The next day, after a hearty lunch, A.J. made her way to Golden Apple Orchards, as she and Buck had made plans to meet up and hang out for a little while. As she trotted down the dusty road, she reflected a bit on the past few days. How interesting it was that she had made a new friend so quickly! Then again, she was going to a festival with a food competition, so it wasn't all that surprising- it would be pretty easy to start a conversation!
'I'm glad I met Buck, though,' she thought. He reminded her a lot of herself- his love of family, the way he would get intense about certain things that he found important, though others might not, and, of course- his love for apples and farming! As she continued her walk, Applejack noticed the sun shining brightly, birds singing happy tunes, and beautiful flowers growing along side the road. She herself began to whistle, and she soon found herself nearing the farm.
As A.J., grinning widely, was nearing the front door, she put a hoof up to knock. Before she could start, however, she heard raised voices coming from inside. Despite being muffled by the closed door, she could easily tell that it was arguing, and it getting more aggressive with each passing moment. Her smile quickly fell away, and her mind was filled no longer with excitement or joy, but replaced by concern and worry. What was going on? She considered knocking- it might break up the argument, at least for a bit- but what if she got involved? What if they asked her opinion on something? She stopped and listened again, and she could hear three different voices- one which was Appleseed's, another, Buck's, and the last... it was familiar, but who... General Green!
Now, A.J. was visibly upset and frustrated, her glad mood from earlier long gone. It must be his fault that they're arguing! As she thought this, her grandmother's voice played in her head- 'never assume somepony is at fault when you don't know the full situation!' she then thought to herself,
'ok, maybe it's not all General Green's fault- but I bet their talking about selling the farm, or something. Hmm, probably best if I come by later, or even tomorrow...' As she turned to leave, however, she walked by an open window, where she could her the argument more clearly.
"Now, how dare you say such a thing! I'm trying to help this family- and you keep pushing my offers away! Well, I'm done offering my kindness to you! Once you fail that competition, this farm will be mine! I was going to give you and the boys a higher position from the start, but now that you've denied all my generous attempts to save this place- well, you'll have to work your way up from the bottom!" Now, A.J. knew that eavesdropping was wrong, but as she heard Green say all these things, she began to get angry. How could anypony steal away another ponies dream, just like that? Appleseed and Buck loved the farm, and though it may be failing, she strongly believed that they could turn things around. She then heard Buck speak up-
"No way! Even if we lose this contest, We'll come back- we always do! Right, dad?" A.J. could hear the pride in his voice, and she swung a hoof in front of her.
"Atta boy, Buck! That's tellin' him!" However, her excitement- as well as Buck's- was quickly replaced by confusion, as Green began to chuckle.
"Oh, you poor, naive boy! Seed, please don't tell me you've kept him in the dark for this long!"
"I, uh- well, I..."
"Oh, oh! You have! This is just too much! Ah ha ha ha ha!" As Green continued to laugh, Buck became even more confused, and looked from his father, then to his grandfather, and then back again.
"... Dad? What's going on? What exactly are you hiding from me?"
"Uh, uh... n-now son, you have to understand, this... it's the only way..." Seed stuttered, and Buck took a step towards his father.
"Dad." Seed sighed in defeat, and then replied sadly,
"Alright- your grandfather and I... we came to an agreement a few months back. After we had gotten the invitation to attend the R.H.F.'s Gourmet Gala contest, well- you remember how bad the farm was then."
Buck thought back to that time- the farm had hit it's lowest, for sure, and... he had to admit he'd only been seeing it go downhill from then on.
"Well... yes, I remember." Seed then continued,
"well, as I'm sure you've also noticed- it hasn't been picking up business much since then. Now, I may not have the best brain for number figuring, but I did learn a few tricks from your mother. And, from what I can tell, this farm... it's not going to last much longer. So, the agreement... was that I would sell the farm if we ended up losing the Gourmet Gala competition."
A.J. from her hiding spot in the bushes outside, sucked in a sharp breath, and then quickly clasped a hoof over her mouth. She realized she need not worry, however- the breath that Buck had taken in was at least twice as big as hers.
"WHAT!? Dad, how could you!? This farm is our home! I can't believe you would agree to something so stupid!" As he said this, he bucked out behind him, and a potted plant flew across the room and smashed into a wall, and became nothing more than a pile of broken pot, stems and petals. Seed stared at the plant for a bit, and then turned and glared at his son.
"Son! You don't understand! We can't keep the farm if it's doing this poorly! I don't have the money to hire anypony else, and you and I are not enough to keep this place going! We barely have enough food to get by! My family comes before this farm, and I'm going to look out for them as best as I can! Figure it out, Buck- it's time to move on!"
"I... I... no! this can't be it! I won't... I won't accept that! NO!" And with that, Buck turned and ran out of the house, and stopped for a second on the porch. Now Applejack, who was sitting up in the bush, completely in shock- this was there last chance! The competition was all they had left! She heard somepony coming, and tried to dive down into the bush, but it was too late. Buck, hearing the movement, turned and glared at the bush... and then opened his eyes wide.
"A.J.?"
A.J. tried to say something- anything- but nothing came out of her mouth. Buck furrowed his brow and looked at the ground, then picked his head up.
"Agh!" was all he said before running off into the orchard.
"Buck, wait! I'm sorry..." Applejack's voiced trailed off, and she thought about what to do next. Soon, she found herself running out to the orchards, in an attempt to find- and apologize- to Buck.