As luck would have it, a week later, Malus finally earned his mark when he managed to clear an entire quadrant of my orchard on his own. The thing that ate away at me inside, however, was the fact that it looked just like mine and Pa’s. A red delicious, split in half with four seeds pointing to the corners of the interior flesh with a brown stem and a green leaf that were exactly the same as mine. I know I haven’t been around him for most of his life, but that was probably the happiest he’d ever been.
It… made me sit down and think. He’s not just mine, he belongs to the Apple family in a way probably even bigger than his siblings. He has my cutiemark, he has Pa’s cutiemark, a cutiemark that stallions in the apple family have had for generations going all the way back to the very beginning. How could he have ever possibly figured out what he’s supposed to do if he never wandered onto an orchard by happenstance?
How badly did we screw up his life, just by not letting him know where he comes from? His heritage is everything, but he didn’t even know that’s where his talents lay. How quickly could he have gotten his mark if I’d just known about him when he was young? Or, if Cheerilee actually told me all those years ago and I’d married her instead?
I never would’ve left the Acres if I never met Sugarbelle, and I never would’ve met her if I didn’t break up with Cheerilee. Would I… have given up on the Acres if I knew I had a son on the way? When we decided to bring Oxford into the world, I made sure to expand this orchard as much as I could, not just hoping but expecting he’d want to be an Apple family stallion.
Over the next week, a dark realization came to me. The idea that drove me to meet him wasn’t some noble minded ideal that he deserved it. It’s that I had another chance. My son didn’t want to be an apple farmer. My daughter didn’t want to be an apple farmer. It drove a stake in my heart. I didn’t know what I was going to do with this place when Sugarbelle and I get too old to work it. I was afraid to see everything I built with my own two hooves crumble.
Was I… a bad pony for doing this? Obviously, this was where he belongs, but I couldn’t just keep him. His mother needs him well more than I do. She’s… bound to get herself in trouble again for being the way she was, and if she hasn’t changed in seventeen years, she wouldn’t change in the future. But what about what he wanted? The Acres are closer to him and Cheerilee, and he could take a train from District 47 to District 2: he wouldn’t even need a car.
Applejack wouldn’t turn him away, and she could afford to pay him on top food and lodging now that she’s got her system in place. What if he… what if he wanted to spend his life there? What if he wanted to do what I’d done and go find somewhere to lay down his own roots? He might want to work an orchard for the rest of his life, but he didn’t have to stick with mine.
I said I brought him here because I wanted to turn him into a gentleman, but the truth is… I brought him here to turn him into an Apple. It was just that simple too. He did everything we’d always done as well as anypony born in this family or even better. Not only was he the spitting image of Pa, but he acted like him too. He’s more of a stallion than Oxford; with the way he came to love his little sister, he’ll be a good father someday too, and when ya clean him up, he… he really did have that sheen to him that I always thought looked so beautiful on his mother.
If he’d just been here, if he’d just been with me, his life could’ve been so different. But if that were the case… he wouldn’t be himself, now would he? If Oxford were in his position, would he turn out like Malus? Would the reverse be true? I guess… I could never really know one way or the other.
On the evening of August 26th, the fourth and final week I’d have him from dusk till dawn, I sat Malus down and tried to figure out what he wanted. Out of me, out of his mother, out of life. I’d been selfish all through this. I wanted to make him into something. That’s not how I treated Liberty, that’s not how I treated Ox, and that’s not how Cheeri treated him. It’s true: she never raised a hoof at him, she never set limits, Cheeri still didn’t know how to be firm to this day. But what she did was her best, and she wanted to do everything she could to give him a life that he wanted. She wanted him to grow up into something he wanted to be, never had any grand plans other than hoping he would be a good stallion some day.
It’s the same thing I’ve been doing with my kids for twelve years, and if they had never told me how they felt about this place, I doubt I would’ve done anything but teach him manners. This has been poorly motivated from the start, and if he’s ever gonna become a good stallion, a better stallion than me, I needed to say all that to his face.
When the sun started to sink into the horizon that night, we were so far ahead of schedule that we didn’t have anything else left to do for the month. We’d only have to tend to the crops for the rest of the week, or we could even get started on cider season early. Having him around and seeing the hard and efficient worker by my side, I couldn’t be more proud of who he’s become. I just wonder if… this is what he wanted.
“Have a seat, son.”
His brows knitted at first, but he shrugged and took the other patio chair anyways. “Alright, Pa. Something up?”
Trying to formulate exactly what I was going to say to him, I absently said, “Yeah…”
“Did I… do something wrong?”
That pulled me out of my own head. “What? No, ya’ve been nothin’ but fantastic these past two weeks. Exceptional, even.”
He still didn’t quite understand how to take praise, but at least I could get him to smile every once and a while. “Well… alright then.” He leaned back in the chair and asked, “So, what’s this about?”
I leaned over my knees and put my chin on my forehooves. “Ah think… Ah did somethin’ wrong, son.”
He reared his head back and knocked it into the house wall. “Oww!” he rubbed the bump. Asked, “What makes ya say that?”
I let out a breath. “Malus, before Ah knew that ya existed, Liberty told me somethin’ that… killed me inside a little.”
He nodded. “Oh, about not wanting the farm, right?”
He talks to her more than anypony; course he knows. “Right. Ah was… more than upset. That was probably the most depressed Ah’d been since Ah broke up with yer Ma.”
“Wait. You broke up with Ma because ya were… depressed? Isn’t that like… the opposite of what gets ponies out of depression?”
I leaned back in my chair. I could feel all the aches in my muscles. “Ah wasn’t in a good place. There was a lot goin’ on.”
Malus turned his forehooves open. “Like what? I don’t know anything about your past, really. Before ya showed up, Ma wouldn’t even talk about how I came to be.” He sneered at me. “Tell me a story, Pa.”
I gave him a half lidded stare, but conceded and rolled my eyes. “Back in ’04, things were… on the verge. Have ya ever seen District 2?”
Malus shook his head. “Nah, too far out of the way, no real reason to go there. I’ve seen the castle from when we came back from Manehattan, but I’ve never been to the central parts of Ponyville.”
“The entirety of District 2 is Sweet Apple Acres. It’s actually gotten a little bigger since the princess had the highways constructed, but it’s been about as big as it is for as long as our family’s been around. Yer ancestors settled that land before even the princesses came ta power, if that tells ya anythin’. We can trace our bloodline all the way back ta the previous era, and some of the oldest documents related ta the city, the country, and the continent were written there.”
Malus blinked. “Wow. I had no idea.”
I nodded. “Course ya don’t. As far as history goes, we weren’t really involved in the foundin’ or the settlin’ much. We’ve had a general or two over the years in the family, includin’ yer great grandpa, who died in the last war we were a part of, and this part of Equestria is actually named after one of yer ancestors, Palomino Apple, but that’s about as far as it goes. The real famous old lineages all live in Canterlot, and Ah’m sure ya know about what the Shimmers and the Pants families have done fer the country over the years.”
Malus sucked air in through his teeth. “Well… I was never the greatest student…”
“When Ah give ya back ta yer mother, take school seriously, would ya? Learn yer history. It’s the only way ta prevent it from happenin’ again.” I paused. “And good Goddess, get somepony ta teach ya math better.”
Malus crossed his forelegs. “Nopony asked ya to comment on my math skills.”
I shook my head. “Whatever. Point is, it’s more important than ya know. So, think about this farm. At this size, Ah can’t manage it all by myself. The Acres is twenty times the size of this farm.”
“Oh, crap.”
I pointed at him. “In ’04, Ah practically had ta start runnin’ it on my own.”
“Geez. Why?”
“Well, we have ta go back fer that.”
“Ah was born in ‘81, thirty-eight years ago. First son of the current head of the family. Happy, healthy, things are good. My oldest sister was born in ‘84. There were complications with her, but nothin’ too serious. My Ma just developed a cough after that. It’d get worse in the winter, but it was rare she coughed more than a few times a day.
“My youngest sister was born in the winter of ‘87. There were several complications. Ma didn’t survive labor. Ah was six years old, and right then and there, Ah had ta start growin’ up. In ‘95, My Pa and his best friend were drinkin’ late one night in the barn. We didn’t have electricity back then, so we used kerosene lamps fer light at night. They had too much, broke one of the lamps in the barn, and it went up in flames. Ah was yer age.”
“Holy crap.”
“Eeyup. Granny took back over, and now it was up ta a fifty-six-year-old mare, a fourteen-year-old colt, an eleven-year-old filly, and an eight-year-old filly ta run this massive farm. We’ve had the occasional help of extended family and the few extra hooves we could afford ta hire, but none lasted long. Ah didn’t have a choice but ta become a stallion right then and there, so that’s what Ah did. Then, in ’04, we might as well have lost Granny too.”
Malus’s ears fell. “Oh…”
I chuckled. “Well, don’t get sad yet, we’re just gettin’ ta the good part! As Granny always said, when it rains, it pours. Ah was datin’ yer mother at the time, and slowly but surely, we both started ta notice that Granny couldn’t keep up anymore. She got forgetful, confused me fer Pa and Applejack fer Ma. At one point, she asked Applebloom who she was.
“Now, Granny was a veteran at runnin’ the orchard, and even as Ah was much more able than she was at that point, she could still work faster and more efficient than Ah could. Granny could tell ya where every tree was, how much it produced last year all the way ta the decade before, and she knew when and how much most of the trees would produce before harvest season even came.”
Malus huffed. “What, was she psychic or something?”
I shook my head. “No, but… well, maybe. Ah’m finally startin’ ta get a feel fer ’em myself, but… the longer ya work the trees, the… better ya get ta know ‘em, Ah guess. Ya feel things, ya start ta just… know what they’ll do, what they’re capable of. Granny called it earth-pony magic, but of all the races, we, the most common one, seem ta be the least understood in that department.”
He nodded. “Psychic, got it.”
I waved that away. “Point is, when she started losin’ her mind, she started losin’ her touch too. The Acres went inta decline at the beginnin’ of 03 and hit a serious downward slide financially late the same year. Granny used ta manage the books too, and she never gave me an in-depth explanation of how she did it. Ah had ta figure that out, figure out how she could set it up so we could cover several acres of apple trees over the course of six months, the sales, the distribution, the payments. The three of us couldn’t do it by ourselves.
“Cheeri tried her best ta help all through this, but she just couldn’t keep up with the work we needed her ta do, on top of managin’ her job at the school. We hardly had time ta see each other. Ah… Ah don’t think Ah was ever truly in love with yer Ma, and eventually she just…”
Stopped myself. “This is awful ta say, but she just felt like another burden Ah didn’t need after a while. By the beginnin’ of ’04, Granny was mostly out the door, and Cheeri and Ah were on the tail end of our relationship. After seein’ her again, Ah don’t think she ever got over me, and what she did ta try and ‘rekindle’ our relationship didn’t work, at least not fer me. That event resulted in yerself, of course, and she never told me about ya.”
Malus sighed and put his elbow on his knee and his chin in his hoof. “I bet she did it because she didn’t want to give ya any more trouble, too.”
I clapped my hooves. “On the money. But she can tell ya that story. In April of that year, at the darkest point in my life, is when Sugarbelle walked inta my life. Her family had passed through Ponyville some time ago and they bought one of our famous apple pies. Of all the things that brought in bits, that was the one that brought the most. She wanted ta learn how ta make it, so she decided ta come back on her own and see if she could.
“It was… love at first sight, really. Heart started beatin’ again when she showed up, Granny’s head cleared if only a bit when she asked ta learn, and we just… took her in fer a while. She went from house guest ta caretaker ta marefriend in the span of a few months. She could bake, she couldn’t buck trees, but she could at least pick several apples at once with her magic, and she was… above and beyond a homemaker. It was… nostalgic. As if Ma’d come back from the other side ta take care of us again, and Ah never wanted ta let her go.
“So, Ah didn’t. Ah got Granny ta give me her old ring, and Ah took her out by my parent’s graves underneath a special tree deep in the Acres and gave it ta her.” I motioned to the house. “Clearly, she said yes.”
Malus scrunched his snout. “Ya… proposed in front of a grave?”
I rolled my eyes. “Ah’ll show it ta ya sometime, ya wouldn’t know if Ah didn’t tell ya. Anyways, while my life had become brighter, my oldest sister’s life had become much, much darker. Ah didn’t see how we could keep this up without more ponies than we could afford ta employ, and even if we did, the return wouldn’t be good enough ta keep us afloat. Ah thought the orchard was truly lost, so Ah started lookin’ fer somewhere else ta go and try and start over with somethin’ managable.
“Applejack was not happy about it. However, Applejack had also seen how Sugar cured my depression, and just like yer mother, she was too considerate ta take her own feelin’s inta account. Instead, what does she do but start drinkin’ all the booze in the house, run out of it, then go visit the local bar? She meets some random stallion who got off on the wrong train movin’ ta a new military base down south, and what does she do but get knocked up?”
Malus gritted his teeth. “That’s not cool.”
“Nah, he’s a great kid, and that stallion is my best friend these days. At the time, however, Applejack didn’t know any of this and she spiraled inta an even deeper depression. When she found out she was pregnant, she finally couldn’t handle the stress of it all and decided she was gonna end it. Had Fin not come back just ta get her name, who knows what would’ve happened?
“The last straw came in the spring of ’05. Applejack and Fin tied the knot just a few months before yer cousin Whiskey was born, and on the mornin’ of March fifteenth, Granny didn’t wake up. Ah wanted ta sell the Acres. Granny knew that, and Ah guess when she had a clear day while she was still around, she had the foresight ta make an edit ta her will. And she… wrote me out of it.”
I took a deep breath. Wiped at my eyes. “Not a day goes by where Ah don’t think about the letter she wrote me. She said, ‘My dearest grandson Macintosh, Sweet Apple Acres has seen worse before, and it will see worse again. Nopony but the Apples will see it end, come heaven or high water. Ah love ya. Go set yer roots down. You’re free.’
“Even as she was losin’ her mind, she saw what this was doin’ ta me, ta all of us, and she tailored everythin’ so we could each go our own ways however we wanted ta. She was stronger than any of us. If it weren’t fer her, so much would be so different. Granny was the best. Ain’t nopony has been a better mare than her ever since.”
Malus reached over and patted my shoulder. “Bold words for a married stallion.”
I snorted and failed to fight a smile. “Oh, shut up. So, Sugar’s parents live about a mile down the road from here, and they helped me buy a quarter of this land just as Princess Twilight started modernizin’ Equestria. In a few years, Ah had all of this. It was small by comparison, but Ah took Granny’s words ta heart. Ah started plantin’ like a mad stallion.
“After two years, Ah had the beginnin’s of an orchard, and my crops were startin’ ta come in full. Ah paid off my loans sellin’ the extra, and Sugar and Ah decided it was time ta start that family we always wanted. Yer brother was born in ’07, yer sister was born in ’09, and finally, Ah had everythin’ Ah’d wanted. An orchard Ah built, a family Ah made, a home Ah could call my own.
“And yet… Ah could never get over the guilt Ah felt for leavin’ Applejack and Applebloom like that. We’d go visit the Acres a few months outta the year, and thanks ta bein’ close friends with Princess Twilight, Applejack managed ta make a deal with the devil and save the Acres all on her own.”
Malus looked around and scratched at his neck. “Should ya be callin’ the Princess a devil?”
I shook my head. “Not the Princess. The government, son. She took a federal loan. Swallowed her pride, froze her heart, bent a knee. Had she not been Twi’s friend and known that she wasn’t gonna get screwed over, she would’ve let the Acres drown before she took a loan like that. The Acres are hers, through and through right now because she learned from the best.”
He nodded. “Ah, that makes more sense. I guess. How does she know the princess?”
I licked my lips. “Now that is a long story. When ya meet yer aunt, ya can ask her, or even the Princess herself if ya happen ta be at the acres when she comes ta visit. Even Ah see her about twice a year these days.”
Malus blinked. “Wow. That’s kinda crazy to think about.”
“Eeyup. 2000 ta ’03 were some crazy years, let me tell ya.” I tapped the arm of my chair with my hoof. “But, this brings us back ta what Ah wanted ta tell ya when we sat down.”
When Malus clicked his tongue this time, none of that rebellious venom showed up. Had been that way for a week. “Oh, right. About Liberty and Ox not wanting the farm.”
I sighed. “That. After Sugar flipped out on me and had yer Uncle look inta ya, Ah may not have thought it directly, but with you, Ah had another chance.”
He raised a brow. “Another chance?”
“Another chance ta keep the farm goin’. Ah didn’t know ya. Ah only had a detective’s approximation of who ya were, but when Ah look at ya, Ah see my Pa. Ah’ll take ya ta visit the Acres one day and show ya what he looked like, but it’s scary, really. In the same way that ya look like Ox. Same shape, same physique, same mane and tail even. Same eyes, same freckles, and now, the same cutiemark too.”
He looked at his hind quarters, then mine. “Really? I thought it was the same as yours…”
I shrugged. “Mine is about the same as his too. It’s in the blood, son.” I waved a hoof. “But the point is, Ah didn’t see ya as yer own pony, Ah saw ya as somepony Ah could mold inta myself. Ya were untapped, raw… an angry colt. A push in the right direction under supervision, and ya’d be exactly who Ah wanted ya ta be. It took seein’ ya get yer cutiemark ta realize what Ah was doin’, and… Ah’m sorry, Malus.”
Malus frowned. “I don’t… Back up, what? Ya wanted me… so ya could turn me into… you?”
“Pretty much. If Ah did it right, ya’d want ta take over by the time Ah get too old ta keep doin’ this. Ya’d be groomed inta the pony who could grow this place beyond what Ah did and expand it inta somethin’ even bigger and better than what Ah’ve built.”
He scratched at his cheek. “And… that’s a bad thing because…?”
I chuckled. “Well, first off, Ah’m glad ya feel that way. Second, it’s a bad thing because that’s not how a good stallion raises a colt. That’s not how Ma, Pa, and Granny raised me. That’s not how Ah’ve been raisin’ Ox and Liberty. Certainly, that’s not how yer Ma raised ya. We have more in common than Ah have with Ox. Because of that, Ah knew it would be easy ta shape ya the way Ah wanted, and that’s not fair.”
I took hold of the foreleg rests on my chair and sat up straight. Malus followed suit. “Son, Ah want ya ta become whoever it is you want ta become. As yer Pa, it’s my job ta see that ya get there, and make sure ya do it right. Once ya do, Ah have ta set ya free. As much as Ah’d love it if ya wanted ta keep this place fer yerself when that day comes, that’s not my decision ta make. And that’s the way it should be.”
Malus went silent for a while after that. I figured I’d let him stew on it.
The dusk sky faded from yellow to gold, gold to orange, orange to red, red to violet. The sun disappeared from the horizon; the moon rose in the opposite sky. The stars dotted the black canvas above; they added shapes and colors to the heavens. For once, I felt at peace.
Finally, Malus spoke up.
“Well, I mean. It’d be kinda stupid to turn down free land, right? And it’s kinda nice out here. It’s not as clausterphobic as Manehattan or most of Ponyville. Doesn’t smell bad. I’d have to get Ma to move, but she’s a teacher; she can do that forever and find a job anywhere. It’s not like I have to even make a decision like that right away anyways. I mean… I-I can come back once this is over, right?”
A soft smile crept up my face. I stood up, got up next to him, and gave him a hug. “’Course ya can, son.”
He looked left, he looked right. Once he saw that nopony was watching, Malus did one more thing for the very first time: he returned a hug.
“Thanks… Pa.”