The Apple's Desire

by ZStrike37


Chapter 2

Her eyes shot open and she was unsure where she was for a minute. Looking around, she calmed down. She was in her room, wrapped snugly in the sheets of her bed. Of course she was. Why would she not be? She was sleeping and this was the place she had always slept. The sun had not yet come up and the remnants of Luna's night still filled the room with a calming darkness. Her head ached slightly, as if she had bumped it against the wall one too many times or had heard another lecture about gravity from Twilight. She brought her hooves up to her face and rubbed her eyes.

“Still the same room so what's the problem?” Applejack mused to herself. She heaved a heavy sigh and got out of bed. She didn't bother making the covers as she thought she might come back soon to rest for a while longer. Her door creaked as she opened it and slipped down the hallway, crept quietly down the stairs, and went into the kitchen. Even if it was dark, she knew the entire house perfectly. Nopony else was awake yet, not even Big Mac. In the kitchen, she filled the sink with cold water and splashed her face a few times. She still felt a bit uneasy. “Maybe Ah'll jus' go on ahead and get started on the farm chores fer today. Workin' always relaxes me a bit.” The cowpony went back upstairs, folded the sheets on her bed, and put on her trademark stetson before heading outside to begin the day. A smile grew on her face as she imagined what a pony like Rarity might say given the idea of manual labor actually being relaxing for somepony.

Stepping outside into the cool air was refreshing. Applejack simply stood in the breeze for a few moments, feeling the soft ground beneath her hooves and her mane being tossed lightly about by the early morning wind. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, slowly letting it back out. The orange mare did prefer daylight to moonlight, but the scent of earth that had basked in the moon's glow had a soothing effect. “Now that's what the doctor ordered. Ah feel better already!” She opened her eyes and began her mental checklist of what she needed to get done. Her gaze was slowly drawn over to an area of trees further off. Just looking in that area gave her a strange feeling in her stomach and head. She shook her head feverishly. “Come on now, Applejack. You've got work to do, missy,” she told herself in a scolding tone. After standing still for another few, uneasy seconds, she shook her her head around again and she set off on her tasks, not letting herself think too much. She worked just as hard as she always had, but now she was trying to use the work to forget about the feelings running through her mind, but they just would not go away.

---

For a few hours the night before, Twilight had simply laid in her bed, thinking. The letter was vague, but still troublesome. Problems in Canterlot... watch for strange activities... these thoughts floated around her mind as she mercilessly contemplated what exactly Celestia was talking about. Eventually she did fall asleep; words from the letter snaked around her hissing all sorts of bizarre ideas and schemes as a result of her paranoia. Indeed, her dreams were quite troubling that night, keeping her from a truly restful and fulfilling sleep.

She awoke to the dull sunlight that was able to shine through the cloudy skies. A slight groan escaped her as her mind struggled to fully escape the vivid dreamland she was caught in. “The pegasi really have a knack for picking the appropriate weather to match my mood” she whispered to herself. As usual, she got out of bed and made her sheets. She slowly went downstairs, but was unsure what she going to do today. Her body was on auto-pilot while her mind wrestled with the letter and it's meaning. She didn't even notice that she was sitting at the table in her kitchen, nor did she notice that Spike had placed a bowl of oat-flakes in front of her.

“Good afternoon, Twilight. Glad to see you're up, finally,” chimed Spike, bringing Twilight back to reality.

“Huh? Oh, yes. Thanks for the bowl... wait. Afternoon?!” Twilight was shocked. She had slept in? She didn't even think to check the time.

“Yep, it's the afternoon alright. I know how you sleep in when you have a bad night, so I didn't want to wake you,” Spike said with a hopeful tint in his voice that she would not be mad at him. Twilight just smiled at him gave the dragon a hug with one of her hooves, pulling him in to her side tightly. He sighed in relief. “Did you have a bad dream? I had a bad dream. The world around me was filled with Rarity's! They were all asking me out on a date and I had NO idea who to say 'yes' to!”

Twilight laughed. Suddenly, everything seemed like it was going to be fine. All the worry Twilight had had just melted away as she began to eat her cereal. She looked down at Spike, who was obviously glad he had helped her feel better. “Spike, have I ever told you how great you are?”

“Eh, you could stand to say it more often,” he joked to her. They both started laughing. Twilight was glad for Spike. He always knew how to cheer her up. She was thankful he didn't ask about what it was that had gotten her down. It would just make her start thinking about it again and she didn't want that. Twilight finished her breakfast, or more appropriately lunch, as Spike continued to regale her with some of his previous “nightmares”. The unicorn simply listened, thankful for this time. Right now, this time right now, there were no worries, nothing she needed to concern herself with at this moment. Then a knock came at the door and broke Twilight's hope that this blissful time, where nothing mattered except her and Spike, would last a long while. Twilight and Spike both got up and went to see who it was. The door was opened and there stood Rarity.

Spike's eyes were glued to her perfect, vibrant eyes. A smile etched its way onto his mouth. His heartbeat increased as he heard her angelic voice. “Greetings Twilight. I was wondering if... AHH!” she screamed as her eyes became like those of a young pony staring at a manticore.

Both Twilight and Spike asked in unison, “Rarity! What's wrong!?” They wondered what terrible thing Rarity had just seen or heard.

Rarity had clasped her hooves to her mouth in fear and only moved them slightly so that she could speak, though her words were shaky. “Twi-twilight. It's horrible! Terrifying! Absolutely awful!” Her words dripped in horror. Twilight and Spike leaned in in anticipation, concern covering their faces with what Rarity was scared of.

Rarity pointed one of her shaking hooves to indicate something behind them. They both turned and saw... nothing? There was nothing there that hadn't been there just a few minutes ago. Twilight turned her head back to face the quivering Rarity while Spike continued to search for the monster that must certainly be there. Twilight simply gave Rarity a raised eyebrow, but was still concerned. “What is it, Rarity? I don't see anything.”

“It's... it's... YOUR MANE, DEAR!” Rarity had levitated a mirror, as if she instinctively knew where one was within Twilight's home, and held it in front of the violet mare's face so she could see. Indeed, her mane did look terrible, even by Twilight's not-as-sophisticated-as-Rarity's tastes. “This is the worst case of 'bed-head' that I've ever seen! It's simply dreadful!” Rarity emphasized this by covering her eyes with one of her hooves, leaning back slightly.

Twilight was glad for a couple of things. First, it was nothing too serious. Spike calmed down. Also, this was nothing that would be considered 'strange'... well, for Rarity anyway. “Oh, yeah. I just woke up about 15 minutes ago and I didn't even think about checking on my mane.” Twilight giggled a little. Rarity was not amused.

Twilight found herself being pulled out of the house by Rarity's magic. “Come, Twilight. We're going back to my place and I'm going to fix this... this... this disaster! No offense,” Rarity said as she gave Twilight a bit of an apologetic smile.

“None taken. But before we go, what did you come to the library for?” Twilight asked. Rarity and her were now standing outside the library door. Spike was still staring hearts at Rarity and walked out as Twilight was dragged beside him.

Rarity, now back on track, remembered her original purpose. “Ah yes. I have a client that is asking for a dress that resembles the works of a popular fashionista from a few decades ago. I believe her name was Vintage Runway. I don't think I have anything on her work, though, and so I thought you might have a book or two detailing some of her lines.”

“Well, you came to the right place. Spike, while I get my disaster-of-a-mane fixed, why don't you find what Rarity's looking for?” Twilight looked down at Spike and nudged him a bit when he didn't respond right away.

Spike was about to protest staying behind, and away from his beloved, but Rarity sealed his fate. “Spike! You'd do that for me? Oh, my little Spikey-wikey! You are simply wonderful!” Rarity leaned in and gave a nuzzle. Spike didn't stand a chance. He dashed into the library without a word more. Rarity simply chuckled and looked back to Twilight. “Now then. Let us go and get you fixed up!” Rarity and Twilight began walking toward the Carousel Boutique.

Back in the library, Spike was a bit upset. “Books on dresses? Fine. Vintage Runway? OK.” Normally, this wouldn't be a problem. He looked around. “Now I just need to figure out how in Equestria I'm going to find the books I need in Twilight's new 'organized' layout. This is going to be great.” Spike gave a grunt, spewing small puffs of smoke from his nostrils.

---

Rainbow Dash was taking a well-deserved nap on one of the lower clouds near the middle of Ponyville. Hey, all those clouds didn't move over Ponyville by themselves! It was a good nap until...

“Ahhh!” Rainbow was awoken by three screams of familiar-sounding, young fillies followed by a loud crash. She looked down and saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders in a pile with their wagon and Scootaloo's scooter, splattered with paint all around a small tree. Rainbow glided down to make sure they weren't hurt too badly.

“Nice crash. You three OK?” The three young ponies shook their heads to reorient themselves and gave sheepish looks at Rainbow Dash.

Scootaloo was the first to get up and spoke up. “Hey there, Rainbow Dash. Yeah, I think we're all good here.” She helped her two friends to their hooves.

Applebloom was rubbing her head with a hoof covered in purple paint, spreading the paint over her mane. Sweetie Belle just had a worried look on her face, probably thinking about what her sister would say if she saw her, not just covered in paint, but in paint colors that clashed as well.

Rainbow chuckled a bit and sat down, relieved that everything was fine. “So what was today's plan to get Cutie Marks? I don't think being crash dummies is what you three are destined to be good at.” Rainbow laughed a bit and caused the crusaders to blush slightly. “Hey don't worry! If there's anypony that would get her cutie mark in crashing into things, it would have been me. Trust me, I've face-planted in the dirt more times than all three of you put together.” This caused Scootaloo to smile and in turn, made Rainbow smile as well.

“It was my turn to pick what we'd try today,” answered Sweetie. “I thought we could try being Cutie Mark Crusader Artists! One of the magazines my sister keeps that talks about snooty stuff said that art depicting motion was popular right now.”

Applebloom continued, “So we figured we'd try paintin' somethin' while Scootaloo drove us around in the wagon. But Scoots kept tryin' to both drive AND paint at the same time! That's when this happened,” she said as she waved a hoof indicating the mess.

Scootaloo glared over at Applebloom. “Hey! I'm not gonna miss out on my chance to earn my cutie mark!”

Applebloom returned the glare. They were both in each others faces. “Well maybe ya ought ta try gettin' yer cutie mark in lookin'-where-yer-goin'!” Sweetie Belle looked a bit worried at the conflict. Rainbow was about to step in to try and mediate, but didn't need to. Applebloom and Scootaloo both cracked smiles and started giggling at each others failed attempt to keep a straight face. Sweetie and Rainbow joined in the laughter.

Rainbow straightened up. “OK you three. I think you all should head over to Rarity's to get cleaned up.” She noticed Sweetie's worried look. “Rarity might be just a little bit upset. But paint is hard to get out of coats and manes and there's nopony more qualified for taking care of coats and manes than Rarity.” She glanced at Applebloom. “I'll take this stuff up to the farm. Big Mac will get this wagon and scooter fixed back up in no time. I'll let him and AJ know what happened and that you're fine, too, Applebloom.”

“Ah don't think you should talk to mah sis right now,” Applebloom said as she hung her head and got a sad look in her eyes. The other two crusaders looked confused, as did Rainbow Dash.

“Why? Is she alright?” Rainbow asked. Applebloom seemed pretty upset.

Applebloom looked up into Rainbow's face. “That's what I wanted to know. Before I went to be with Sweetie and Scoots, Ah saw her layin' down on the sofa in the livin' room. She didn't seem like her usual self. So I asked her if she was OK. She told me she was, but she really didn't look it so I asked if she was really OK. She... got mad at me.” Applebloom's eyes misted slightly. “She yelled that she was fine and to leave her alone and then she ran outa the house. Ah tried to follow her, but she's way too fast for me to keep up with. Outside, Ah saw her runnin' to some further off part of the farm. Ah didn't go after her, Ah thought maybe she jus' needed to be alone for lil' bit.”

Rainbow got a bit irritated. “OK, you three go ahead to Rarity's. I'll check up on AJ. Maybe she's calmed down a bit. And Applebloom...” Rainbow put on a smile, “AJ may have been mad, but I'm sure it was not at you. I know that once she's calmed down, the first thing she'll want to do is apologize to you. So don't get down, OK, kiddo?” Applebloom found a smile to replace her frown and nodded. The three crusaders headed in the direction of Rarity's place and Rainbow started to get all the papers, brushes, paints, and broken parts of the scooter into the wagon which was still somewhat intact. She looked off towards the distance where Sweet Apple Acres was. This was most definitely, not awesome.

---

The sun was about halfway through it's descent as Applejack was pacing back and forth in a far off part of the farm. She'll come... she'll be here she kept thinking to herself. There was a gentle breeze as Applejack turned around for the hundredth time, but stopped as she saw who she was waiting for approaching.

Applejack was speechless until the mare was a few feet before her. “Y-yer here. Ah knew you'd come!” AJ couldn't contain the happiness that flooded her. A huge grin found its way onto her face.

The remaining sunlight shone through the now-scattered clouds and grand rays of yellow and orange danced around the beautiful mare and Applejack. The mare's coat was radiant, a fiery but soft crimson. Her mane and tail were strawberry blonde. Her face held deep, emerald-like eyes. “Of course I came, Applejack. I said I would.” Applejack seemed relieved but there was something else on her mind it seemed. “What's the matter? You seem troubled.”

Applejack shifted nervously. “It's Applebloom. She was worried 'bout me. She asked me if Ah was doin' OK but Ah got angry with her, yelled at her, and ran off over here. Ah guess I was a bit mad that Ah couldn't tell her 'bout... well, you. Why? Why can't Ah tell her!? Why can't Ah tell anypony?? Ah want to so much!”

“No, you cannot do that, Applejack. They are all loyal to Celestia and they would tell her about me. And she would come for me... to take me away again.” The mare's words were simple, but hit Applejack hard all the same.

Applejack stuttered. “A-again? What do you mean, again?”

The mare let loose a sigh. “I didn't want to have to tell you this because I'm afraid how you will react. But I see that you desire the truth. Very well, I will tell you...”

...

...

...

Applejack couldn't believe what she had just heard. “It can't be. That can't be the truth!” she screamed as though she was being pierced with a knife.

The mare placed a hoof on Applejack's shoulder. “I'm afraid so. I'm sorry I had to tell you.”

“Ah jus' can't... it's jus' hard to hear.” Applejack was shaking. Tears were falling down her face as she faced the truth of what she had just been told. Her head hurt but her heart hurt worse. Feelings of being lied to, betrayed, and used sunk in.

The mare came closer to Applejack and pulled her into a tight embrace. “Shh, there there. It's going to be alright. I'm not going to leave you again, I promise.” Her words were soft and warm. Applejack's hooves reached around the back of the mare and she enveloped herself in the hug. “I love you, Applejack.”

Applejack was shivering as though she were freezing and let out a soft whimper. “Ah love you too, momma.”