//------------------------------// // 2. Appleless Trees // Story: A Decade Lost // by Neonz //------------------------------// Applejack and Fluttershy lived at opposite ends of Ponyville, but Twilight decided to visit Sweet Apple Acres first. There was a better chance of Applejack still living in Ponyville, since Fluttershy could potentially look after animals in a different town. Twilight hadn’t seen any animals around, anyways. As she approached, she could see that ten years had done a lot to the old apple farm. More than half of the trees were leafless and bent as if weary of standing. The ones that remained looked far from healthy, and the few that still had apples were bearing fruit that was substandard to what Twilight remembered. The orchards were eerily quiet, and Twilight wondered if anyone still lived there. The Apples leaving their farm for any reason couldn’t be possible. Applejack had the same pride for her trees, rolling fields, and often replaced barn as she did for her family. It was a part of who she was. Twilight stopped in her tracks as she spotted the pony she’d been looking for. Applejack was curled up underneath one of her apple trees and looking forlornly into the distance. Twilight knew that her friends were now a bit past their prime, but they shouldn’t yet be old enough to be considered middle age. It was the little things that set Twilight’s heart on edge – the way she had her left hind leg extended just a bit too far behind her, how her mane was a touch shorter than Twilight remembered. She’d never seen Applejack lie down on the job before. She looked… old. Twilight thought she hadn’t been heard until Applejack’s ears flicked and she glanced over her shoulder. They held eye contact for several moments before Applejack got to her hooves. She walked with a heavy limp, avoiding placing weight on her left hind leg. Her expression was one of pain and confusion. Twilight hurried to meet her halfway. “Applejack…” Twilight wasn’t sure how to react, so she waited for the orange earth pony to fill in the silence. There was a long pause. Applejack stared at Twilight, as if trying to gauge whether or not she was real. “Twilight Sparkle?” she asked, her voice a bit weary, but otherwise unchanged. “Is that… is that really you?” Twilight wasn’t sure if Applejack had ever called her by her full name. It was odd, and Twilight didn’t like it. “Yes, it’s me. Well, a younger me than who you know… I time travelled to the future.” Applejack’s mouth was slightly agape. “You… you look exactly the same, Twilight.” “Really?” Twilight asked. Time must had been kinder on her than on her poor friend. “Do I live nearby? I haven’t seen any ponies around town, and I thought it was really odd that I didn’t see any of our - ” “Twilight,” Applejack interrupted, staring anxiously into Twilight’s violet eyes with her emerald ones. “You’ve been dead for ten years.” A pang of horror flowed through Twilight’s body. “No… no, that’s impossible!” Twilight argued, her eyes widening. “From the time-travelling spell I just did? No, even if my magic was powerful enough to literally send me to the future instead of simply look at it, I should have returned to Canterlot as soon as the spell wore off.” Applejack just stared at her with tired eyes. “You vanished into thin air, far as your records are concerned.” Twilight waited for Applejack to elaborate, but she didn’t. It was painful seeing her stubbornly independent friend looking so weak. “Applejack... what happened?” Applejack closed her eyes. “They sent search parties out, Twi, but after weeks of nothin’ we assumed ya’d done a spell badly or somethin’. After they called them back, Ah kept hopin’, but…” She let out a long, drawn out sigh. “Ah’ll be honest, Twilight. Things went bad once you left.” Though Applejack had yet to elaborate, Twilight already felt as though she was living in a terrible nightmare. What if the spell had been permanent? She’d already done it improperly by teleporting herself here, after all. The lavender unicorn said nothing, her silence urging Applejack to continue. “At first, the five of us stayed close. Didn’t want to separate in the wake of such a tragedy.” Applejack shifted her hooves slightly. It was a subtle movement, but Twilight had never seen her make it before. “It wasn’t long before the stress got to all of us… affected us differently, Ah suppose.” She shifted her weight again, struggling to remain comfortable. “Let’s go sit under that tree, Twi, and Ah’ll finish there.” She gestured to an apple tree that was no longer bearing fruit, and started limping toward it. Applejack curled up underneath the tree, and Twilight slowly imitated her movements. She couldn’t help it anymore; she needed to know. “Applejack… what happened to you?” Applejack bit her lip and hung her head. The comment had stung her. “It’s… it’s an old injury, Twilight. A few weeks after you… died or disappeared or whatever you did, Rainbow couldn’t handle her grief. She created the biggest thunderstorm in Ponyville’s history, and told nopony beforehand. Knocked down ‘bout a quarter of our trees, and left the rest without fruit.” “Rainbow…” Twilight murmured, tears pricking at her eyes. “It came on real suddenly. Apple Bloom and her friends were outside playing… Ah had to go try gettin’ ‘em, but the winds were awful heavy. Broke off a large tree that crushed mah back left. It was months before Ah could walk more than a few steps without help, and a year before Ah could start workin’. Honestly, it was manageable until a few months ago. Ah’ve been overworkin’ myself, and Ah’ve put too much strain on the injury.” “What about your family?” Twilight probed desperately. “Apple Bloom? Big Mac?” Applejack’s expression hardened. “Ah don’t want anythin’ to do with either of ‘em.” A chilly wave of horror rushed through Twilight’s body. “I…” Twilight forced herself to come up with more words. “…Granny Smith?” “Died a year after you left,” Applejack said, her voice obtaining a hollow tone. “She was old, and the year had been stressful. We knew what was comin’. Didn’t make it much easier.” In the silence that followed, a gentle wind played with their manes and rustled the remaining leaves on the trees. “Apple Bloom got her cutie mark not long afterward. Know what it was?” More silence. Twilight didn’t want to hear anymore. “A hammer and a few nails. Not an apple. Not even close. Apple Bloom wasn’t meant to be here; she was never meant to be here on the farm, and it took Granny’s death for her to figure that out. Left for Manehatten without a backward glance.” Twilight let out a shaky breath. “What about Big Mac?” “He comes ‘round occasionally. Doesn’t live on the farm, though.” Twilight knew that the silence was deliberate, but she couldn’t help herself. “Where does he - ” “With that good fer nothin’ pegasus,” Applejack threw the name of the subspecies as if it were an insult. “Fluttershy.” “F-Fluttershy?!” “Yeh.” Applejack stared bitterly away from Twilight. “They were datin’ before you were gone, did y’know that?” Applejack turned her glare to the purple unicorn, who hesitated under the icy gaze. “No… no, I didn’t.” Twilight said honestly. Applejack’s expression softened. “Figures. She lied to everyone. After Apple Bloom left, they announced they were gettin’ married.” Tears were pricking at Applejack’s eyes now, though her voice remained steady. “My family was bein’ taken away from me one by one. Big Mac said he’d always be there to help with the farmwork, but he slowly stopped comin’ by too. Spent more time with that… with that…” Her voice finally broke, and she hid her face with her hat. “…Can’t believe Ah considered her a friend when you last saw me, Twi. It’s been so long since then…” Twilight went to her, wrapping a hoof around her neck and pulling her close. Applejack sobbed, years of pain finally spilling out of her and onto Twilight’s neck. Twilight comfortingly ran a hoof over her friend’s mane and down her back, feeling the groove of every single rib as her hoof brushed over them. Applejack had always been the rock in their friend group. Twilight remembered when Spike had accidentally caused a fire in her library; Twilight had quickly put it out with an extinguishing spell, but the damages to half a shelf of books were irreversible. The cost of replacing them was hefty, but she didn’t own the library, so legally speaking it had to be done. A small issue, now that she had so much in comparison to think about. Still, after she couldn’t take Spike’s excuses and desperate attempts at check-balancing anymore, she’d gone straight to Sweet Apple Acres. The concern in Applejack’s emerald eyes flashed through Twilight’s memory. She’d explained her predicament to the other mare by collapsing and sobbing heavily on the ground like a little foal. Applejack just smiled sadly and stroked Twilight’s mane until her tears were exhausted. “Sugarcube, y’know Ah’m always right here. Ah’ll help you pay for the books, if it’s really that much of an issue. Heck, Ah’m sure the others’ll help out too. So don’t you worry, Twi; it’ll all be okay.” A gesture that she couldn’t possibly accept, but its notion was so reassuring and so valuable: she’d be okay. As long as her friends were standing by her, she would be okay. Twilight flattened her ears and hugged Applejack tightly. She wanted so badly to tell Applejack the same thing, but she knew so little about her situation. She wasn’t sure if it was worth the risk of lying to the most honest pony in Equestria. “Thanks, Twilight,” Applejack sniffed, but made no move to separate. “Ah wish so badly that things were still as you left ‘em…” “This is my fault…” Twilight murmured, the painful guilt clear in her voice. There was an awful silence where a childish part of Twilight was expecting to be comforted. It was Twilight’s doings that destroyed everything the earth pony held dear. She felt stupid for thinking Applejack didn’t hate her for it. “It was a domino line, sugarcube…” Applejack broke off from Twilight and let her blonde head rest on the ground. She shut her eyes tightly. “Ah can’t take many more of ‘em fallin’, though.” Twilight straightened. “I’ll get you help. I-I… I know I can fix this…” Applejack didn’t look up. “That’s kind of you, but there’s no point. It’ll take years for the orchards to grow back. Can’t sell what Ah have now… Ah can barely eat what Ah have now…” Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but Applejack raised a forehoof to interrupt her. “Don’t tell me to leave, Twilight. Ah’ve already been a huge failure in the eyes of mah family. Destroyed centuries worth of work… but if one thing’s fer sure, Ah’m gonna follow in their hoofprints and go down with the orchard.” Twilight furrowed her brow. “I can’t let you live like this, Applejack. Come with me; I’ll get help.” Applejack stared defiantly at the ground. “Ah ain’t budgin’.” Twilight pawed at the dirt anxiously, and tears pricked in her eyes. She couldn’t stand seeing Applejack like this any longer. “Please, just come with me.” Applejack looked up, and Twilight could see tears running down her face. “Ah can’t. Ah can’t, Twilight.” “I… I’m not leaving you here to die!” Twilight exclaimed in a high pitched voice. Some fire returned to Applejack’s expression, and the two ponies glared at each other. “Where would Ah go, Twilight?!” Applejack yelled and rose to her hooves. The outburst startled Twilight, who winced. “Fluttershy and Mac hate me, and with good reason, too! Rarity’s dug herself a hole so deep she can’t see out of it, Apple Bloom’s gone down the wrong path in more ways than one, Celestia knows where Pinkie is, and Ah don’t give a buck whatever happened to Rainbow Dash!” Applejack took an aggressive step forward, and Twilight cautiously took one backward. Applejack panted for a few moments, then sank back to her haunches and sighed. “Just… just go, Twilight. Go like all the rest of ‘em.” “A-Applejack - ” “GO!” Applejack screeched, then stood and started limping away. Twilight watched her leave, and couldn’t bring herself to stop her. Her heart felt like it had shattered into a million pieces. What had she done?