Applejack was, to say the very least, completely and totally livid. There were a number of things that possibly could have caused this state. Perhaps it was that her only child had run off and found the one flankhole that she never wanted to see again. Perhaps it was because Twilight and Andy (mostly Andy) wouldn't let her buck the time-traveling idiot that planted the idea in Royal's head into next Thursday, even after she'd made the argument he was probably going to head there anyway.
Whatever the reason, Jackie Susan Apple was pissed. Off. And man, was she hankering to put Bucky McGillygutty and Kicks McGee to good use on somepony. Preferably a spoiled, obnoxious somepony that had a pristine white coat and was quite possibly the world's biggest narcissist.
Royal grinned nervously. "Eh-heh-heh... Howdy, Mama."
The mare turned to glare at her son. "Don't you 'Howdy, Mama' me, mister! What in the hay were ya thinkin' runnin' off like that?! Were ya tryin' tah give me a heart attack?!"
"O-Of course not, Mama! Why would Ah-"
Applejack silenced him with another glare. "You are in so much trouble when we git home, ya hear me? And as fer YOU!" She boomed, turning to Blueblood. "Ah don't want you anywhere near mah son, ya got that? Ah won't have him associatin' with somepony like you!"
Blueblood recoiled, then immediatley bounced back. "He is as much my son as he is yours, Applejack! I'm his father, and-"
"Okay, let's git somethin' straight, Nancy-colt! Yer his sire! It takes a hell of a lot more than knockin' some poor mare up tah call yerself a father!"
"Knocking some mare- I didn't even know you had a child until I met him yesterday! And it was you who refused my proposal! And anyway, I have as much of a right to see my child as you do! A court of law would rule that-"
"And just how do Ah know ya wouldn't bribe the jury, huh?! Who do ya think a bunch o' pompous ponies with sticks up their flanks the size of Marebraska is gonna listen tah, a simple farm pony or the bloodline of the princesses?"
As the former couple became more and more engrossed in their argument, the rest of the residents of Sweet Apple Acres, who, try as they might, couldn't keep up with a mother on a mission, galloped into the garden.
"ROYAL!"
With speed comparable to that of a certain-rainbow maned mare, Fluttershy tackled her nephew into a bone-crushing hug, easily knocking the wind out of him.
"Are you alright? Oh, you gave us such a scare, dear! Please, don't ever frighten us like that again!"
"A-Auntie... Shy... Can't... b-breathe..."
When Fluttershy still didn't release him from her surprisingly strong grip, Big Macintosh stepped in. With a single, "Eeyup", the red stallion gently pulled his wife away from Royal, who audibly gasped for air and began coughing.
"O-Oh, dear... I'm so sorry! I-I was just so worried... and then when you were okay..."
After his face returned to its normal coloration, the stallion smiled weakly.
"I-It's fine, Auntie Shy... Ah know y'all were just worried 'bout me."
Apple Heart, who had been unusually quiet during this exchange, rushed forward.
"Yer darn tootin' we were worried! What in the BUCK were ya thinkin'?! Do ya have ANY idea how scared we were?! Fer all we knew, ya coulda been dead! What kinda dumbflank-"
"HEART LOUISE APPLE!" Fluttershy yelled, which caused the filly to recoil.
"If I've told you once, I've told you a million times! I do not want to hear you, nor hear of you, using language like that! Do you understand me?"
Meekly, the cowering Pegasus nodded.
"Good." Having successfully reprimanded her child, Fluttershy reverted to her more well-known persona. "In any case, Royal, it's so wonderful to see that you're alright."
"Eeyup!" Macintosh and Noteworthy agreed in unison.
Royal smiled, then turned his attention to his parents. The argument was now a full out fight, with both parties clearly insulting each other in the most petty and immature ways possible.
"Well, I don't see why I couldn't at least have known! I'd have been a wonderful father! Just as I am wonderful at everything else I do!"
"Ya see?! That is the exact attitude Ah wanted to keep mah son from seein'! Better he didn't know his pa at all than know he was a spoiled foal like you are!"
"Why I never! And knowing a stubborn, selfish mare like you is his mother is any better?!"
"THAT IS ENOUGH! QUIET, BOTH OF YOU!"
The pair turned in shock to their adult son, who's expression was a mix of anger and exasperation (and voice was somehow free of accent).
"You both ought to be ashamed of yourselves! You're acting like little foals over a new toy! What happened in the past happened, and not even the Doctor can change that!"
Blueblood looked puzzled. "Doctor? Doctor who?"
"Exactly, now don't interrupt! You two are fighting as if I'm still a child able to have custody decided on by a court, but legally I'm an adult and can choose where I wish to go. It should be up to me to choose."
Silence reigned for a moment, then Royal took a deep breath and walked to his father's side.
"R-Royal..." The pain and shock in Applejack's eyes was unimaginable in that moment.
"Mama... I apologize, but... All my life, I've lived at Sweet Apple Acres, and all my life, I've known I don't truly belong there. I want to try living in Canterlot. With my father."
"Sugarcube, Ah-!"
Royal turned away, no longer able to bear looking into his mother's eyes. "Don't... D-Don't make this harder than it has to be, Mama. I... I believe you know the way out. You can leave on your own or have a guard show you the door."
Tears streamed down the mare's face, desperation and despair equal in her eyes. "Royal, Ah'm beggin' ya, please don't-!"
"Goodbye, Mama." Royal began to walk away, and though it wasn't visible to her, his own tears fell as he did so. "Guards, please escort the Apple Family out."
The white, armored pegasi looked to the disappearing red unicorn, then to the white one.
"Do as he says, he's got jurisdiction over you now."
And so, the Apple family was shown out, an orange Earth mare wailing for her son and an orange Pegasus filly cursing her cousin and all he held dear.
For a week after the departure of Royal, Applejack refused to leave her room. Even when Royal came by to retrieve his things, she didn't leave to try and convince him to stay. The stubborn, permanently optimistic part of Applejack had died when her son had said goodbye to her.
Nopony else took the news well either. Everytime Apple Heart saw her cousin that day, she cursed him in every way she knew how and chased after him with a broom. Noteworthy couldn't look at him without nearly bursting into tears. Astro refused to talk to him altogether, unless he thought up a rude remark to say to him. Swirl repeatedly popped in out of nowhere to call him a, and I quote, "Meanie-Beanie-Bo-Beanie Pants!", and then tell him, "I hate you, even though you're kind of related to me by adoption, Daddy being the adoptive big brother of your great-great-great-great-great-great- you get the idea- aunts!" Stardust actually wasn't too unkind to him, she simply wished him well, handed him a scarf ("The son of a prince shouldn't catch a cold, no matter what I think of him") and left. Though she did wrap the scarf a little tightly around his neck...
But by far, the worst was Andy. She, Twilight, and the Doctor were currently staying at inside the still-broken TARDIS, as Spike had had a giant growth spurt overnight and had destroyed a good chunk of the library. The good news: The Doctor, having some experience with dragons (and how to train them, but that is another story for another day), estimated he was now full size, which was about five standing ponies from head to tail.
But I digress. When Royal had gone to say goodbye to Andy, she, fueled by rage, turned him into a newt. The unicorn then went onto this rant (in a Scootish accent, no less), "I'm gonna chop ye tah bits an' boil ye up with herbs, spices an' carrots! I'll cook ye at three hundred an' sixty degrees for two hours and let ye simmer for one! Then, when you're all done and smellin' so bleedin' tasty, I'm gonna take ye tah Canterlot and serve ye tah the Prince! And when he asks me, 'Hm, this soup 'ere is delicious! What's your secret?' I'mma tell him that I cannae give away that information, 'cause then he'd have tah kill me and we cannae have that happenin', now can we? QUIT WRIGGLIN', YE BOGGIN' BAMPOT!"
It's a very lucky thing that the Doctor caught her before she got to the knife drawer. After Twilight returned him to his original form, the stallion was out of the spaceship like a shot, and quite ready to get the buck out of Dodge (or in this case, Ponyville).
And that was it. Royal Red Apple was no longer a resident of either Ponyville or Sweet Apple Acres.
(Stop the Music)
Three days after Royal had collected his possesions and moved out officially, another pony came calling.
It was a young mare, barely into young adulthood, pulling a rickety cart filled to the brim with art supplies and unfinished paintings through the gates of Sweet Apple Acres. Her brilliant rose-colored mane was pulled back into a messy bun and held back with a ribbon which used to be blue, but was now splattered with all sorts of shades and hues. Adorning her pale yellow flanks was a paintbrush over a red apple with a bit of green paint on it.
"Someday, Ah'll be, livin' in a big ol' city, and all yer ever gonna be is mean..." The amber-eyed pony sang softly and cheerfully to herself. "Someday, Ah'll be, big enough so you can't hit me, and all yer ever gonna be is mean. Why ya gotta be so mean?"
Finally, the mare arrived at the front door. After hitching the cart to a nearby post, the pony cleared her throat. "SOUP'S ON, EVERYPONY!" In the splitsecond after, the mare braced herself.
With a SLAM! the front door opened, revealing two very excited young ponies and their smiling parents behind them.
"AUNTIE APPLEBLOOM!" The young Earth and Pegasus ponies yelled as they tackled their young aunt, who was laughing hysterically.
"Hiya, guys! How's the farm doin'? Hey, where's mah favorite unicorn?"
Suddenly, the laughter ceased, leaving two very somber young ponies and one confused slightly older one in its waker.
"What? Did Ah say the magic words or somethin'?"
"A-Auntie Applebloom... Royal... erm, that is tah say, he..."
"He went tah Canterlot tah live with his brat of a father, that's what he did." A familiar, exhausted sounding voice said.
With a gasp from the younger Apples and their parents, everypony turned to the door. There, in a blue bathrobe, stood Applejack. Her green eyes were bloodshot, with noticeable bags under them. Her normally pulled back blonde mane stuck up in all directions. She didn't look angry, nor despairing, nor any variant of those two emotions.
She just looked tired, more tired than she'd ever been, even more so than when she tried to harvest the entirety of Sweet Apple Acres herself.
"Sis! What in the hay happened tah ya?! Ya look like you've been hit with a big bag o' ugly!" Applebloom stopped. "Er, Ah mean... Ah really like yer mane?" She tried, smiling nervously.
Applejack raised an eyebrow at her sister. "Yer a worse liar than Ah am, kiddo. Ah know I look like the business end of a donkey. However... no use in cryin' no more. Ah can't change it, so why worry?"
Applejack started to head back inside. "Ah'll clean up a bit an' then we can all catch up. Oh, and don't y'all keep worryin' 'bout me, alright? Ah'm fine, really."
As Applejack headed up the stairs, the entire family looked over at each other, concern blatant. At that moment, they were all thinking the same thing:
She's definitely not fine.