//------------------------------// // Unfunny Farm // Story: Appledashery Vol. Two // by Just Essay //------------------------------// "'Real bad,' huh?" Rainbow Dash remarked with a nervous lilt to her voice. The petite pegasus coiled her wings tighter and kneaded the grass blades in front of her. "So... uhhhh... like... worse than before?" Applejack breathed in heavily. She thought about the last time she poured her heart out before Rainbow Dash—in the streets of Canterlot. She had reduced herself to a blubbering fool, and it set in motion a drunken chain of events that led to how frazzled and uneven she currently felt at the moment. But... she was wiser for it all. Or so she told herself. "It's our chief buyer," Applejack murmured. "Barnyard Bargains?" Applejack nodded. "They gone and did what I always feared they might do." "What? Sent store clerks in to set fire to half the orchards?" Applejack rolled her eyes and smirked slightly. "Sadly, life ain't that comical, Rainbow Dash. The things ponies do to hurt y'all...?" She sighed, her smile fading completely. "It's a mite bit more subtle-like." She fought a sore lump in her throat. "Not to mention harder to crawl back from. If we suffered a fire or a natural disaster, then we might just be able to recuperate. What—with the support of the townsponies and all. They've pulled in for us before. But this? Sufferin' this sort of a setback is gonna make us look bad in the business scene. We're gonna fall a few rungs in the marketplace, and Celestia knows if anypony's gonna rush in to finance us after Barnyard Bargains of all things gives us the cold wither." Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth. "What kind of total jerks would have turned on you?" "Ones who're rightly concerned for their own profit," Applejack muttered. "Barnyard Bargains is far deeper in the competition than we are. They've got more on the line." "Who can have more on the line than you, AJ?" "Money-wise, just ask any pony out there with a business degree. I ain't got one. Have you?" Rainbow merely bit her lip. "Our biggest source of income has backed out, and nopony else is bitin' for all the apples we have to give. We either gotta sell a whole bunch of our property to get by... or—more likely—give up Sweet Apple Acres entirely." Applejack went on, sighing. "The fact is, I had every reason to see this comin’ from a long way’s off. It ain’t Granny’s fault, nor Big Mac’s. After all, I was the one who done took up the mantle of this here farm. And don’t get on me for bein’ all down on myself none. Truth is, there really isn’t a whole lot I could have done to prevent it on my lonesome. The market’s simply been goin’ downhill. Shucks, it probably was before Ma and Pa… well…” Applejack couldn't go on. She could scarcely keep her eyes open without tearing up. Rainbow Dash squirmed where she sat. “Yeah, b-but… To give up the whole frickin’ farm?” Applejack felt a slight tickle in her scalp. She managed a bittersweet smile. "Ohhhh… it ain’t quite so terrible. Really. It’s the smart thang to do. If we clung to this here land just for the sake of doin’ so, then we’d end up collapsin’ even harder. Best to sell what we’ve got to ponies with the know-it-all to turn these here crops into a better industry.” “But… you’ve owned this place for years!" Rainbow's voice cracked. "You and your family! I mean… Right?” “Don’t nopony know it more than me, Rainbow," Applejack muttered. "But, fact is, unless we can find ourselves a loyal investor willin’ to cash in big time on our crops, we’ll be goin’ under before the next season.” “But, don’t you… er… I mean…” Rainbow Dash fumbled for words. The tips of her ears burned slightly. Applejack knew when her friend was feeling angry. “What? You were gonna bring up Filthy Rich, weren’t ya?” “Well…” Rainbow's muzzle scrunched. She clearly had a hard time digesting the revelations expounded upon her. “Yeah. Hasn’t he been… uhm… loyal to you?” “I never did fancy business folk too much. I always thought Mr. Rich was the exception, considerin’ all the thangs his father did for Ma and Pa back in the day. But, turns out he’s bits first and blood second. In this day’n’age, with cities becoming bigger and countries stretchin’ thinner, I suppose it’s only natural. Don’t make it right, but not like I’m the mare who’s in charge of anything.” “Yeah, well…” Rainbow hissed, “I think it sucks.” “Hah hah hah!” Applejack needed to laugh. Her ears twitched slightly as she smirked into the rosy scene. “Glad to know we dance to the same tune, Rainbow Dash, though you take mightier strides than I.” “What are you gonna do?” Rainbow Dash blinked. “You and the family, I mean?” “Reckon we’re gonna do what the rest of the folks here do,” Applejack said. “Stay here in Ponyville. Learn to blend in. Get work somewhere in town. We Apple folk have plenty of friends in town, and I don’t mean just Rarity and Twilight and Pinkie. Over the years, we’ve made our fair share of connections, and I’d be darned if none of them feel like reciprocating.” “So… you’ll be staying here?” Rainbow cocked her head aside. “In Ponyville?” “Well, shoot, either that or move in with the Oranges in Manehattan.” Applejack remarked. Flashbacks to awkward dinner conversations and even awkward-er manestyles flickered through her mind. “Brrrrrr… Now there’s somethin’ I ain’t too keen on.” “What about Granny Smith?" “What about her?” “Well, AJ, she’s goin’ on in her years, right?” Rainbow shrugged. “You think—at her age n’stuff—that this sort of sudden change will be… h-healthy for her?” Applejack looked at her friend. She thought of the petite pegasus that once clung to her... but then she also thought of the brash pony who chased after Nightmare Moon... who helped her friends span a canyon in the Everfree Forest... who kicked a dragon in the face. So many things that Rainbow Dash had done, and Applejack had once made the grave mistake of interpeting too much from a single, sideways gesture—no matter how delicate or precious. “Yer really concerned for the whole family, aren’t you?” she remarked. Rainbow looked strangely taken back by the question. “Is there a reason I shouldn’t be?” she droned in a slightly defensive tone. Applejack winced inwardly. She shrugged it off with a chuckle. "Nawwww, sugarcube. I just don’t think I’ve ever seen you have a single conversation with Granny Smith ever.” “Well… she’s your family, Applejack. I know that she means a lot to you.” “She means a lot to many ponies. She’s the salt of the earth, ol’ Apple Smith.” Applejack breathed. “I just hope she doesn’t feel as though I’m lettin’ her down.” “How do you mean?” “Well, I know that she manages well for herself n’all, but a lot of time it’s just show. She’s lived a long life and has seen many ponies she cares for leave this earth. A mare with that degree of experience and moral fortitude also stands to clam up an awful bit, especially when it comes to the things that would only tear her apart if she let ‘em out on the surface.” The air was silent for a while. Then Applejack heard something she hadn't expected. “Wow, Applejack," Rainbow murmured in a breath of wonderment. “Hmm?” Applejack glanced over. “It’s just that you’re…" Rainbow smiled helplessly. "You’re so on top of the ball. I mean, you’ve got everypony figured out.” “Well, everyone in the household.” “Right! That’s the point! You’ve had to carry your close kin on your shoulders for-freaking-ever. You’ve had to think for them as well as for yourself.” “Heh." Applejack looked towards a distant hill with gravestones on it. "I reckon…” “If you ask me, it sounds like one heck of a juggling act.” Applejack fought a pained breath. “Not really," she said. She pulled her hat tighter, feeling the tiny flutter of the feather inside. "Not if you do it everyday.” “It still blows my mind.” “Yes, well…” Applejack sat up straight. “It’s all part of livin’ with family members. I guess I really can’t expect you to understand—” Applejack's heart sank. A cloud fell over the hilltop, the farm, and her. Her throat went icy cold as she summoned the strength to blurt: “Aw shoot.” She looked over just in time to catch Rainbow's body locked up extra-tight. “Sugarcube, I’m awful sorry.” Her heart beat heavily with guilt and fear. “I didn’t mean nothin’ by that! I wasn’t thinkin’—” “Heh… s’all good.” Rainbow's smile was both stabbing and relieving at once. “No feelings hurt, okay? I’ve gotten used to goin’ the distance on my own. Ages ago, ponies used to get all sappy with me—cuz of what… well… with what happened to Dad.” She cleared her throat. “Truth is, all the stuff in my life—both crappy or not—have made me into a better, awesomer mare.” Applejack thought of a drunken pegasus flying haphazardly over Canterlot rooftops. She had already said all the wrong things, but she was still sorely tempted to—“You really believe that?” she blurted. Consarn it... Rainbow's response was nonchalant. “I… uh… I kinda have to.” Applejack nodded. “Reckon you do.” She should have just left it at that. But her scalp tickled and she couldn't take her mind off the tearful pegasus nestled in a back alleyway. "Still, does it ever get lonesome?” “Pffft! Naaah. You kidding?” Rainbow's tone and devilish smirk positively startled Applejack. The farm mare knew she should have been relieved, but part of her felt crushed to hear the winged pony go on: "I get to chillax on my own schedule. I’ve got tons of hours to practice the coolest flying moves. And when or if all of that freedom bores me… heh… well, I always got you rad gals to hang out.” Applejack looked at Rainbow. Of all the ponies to have had an awkward experience with—Fluttershy, Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie—fate had chosen the strangest candidate. One who was scampy and mysterious... delicate and daring... trustworthy and annoying all at once. She was an impossible mare to read... except for the time when six words were rattled her way in pure, unfiltered clarity. Applejack had captured lightning in a crystalline vial, once, and now she was at a loss to sample it any further. It gave the mare the sensation that everything in Canterlot was a dream. A good dream... but one that had nightmarish aftershocks. Even now—sharing the sweat and sunlight on a hilltop overlooking her ill-fated farm—Applejack wasn't certain she wanted to wake up or not. She was afraid of the truth she'd find her eyes staring straight into. But one thing was for certain, she felt... stronger with Rainbow Dash around. "Yer one of a kind, Rainbow Dash," she heard herself finally say. And it was as honest a statement as she could ever give.