and began sobbing into the sheets. She felt something strong pull her across the bed. She opened her eyes to see that Macintosh was hugging her tightly, crying himself, though not as hard as Applejack. After a moment, they were both covered by the strong forelegs of their father, while he himself cried as well. They stayed like that for a long while; none of them knew how long. They eventually separated, but they stayed in the room, crying silently, trying to make sense of why this had happened. After a few hours, their father sent them to bed. He didn't know how he managed to do it, but he did, and he took care of his wife. He spent the rest of the night digging a grave for her, and manually etched out her tombstone, and lay her to rest deep in the back woods of the orchard.
That would have made four ciders. She payed her due, then stumbled out of the bar. Despite the copious amounts of alcohol, she could feel every stabbing emotional wound. How could Ah forget her? How could Ah ever forget...?
They were chasing after her, jaws snapping, joints creaking, through the very back of the orchard trees. She appeared to be outrunning them. Unfortunately, she wasn't watching the ground, and when she passed over a rather large root, her back left leg caught, and she was sent tumbling. She turned, and they were already on top of her. However, it was not her time. At least, not according to Mr. Apple. He bucked two of them, cracking their heads in. The third one digested what had happened, and turned and ran, not wanting to die. Applejack, relieved, looked up into her fathers face. Hisface was filled with rage. He turned and gave this expression to Applejack, then reached out with his right hand. Applejack closed her eyes, not knowing what to expect; she definitely did not expect it. She could feel herself in a strong, loving embrace from her father. He pulled away, and looked at her with tear-filled eyes.
"You could've been killed, Applejack. Do you have any idea what that would do ta this family? When I tell ya ta do somethin', DO IT!" He hugged her again.
She had been walking for at least a half an hour, trying to muster the courage while on the way. She knew it would be difficult, but that's what happens when you buck up something like this. Applejack hoped her parents would forgive her, even if she wouldn't. This is it, Applejack. You can do this. She opened the cemetery door, and traipsed inside. She walked with a purpose to an exact spot towards the center. She stopped at a very specific, very low profile tombstone. She laid down next to it, and began to cry.
"Ah'm sorry, you guys. I really am. I just forgot's all, it won't happen again. I woulda come right away, but Ah just missed y'all so much, an' I went ta the bar, and....well....Ah don' know. I just want y'all back is all. I know it ain't ever going ta happen, but Ah still can't help but feel that maybe some day we'll see each other again." Her eyes began to close as more of the alcohol hit her system. "Wish Applebloom could have gotten to really know y'all. I love you guys so much." She was just about to succumb to sleep when she felt a heavy hoof on her shoulder. She looked up and blinked away the tears so she could see; it was Big Macintosh, looking down at her, smiling.
"Ah'm sure they'll forgive ya, AJ. Come on now, ya gotta get home. We'll needja tomarrah." He helped Applejack to her feet, and met her smile. It was still tearful, but at the same time, grateful. He helped support her, and together, they went home. At some point along the way, Applejack passed out, and Big Macintosh ended up carrying his sister the rest of the way. He couldn't help but remember his mother, how she passed, when she passed; that she passed. The fond memories of how hard his dad worked himself to support the family, so much so that it gave him a stress induced heart attack. The man basically killed himself slowly, painfully, over time so his children could have a nice childhood and be kept fed. He stopped, if but for a moment, to look up into the stars, as though someone would be looking back.
"Thank y'all so much for what ya did. Ah'm grateful," he added, a single tear running down his right cheek. He looked forward again, and resumed his pace back to the Apple Family Orchard.