//------------------------------// // Hidden Hurt // Story: The Apple of My Eye // by Brian Jacko //------------------------------// WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! "Get another barrel Apple Bloom! In a few more months, harvest season is a comin' and we got a lot of apples fallin' off the trees!" Applejack shouted as she bucked a nearby tree. "I'm on it, big sis!" Apple Bloom called back. Apple Bloom went into the farm house and brought out a few more barrels for Applejack to fill up. "Phew! I can't recall the last time I filled up this many barrels," Applejack said. "It sure is great to be workin' on the farm with my lil' sis!" Applejack playfully tackled Apple Bloom and rubbed her hoof in her mane getting it all messy. Apple Bloom giggled and said, "And I sure do love helpin' my big sister out with the chores. I couldn't ask for a better sister than you, Applejack." She gave Applejack a big hug. Applejack embraced her little sister as a tear fell from her eye. She loved her family and would work hard to support them. Applejack looked down at her little sister and said, "OK hun, your big sister has a party to go to at Sugar Cube Corner. You go off and find your friends to play with. I'll be back later!" "OK big sister!" Apple Bloom called out as she ran off to meet her friends at their tree house. Applejack put on her back packs filled with apple treats for the party. As she walked over to Sugar Cube Corner, she couldn't help but think about how good life is. She had a wonderful family and great friends. She loved working on the farm. It was her passion in life and she did her job very well. Pinkie Pie greeted her at the door. "OH! OH! OH! Welcome Applejack! We have been waiting all day for you!" Pinkie Pie cheered as she bounced up and down in place. "Thanks hun," Applejack said. "Sorry I'm a bit late. Been workin' hard on the farm and our trees have been producin' a lot of ripe apples for the pickin'!" "That's OK. Come on in and let's get this party started," the pink pony said as she bounced back inside of the house. It was Fluttershy's birthday and she sat in the middle of the room behind a big cake. Applejack greeted Fluttershy with a big hug and put her back packs over where the presents were. Once every pony had their own plate of cake, Pinkie Pie yelled out "It's present opening time!" Pinkie Pie skipped over to the presents and gave Fluttershy her gifts to open one by one. Applejack had given her a huge supply of apples for Angel. They were his favorite kind. Pinkie Pie gave her a box of her special homemade Pinkie Pie cupcakes. Rainbow Dash gave her a box of weights in order to achieve greater wing strength. Twilight Sparkle gave her a book on wild and dangerous critters of the Everfree forest, and Rarity gave her a beautiful golden gemstone cage for one of her pet birds. "Thank you all for the lovely gifts," Fluttershy said. "They all mean so much to me." Applejack smiled and took a sip of punch that Pinkie Pie had made. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Twilight Sparkle using her magic to hover her drink into the air to take a sip. Suddenly, Applejack distanced herself from the unicorn and became very sad as she stared at the floor. She didn't know why she was feeling hurt. Nothing unusual had happened at the party. She just saw Twilight Sparkle drinking her punch and became very sad. Twilight Sparkle noticed Applejack looking depressed and walked over to her. "Is there something wrong, Applejack?" the unicorn asked. Applejack shook her head rapidly and said, "What? Oh. No. Nothin's wrong. I must be feelin' a bit tired. Been workin' hard on the farm all day. Ya know how it goes right?" She gave Twilight Sparkle a playful poke on the side. Twilight Sparkle simply smiled as she nodded her head. She then went back over to the party and started dancing with Pinkie Pie. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash left the party for about an hour and then returned. She interrupted every ponies discussions as she yelled out, "Hey Fluttershy! I want you and every pony else to come outside for a second." As they walked outside, Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash and asked, "So what is it that you want me to see Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow Dash giggled and pointed up to the sky with her hoof. She had made a message in the sky using clouds. It read, "Happy Birthday Fluttershy! We all love you!" At the end of the message was a heart shaped cloud. "Awww. That’s so sweet," Fluttershy said as she smiled. "That's not all!" Rainbow Dash said as she prepared her wings for takeoff. She flew up into the sky and performed a sonic rainboom for her and her friends. It arched over the message. "Wow! That was beautiful!" Twilight Sparkle said. Twilight Sparkle looked back at her friends and she had noticed that Applejack was missing. As the rest of her friends watched the gorgeous artwork that Rainbow Dash had made in the sky, Twilight Sparkle walked back into the house looking for Applejack. There she saw Applejack huddled in the corner looking down at the floor. A single teardrop formed from Applejacks eye and hit the floor. "OK." Twilight Sparkle said with a very concerned look on her face. "Something is obviously very wrong with you. Why did you go back inside right before Rainbow Dash was about to perform her sonic rainboom?" Applejack looked up in a rather dazed state and said, "Wait. What? Somethin' wrong with me? Oh, I'm fine. I must have just seen a million sonic rainbooms before. I guess I didn't think it was anythin' special. Besides, I wanted to get back to the party." Twilight Sparkle walked over closer to her and kneeled down by Applejack. She put her hoof on her shoulder and said, "Then how come I saw you crying? I saw a teardrop fall to the floor as I came inside." Applejack straightened up in a rather defensive position and said, "Oh, I guess I was just cryin' for Fluttershy. I guess I'm just happy that her birthday was extra special this year, and I'm proud that she didn't let her shyness prevent her from celebratin' her own birthday party here." Twilight Sparkle gave Applejack a long look and searched her body from head to hoof looking for any other signs that she might be hiding. She looked into Applejack's eyes and said, "Well, if you say so Applejack, but please, if there's anything bothering you that you want to talk about, I'm always here for you." Applejack smiled and said, "Thanks, sugar cube. That's awfully sweet of ya, but I'm OK. Say it's gettin' late and I think I better go home and hit the hay. I'm gettin' awfully sleepy and tomorrow's another hard days work of buckin' some more apple trees. I'll catch ya later Twilight Sparkle." Applejack left the party in a hurry. Twilight Sparkle watched as she ran off into the distance. Twilight Sparkle walked back into the room and asked every pony if they had noticed anything odd about Applejack's behavior. No pony had noticed except her. Twilight Sparkle convinced herself that Applejack was OK and that there was nothing to worry about. She enjoyed the rest of the party, then went home and fell asleep. Applejack ran into the barn crying. She curled herself up into a ball and cried herself to sleep inside the barn house.