The Apple Doesn't Fall Far

by KholdstareV


6. Puttin' ? and ? Together

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Chapter 6: Puttin' ? And ? Together

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As Applejack galloped towards the fairgrounds, her thoughts of her mother and father giving her strength, memories of those days gone by began to play in her busy mind once again…

~~~

"…Lemme see that buck o' yours real quick. I wanna see how you're comin' along."

"But didn't you say ma was waitin' for us to go inside?"

"Bah! She can wait. Now c'mon, Babycakes. Show me whatcha got!"

"Alrighty, here I go... Hee-YAH!"

"Whoa, nelly! You got some power in those hind legs, missy!"

"Aww, but I only made two apples fall that time. The most I've been able to get is four. Maybe Big Mac was right. I'll never be any good at applebuckin'..."

"Oh, now don't get so down. You just gotta change your form a little bit, is all. Do that, and you can get a bear's force in those kicks!"

"How do I do that?"

"Here, I'll show ya. Come over here next to me and just do what I do, alrighty?"

"OK."

"Good. First, get your front hooves firm on the ground, and lower your head..."

"Uh-huh..."

"Then get both hind legs high up in the air..."

"Yeah…"

"Bunch 'em up REEEAL close to your body, like a spring. You'll wanna tighten all your muscles - not just in your legs, but in your stomach too. Like this. Get me?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good. And lastly, SNAP! Release all those muscles. Thrust your legs back and your head forward at the same time, hard as you can. Just like that!"

"Like this? Hee-YAH!"

"Lookin' good to me! Think you got all that?"

"I think so..."

"Great! Now go on, give that tree another whack usin' what I just taught ya."

"OK, here I go... Heeeeee-YAAAH!"

"WOO-WEE! Look at that! Your first time doin' it the proper way, and you done broke your own record!"

"...Awww, but I only made SIX fall that time! That's not a big heap better than I've done before..."

"Six? Naw, darlin', that there was seven."

"Really? It was?"

"That's what I counted. And I ain't blind just yet!"

"Oh, I guess that is pretty good, huh?"

"Shoot, for a greenhorn like you? That's fantastic! And you'll only get better the more ya practice. Tomorrow, that seven'll become eight, then nine, then ten... and so on, 'til you’re strippin' whole trees naked with single swift kicks! And I promise ya, that day's not too far off. Then you'll be able to shove it in your brother's face all the live long day."

"You promise?"

"From the bottom of my heart, sweetums."

"Thank pa, you're the best ever!"

"Aww, shucks, I'm just a stallion doin' what he can for his only little lady. Ya done good today, darlin'. But let's pick it up again tomorrow, yeah? I reckon we should head on in now, else your ma'll buck us both in our behinds for bein' out late."

"Do we have to, pa? I wanna applebuck with you more..."

"You sure? Cuz your ma done baked apple fritters."

"Really?! With whipped cream?"

"EXTRA whipped cream."

"Boy howdy! Let's get on home, then! YEE-HAW!"

"Hahaha! Goodness, girlie! Don't go leavin' me in the dust! Wait up...!"

~~~

Applejack could have rewound that memory and played it back over and over in her mind until the mental reel faded. However, she had by that point passed through the fairgrounds and had now reached the Apple family farmhouse, her first stop in her grand plan (which, she had to admit to herself, was still a work-in-progress). She flew through the front door and began to head up the steps to her bedroom. On the way, she happened to spot Granny Smith on the living room couch. Her back was turned, and she appeared to be browsing through a book. The sound of the door opening caused her to turn, but before she could say a word, Applejack was already ascending to the second floor.

Once Applejack entered her bedroom, she went for her oak desk and opened the largest drawer. She withdrew two thick, leather-bound photo albums, and let them drop on the desk with a heavy thud. One was labeled "10-10-10 to 05-06-11", and the other, "09-17-11 to 04-21-12". As much as she would have loved to sit and look through them at her leisure, she knew she was on a mission. She began to flip through the pages as quickly as she could, glancing at each photo just long enough to know whether it was one she needed or not.

"Nope, nope, YES, nope… YES, nope, maybe, nope… Nope, nope, what the- when was this? Nope… Nope, nope (that's a cute one, though!), nope, YES… Nope, YES, nope (goodness, I look goofy in this one), nope…"

After pulling two dozen or so photographs from both albums, Applejack nodded in satisfaction and stuffed them into her saddlebag, which she slung over her shoulder before darting out of the room as quickly as she'd entered. She descended the stairs so fast she barely felt her hooves land on each step. She was then ready to head back out the door before-

"Applejack!"

Applejack screeched to a stop, and turned around to see Granny Smith beckoning her from the couch. "Goodness, girlie, you're whippin' around faster n' a dern twister! What, are there timberwolves after ye?"

"Naw, Granny…" Applejack huffed. "I've just uh… got some really… *huff!* …important things I'm… *pant!*… doin' right now…"

Granny Smith kept her grin on. "Oh, c'mon now! Can't be so urgent that you can't spend a lil' time with your ol' Granny! Come on over here! Come look through some of our old family albums with me."

"I really can't… right now…" Applejack continued, "I seriously… need to get movin'…"

Granny Smith laughed her hearty grandmotherly laugh. "Oh, of course! How could I forget? You're darn right, you better get movin'! Matter of fact, your brother n' sister were just now lookin' fer ya so ya'll could start headin' out."

Applejack stared blankly back. "Huh? What're you talkin' bout?"

"Don't play silly with me, now. Ya'll are goin' to visit your ma and pa! You forget it was Parent's Day already? My my my, and you're throwin' the gosh-dern festival for it right in our backyard, too…"

Applejack opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself when she glanced at the grandfather clock to her right. It was 6:33 pm, three minutes past the time that she had agreed to meet Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom so that they all could go together to visit their mother and father. In that instant, a heavy weight dropped in her breast. With all that had transpired that night, she had completely lost track of the time. Now, at this pivotal hour, she stood at a crossroads. One path guaranteed herself, her siblings, and her parents a satisfying holiday. The other path was a longshot possibility at a satisfying Parents' Day for her friends. Which path to take? Which sacrifice to make?

Perhaps, Applejack thought, it might be possible to have both? Perhaps, she thought, if Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom were willing to wait a while longer, she could quickly lay in place the foundations of her plan to help all of her friends, leaving enough time for her and her siblings to visit their folks together as planned. A less pleasing, but still possible, option was to just have her siblings go ahead without her, while she stayed behind to help her friends. She would just have to hope she had enough time left over at the end of the night to visit her parents on her own. It was hard to tell right then which option was more feasible, for she knew she barely had a two-and-a-half hour window in which she could accomplish all that she wanted…

Eventually, she decided that the dilemma would currently have to be logged in with the rest of the unanswered questions in her jumbled, still-developing plan. After all, she wasn't even sure where Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom were at that moment. Perhaps, by the time she found them, she would have her answer…

"Well, you gonna go meet up with yer brother n' sister, or ya gonna keep standin' there like a loony-faced stump?!"

Applejack snapped back to reality. "Huh?!" She glanced at the clock, and saw that it was 6:35 pm. Realizing that every minute was precious and needed to be made the most of, she quickly nodded her head to her grandma. "Yeah Granny, I'm off to see ma' and pa' now." That wasn't exactly a lie, as she really didn't know the truth yet, but it was still enough to make the pin needle of guilt poke her heart.

"Alrighty then. Tell my son I say hi. Again! Hahaha!"

"Oh, you've already gone ta see 'em today?"

"This afternoon. They're doin' well as whiskey, like always!" She put on a sweet, genuine smile.

"Oh, um, great!" Applejack replied. "I'll be happy to see that fer myself. So… yeah, see ya!" She turned again to head out the door, but a sudden idea struck her. It was a brilliant one, one that needed to be stuck into her sloppy mess of a plan, at the top of the list. She looked back at Granny Smith. "Say Granny, do you know if Aunt and Uncle Orange managed to make it to the festival tonight?"

"They sure did! And they brought along little Julius, too. Oh my, he's become such a handsome specimen of a stallion! Why, if I was his age and not blood-related, I'd be workin' my old-school charms on that one!"

Applejack was delighted to hear the info she had wanted, and not so much the rest. "TMI, Granny. Thank you, but… TMI."

"Whazzat?! I don't git all that newfangled interweb speak you yungins are always blabbin'… Anyhoo, why do you ask? Ya wanna invite them to visit your folks, too?"

"Umm, yeah! That's exactly it!" A real lie this time. The pinpoint stung ten times as much as before.

"Oh, that'd be lovely! OK, well you'd better git your rump movin'. Lemme know how it all goes, alrighty?"

"Will do, Granny," Applejack said. Itching to leave, she hurriedly whirled around and threw open the door.

"And Happy Parents' Day!"

Just as the door slammed shut, Applejack managed a forced "Happy Parents' Day!" in response. She couldn't be sure if Granny Smith had heard her or not. Unable to worry much about it, she aimed herself toward the fairgrounds and sprinted towards her next destination…

~~~

"Ugh, I KNEW I saw them here earlier… Where in the tarnation'd they run off to?"

Applejack was hurriedly trotting up and down the parade of products, checking each booth to see if Twilight and her parents were at any of them. She had spotted them at a jewelry stand while running through the fairgrounds on the way to her house. However, no pony was there now. She searched frantically, for she needed to speak with Twilight as soon as she could.

The sight of a familiar slim, athletic mare halted her, and made her reorganize her thoughts. Aeroswift was playing a game of horseshoes, seemingly by herself. A quick scan of the area for Rainbow Dash or Sweetgood Mac yielded no results. Applejack cursed to herself, for she had wanted to speak with them, too, but then decided that a chance to learn more about Aeroswift personally could only help in her mission. She walked up to her side. "Howdy there, Aeroswift," she greeted. She looked at the post in the playing field, and saw four horseshoes hooped flawlessly around it. "Wow! Looks like you're winnin', huh?"

"Hard to say…" Aeroswift replied half-heartedly. She didn't even look at Applejack, instead keeping her distant gaze on the post. She effortlessly tossed another horseshoe. *TINK!* It hit the post and hooked, swiveling around it before landing on top of the pile.

"Well gosh, sure looks like it to me!" Applejack observed.

Aeroswift sighed. She let her two remaining horseshoes slip from her hoof and onto the grass. "I won at this, I guess…" She peered over the horizon. "But not at everything."

The cryptic and sad nature of her words made Applejack's curiosity pique. "Beggin' your pardon, ma'am, but… what do you mean? And where are Rainbow Dash n' your hubby?"

"Oh, they went off… somewhere. I don't know…" she flicked her hoof in a nonchalant manner. "As for what I mean, well…" She stopped, perhaps to either think about what to say next, or to wonder whether she was willing to divulge such personal things to a pony she had just met. "Let me ask you something… Do you have kids?"

Applejack frowned at the question. "Sweet mother o' mercy, no! It's hard enough for me findin' time to meet fellas at all!"

"I figured. You're still pretty young for that," Aeroswift replied. She lowered her head. "But not TOO young. I was actually about your age when I had Rainbow Dash."

"Oh my…" Applejack responded. "I couldn't imagine... What was it like, becomin' a mother so young?"

"It was Heaven. I couldn't have been happier," Aeroswift said. "…Well, at least SHE was Heaven. But every Heaven has a Hell, I suppose. And my Hell… was him."

Applejack nodded. Somehow, she had seen this coming. "Well, I'd be lyin' if I said I didn't notice some mighty bad blood between you and your husband. But why? Sweetgood Mac seems sweeter n' fresh baked apple fritters with extra cream. Is he really not that way?"

"Oh, he's nice," Aeroswift confirmed. "He's just… TOO nice. TOO easygoing, you know? Too ready to spill his heart out to everyone and everything. I mean, compare that to somepony like me. I'm the most strong-headed, independent, ready-to-win-at-life mare that you'll ever meet. My beliefs have me see the world as one big sports stadium, in which there are a few winners, a few losers, and a ton of do-nothing spectators. HE prefers to see the world as one big family home, where everypony has something to contribute and is obliged to help support one another, even if they haven't earned it…" She frowned. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not heartless, and I don't dislike his ideas. They appealed to me at one time, I admit, which is probably why I fell for him so long ago. But after years of toil and hardship, years of seeing my cotton candy dreams nibbled away by the maw of reality, I see now that that's all they are – ideas. The truth, as I see it, is that the world is not fair, and not everypony is made equal, meaning 'survival of the fittest' is the only sensible way to live. I stubbornly identify as a realist now, and I've learned to take pride in that."

Applejack couldn't help but think that Aeroswift's "cotton candy dreams" metaphor sounded very much like something that would have come from Sweetgood Mac's mouth. She didn't comment however, and let Aeroswift continue.

"But it's not just the difference in our worldviews that's created this friction between us… I mean, sure, I first married him because I was young, and stupid, and lovesick, and idealistic… But even as those qualities about me changed while they remained the same in him, we still managed to love each other just fine. Our perception of our love simply evolved as we did – instead of 'I love you because of our similarities', it became 'I love you because of our differences.' It was a struggle, but we managed to make it work, and I think it's mainly because we knew that we were both too stubborn to allow ourselves to be changed by the other."

Aeroswift sat on the grass. Applejack chose to keep on her hooves, but kept listening. "But then, bada-bing, bada-boom, our little filly came along. It's funny... he wanted to name her 'Rainbow Spectra', and I wanted to name her 'Thunder Dash'. We argued about it, but we were all about compromise back then, so, you know... 'Rainbow Dash'. We both loved her so much, but we loved her in very different ways; ways that reflected our own personal beliefs. We both wanted her to grow up to be like ourselves – me wanting her to be an active, competitive, strong soul, and him wanting her to be a passive, uncompetitive, pushover, bleeding-heart, wuss…" She grunted in disgust. "Our different approaches to raising Rainbow Dash only magnified the differences between us. I saw his influence as negative, as turning her into a pony that might become dependent, and lazy, and proud for the wrong reasons. Of course, he accused me of pushing her too hard, and not showing her enough compassion. Not surprising, coming from a stallion like him… Needless to say, it's only gotten worse over the years. Now she's entering adulthood, and in these crucial years, I still want to make sure his influence is as minor as possible. For every nudge he gives her in one direction, I give her ten nudges in the other. I'll burn alive before I let my little winner become any more like him…"

"Goodness," Applejack said, "That's a mite dramatic, wouldn't you say?"

"If only you knew, Applejack," she mused, "you wouldn't think so… and I probably wouldn't have to be so harsh if, on top of everything else, he hadn't cheated on me."

Applejack gasped. "Oh my, Sweetgood Mac cheated on you?! I couldn't imagine him doing such a thing…"

"Well imagine it, sweetheart, cuz it's true," Aeroswift said bitterly. "With an acquaintance of mine, no less. I don't want to go into details about that. But all things considered, you understand a little better now why I don't want that stallion's ideals to get too buried in my daughter's head, don't you?"

"I suppose I can see your point," Applejack said, still reeling in disbelief. "But… If you n' your hubby have had so many problems, why are you still together?"

Aeroswift was silent for a short while. For the first time since meeting her, Applejack could see that she looked just the slightest bit unconfident. She ran her hoof over her dangling ponytail a couple of times, pondering. Eventually, she said, "Call me old-fashioned, but…I guess I just can't do that to Rainbow Dash. As much as I can't stand her father, I know she loves him, and it would crush her to see us split apart. And if she were to be crushed, so would I be…" She sighed and shook her head. "You know, I really haven't told all this stuff to many ponies. I'm sorry to be spilling my guts to you like this right now."

"No, no, it's alright," Applejack insisted. "You can trust me. I won't go a-blabbin' or a-judgin'."

"Thank you. And thank you also for being a good competitor for Rainbow Dash... And for being her friend."

"No need for thanks, ma'am. Bein' Rainbow Dash's friend is all my pleasure! And I'm sure that's the result of her bein' raised by such a strong mother."

Aeroswift smiled slightly.

"…Although, I would bet her daddy's influence helped make her the great friend she is, too," Applejack replied thoughtfully. "Wouldn't you say? Even just a little bit?"

Aeroswift went right back to frowning.

"Just a thought," Applejack said sheepishly. She forced a smile.

Aeroswift didn't respond in kind. Turning away from Applejack, she picked up her horseshoes to resume her solo game.

Applejack could tell that her last comment had rubbed Aeroswift the wrong way. She hesitantly added, "By the way, ma'am, I was wonderin'… Have you seen where my friend Twilight went to?"

"Oh, the purple unicorn?" Aeroswift said lowly, still not looking at Applejack. "Yeah, she and her parents passed by here not long before you showed up. That direction…" She pointed her hoof to her left. "Don't know where they are now, though…"

"Ah, great, thank ya kindly!" Applejack said graciously. She turned to head that way. "Hope to see you again soon!"

"Yeah…" Aeroswift half-replied as she tossed a horseshoe. *TINK!* Another successful hook on the post.

"And Happy Parents' Day!"

This time, Aeroswift made no acknowledgement of Applejack's words at all.

Feeling satisfied with the info she had gathered, and deciding it was now best to leave Aeroswift alone, Applejack took off running. With luck, Twilight and her parents hadn't gone too far…

~~~

It wasn't long before Applejack spotted Twilight. She could see her standing behind her parents, who seemed to be having an in-depth argument with a shopkeeper selling many antique jars, pots, and pottery. Twilight stood with her characteristic lowered head and slumped posture. It appeared that even just being in the vicinity of her parents made her feel tiny and dominated. Knowing this was one issue she had to do something about that night, Applejack approached from behind and tapped Twilight on the shoulder.

When Twilight turned around, she smiled sweetly. "Applejack! Oh, thank goodness for seeing a friendly face! I couldn't stand to hear my mom argue with any more shopkeepers about how inferior and low-quality their stuff is!"

"Is that what she's doin'?" Applejack asked with a laugh. "Golly-gee, your ma is somethin' else, ain't see?"

"Something else is right," Twilight said. She lowered her voice to a level just above a whisper. "Something not from this planet!"

Both girls began to giggle. Then, before either girl realized it, Starlight and Moonlight were both standing right next to them, gazing down upon Twilight.

The giggling stopped immediately.

"You're wearing that guilty-as-a-cat look on your face, Twilight," Starlight said in a subtly threatening tone. "What did you and your… friend say just now that was so funny?"

"Umm… I-I don't know what you're referring to mother," Twilight replied, wearing a guilty-as-a-cat look on her face.

Starlight opened her mouth to speak, but Applejack quickly beat her to the punch. "Oh, it was nothin', Mrs. Sparkle! I was just tellin' Twilight 'bout a little somethin' funny I saw earlier at the dunk tank. No biggie."

"Mm-hmm…" Starlight uttered, peering over her glasses from girl to girl. "So no comments about anypony being from another planet, I presume?"

The corners of Twilight's mouth dropped like stones. Applejack was equally dismayed. "How in tarnation did she hear that?" she thought. "Great gallopin' Gotlands! This mare is TERRIFYING!"

Starlight smirked and looked over at her husband. He raised an eyebrow, and the two both proceeded to stare Twilight down. Twilight, in response, could only lower her head in submission. "I'm sorry, mother. That was very rude of me…"

"And?" Starlight added sharply.

"…And I accept whatever punishment you give me."

"Good girl. You'd better. Your father and I have worked tirelessly to make you into a worthwhile pony that will bring honor to the Sparkle name. We deserve all your respect, and you well know that. So if you start talking behind my back, I can only assume it's the result of certain bad influences." She swiveled her piercing gaze to Applejack, but still addressed Twilight. "Therefore, the punishment I lay down is this – I will no longer allow you to speak to these 'friends' of yours."

Twilight's guilt-ridden face was suddenly thrust away and replaced by one of shocked sadness. Her mouth hung open, and her heart screamed out, longing to protest. However, whatever drive she had to argue was choked back, blocked only by the simple but overbearing stares of both her mother and father. Shamefully, she eventually swallowed the thorny urge and closed her mouth. She then stole a brief, moist-eyed glance at Applejack before lowering her head again in absolute defeat.

Applejack felt the same surging desire to protest rise up within herself. Unlike Twilight, however, no fear was holding her back. "Now wait just a cotton-pickin' minute!" she shouted. "You are NOT tellin' me at my OWN festival, on my OWN farm, that I can't speak to one of my OWN best friends!"

Twilight's eyes opened in shock. She pleaded wordlessly for Applejack to be quiet, but no one seemed to notice.

Starlight just smiled down at Applejack's outburst, unfazed. "I beg your pardon, Miss Applejack, but I believe you said earlier that you're only a partial owner of this farm. Furthermore, if you think any member of the Sparkle family is even capable of maintaining a real friendship with anypony in YOUR family, then you obviously don't know what 'friends' are." She looked to her husband for confirmation. He nodded in agreement.

Internally, Applejack was boiling. She wanted so badly to scream back into that cocky, stuck-up, conceited mare's face and argue how skewed her definition of “friendship” was, and how blind she must have been to not see how miserable she was making her own daughter. She yearned to say all this and more. Much, much more.

However, any words she wanted to say right then would only create more friction and more difficulty. And those were the last things she needed if she wanted her plan for the night to go as smoothly as possible. And so, completely against herself, she bit her tongue. This did not stop her, however, from returning an especially ugly glare right back at Starlight.

Starlight, clearly feeling confident that she had won the argument, put her nose up and began to walk off with her husband. "Come Twilight," she called. "This farmer pony has nothing more to say to us, it seems. And frankly, I nor you have anything else to say to her. Let us be on our way."

Twilight obediently leapt to her feet to follow her parents. Before running to catch up with them, she took one last, crushing look at Applejack. "I am so sorry…" she whispered. With that, she was off as well.

Applejack was left standing, stunned. This turn of events had been a double-whammy. Not only had Twilight's parents forbidden Twilight from speaking with her, but this also completely threw a wrench into Applejack's plan. She had wanted to speak with Twilight alone so she could gather some intel on her parents, and then use that intel in whatever way she could to find a way to soften their hearts and let in the spirit of the holiday. However, this task was going to be much harder than she thought…

"I'm gonna need somethin' big to get through to 'em…" she thought to herself. "Those ponies… They only respond to wealth and status… Somethin' not me nor anypony in my whole gosh dern family has a lick of…" She reached deep into her brain, trying to extract something that might serve her. "Well… At least not in my IMMEDIATE family... But there are some pretty successful lineages in the whole family tree. Maybe if I could just… get a hold of somepony. Somepony that the Sparkles must've heard of. Maybe somepony the Sparkles look up to, or ENVY, even. Somepony like…"

As she thought, her eyes scanned the scene around her. Within the bustling crowds of the parade of products, her vision suddenly snagged on a family of three. A familiar family…

"Somepony like…"

That orange hair… Those excessively dressy mane-cuts… A mother, a father…

"…like…"

…and a son.

"…Orange Julius!" Applejack exclaimed to herself. "That's it! Oh, my hoity-toity cousin… Have I got some plans for you tonight!"

Knowing she had just scored another breakthrough idea, she mentally opened up the checklist for her master plan and made a few edits in bold…

~~~

...

- Find Orange Julius

- Use Orange Julius to get in good with Twilight's parents

- Introduce Orange Julius to Rarity as a reward for the previous step

- ?

- EVERYPONY HAS A GOOD PARENTS' DAY!

~~~

"Perfect!" she told herself. "At last, everything's startin' to come together!" With a confident smile, she began to gallop in her cousin's direction, for the first time truly feeling that her lofty ambitions might actually come to fruition…