Chapter 1
The Blue-Haired, Red-Eyed Girl
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It all started like how those old stories that Diamond used to read to me. A story about someone left down on their luck then taking the big step towards their perfect future.
I guess I should speak of my birth and upbringing before continuing. I was born Annabelle Apple; to my family I go by Annie for short. The Apple Family was a growing family and we all have one thing in common: we're all farmers and our produce of choice... Apples, of course. We’re one of the top farmers of selling Apples in all of Equestria.
And me... well, let’s just say I wasn't like most women in my family. My cousins would always laugh at me because of my size and how I preferred to wear jeans instead of skirts. I never went to school, it was too expensive. Sure, I went for learning my writing, but I only stayed to learn how to write my name. Especially since every girl in my family were all being given away to the men in town and I was left to help with my two brothers and father take care of the fields and livestock.
During my growing up years, I always went to this pretty oak tree right by the road farther from the house. I used to go there all the time with Mama, and she would tell me how strong I was and how happy she was in having me. When she passed, I always went to the tree and sit there trying to reconnect with Mama.
One day, I went there to cry, because my sisters were bothering me. Then I heard this scratchy voice, "Hey, why are you crying?"
I looked up from my arms and saw her. A skinny small girl staring back at me. She had her blue hair tied back with a ribbon, she had a bag over her shoulder with what looked to be a petticoat hanging from it. I then noticed that this girl was wearing a shirt, suspenders attached to large trousers, and she was barefoot. I then noticed her unnatural red eyes that made me stare at her. I've never seen such eyes before.
"I'm not cryin'!" I yelled back, turning away, feeling my cheeks burn from being seen by this stranger. Let alone another kid, a girl.
"Yes, you are." She said, coming closer. I turned to look at her as she gave me this kind smile that I only saw with my mother. "I can see it in your eyes." She said with a giggle.
I wiped off the tears from my face, looking at her. "I've never seen you b’fore. And I know every kid in the farmlands."
"Oh," the red eyed girl said, blushing and scratching her head. "Well, I'm... new here. Came all the way from Canterlot."
"Canterlot?" I asked, skeptical. Canterlot was this huge, fancy city farther south-west of Manehattan. Canterlot was where most of the Titanians lived.
"Well sure, I'm a Titanian, see!" The girl dropped her bag on the ground and held out her hands and produced the beginnings of a magical orb in her hand. "See," the girl grunted. I only stared at her in awe. I've never seen a Titanian before. But seeing this one up close got me excited.
"Wow, how'd you gone and do that?" I asked standing up staring at her.
"It's called magic." She said making the tiny blue orb disappear. She let out a sigh. "I still need practice though." She replied, chuckling.
After a moment of silence, my tears were long gone. I was more fascinated with this new girl than what my sisters told me earlier that day. The girl smirked and held out her scrawny hand. "My name is Melody Liker. And you?" I took her hand and gave it a firm shake.
"Annabelle Apple. Oh sorry!" I yelped out seeing that I was squishing her scrawny hand. She pulled her hand away waving it around, wincing.
"Damn, are you an Eponian or something?" She asked moving her fingers to make sure they still worked.
"Uh actually, I am." I answered, blushing.
"Oh... well that explains the strength." She chuckled before turning back to me. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Annabelle. I hope to see you again, soon." She turned, picked up her big bag, and left. Just like that. I watched her walk down the dirt road straight to Manehattan wondering more about this new girl.
Over the years, as I grew up, I always wound up back at the oak tree and sat there to wait. And that waiting paid off and I saw the same girl, dressed in the same clothes, with that satchel on her scrawny shoulder walking down the road. She would stop and come on over and sit with me at the oak tree and we'll talk, have lunch, or even played some arm strength games like my brothers would do on breaks. We soon became the best of friends. I guess everything kicked off at that time.
Three years after I met Melody, I was up late one night from working when I heard a knock on our door. I opened the door with a lantern in my hand and I saw Melody, again. She looked horrible, she was beaten badly. I ushered her inside immediately and took care of her. That was when she told me things that she never told me before.
She only lived with her uncle, of course I knew the man and my Pa would keep us kids away from him if he ever came by. It turned out that when Melody's parents stood and left, she was left with her uncle. Over the years, her uncle used all her savings to buy drink and pleasure, leaving Melody in his home locked up like a slave. Until this one lady came to her uncle’s house. This lady, she was part of this society group in Manehattan that try to make sure children, even young girls, were sent to school.
This same lady got Melody’s uncle to pay for her schooling. After a while of going to Manehattan for schooling, Melody started to skip school and dove into the streets. She then took the job as a newsie, selling papers in the city and gaining money. She was saving her paper money so she could leave on a train to Canterlot where her parents might have went. But it looked like her uncle figured it out about Melody’s job and money and took his anger out on her.
I begged my Pa to keep Melody with us. Pa said that Melody was welcome to stay as long as she needed, but she’ll get money for herself, not out of the family’s pocket. Since then you can say we became sisters. Melody would help me with the fields and livestock, I even taught her how to cook. We shared a room and we would talk and wrestle all night long. I actually felt better having someone that was nicer and has the same type of thinking I do. It was even fun pranking on my brothers with Melody’s magic. Even though we had the greatest time growing up, all of the fun we had, came to an end.
When she was sixteen and I was eighteen, Melody came home one day claiming that she'll be gone for proper schooling and paying for it with her own money she got from her trips to Manehattan. I was in shock, Melody was leaving?
Pa wondered how she got the money. Melody only smirked and said, "Oh, I have my ways, Mr. Apple. I will come back soon, no worries." Pa just waved his hand telling her to leave his sight as he read the Farmer’s Almanac. With that she packed up and left the farm for good and for a long time leaving me alone.
About five years after Melody left, Pa had to send me off to a man, just like he did with my sisters. I didn’t like it, but Pa was right, I had to bring more children to this world and I was a woman that needs a man. But I'm not sure that it was what my future had in store for me. All I wanted was to have a farm of my own and raise my produce, live a peaceful life in the country. So yes, I had to marry. It wasn't the best marriage. Of course, I'll be the first woman to admit that I didn't like my husband, no matter how much money he placed on the table.
I moved in with my husband in his sheep farm and that was where my story started.
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Annie Apple struck the steel of the mattock into the dirt and pulled it up, as she continued to tend the garden for the next collection of seed and then by spring they will grow for their food and for extras in the market. She wiped the sweat off her brow and scratched at the itchy dress she had to wear for her husband. He said it made her look more like a woman not a man. Annie never liked being dressed like this, but she had to, he's her husband, her boss.
She scrunched up her face at that spitting into the garden. She had only married him for a full year and it had been a horrible one. All she wanted was to go back and be single again, where she was free and where she can work on her father's farm for the rest of her life. But that was impossible. She can't use her well known strength in front of her husband or he'll get angry, reminding her that women weren’t meant to be big and strong like her. But Annie doesn’t like to be sitting around knitting, she wanted to work and work hard.
She sighed feeling tears in her eyes.
"Hey, why are you crying?" An older scratchy voice called out.
Annie gasped and looked up in shock seeing a tall woman standing behind the brown fence. She was about shorter than Annie. Dressed in a pressed black suit, white shirt, black bow tie around her neck, and black trousers, with a pair of black dress shoes. A black bowler hat sat on top of her cut short blue hair. And on her face hiding her unnatural red eyes, were a pair of small lensed glasses with purple colored lenses. She was dressed very fancy to be living in this part of Manehattan.
"Melody?" Annie asked out loud in shock then she started to smile. Melody shown her trademark smile Annie had missed so much. She pulled off her hat and placed it over her chest and bowed.
"The one and only, Missus . . . Ahem, forgive me, Annie, but I'm afraid I don’t know your new name." She said with a touch of concern putting her hat back on her head.
Annie sighed sadly. Hearing this, Melody leaped over the fence onto the property and stood before her. Annie looked at her then turned away feeling ashamed that her one dear friend/sister was seeing her like this.
"Hmmph, Mr. Know-it-all in the house, you mean," She sighed down casted, turning away. Melody placed her hand on Annie's shoulder squeezing. Annie looked up to see her sad red eyes.
"I’m sorry, that I couldn’t come and help you when you needed me. I got your letters but I couldn’t leave." She said sadly. Annie shrugged turning away. Melody bit her lip then smirked at an idea. She stood up tall, fixing the lapels of her black suit jacket. She cleared her throat to get Annie’s attention. "You like it?" She asked spinning in place chuckling. Annie nodded then whistled impressed.
"That is sure one fine set of duds, Melody. Where did you go?" She asked interested.
Melody chuckled fixing her bowler hat on her head. "Let’s just say, I got into the railroad business for the last five years. Got good money and good influence." Melody cleared her throat then she wiggled her fingers and a small blue light appeared on her neck where her Adams apple was. She fixed her bow tie to hide it surprising Annie.
"It wasn't easy passing myself up as a young man to make business now ain't it?" Melody said in a man's voice! Annie's mouth dropped open as Melody laughed as a man, until she flittered her fingers, again then her laugh went back to normal. She coughed a couple of times, rubbing her throat after her spell.
"Like it?" She asked with a smile.
"What did you do?" Annie asked in shock. Melody smiled flittering her fingers revealing a long ribbon of blue magic as it moved around Annie like a snake.
"Magic, dear sister. Of course, using sound magic can be difficult. Good thing, I wasn't asked to sing, yet." She laughed at the thought. She sighed looking at Annie with sadness. "Well, it was hard being on my lonesome all those years." She said crossing her arms across her chest.
"It sure has been lonesome for me, too, Melody." Annie said with a sigh as she turned to the house. She gulped then turned back to notice Melody looking behind her, sticking her hand into her pocket. Annie didn’t even notice the concern on Melody’s face.
"How about you stay for dinner?" Annie asked causing Melody to jump and turn to her. “That is if you want… you can also stay for the night. It can sure be a long journey back to the city, right?” Annie asked trying to keep her voice sounding desperate. Melody looked into her sister’s green eyes, then smiled and nodded.
"I would be honored. And thank you." She said politely. "Do you want me to go with my magical voice?" She asked with a grin, raising her eyebrows at her.
When Annie told her husband about her friend, Mr. Liker, her husband, at first, was skeptical until Melody pulled off the Mr. Liker like a true gentleman. Annie can tell Melody had talked as Mr. Liker for so long without straining. She even got to talk about the railroad business with him, which got him to talk more openly than he ever did with Annie.
After dinner, Annie led Mr. Liker to the guest room and closed the door behind her. She turned do see Melody rubbing her throat with a wince. "I got to stop doing that for long periods of time." She whispered clearing her throat. Annie looked up at her and smiled.
"I thought that was amazin'." She said with pride. Melody bushed by the praise.
"Bah, after a week you will get annoyed, I'm sure." Melody said. The sisters chuckled at that. Melody sighed placing her hat on the bed. She turned to Annie with a worried look as she bit her lip. "Hey, uh Annie, you mind if I talk to you before you leave?" She asked nervously. Annie was caught by surprise at the worry in Melody's voice. She turned to see her actually nervous.
"Uh . . . Of course. What do you want to talk about, honey?" Annie asked sitting on the bed. Melody sat down by her, she reached into her suit jacket, and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper. Annie took the paper, unrolling it. She blinked seeing the words but not understanding any of it. She looked to Melody with a quirked eyebrow seeing her grin. "Melody, you know I can't read." She said flatly. Melody blinked then slapped her forehead with her hand.
"Right, apologies Annie. Here's what it says. Gold Rush called in the wild western frontier. Gold is being mined at this second in the area called the Celestial River." Melody said seeing Annie's shocked face. Melody smiled at her. "Do you understand this, Annie?" She asked with excitement.
Annie stared at Melody with a blank expression.
"It means... There's gold out there. In that river!"
"B-b-but, Melody, Celestial River is outside of Equestrian Territory. It belongs to King Grifton of the Griffin Kingdoms." Annie said with fear. "Those are bad lands beyond belief." Melody was still smiling that crazy smile of hers.
"Please Annie, listen to me." She said calmly as she got Annie to look at her. "I'm telling you this because you're my sister." She said looking into her eyes. Annie gulped worriedly biting her lip. "Listen, while I was trying to make deals in the market, I heard a rival of mine, wanted to send his railroad to San Franciscolt. To the far west ocean, Annie!" Annie blinked at this in surprise.
"This is life changing for Equestria! If he builds his railroad all the way there . . . then it's a big possibility that people here will travel to the big city. With enough Equestrian there, then Princess Celestia will have to make that area Equestria! It's wild land, sure, but the miners leaving for this gold and the railroad workers working a path to San Franciscolt, will be the first Equestrians to lay eyes on that land and that beautiful ocean. Can you imagine that?" Melody asked gripping Annie's arms. Annie gulped looking into her wild eyes.
Annie thought for a moment, scared about this idea. "So... you really want to go, out there?" She asked, her voice came out as a scared whisper.
Melody nodded. "Of course, I'm going! Where ever the railroad goes, I go. And also ... " She leaned in to her ear. "I'll be getting rich and famous, Annie. I'll be the richest woman in Equestria! And I want you, my sister, my best friend, to come with me." She finished with excitement. Annie gulped staring at Melody's excited red eyes. She turned away with guilt.
" I... I don’t know, Melody. I feel better being on this farm even if I don’t like it. I mean, I can’t leave my husband." She said with worry.
Melody's smile slipped to a snarl. She coughed hiding the snarl from her. She can't let this piece of her plan drop away when it's vital for having Annie with her. She cleared her throat. "Annie, listen carefully to what I'm asking you. Are you happy?" She asked.
Annie sighed sadly turning to her. "Well, no."
"Do you have kids with him? Are you expecting?" Melody asked patting Annie's flat stomach. Annie blushed, pushing her hand away crossing her arms across her chest.
"No . . . I don’t think I am." Annie said worriedly. Melody smirked, hook line and sinker.
"Then what's keeping you here? Annie, this place isn't for you. It never was. I know it and so do you. You’re not meant to be a house wife. You’re a farmer, a big heavy farmer with muscle." She said poking Annie's arm. Annie blushed rubbing her arm where Melody poked her. Melody smiled, she almost got her convinced. "Let me ask this again. What is keeping you here, Annie?" Melody whispered.
Annie bit her lip looking at the door. "Maybe... disappointing my family. Melody, I can't just get up and leave my husband, that’s scandalous!" She said with fear. Melody gritted her teeth, she can't lose this chance now. She forgot that Annie was very religious and a nut case about public thoughts on her and her family.
"Annie, focus on me." Melody said quickly getting her attention again. "Who cares about the Apple Family? Far as I can tell, they hardly cared about you. Your sisters made fun of your size and strength, then your Pa just dumped you on some guy he owed a debt to," Melody mentioned. Annie felt tears in her eyes, turning away with shame. Melody paused and felt guilt for saying things like that. She should have done this a little more delicately. She took Annie’s hands into hers causing her sister look at her.
"Annie, you are more than just a woman to me. You’re my sister and I love you and I want you to be happy." Annie closed her eyes. "You know I always wanted what's best for you. Just as I know you want what's best for me." Melody said softly squeezing her hands.
"What happens if I do say yes, to this crazy idea of yers?" Melody smirked, but was given a searching glare by her sister. "I didn’t say yes, I just want to know your plan." She said seriously.
Melody nodded releasing her hands and stepped to the window to look outside. Thinking if she should tell Annie the truth as to why she wanted to leave so fast and having Annie by her side. But she can't completely lie, Annabelle Apple is a tough one to lie to. But she could tell half the truth now then the rest later... Way later. She smiled making up her mind.
"I plan to be rich, Annie. Stake up some land and start digging for gold and getting rich. Meet some fellows or ladies." Melody said untying her bowtie with a grin. Annie blushed at that glaring at her.
"You know it is sin to sleep with women." Annie whispered harshly.
Melody rolled her eyes at her religious gobble. She chuckled looking at her. "I live on sin, dear sister. You should know that, by now." She said grinning her wolf like grin. Annie huffed and turned away glaring at her.
"True, you do live on the edge more than most people."
Annie never did approve of Melody's ways nor her sinful dreams and ideas. But Melody was a wild one and Annie was always there to pull her back if she walked too far from the righteous path. But of course, Annie couldn't control Melody, no matter how hard she tried. She even tried to drag her to church one day but some how Melody escaped her grasp saying that, the Great Horse Gods would have to drag her with their hooves before she could go into those buildings. Annie gave up trying after that and left Melody at home.
"But yeah, maybe lay with some people, give away my gold to a bank or Hell with it, bury it! And become the richest woman in Equestria." She said smiling at Annie. Annie remained unconvinced at this crazy idea.
"And if I do go with you... What do I get?" She asked. Melody smirked at her.
"You, dear sister, will get half of the gold. It’ll be half and half between you and me." She said wrapping her arm around Annie's large shoulders. She poked her finger on Annie's chest smiling up at her. "And you can use that gold for whatever your heart oh so desires. Like find a better man, or a lady friend." Annie glared at her. Melody shrugged. "Just a little thought."
"No," Annie growled. Melody sighed with a shrug.
"I tried." She said placing her hand on her chest with a theatrical shake of her head. Annie rolled her eyes at that.
"Anyway?"
Melody cleared her throat. "Or you can build your own homestead in the wilderness. Make your own farm! Hell, you can even go into cattle ranching and that is gaining popularity lately. And you can get more money by a head of cattle than an apple in a basket. You can even be richer than the Apple Family themselves." Melody took a seat back on the bed perching her arm on her knee placing her chin on her hand smiling up at Annie. Annie looked nervous watching Melody look up at her from her glasses.
"So Annabelle Apple, do you want to be with me? Do you want to get rich and be free?" she asked.
Annie gulped clenching her fists. So many things were revolving around her mind. She can go and get rich and own herself a farm. She could use the money to do whatever she pleases. Not do what her family wanted her to do for years. She looked at Melody to see her smiling knowingly at her.
"Give me the night to think about this, Melody, it’s a lot to take in." Melody frowned a touch but smiled with a nod.
"Of course. But I'll have to leave early to pack some things at my place in the city. Then I have to be at the station and take a train to the border in the morning. If you miss me I'll be at the train station." Melody said laying on the bed still dressed in her clothes. Annie blinked.
"When does the train leave?"
"Hmm," Melody reached into her pocket to pull out a fancy silver pocket watch with a silver chain attached to her vest. On the cover is an engraved musical note, a bridged eighth note. "Ten in the morning."
Annie nodded as she walked to the door. She turned to her sister to see her placing her glasses on the nightstand next to her bed.
"G'night, Mr. Liker." She said smiling sadly at her.
Melody snapped her fingers and cleared her throat. "Good night to you too, mistress." Melody answered in a male's voice. Annie closed the door behind her, then left to go to bed.
Late that night, Annie couldn’t sleep. She kept thinking about what Melody told her and the opportunities she would be given if she took that course of action. She wanted more than anything to leave this dank world behind and start a new life. The possibilities were endless. Annie wouldn’t have to hide her strength anymore. She can act like herself and use her strength, again. She can walk around in jeans and a button up shirt just like before. And with that gold... She can build herself a beautiful house. She can make a field and she can grow and raise an apple orchard and people will come from all around just to have her apples.
But then there were the cons of this adventure. She turned to see her husband snoring next to her. She made a commitment to be with this man she was dumped on by her father. If she got up and left, she would bring dishonor to her family and everyone will look to the Apples with shock and scandal. She can't bear to give her family that grieve.
But after what Melody told her, she started to think about her questions. Annie had no children to leave behind, and she knew for sure that she wasn't expecting a child or she would have felt it. And it was close to being true when everyone in her family didn't care about her. She remembered the larks that were thrown her way asking if she was a true man or a man with a woman's chest. Those were hurtful comments and Annie couldn’t do anything about it. She was a girl and girls can't fight men. Men can fight men, not girls.
Annie looked to the window to see the outside. She could see the sky turning lighter blue. Dawn was coming soon. She turned over and tried to get some extra hours of sleep. When the sky was turning yellow and pink, Annie woke up hearing a sound of a door opening then closed. She heard the silent footsteps walking past her door, down the stairs, and out the front door. Annie bit her lip feeling tears. Melody was gone.
She heard her husband stir and sit up, yawning. He got out of bed and went off to get dressed. Once he was dressed up he left the room to get to work on the sheep. Annie got up after he left the room, she had to get dressed and get breakfast made...
"Wait." She asked herself thinking.
Out west is freedom, just like Melody said. Out west was where the riches were, freedom... Sweet freedom. And maybe... The grass might grow greener out there. She heard the door open then close, her husband was now outside. She sighed then made her decision. Annie ran to the closet and found her old carpet bag on the floor, she opened the bag and found inside of it were her old clothes from the farm. She pulled off her nightgown and started pulling on the loose fitting jeans, then the large baggy orange checkered shirt. She buttoned up the buttons then tucked in the tail into her jeans. She found a belt and pulled it on to keep her pants up since they were lose from the lost some muscle weight since she was married. She has to regain that lost muscle in the future.
She found her old work boots and pulled them on. She stared at herself in her mirror and for the first time in many years, she was smiling and free. She grabbed her carpet bag and put in her husband’s clothes, no way will she walk around in a dress, again. She stopped and found some red twine and tied back her long blonde hair. She looked at her hair from the reflection of the mirror and sighed.
“Might have to cut this up later, it’s getting too long for my tastes.” Annie whispered giggling. She was ready to leave. She blinked with an idea. Before leaving for the city, she first have to cook the last breakfast for her husband. He wont be back in the house until later. Plenty of time to cook some breakfast then skedaddle out of the property.
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At the Manehattan train station Melody sat on a bench looking at her watch sitting the second hand ticking away. She gulped looking around with her old cotton bag that she kept form her childhood. Inside were some tiny things from her apartment in Manehattan she couldn’t leave without. She kept looking around into the crowd of the morning traffic of people taking the train or leaving the station. She reached into her pocket to feel the watch in her hand, squeezing it tightly.
If Reginald's thugs find me here I'm a dead man. Melody thought worriedly, waiting for the train to arrive. Just thirty more minutes. She heard a whistle being blown by a conductor.
"Train for Las Pegasus will arrive in fifteen minutes, ladies and gentlemen!" He called out blowing his whistle again.
"Great Horse Gods alive... Hurry it up!" She groaned out, pulling out the watch looking at her watch to see the minute hand move once. She groaned closing the silver watch as her foot kept jumping in her nice dress shoe. She turned to the crowd then turned back to the track. Then she gasped remembering that she saw something strange in the crowd and turned back to the left. She gasped recognizing a blond headed woman walking straight toward her. Melody stood up her mouth gaped as she slowly began to smile.
"You came!" Melody shouted over the crowd as she and Annie hugged each other tight. "I actually thought... Well, I mean, um," Melody said chuckling nervously rubbing her head. Annie smiled setting down her carpet bag on the floor. Melody actually got a good look at Annie noticing her clothes. "Wow, look at you!” Melody said in shock seeing Annie now dressed in clothes that Melody remembered her wearing back in the day. Some people, walking by, were glaring at Annie for her lack of modesty for a woman her age. Annie blushed softy getting the glares. She turned back to Melody smiling.
"Well, yeah." Annie said placing her hands behind her back. "You were right, Melody about many things. I'm not loved with my family and well, I want to be with you. You’re the only one that cared about me."
"Well, of course! You cared for me when I needed you the most, Annie." Melody sighed in relief. For a moment, Melody was afraid that Annie wasn't going to make it, then she'll have to find a substitute for her muscle. "I'm just so happy you actually came." Annie smiled happily. They could hear a train coming into the station as it slowed to a stop by the platform, blowing steam and smoke everywhere. Melody sighed picking up her satchel looking at Annie with a smile.
"So sister dear, do you want to come with me out west and be rich?"
Annie bent over to grab her bag and nodded. "I'm ready, Melody. Let’s go get rich."
Melody smiled wide at that. "Then let's get on then. We have a long journey before getting to the border."
As soon as the conductor called out for people to board the train, Annie first entered ducking her head. Melody stopped by the door to look around for anyone. She stopped and smirked. Sure enough, she can see two men dressed in black button up suits and bowler hats on their heads. They snarled seeing Melody. Melody smirked at them. She lift up a non-flattering finger at them before giving them a blow kiss. She jumped into the train as the door was closed shut and locked tight for the journey.
The two Eponians growled as the train started to move. "What do we tell the boss?" The first one asked as they watched Melody taking a seat opposite a tall blonde headed woman. Melody waved at them with a cheeky grin as the blonde headed girl bent over to her bag.
"We’ll just tell him that the bitch took the train to the frontier." He said spitting to the side. "He won't like that."