Her little sister let out a squeal.
“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!!”
Shortly after they patched everything up with Rarity, they left the market and set off on their way home. By then, it was nearly nightfall. Now, Applejack wasn’t a city gal. But to her, nothing could compare to the lively, bustling nature of the city’s streets. The chatter of the passerby, the harmonious sound of the traffic, and just the sight for sore eyes that was Manehattan. Whereas others might find it burdensome, she loved the activity of the city outside her bedroom window. Especially as she slept. It wasn’t anything quite like Sweet Apple Acres, it was usually quiet out.
Lonely.
Applejack let out a hearty laugh. “Save some of y’r excitement for the Gala, now.”
“Ohhhh ‘Ah just can’t! What was it? What made ya’ change y’r mind? Was it Miss Rarity?”
“‘Ah- Now, just what kind of question is that?” she asked half-seriously, her face growing warm.
“Y’all seem to hit it off well, ‘Ah thought maybe y’all was lookin’ to be friends ‘r somethin’ rather.” Apple Bloom wagged her hoof dismissively. Her expression contorted.
“What did you think ‘Ah meant?”
“Don’t know. Was why ‘Ah asked.”
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.
“Since we’re on the topic, now ‘Ah don’t know if this is a dumb question…” she stopped on the porches front steps and knocked on the door. “But what’s her deal?”
She cocked her head. “Who? Rarity? Whaddya’ mean wut’s ‘er deal?”
“Like, ‘Ah don’t know. She’s got that… accent. And ‘Ah could of sworn ‘Ah heard y’all call her-“
Before she could finish that thought, the door in front of them swung open and they were met with Auntie Orange’s preoccupied expression. She said nothing, hardly sparing a glance at her nieces before heading to sit back down.
“Oh my gosh, Auntie Orange! You’re never going to believe it!”
Aunt Orange draped herself across the couch. “Oh, I’m terribly fatigued, dearest. Maybe later.”
“Uhm, Apple Bloom? Maybe you wanna let me-“
Apple Bloom didn’t deter. “Oh, but Auntie! You’re going to want to hear this!”
She sighed, sitting upright. “If you must,” she rolled her eyes, gesturing for her to continue.
“It’s Applejack!”
“Now hold on, just a minute.” Applejack stepped in front of her sister, separating her from their Aunt’s line of sight. “‘Ah… ‘Ah think this is a big girl talk.”
She sagged. “Awww…”
A.J frowned. “Now, now. We’ll have plenty of time to talk ‘bout it. Y’all don’t leave until tomorrow after all.”
“We don’t leave until tomorrow, Applejack.”
Orange perked up at this. “Pardon? We? Apple, to what is the nature of this?”
She should have been excited, but instead she felt a sudden weight on her shoulders. And a pit forming in her stomach.
“‘Ah… Big girl talk, go on now, you.”
She pouted, but she obliged. Putting the groceries down and scurrying off to her room.
The door shut, and it was silent.
Applejack bit first. “It’s gonna sound… unbelievable.”
Her Aunt raised an accusatory eyebrow. “Try me.”
She struggled to find the words. “It’s… Well we ran into that filly from them few weeks ago, Rarity, at the market-“
“Really?” she asked genuinely, but her expression didn’t change.
“Yeah… ‘Ah told her, ‘bout that mix up with the tickets. She said she’d tell Princess Celestia and it’s fixed now. So…”
Auntie Orange’s expression contorted in a way that Applejack couldn’t explain, she just knew that she didn’t like it. “Fixed?”
“…Yes’m,” she picked at the floor with her hoof.
Just then, when she was expecting the worst.
She was met with laughter.
Applejack joined in at first, but after a while she stopped. Because she just kept going. It had to have been a good minute before she regained her composure.
It was when her Aunt’s malicious smile didn’t falter that Applejack realized this was nothing to laugh about.
“So? What is this in regard to me?“
“‘Ah…” she shook her head. “‘Ah didn’t mean nothin’. Uhm, you’re lookin’ out of sorts,” she said, beginning to walk out of the room. “Maybe we can talk about this later-“
She felt something grip her hoof which made her stop in her tracks. She looked up at her Aunt, who was now standing over her with a threatening glare.
“I tried…” she sucked in a lungful, rage still in her eyes. But it stirred… and then Applejack saw something rawer. Her expression screamed betrayal.
“Ah’m… Just forget it. Forget ‘Ah said anything. ‘Ah didn’t know that-“
“I have tried so so hard for you girls… We shared wine together, Applejack.”
She tried to pull away, but her Aunt’s grip didn’t let up.
“But you still defy me? I just… Why do you despise me so?”
Applejack’s lip quivered, and she opened her mouth to say something… but then she shut it. Clenching her jaw.
She narrowed her eyes, pulling her hoof back with all her might much to Orange’s surprise.
Applejack rubbed at the sore spot. “Now just what is the meanin’ of this?! ‘Ah’m not ‘bout to sit back and let y’all push me around! Hay, ‘Ah haven’t even done anything wrong!”
“Keep your voice down!”
“Like Celestia ‘Ah will! ‘Cause you always think everything ‘Ah do is calculated, like ‘Ah’m out to get ya’! When ‘Ah haven’t done not a consarn thing to make ya’ think so!”
She huffed. “So ‘Ah want you to tell me! Why in the hay ya’ always treatin’ me like some kind of criminal in my own home?! Why y’all got me cleaning and doin’ chores day in day out?!”
Her Aunt’s face had reverted back to her rage-filled expression. She shouted, tracks of spittle flying out of her mouth. “You are not going!”
“Tell me, Auntie Orange. What really happened to my ticket, huh?” She looked her directly in the eyes. “They sent it didn’t they!? You just got rid of it! Admit it! You were just itchin’ for the opportunity! And y’all know ‘Ah’d’ve gave up my own if it meant my sister got to go!”
Her typically brilliant mane had come completely undone, and was fraying out in all directions. Her glass-like coat now sweaty, and her makeup smudged. She scrunched up the bridge of her snout. “This is ludicrous!”
It was so slight Applejack hardly noticed it. But before Orange spoke, her right ear twinged ever so slightly.
“I will not listen to such accusations!”
Applejack laughed, not out of pleasure but out of exasperation.
“Go to your room!”
“‘Ah’m not no filly anymore! Ya’ can’t just ground me!”
“My roof, my rules Applehack.”
Before she could respond, Orange grabbed Applejack by the back of her neck and shoved her into the hallway.
“Ow! Hay!”
“Get out! GO AWAY! And by Celestia’s name, if you so much as peep about what has gone on here tonight…” she stopped to catch her breath.
“Well, let us just hope it does not come to that.”
She turned around, calmly. And began walking back over to the couch where she was sitting before, draping herself over with her head down.
Applejack bit down on her bottom lip so hard she thought it would bleed, as she galloped upstairs to her bedroom.
She got to her room and shut the door behind her, she sucked in a lungful before turning around on her forehooves and kicking the door with brute force. Hard, but intentionally not hard enough to break it down.
She let out a yelp, then ran over beside her bed and curled up into a ball with her hooves over her head. She grabbed her Stetson from off her bed and clung to it like her life depended on it.
And then she started to sob.
————————————————————
Apple Bloom couldn’t make sense of it, “Are ya’ sure? It’s just a’mighty sudden! And-“
“It’s none to do with y’all… If ‘Ah’ma be mighty honest, ‘Ah’m… Not entirely sure what happened.”
“Now just what in the hay is that s’posedt’ mean?”
“Y’all watch y’r mouth, ya’ here?” Applejack scolded. She sighed, dropping her head. “‘Ah… ‘Ah wish there was another way.”
She narrowed her eyes. “So it’s because of her! Don’t think ‘Ah didn’t hear y’all last night. Come on, A.J. Just tell me!” she pleaded, dropping the pair of boots she had been holding.
Applejack picked them up, putting them in the suitcase she had been packing for her sister. She bit down hard on her tongue.
“‘Ah want to, honest. But it’s not worth it.”
She picked up a blanket off Apple Bloom’s bed and folded it neatly, she ran a gentle hoof over it. It was a plaid green, lined with brown. With a big red apple dead in the center.
“Y’all remember when ‘Ah made this?”
Her sister softened, and she nodded. “Yeah! ‘Ah sleep with it every night.”
She scoffed. “Yeah, it was lazy stitching. Look at the inconsistencies here.”
Bloom frowned again, walking towards her sister and taking the blanket from her. “…Well ‘Ah like it.” she hugged it close to her chest.
Applejack’s ears fell to the sides of her head, and she sighed. “‘Ah… It was Aunt Orange. She… ‘Ah didn’t want to tell you because ‘Ah know ya’ said we should try to get along and ‘Ah didn’t want to-“
“That doesn’t matter right now. Applejack…” her eyes frowned. “…What did she say to you?”
She knew she shouldn’t have been talking about these types of things to such a little filly, but there was no use in hiding it if she already knew. Applejack wasn’t a liar. She wasn’t a fibber, and she didn’t hide the full truth.
Not to Apple Bloom.
“‘Ah… ‘Ah can’t believe this!”
Applejack took her hat off and put it to her chest, bowing her head regretfully. “It’s the full truth, none’ less.”
“‘Ah have to talk to her! Maybe ‘Ah can talk some sense into her! You can’t miss the Gala, ya’ just can’t!”
She quickly shook her head. “Sugarcube, ‘Ah’ve already said too much just tellin’ ya’. ‘Ah’m beggin’, stay out of this.”
Apple Bloom zipped up her suitcase without another word, and picked it up as she walked out the room down the hall.
Applejack followed shortly behind her, clinging her Stetson to her head.
“Auntie Orange!” Apple Bloom said as soon as she got to the front door, where Aunt Orange was waiting for her.
“Apple Bloom, dearest. Now, I know what I said about fashionably late but this is borderline ridiculous. Come at once, we have a train to catch… Oh.” She stopped when she saw Applejack. Clearing her throat. “Good morning… Applejack.”
The use of her full name ran a shiver through her spine. “…Mornin’.”
“Aunt Orange!” Apple Bloom said in her country twang, not bothering to use her Manehattan accent. “‘Ah heard y’all last night! ‘Ah heard what ya’ said! Ya’ can’t to do this to my sister, ya’ hear?!”
“Apple Bloom! Stop! You don’t know what you’re doin’!”
Orange scoffed at this. “For once, I’m inclined to agree with Apple… Bloom, whatever is the meaning of this?! Enough with the dramatics! It’s so early in the morning you are not thinking clearly. Come.” She reached for the doorknob.
Apple Bloom smacked her hoof away, much to Orange’s surprise.
“Y’all not ‘bout to pretend ya’ don’t know wut ‘Ah’m talkin’ about! Ya’ got rid of her ticket then lied about it! ‘Ah won’t let you-!”
Applejack ran over to her sister, pulling her over to the side and throwing a hoof over her mouth. Her Stetson flying off her head and onto the ground as she did so.
But it was too late.
“Apple Bloom! I’m appalled! You would honestly believe this… this ruffianover me?! After everything I have done for you?!”
She shoved her sister’s hoof away, but Applejack still held her back. “She’s my sister! And she’s not a liar! Not like you! You… Witch!”
Everypony froze.
Aunt Orange was completely silent, before walking in the direction towards Applejack’s Stetson.
“Apple Bloom… Darling. It’s as simple as this… Applejack, is a liar.”
“But she ain’t! ‘Ah know she ain’t! ‘Ah-!”
“Ah, ah, ah!” She put a hoof to Apple Bloom’s mouth, hushing her. “I am going to give you one last chance… Apple Bloom.”
“Aunt Orange! Please! ‘Ah’m beggin’ ya! This was my fault, ‘Ah was the one who told! Just don’t-!”
“You forget yourself, Applejack. It’s far too late for that, now. You will get yours. Right now, it’s Apple Bloom. Now, I will say it once more,” she said, apathetically. She wasn’t smiling, she wasn’t laughing, she was unapologetically cold.
“Applejack lied to you.”
She objected immediately “Shut up, you! ‘Ah’ll never believe that! ‘Ah’ll never do anything ya’ tell me to never again! Y’all actually had me thinkin’ that she was begrudgin’ you when ‘Ah should have been on her side all along!”
To this, she actually frowned. Walking back over to Applejack’s hat on the ground, she pointed a hoof at it. “Here. At once.”
“No-!”
“A-Apple Bloom… ‘Ah think we outta’ do what she says.”
“…But-“
“‘Ah won’t let her hurt you.” she whispered into her sister’s ear.
She nodded, and they both walked over to their Aunt.
She raised a hoof. “Not you.”
A.J growled. “If y’all lay a hoof on her, for Celestia’s sake-“
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she said matter of factly.”
So Applejack halted, but she stayed alert in case she wasn’t staying true to her word. Aunt Orange put her hooves over Apple Bloom’s shoulders, guiding her to stand in front of her. In front of the Stetson.
“Destroy it,” she said.
Apple Bloom’s eyes widened. “…I… Destroy..? But-“
“You made your choice! Now DESTROY it!”
Bloom cowered, turning her head to look at Applejack. Who was visibly shaking.
“…Applejack-“
“Silence!”
Apple Bloom flinched at her sudden voice. She gulped, lowering a shaky hoof to the hat.
And she ripped it.
She started with the brim, ripping it until the band ripped completely off. She snagged it with her teeth, she beat it against the ground. Applejack flinched with every stomp, every rip.
Until it was no longer discernible as a hat anymore, Apple Bloom could finally stop. She fell to her knees, sobbing.
“Now, now. Bloom… Dearest. Don’t cry.”
She raised her nieces chin with a hoof, meeting her gaze. “It’s bad for your coat.”
She swiped her hoof away, picking her suitcase up and opening the front door. She urged Apple Bloom to follow. “Come, now. We have a train to catch,” she said, expressionless.
Applejack was already hovered over Apple Bloom, whispering into her ear and shushing her softly. Stroking her mane with her hoof.
“I’m… Ah’m sorry. Applejack I’m sorry, ‘Ah didn’t mean it…” she cried, her two accents each fighting for dominance.
“Shhh, shhh… It’s…” she hiccuped. “It wasn’t you. It wasn’t you. Go on, now. Go on and have a good time. Put this behind you, now. You have to.”
“‘Ah can’t-“
“Come at once!” she urged again, this time tapping her watch impatiently.
Apple Bloom stood up on her shaky knees, Applejack handed her the suitcase. She walked her over to the front door, ushering her.
“Y’all are gonna be okay, now.”
“Applejack I’m sorry. I should have listened to you… ‘Ah should have…-“
But it was too late, Aunt Orange had already slammed the door behind them.