//------------------------------// // Mudslingers // Story: The Dragon of Sweet Apple Acres // by closet brony 77 //------------------------------// Applejack’s hooves beat against the ground as she weaved her way through the trees, ducking past some of the lower hanging branches that whizzed by her head. She didn’t need to look behind her to know that the beast was only a few paces away and closing in fast, if the increasing volume of snapping branches and thumping footsteps were anything to go by. This made applejack only double her pace, pushing her little legs to the absolute limit, knowing it would all be over if she was caught. She had been counting on Big Mac to help her but he had abandoned her to save himself a while back, now it was just her and the beast. Applejack could feel the beast barreling down on her so she needed to think fast if she was going to get away; spotting a branch that was within her reach, the farmer filly grabbed ahold of it with her teeth and pulled back, letting it whip right into the creature’s face when he ran up causing him to howl in pain and stumble back. While he was stunned, Applejack turned heel and continued sprinting through the fields. Soon enough the farmhouse came into sight and Applejack smiled through her huffing and puffing as her legs ached, just a little bit further and she’d be home free, though with how tired she was getting it might have well been a hundred miles. But Applejack wasn’t a quitter, she pushed herself even harder than before. But unfortunately for her the beast’s tenacity was even greater than her own and he burst from the foliage and came down on her in the blink of an eye. Applejack could only look in horror as a purple claw came down onto the back of her flank, distracting her from the rock right in front of her that made her trip and fall face first into the dirt. “Tag! You’re it!” Spike shouted, before taking off towards the house. Applejack tried to pick herself back up and catch her brother in time but it was too late, he had already tagged the home base on the front porch, right next to a smirking Big Mac. “Ha! We win, you lose!” Exclaimed Spike. “Alright, ya don’t have ta rub it in.” replied Applejack Spike walked back over to Applejack and helped the filly back onto her feet, dusting some of the dirt flecks off of her front. “Ya alright?” asked Spike “Yeah, ah’m fine. Just a little scraped up.” replied Applejack “can we play somethin’ besides tag?” “Like what?” “Ah dunno….what do you wanna do Big Mac?” said Applejack “Well we can’t go into town, ma and pa don’t like us wanderin too far from Sweet Apple Acres” said Big Mac. “And it’s too cold for the watering hole” added Applejack “Hmmm, ah know! We can play in the club house pa just built fer us!” suggested Spike About a week ago, when Applejack had come with Pear Butter on a few airens, the filly had overheard one of the other foals bragging about having their own club house which made Applejack beg and plead for Bright Mac to build her one, he agreed on the condition that she helped him build it to teach her how to use tools properly; together they created a very fine piece of craftsmanship that would make any foal jealous. “That sounds fun, but what are we gonna do there?” asked Big Mac “How about we play royals? Being ‘Princess Spike’ was fun!” replied Spike “Okay! Last one there’s a rotten apple!” When the two of them took off running, Applejack paused to remain behind for a few moments. Rotten apple or not she needed to think about a few things, namely what she overheard her parents talking about last week. It wasn’t anything bad mind you, but it was something that made Applejack think; her parents had been discussing the future of the farm and eventually the conversation had come around to her, Big Mac, and Spike, how the plan was to have the three of them take over when Ma and Pa got too old to buck the trees. That didn’t quite sit right with Applejack, she loved the farm and she loved her family sure, but she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life here. She wanted to go out into Equestria, make a name for herself, be something more than just a simple farmer pony harvesting apple trees. But unfortunately she didn’t see a way out, everypony on Sweet Apple Acres was adamant on keeping her here and she couldn’t protest their decision out of fear of breaking her family’s hearts, Spike’s especially; that dragon and her had been thick as thieves, helping each other out when they get in a jam and always having their sibling’s back no matter what, spike was not just her brother but he was her best friend, if he found out she wanted to leave it would destroy him and she couldn’t do that to him. She let out a sigh and started running towards the club house; she’d figure things out eventually, she had to. ******************** Granny Smith pursed her wrinkled lips together as she saw her granddaughter took off in the direction of her siblings. That mare had lived a lot of years, she was almost as old as the town of Ponyville, as such she had acquired a lot of wisdom in that time from how to get rid of timberwolves to a surefire technique to weed out a liar to how to make the perfect apple pie; but the one thing she excelled at above all else was telling when there was turmoil within her family, she had seen in in Bright Mac when he hid his relationship with Pear Butter from her and she saw it now in Applejack, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what was bothering the poor filly Standing up from her rocking chair, joints popping as they extended, Granny Smith decided that the best way to get some answers was to go to straight to Bright Mac and Pear Butter about this; surely they knew what was wrong with Applejack. It had been one of those rare days on the farm where there wasn’t anything that needed to be done, the trees had been bucked, the animals fed, the jams made. All the apples were free to get some rest and relaxation from their busy lives for a change. Bright Mac tended to use these days to do one of two things: catch up on a good book or have a roll in the hay with Pear Butter. Since the barn wasn’t shaking around like it was possessed by a poltergeist, Granny could only assume it was the former of the two, thank Celestia. She found her son lying on the couch with his muzzle stuck to the pages of Sherlock Hooves and the dancing griffon, he always did love a good mystery. Granny gently tapped on Bright Mac’s shoulder to get his attention, the stallion looked up to meet his mother’s gaze. “Somethin wrong Granny?” asked Bright Mac, picking up on the elderly apple’s expression of concern. “It’s Applejack Mac.” replied the elderly mare. Abandoning his book on a throw pillow, Bright Mac sat up straight “what about her?” “She’s troubled Mac, but ah can’t imagine why…” “What? Applejack hasn’t been…” Bright Mac trailed off as he went over recent events, namely the ones involving Applejack. The more the farmer pony thought about it the more he realized that there had been something off about his daughter for the past week, the filly had been distracted when helping Pear Butter with her baking and nearly burnt some of the apple tarts, she had spent long amounts of time staring out towards the apple fields from the front porch, and when playing with her brothers there was a slight lack of her usual enthusiasm. “Wait no, yer right. Applejack has been acting a tad strange lately.” “Do ya know why?” Asked Granny Smith. Bright Mac shrugged “beats me, ah haven’t heard about anythin bad happenin to her lately.” “Well it’s gotta be somethin Mac, fillies don’t get upset fer no reason.” “Can ah say somethin?” said Pear Butter walking into the room “call me crazy but ah think she might be bored of the farm.” “WHAT?!” Granny Smith and Bright Mac said in unison. “Now hold on, it’s just a hunch but ah think Applejack might not want to spend the rest of her life here.” “But she’s an apple! We’re all farmer ponies at heart!” protested Bright Mac “it’s been that way fer generations!” “And what about yer sister up in Baltimare? She became a writer after she left the farm.” replied Pear Butter “but yer still sorta right, Applejack is an apple which means we have to accept her no matter what she wants to do!” “She’s got a point there mac.” said Granny “if ah can accept a pear into mah family ah can accept Applejack even if she doesn’t want to stay on Sweet Apple Acres.” “What do we do then? Ah don’t want AJ mopin around until she’s old enough to leave home.” “Give Applejack a change of scenery, ah’ve got family up in Manehatten that could take her in. Aunt orange and her husband would love ta have her company.” said Pear Butter, pulling open a drawer to look for a paper and quill “who knows, she might even get her cutie mark over there.” “Aren’t Aunt Orange and Mosely Orange one of those fancy pants socialite couples?” said Bright Mac, still unsure about his wife’s decision. Finally retrieving the needed materials for a letter, Pear Butter turned back around to face Bright Mac “well yeah, but like ah said, Applejack needs a change of scenery; getting away from the farm to be in the city could be good fer her, sides if ah wasn’t sure about this ah wouldn’t have even brought it up.” “Well….alright Buttercup, if it gets Applejack out of the dumps, ah’ll trust ya on this.” said Bright Mac, eliciting a smile from his wife. “Those young un’s have been out there fer quite awhile now, must be gettin hungry. Ah’ll bring em some apple slices to hold em over.” said Granny Smith “ah hope ya know what yer doing Pear.” *************************** Meanwhile, back with the hatchling and foals we all know and love, Applejack had finally arrived at the clubhouse long after her two brothers and was confused to hear giggling coming from the inside of the structure. Applejack tugged on the door only to find that it had been bolted shut, so the filly knocked on the door with a hoof; she could hear a yelp of alarm come from Spike that was quickly followed by a series of chaotic thumps before the dragon finally opened the door for her. “Well it’s about time ya showed up, me an Big Mac were gettin bored.” Said Spike Applejack looked over Spike’s shoulder to see Big Mac moving some of the floorboards back into place, she almost though she saw a cloth hoof sticking out of the hiding place; but that was silly, Spike and Big Mac don’t play with dolls. “Hey, yer the ones who took off like a pair of hummingbirds being chased by a mean old cat.” Said Applejack. “Oh yeah.” Replied Spike, his cheeks starting to blush red “now that yer here ya still wanna play royals?” “Nah, Ah wanna play somethin else fer a change. We could play adventurers.” Big Mac soon stepped out to meet the two, but his attention was quickly drawn away by something interesting sitting on the left side of the clubhouse. “Aww, but ah always gotta be the villain when we play that!” Spike moaned. “Well how about we ask Big Mac what he wants to do? Wait where is he?” Said Applejack, looking around to see where her brother had gotten off to. “Hey ya’ll come look at this.” Said the colt in question, who happened to be leaning on the wooden railing. Applejack and Spike walked over to join their brother and followed his gaze to see what was so fascinating: sitting on one side of the clubhouse was the largest mud pit any of them had ever seen, it had to be a mile wide and a mile deep, celestia’s sun hit it in such a way that it seemed to shimmer like diamonds, and the way it calmly rippled in the light breeze was just inviting, begging for somepony to jump in and go to town. “Woah. Now that’s a mud hole if Ah ever saw one.” Said Spike. “Ah’ll say” added Applejack “look at the size of that thing, ah jus wanna dive in like Granny used to do when she was a swimmer.” Spike leaned in closer to get a better look at the pit, unfortunately for him Applejack had secretly cut a few corners when she made the railing for the club house and the weight of a whole baby dragon on the loose wood proved too much for it to handle. The railing snapped free from under Spike, sending him falling face first into the mud pit; where the baby dragon landed with a splat. “Gah! Ah think ah got mud in my mouth!” Whined Spike, standing up in the waist deep pit, trying to get the muck out of his eyes. The hilarity of the situation wasn’t lost on Big Mac or Applejack who soon erupted into laughter at their brother’s misfortune. “Oh so ya’ll think that’s funny huh?” Snapped Spike “well try this on fer size!” The baby dragon scooped up a clawful of mud and hurled it at his siblings, the muck nailed Applejack right in the face who stumbled over the side sputtering and landed in the pit right next to Spike; mud getting into her coat and mane. “Hey!” Shouted Applejack as she tried to shake the mud off her body like a dog. Big Mac’s laughter grew in volume to see both of his siblings fall in the mud, making Applejack and Spike narrow their eyes at the colt; the dragon and the filly looked at each other and gave a knowing nod before leaping up towards their older brother, grabbing him by his forehooves, and yanking him down into the mud with the rest of them. “Why ya-“ Big Mac started, only to pause when he saw his brother and sister coated in mud, looking back and forth between the two. Spike and Applejack soon began to mimic him, their gazes bouncing between each other until all three of them broke out laughing together at their own misfortune. At least until Big Mac picked up a mud pie and mashed it into Spike’s face. Wiping his vision clean, Spike looked at his brother with a cocky grin. “Oh so that’s how it is?” Said the baby dragon. “Eeyup.” Replied Big Mac, scooping up another pile of mud. “Alright, BRING IT ON!” Spike shouted. The baby dragon jumped forward and tackled his older brother into the muck, making it splash up into Applejack’s face who quickly joined in on their mud wrestling match. It didn’t take long for it to turn into an all out mud brawl; the Apple siblings playfully wrestling each other in the mud, flinging clumps at each other, squealing in joy the whole time. But their fun couldn’t last forever after all. “What do ya’ll think yer doin?!” Shouted Granny Smith. The trio froze mid wrestle, Spike had Big Mac in a headlock while applejack was tugging on the former’s tail with her teeth. Spike ended up being the first one to speak “we were just playin in the mud Granny! We weren’t hurtin anypony” Applejack dropped spike’s tail out of her mouth “yeah Granny, we were just havin some fun, honest!” The elderly mare let out an exasperated sigh “ah’m not made cause yer playing in the mud, but if any of ya think yer setting a single hoof inside the house like that, ya’ll have got another thing comin.” Spike, Big Mac, and Applejack’s pupils shrunk to pinpricks; that phrase was Granny’s way of saying it was bathtime. All three of them ran off in different directions screaming like a timberwolf was chasing them. “Here we go again.” Muttered Granny Smith as she started galloping after them. ******************** Despite her age, Granny Smith was extremely quick on her hooves and managed to roundup all three of her grandfoals and drag them back over to the barn in under half-an-hour. Applejack and Big Mac were sitting one of the wooden benches built into the walls, the foals draped in towels, frowning. While Spike was sitting in a tub of water, being scrubbed down by Granny Smith, wearing a similar expression on his face. Meanwhile Pear Butter was walking out to the mailbox to mail a letter to her sister fully explaining the situation involving Applejack, once the letter was in she turned around to see a rather snooty looking mare strolling down the dirt path to the farm; looking at her surroundings like one looked at a trash dump. ‘Must be a Canterlot noble.’ thought Pear Butter ‘might as well see what she wants.’ “Howdy there, can ah help you?” said Pear Butter. The snooty pony looked at pear for a brief moment before flipping her mane out of her eyes rather dramatically. “Hello there, my name is Delilah Sunlight from Canterlot.” ‘Knew it’ Pear Butter said in her head. “I’ve been organizing a charity ball of sorts and need a caterer, I wanted to get something more….dignified but my dear old father insisted on a simple menu and referred me to here.” said Delilah. “Then yer father is a pretty smart pony, Sweet Apple Acres makes some of the finest apple products in all of equestria. What didja have in mind?” said Pear Butter. “Well they would have to be bite sized so possibly some mini apple cakes, some apple tarts, and a…..” Delilah Sunlight trailed off as she looked at something over Pear Butter’s shoulder “sweet Celestia is that a dragon?” Pear Butter looked over her shoulder to see Granny Smith leading her three children back into the main house, all of them wrapped in towels and a sour expression on their faces. “Why yes it is, me and mah husband adop-” “How much?” asked Delilah Sunlight, cutting off Pear Butter. “Beg yer pardon?” “The dragon, how much for him?” Pear Butter could only blink in astonishment at the mare standing before her. “I can sense your confusion, allow me to elaborate. Recently a neighbor of mine has gotten a rare blue-nosed jackalope as a pet and it has been the talk of the town ever since, I’ve been wanting a creature of my own that is even more rare than that to be able to outshine him. That dragon of yours seems like the perfect candidate, so well trained and small enough to keep inside the house. He is housebroken correct?” At this point Pear Butter’s face was frozen in a spot between shock and rage at this mare’s words. “Well even if he isn’t I know a few trainers that could fix that up right away, so name your price, money is no object.” It took Pear Butter a few minutes to regain her senses but when she did she said “Spike isn’t fer sale.” “I don’t think you understand, I am willing to pay any price you name for that dragon.” said Delilah, the mare not willing to take no for an answer “And ah don’t think ya understand that he isn’t fer sale, he’s mah son.” said Pear Butter, more forcefully this time “Oh you country ponies and your quaint little habits, treating a beast like him like family.” Delilah said with a patronizing chuckle “but even somepony of your lacking intellect could understand that I am offering an enormously large sum to you for it, likely higher than you can count.” That was the straw that broke the pony’s back, Pear Butter wasn’t about to just stand there and let this mare talk down to her family like this. Adopting a blank expression, Pear Butter wordlessly turned around so that her back legs were facing Delilah Sunshine, reared up, and bucked her as hard as she possibly could right in the face. The mare was sent flying several yards in the air, impacting with an apple tree face first so hard that her shocked expression left an imprint upon the bark. Then Pear grabbed Delilah by the tail and dragged her all the way out to the main road, roughly dropping the pony back to the ground “Tell yer father that he’s gonna have to find somepony else to cater his fancy party, nopony talks that way about mah family and gets away with it!” shouted Pear Butter. “You inbred freak!” spat Delilah, throwing a tantrum from her spot in the dirt “I’ll tell everypony in Canterlot what you’ve done to me, I’ll have this farm shut down!” “Go ahead! None of yer snobbish friends are ever welcome here ever again!” Pear Butter yelled back “we don’t need yer business anyhow, now git! Before ah buck ya a second time!” “You-you-you, ARGH!” Delilah sputtered before limping down the road in defeat. Pear Butter huffed and stormed back towards the farmhouse, feeling a deep sense of satisfaction from what she just had done; only for those feelings to melt away when she saw that everypony was staring at her from the front porch, having clearly heard every word she had just said to the mare. “Ma, why didja hit that mare in the face?” asked Spike. Pear butter rubbed Spike’s head fin soothingly, struggling to come up with a good answer. “because she wanted to hurt ya spike.” said Pear Butter “So if somepony tries to hurt applejack or big mac, ah should hit them?” Pear Butter looked towards Granny for reassurance and the elderly mare nodded in approval. “Yes, if anypony tries to hurt yer siblings ya can hit em and ah won’t punish ya. Now how about we get lunch started? Ya’ll must be hungry.” “Ooh, can ah help?” asked Big Mac enthusiastically “Sure, sugarcube. Just wait fer me in the kitchen.” replied Pear Butter. Big Mac smiled and ran back into the house, Applejack and Spike quickly following after him. “Ya know that mare was lucky she ran into you and not me, ah woulda bucked her clear into the next town over.” said Bright Mac. “Thanks bright mac, though ah might have cost us some new customers.” Bright Mac waved a dismissive hoof towards her “please, we’ve gotten along jus fine without em. Ah don’t wanna do business with ponies like that anyhow, now let's get started on that meal, ah’m starving.” As the couple walked back into the house, the mail stallion started to make his rounds and picked up a certain letter out of Sweet Apple Acre’s mailbox ****************************** A few days later...in Manehatten “Huh, a letter from Pear Butter. I wonder what the occasion is” said Aunt Orange, pulling open her sister’s letter. Her eyes quickly scanned over the messy handwriting and Aunt Orange grew confused. “Wait what?” “What is it honey?” said Mosely Orange “I just received a letter from Pear Butter, apparently she wants Applejack to stay with us for a while, apparently the filly needs a change of scenery but I don’t understand why she would send applejack here of all-” Aunt Orange stopped mid way through her sentence as her eyes widened in realization, a smile growing on her lips “oh that sneaky mare, she was always the clever one. Mosely, prepare the guest room, our niece shall be staying with us for some time.” “What? Aunt Orange do you really think it’s a good idea to-” the stallion was silenced by a hoof to his lips. “Don’t worry about our social life, I know what Pear Butter is trying to accomplish here, you just have to trust us.” said Aunt Orange “As you wish” said Mosely Orange, leaving Aunt Orange alone in the room as she began to write her response to pear, saying how she would love to have Applejack over, a mischievous smile still dancing on her lips. ‘Oh this shall be an absolute delight.’ Aunt Orange thought to herself, scribbling the words down onto the page.