//------------------------------// // Warmer Currents // Story: Appledashery Vol. Two // by Just Essay //------------------------------// Applejack simply sat in the family room easy chair... holding the gold-embossed letter from Fancy Pants in her hooves. Smiling. In the meantime—across the hearth-lit domain—the rest of the Apple Family paced and squirmed and chatted and chatted and— "Woohoo!" Apple Bloom hopped up and down. "We're gonna sell a buncha apples! We're gonna sell a buncha apples! We're gonna—" She paused, floating back down to the rug with crossed eyes. "Wait a minute." She stared at Granny Smith and Big Macintosh with a scrunched muzzle. "Were we ever not gonna sell a buncha apples?" "Errrrr..." Big Mac rubbed the back of his neck, fidgeting slightly. "Uhhhhh..." "Let's just say we were saved from some mighty embarrassin' pitfalls at the last second, lil hayseed." Granny Smith reached out and carressed the filly's bow with a wrinkled fetlock. She winked and smiled. "But all's breezy in the bonnet now." "Eeyup!" Big Mac smiled crookedly. "Oh. Okay." Apple Bloom smiled perkily. "Is Diamond Tiara's daddy still a jerk?" "Darn tootin' he is!" Granny Smith said, stomping her forelimbs. Big Mac chuckled. "But... we's forgivin' folk..." Granny Smith fluffed her mane with a dignified upturn of her chin. "Not to mention mighty professional too. Even still..." There was a briefly dangerous glint in her eyes. "I'll be rearin' to spit in his eye if he so happens to look at me the wrong way next time we cross paths in the marketplace." "Awwww, Granny! How could you say that?" Apple Bloom merely smirked. "Soon, we'll be rich enough that we can hire other ponies in town to spit into his eye for us!" "Heheheh... eeeeyup." "Dun encourage the little'un, Big Mac." "Just who is this 'Fancy Pants' anyways?" Apple Bloom wriggled happily in place, eyes bright. "The letter says he's from Trottingham! Does that mean we gotta move the whole farm?" "Heavens to betsy, no!" Granny Smith retorted. "It's just that some hoity toity stallion with a lick of good business sense wants to buy our apples! Now who's complainin' about that? Sure as Tartarus ain't yer ol' Granny!" "Trottingham ain't exactly a wagon ride away," Big Mac muttered. "You listened when AJ read the letter, didn't ya?" Granny Smith remarked. "They's gonna take our harvest east by train!" "Wowiee! By train?" Apple Bloom grinned wide. "Not even our patented zap-apple jam gets to be shipped by train!" "Yer right! Sure is special, ain't it, darlin'?" "Y'know what this means?" Big Macintosh grinned wide. "Less wagon-haulin' across the valley means less wasted time! We could get a lot more done around the farm!" "Abso-posi-tively!" "Maybe even hire a few other ponies to help us put up a new barn or two!" Big Mac sat up with a perky expression. "Shucks... we could plant a whole new field towards the south! Expand our produce!" "One thang at a time, Big Mac. We're still riding the wave of this here good news. Let's not get in over our heads, now..." The entire time, Applejack listened with a warm expression. She found herself staring at the rest of her family, and she was more than a little bit misty-eyed. A tingly weight was pulling her forward off the chair. So—clearing her throat—she folded the letter up neatly, placed it on the table, and took a few steps. "Listen, y'all... things are lookin' up all of a sudden, and I feel like somethin' needs to be said..." "Ah jeez..." Apple Bloom winced immediately. "We're gonna get lectured, ain't we?" Big Mac rolled his eyes, smirking out the side of his muzzle. "Eeeyupppp." "Oh go blow yer nose." Applejack briefly frowned. "I'm gonna make it short. It's just..." She clenched her teeth slightly, then proceeded cautiously, one word at a time. "... ... ...I feel like I've been awfully... short with y'all lately." She gulped. "Or so none-present that I haven't had a single word to say edgewise at any given time of the day the past week or so..." "You've been dealing with a lot of stress lately, AJ," Granny Smith said in a gentle tone. "Nopony's gonna blame you." "Yeah..." Apple Bloom nodded. "It's okay, sis—" "I'm afraid I dun agree." Applejack shook her head. "And I hate myself somethin' awful that it has to take wild'n'crazy moments like this... truly warm and golden moments... when I feel the pressure to actually say something." "Like what?" Big Mac asked. "That..." Applejack sniffled. Her lower lip quivered. "...y'all mean so very much to me. I work so hard because I want the best for everypony... and it blesses my heart so much to know that I've still got the whole lot of y'all to lean on. To talk with every day. To eat breakfast with. To hug... to nuzzle..." "Awwwwwwwwww..." Big Mac was the first to trot over. He brought Applejack in with a mighty forelimb, nuzzling her close. "...little Freckle Sis..." Apple Bloom giggled. "Little 'Freckle Sis?'" "Hah!" Granny Smith trotted over. "Now there's something I haven't heard in years!" "Whatever." Apple Bloom shrugged. "Cute enough!" She jumped into the warm center of the room. "Family hug time!" "Oh gosh dang it..." Applejack sniffled again as she felt the forelimbs enclosing her. She clenched her moist eyes shut above a quivering smile. "I didn't mean to ask for a cuddle puddle or nothin'—" "No shame in admittin' how much you love yer family," Granny Smith said. "Good times or bad. Cuz—Celestia knows—in and out of the tide, I love y'all just as much back." "I'm so plum happy to have you looking after us, AJ!" Apple Bloom said. "Eeeeeeeeeyup." Applejack stifled a whimper. Closing her eyes, she let loose of the moment and... ...drifted in the soothing currents of their breaths.