//------------------------------// // We're Almost Through This Thing // Story: When Better Days Are Past // by Ponibius //------------------------------// When Better Days are Past Chapter 3: We're Almost Through This Thing. Even though I love farming, it can be hard work, and that’s when everything’s going perfectly. Once problems popup, they tend to just pile up on top of one another. My muscles twinged from soreness as I bucked another tree.  When the apples fell, I worked out the built-up kinks in my spine and legs and I felt them pop. It helped a bit to stretch myself out in different ways, but only a little bit. There just wasn’t any way around how getting up early, earlier really, was making everything hurt more. Shame the work around the farm wasn’t gonna do itself. Never had, never will. I was dragging the baskets back to the barn when I saw Big Mac walking beside somepony I wasn’t particularly happy to see. “Raindrops,” I acknowledged, with a bit of a growl working its way in. I didn’t mean to sound ugly, but Raindrops and I had a history. Really, Raindrops had rubbed me the wrong way since the day I met her. I’d really have preferred if somepony else had been chosen as weather manager of Ponyville, somepony I didn’t have to fight every step of the way, but I was stuck with this one. The jasmine-coated mare put on a strained smile. She was a fairly large mare. Built more like a bulky and muscular earth pony farmer than some streamlined weather pegasus. When she spoke, it sounded tense, like she really didn’t want to be here. “Hey, Applejack. How’s it going?” “It’s goin’,” I said tersely. Raindrops’ wings fluttered, and she seemed to be trying to look at anything that wasn’t me. “So ... I kinda needed to touch base with you over what you needed for weather next week. Usual stuff, ya know?” “Guess it’s ‘bout that time.” I wasn’t quite sure what Big Mac was planning right at the moment. He usually dealt with Raindrops whenever she came flying by to report the weather or take requests. It was just easier for everypony involved. Sure, it may have meant we didn’t get quite as much rain as we would have liked, but we managed. Big Mac let out a belabored sigh as he looked between the two of us. He leaned in to whisper to me. “AJ, can we talk for a moment?” I raised an eyebrow, not quite sure what my brother was thinking. “Err, sure?” “If ya don’t mind, Raindrops?” he asked. Raindrops tried to sound casual when she spoke, but it came across as forced. Figures the mare would have to force herself act halfway decently with me. “Nah, go ahead.” Big Mac ushered me to the side of the barn. He spoke to me in a quiet tone, though I sensed a twinge of stress. “AJ, could ya try to get along with our weather manager?” I grew annoyed. “Why? Ah ain’t done nothing’ wrong. The problem’s all hers.” I frowned as a thought crossed my mind. “Is this some thing where you’re tryin’ to get me an’ Raindrops to work together?” “Eeyup,” Big Mac said without any of his usual cheer. “You two need to bury the hatchet. This feud you two have been havin’ has been goin’ on too long. It’s bad fer the farm.” “Applejack!” she chastised as Raindrops flew away after our latest argument. “That was hardly the way to treat Ponyville’s weather manager. I can’t imagine offending her will help your farm.” Raising my nose, I sniffed in a none-too-pleased manner. “We’re doin’ just fine if ya ask me. The big grump still gets us enough rain that we can get along. So it’s not like there’s a big problem anyways. Besides, you can talk to her when that needs doing.” “Ya know it’s a hassle when Ah have to track her down to tell her what we need, rather than just tellin’ ya for when she happens across ya. And we don’t get much as we want.” Some of the energy seemed to sag out of my brother as his shoulders slumped. That concerned me. It wasn’t something I was used to seeing from him. “The irrigation system ain’t doin’ so well, ya know. Would it kill ya to just try and get along with her. Ah ain’t asking ya to be her friend. Ya hardly even need to talk to her. Just tell her what we need for weather.” I took a long breath. “Fine, Ah’ll talk to her and tell her what we need. Though she’s gonna have to meet me halfway and not act so grumpy all the time.” Big Mac’s lips curved into a smile, and there seemed to be a hopeful glimmer in his eyes. “Good.” With that, he led the way back to Raindrops, who had been waiting by the front of the barn. Squaring myself as I faced her, I decided to try and keep this nice and simple. Big Mac must have done some work to drag Raindrops out here, so I didn’t want him to have wasted all that time and effort on my account. “So, about the weather.” Raindrops didn’t quite meet my eyes and sounded as though she would have prefered to have taken flight right then and there. “Right, so what were you needing next week?” “We could use a bit more rain for the western fields than usual.” I waved in the direction of the fields. “We’re plannin’ on concentratin’ there next week, so it’d be nice if the apples were a bit more ripe when we get to them. Then we’ll be needin’ more cloud cover than usual. It’s gettin’ a mite bit hot these days, an’ Ah don’t want our orchards dryin’ up.” The weather manager puckered her lips as she thought that over. “I can probably get you the rain you need, but the cloud cover’s gonna be tough since everypony’s asking for good cloud cover this time of the year. Carrot Top’s in the middle of harvesting some of her crops, so she kinda gets the higher priority right now.” “Right, of course Carrot Top’s farm gets more attention than Sweet Apple Acres,” I grumbled.  “Hey, not my fault!” Raindrops wings flared out as she took a more aggressive stance. “It’s my job to help get the biggest crops for my area of authority, and Carrot Top’s farm needs that cloud cover more than you do right now.” My temper freyed. We were the ones struggling and needing help! Seemed that the rich were just gonna get richer while the poor got poorer. My mouth started shooting off before I could stop myself. “Right, because—” “AJ,” Big Mac growled. I wasn’t used to him taking that tone with me. I’d seen him do it with Apple Bloom often enough when she’d done something wrong, but he hadn’t done so with me in a long time. “Be nice. Raindrops is doin’ what she can.” “Fine.” I tipped my hat over my eyes, not particularly wanting to look at the weather manager. “Just do what ya can, then.” Raindrops lifted off the ground with a few flaps of her wings. “Uh, right. Yeah.” She stopped, looking as though she were struggling between flying off and staying. After a couple of moments she seemed to decide to turn to face me. “So, hey, um...” She awkwardly rubbed at the back of her mane. “I’ve heard your farm has kinda been struggling. So if ya need a bit of extra help...” “Sweet Apple Acres is doin’ just fine, thank-you-very-much,” I said sharply. I was sick and tired of ponies asking if they could give a little extra help at the farm, or talking about how much trouble the farm was in. Yeah, we weren’t the wealthiest farm in Ponyville, but we managed to pay our bills eventually. Raindrops scowled at me as she continued to hover. “Hey, I was just offering to help. It’s not like I want your farm to go under.” I stomped a hoof. “Mah farm ain’t goin’ under!” She crossed her forelegs across her chest. “That isn’t the way I’ve been hearing it. Not with the fruit-bats going to town on your apples and everything else going wrong. Sounds like you could use all the help you could get.” “Raindrops. AJ...” Big Mac put a hoof on my shoulder but I shrugged it off, stepping closer to the weather manager. I didn’t need him telling me how to deal with Raindrops. Especially when she was going off and spouting nonsense about the farm going under. We were getting through everything one day at a time. “Ah don’t need no help from nopony! Especially not from you!” I jabbed a hoof her direction. “Our farm has been around as long as Ponyville, and we ain’t goin’ nowhere. Ya hear me?” “Whatever.” Raindrops snorted and started flying away. “I don’t need to argue with some stubborn farmer who yells at me just for offering help.” Big Mac trotted after Raindrops to keep up with her. “Raindrops, wait. Please.” Raindrops ears flattened as she saw my big brother. “Sorry, Big Mac, but I don’t need this stress in my life. Tell me when your sister cleans up her act, then maybe we’ll talk.” With that, she increased her speed and altitude, making it impossible to have a real conversation. “Well, good riddance.” I returned to the basket of apples I had been moving and got back to work. “We don’t need to bother with the likes of her.” “And that’s your idea of gettin’ along, huh?” Big Mac snapped. “I could have, but she hasn’t earned it yet.” I finished putting the basket into the barn. “There’s just nothin’ you can do for some ponies, and Raindrops is just one of them.” Big Mac’s nostrils flared. “We need to be on her good side, AJ. She’s our weather manager, in case ya didn’t notice. You’re just making it harder on all of us when there ain’t no need for it.” “Well, Ah’m done talkin’ ‘bout it.” I stomped my way back out to the fields to pick up the next basket of apples. “The two of us ain’t gonna get along, and that’s all there is to it.” Rubbing at his face, Big Mac huffed in frustration. “Ya know what, Ah’m done.” He started stomping his way towards the house. “Ah’m just finished.” I stopped what I was doing, not liking the sound of finality in the way Big Mac spoke. “What’re ya talkin’ ‘bout?” Trotting after him, I caught up with him halfway up to the house. When he didn’t answer me right away, I bumped shoulders with him. “Hey, what’re ya goin’ on ‘bout?” He stopped short of the house and let out a long sigh, all the wind having left him. “Ah’m quitting the farm, AJ.” “I’m sorry, Applejack, but it’s just not working between us,” she said, packing her bags. I blinked and felt as though my big brother had just slapped me. “What do ya mean you’re quittin’ the farm? Y-Ya can’t just do that! This is our farm, our family’s farm.” This just wasn’t making any sense to me. Was he serious about leaving the farm? No, I must have misheard something. He was just so mad that he wasn’t thinking clearly. Just about everypony got to that point sometime in their life. So he just needed a talk, and that’s something family was good for—listening to each other and what’s bothering them. Though weary, his features became more resolute as he squared his jaw. “Ah can, and Ah am.” He stepped onto the porch and opened the front door. “Ah’m goin’ to Appleloosa. Ah’ve already made mah decision.” “I’m leaving for Canterlot.” She couldn’t look me in the eyes. “I just need to get away from here.” Away from Ponyville. Away from me. “Ya can’t be serious.” I followed him inside and closed the door after me. “Hey, talk to me here!” Big Mac made his way to the living room where he sat down on the couch. “It just ain’t workin’ out here. None of it is.” I sat down next to him and put a hoof on his shoulder. “Big Mac, if this is about mah argument with Raindrops, then we can talk about it. No need to do anything rash. Ah know things are kinda rough right now, but we’ll work through it.” “‘Tain’t rash.” His head hung as he leaned back into the cushion. “Been thinkin’ ‘bout it a while.” I felt like I’d swallowed a stone. “And ya haven’t been talkin’ to me about it?” Something in me felt a bit betrayed by that. How long had he been thinking about leaving for Appleloosa? All without telling me? Big Mac put a hoof on mine. “Ah wanted to get all my ducks in a row before bringing this up with ya. Didn’t seem right to worry ya without knowin’ for certain what I was doin’. Here, Ah can show ya what Ah’ve found out.” He stood up from the couch and made his way to the office. “Ah think Ah had a right to know considerin’ you’re talkin’ ‘bout half of our labor force here. Ah still can’t believe that you’re thinkin’ of leaving the farm.” I stood up and followed Big Mac, watching as he gathered paperwork from one of our cabinets. Normally it was Big Mac who handled most of the paperwork, though it still surprised me how long he must have been thinking this over. Well, that just meant I would have to argue all the harder to make him see reason and stay on his family’s farm. “This is the farm of our ancestors, Big Mac, goin’ all the way back to our great-grandparents. Granny’s lived here for most of her life. You know that. Ya really plan on leavin’ that behind?” “AJ ... the numbers just ain’t addin’ up.” He took the papers he had gathered and placed them on the kitchen table. Grabbing a pencil, he started writing down some of the math for the finances of the farm for me. “Even if we don’t have a bad year, we’re never gonna get out from under this debt, as is. At least not for a long time doin’ what we’re doin’. Ah know ya don’t like handlin’ the finances of the farm, but just look at this.” I glanced through Big Mac’s numbers, and tried to decipher them. “C’mon, we can turn it around. We have to. This is Sweet Apple Acres we’re talkin’ ‘bout here.” Big Mac rubbed at his face with a tired sigh that spoke to months of worry. “Ah know that. Land’s sake, Ah know that. But there comes a point where you’re just throwing good money after bad.” “Applejack, I can’t loan you that kind of money,” she said as she put a hoof on my shoulder. It was the first time she had told me ‘no’ where our finances were concerned. It wouldn’t be the last. “It would just be tossing good money after bad, at this point.” “Please don’t put it like that. Please.” I put down the papers with shaking hooves. I didn’t want to have this talk again. Not again. Not with my own flesh and blood. My brother must have seen how upset I was; he drew me into a hug and gave me the type of squeeze only a big brother could give his little sister. “Ah know this ain’t what ya wanna hear, but it’s the truth. Listen, Ah don’t want to spend the best years of my life breakin’ mah back on a farm that ain’t never gonna turn a profit. More than likely it’s going to go under sooner or later. Ya can’t tell me Ma and Pa would have wanted us to be poor and miserable by tying ourselves down to a patch of dirt.” I pushed off Big Mac to break the hug. What he was saying hurt too much for me to let him hug me like that. “A-Ah can’t believe you’re just quittin’, just like that. We Apples aren’t quitters. J-just because times are tough right now—” “They’re never gonna get better,” Big Mac interrupted. “There’s just too much debt. Best thing we can do is sell off the farm to the highest bidder, pay off our debts, and take what’s left to start over.”   “Sell the farm?!” Even knowing that the conversation was going this direction, it still felt like my brother had punched me in the gut. He held up a hoof to stop further protests from me. “Now hear me out. If we do this, we can all move out to Appleloosa.” He picked up a couple of papers for me to look at. I scanned them, seeing Big Mac had outlined a few sections that listed the prices of farms out near Appleloosa. “Look, land’s a lot cheaper out there on the frontier, and laborers are paid more too, since there aren’t as many ponies out there to work. Even if we have to work as laborers for a while, we’ll be able to save up for our own farm in a couple of years. Hay, Braeburn may even help us get one by co-signing the loan we need to get the farm to start with. Not to mention there’s a bunch of government grants out there to encourage ponies to settle out on the frontier.” “Ah can hardly believe mah ears.” I rubbed at my brow, trying to digest everything I was listening to. My big bro had even gone as far as to talk to our cousin about how to make this crazy plan of his work without even giving me—his own sister—a hint about what he was up to. “This type of talk would kill Granny, ya know that? Hay, our last argument over Apple Bloom maybe not being a farmpony was enough to send her to the hospital. What do ya think tellin’ her we’re sellin’ the farm will do to her?” Big Mac’s ears flattened. “Ah know Granny ain’t gonna like it, but there ain’t no sense sinking with the ship. There comes a point where we need to look out for our own futures too, ya know. Especially when we got a little sister to raise. Darn it, AJ. She deserves to have a few nice things in her life instead of a bunch of hand-me-downs. She’s our little sister.” “Applejack,” she said disapprovingly. “Do you really want your sister to grow up like this? Poor and with no real future?” I slammed a hoof on the table. “What, so ya just gonna pick her up and take her out to the frontier? Appleloosa ain’t no place for a little filly, and you know it. Not with all those rough sorts out that way. What if those buffalo start raising a ruckus again? Ah’m not gonna put our little sis into danger.” Big Mac spoke in a calm and soothing tone. “They’re workin’ it out with the buffalo, and Appleloosa’s becomin’ more friendly for families every year. It’s basically a normal town like anywhere else in Equestria now. Ya know me, AJ. Ah wouldn’t take our baby sis to a place Ah didn’t think would be safe for her.” “Alright, but even if it is safe, and Ah’m not sayin’ it is, do ya really think she can be happy out there? It can be a hard life out there on the frontier. Not to mention you’d be taking her away from Ponyville and everything she’s ever known. She’d be moving away from all her friends here. You know separating her from the Cutie Mark Crusaders would break her heart.” “She would make new friends,” Big Mac countered. “And she can get to know her cousin better too!” “Ah don’t know.” I shook my head. “Ah don’t even wanna be considering this.” Big Mac placed a hoof on each of my shoulders and looked me in the eyes with a hopeful smile. “Come with me, Applejack, please. Ah want to start over with mah family. Get a fresh start. We can do it and make it work, Ah promise.” I considered that for a long moment. Should I go with him—sell the farm, pick up our whole family, and move out to Appleloosa? If Big Macintosh was right, then things would turn around for us. Maybe we’d finally have some bits to do things. Go out for a drink or a nice meal, a play, dances, all sorts of things. Apple Bloom wouldn’t be stuck with so many hoof-me-downs. Though if I did go along with his plan, I’d be giving up on Sweet Apple Acres. The farm that belonged to my great grandpappy, been given to me and my brother to take care of and pass down to our own foals someday. If I sold the farm, I’d be breaking my promise to keep the farm going. I’d pack my bags, take my family, and leave the farm and town I loved, breaking Granny Smith’s heart in the process. All for the sake of some bits. I took a step back to break contact with my brother. “Ah’m sorry, Big Mac, but Ah can’t. Ah can’t just abandon the farm and everything Ah know.” “Oh...” Big Mac ears flattened to his head and his head sunk so that he was staring at the floor. “If you’re sure ‘bout that, then that’s your decision. Ah won’t make ya sell the farm, but Ah am goin’ to Appleloosa. If ya change your mind, you’re more than welcome to join me an’ Braeburn.” “Please don’t go,” I begged him. I didn’t want him to leave, with all my heart. Yeah, we’d butted heads now and again, but he was my brother—family. He’d always been there for me, just as I’d been there for him. The idea that he wouldn’t be a part of my life just felt wrong. “Sorry, but this’s somethin’ Ah have to do.” He reached out and pulled me into a hug and I returned it. “Apple Bloom can stay in Ponyville at least until Ah get settled. After that ... we’ll see.” I squeezed him, wondering how long it would be until our next hug. He had made his decision. That was the thing about us Apples, once we made a decision we stuck with it and not much could change our minds. Arguing probably wouldn’t change a thing other than make us angrier with each other. “When were ya thinkin’ of leavin’?” Big Mac sighed. “Probably in a week. No sense draggin’ in out. That’ll give me enough time to get everythin’ ready.” “I’m taking the next train to Canterlot.” She said, her sad looking orbs looking into my own. “I have a new shop set up there.” “Yeah, guess so.” I nuzzled him. “Ah’m gonna miss you.” “Me too, AJ.” “Ah don’t want ya to go!” Apple Bloom wailed while holding onto Big Macintosh. She had barely let go of her big brother since we arrived at the train station. I suppose it wasn’t a surprise that my little sis hadn’t taken the news that Big Mac was leaving us well. Big Mac had our little sister wrapped up in those big legs of his as he tried to comfort her. “Ah know, Apple Bloom, and Ah’m sorry. But this is just something’ Ah have to do.” She sniffled as tears ran down her face. It was about as pitiful a sight as you had ever seen. A part of me wished that Big Mac would give in and not go in order to make Apple Bloom stop crying. This was just hard on everypony involved. “But why?” Apple Bloom demanded. Big Mac lifted her head up by the shin to look her in the eyes. “Now, we already went through this. Ya know why Ah’m goin’.” Apple Bloom looked like she wanted to say more as her lips quivered, but she broke down into more sobs and nuzzled her brother’s chest. I’d figured this wasn’t going to be easy. I looked around, trying to find anything else to look at other than the pitiful sight in front of me. My eyes eventually fell on Granny Smith sitting next to me. She had finally been released from the hospital a couple of days ago, so, thankfully, she was able to see Big Mac off to Appleloosa. The doctors had warned us to make Granny take it easy. She was still a mite bit weak and we didn’t want to see her get all sick again. Granny had made a fuss about it, but we had eventually convinced her to do fewer chores around the farm, and to sleep in a bit later. At least until she recovered. I knew it was going to be a tough slog to keep a hoof on her so that she didn’t strain herself now that Big Mac was going. At least when it was the two of us we could double team her to get her to back down, but when it was just me it was just two Apples banging their heads together. From a lifetime dealing with my kin, that ain’t no way to get things done. With nothing better to do while we waited on the train, I asked, “How ya holdin’ up, Granny?” “For the last time, Ah’m fine. Ya don’t need to hassle me.” While the words had been combative, she was just teasing from the way she said it. “How ‘bout yerself?” I rubbed at my forehead. “Ah’m holdin’ up. Can’t say Ah’m happy.” “Oh, don’t ya worry.” Granny gave me a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Yer big brother just has some wanderlust, is all. Plenty of stallions get it his age. Give him a year or two working it off on his cousin’s farms or wandering around and he’ll get it out of his system. Just you see. Especially if he finds some nice mare to settle down with along the way.” “If ya say so, Granny.” Given my conversations, though really they were arguments half the time, I had my doubts. Sure, there were plenty of ponies that just needed to get away from the town they had spent their entire lives in for a spell. Hay, I loved my farm and home, and I’d still gotten it into my head to go to Manehatten. Granted, that was because some things happened that made me want to get away from it all, but I came back to Sweet Apple Acres all the same once I realized who I really was and what I loved. Problem was that I didn’t think that was the case here. Most young ponies who left home for a bit didn’t really have much of a plan, or at least not a very good one. Sooner or later they figured out that they belonged on their parent’s farm, or shop, or whatever and returned home. Big Mac had a whole plan on how he was would work as a laborer in Appleloosa, how much he would earn each month, what he was would need to save, and the cost of buying his own farm. By his figuring, he’d have his own decent-sized plot of land to work in a few years. Maybe a bit sooner if I joined him... “Just make sure to say your goodbyes.” Granny stared on as Big Mac and Apple Bloom continued hugging. Big Mac continued to try and calm our little sis down while she begged him to stay. “Ah know yer not real happy with him right now, but you’ll regret it if ya don’t give him a proper farewell. Trust me, ya don’t want to live with that type of regret if you can help it.” I sighed, not really having the energy to argue. “Ah’ll keep that in mind, Granny.” “Ah know you will.” I heard a train’s whistle and saw that a train was moving down the tracks towards us. Seemed the time had finally come. Big Mac slowly and carefully broke the hug with Apple Bloom. “Now Ah need to say goodbye to everypony else. Okay?” Sniffling and crying, Apple Bloom could only nod as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “Gonna miss ya, Granny,” Big Mac said with a hug for our grandmother. Granny returned the gesture. “Ya know yer always welcome back.” “Ah know.” The two of us had decided not to mention the whole selling the farm idea to Granny. At least not until Granny was well enough for that type of talk. Big Mac leaving the farm was likely hard enough on her, despite her brave face. With a final pat on Granny’s back, he turned towards me. A long moment of silence hung between us. “AJ ... Make sure to take care of Granny and Apple Bloom. ‘Kay?” I bit back saying that he should stay and help take care of them himself. It wouldn’t have changed anything, and I didn’t want our last words together for what might be a long time to be harsh ones. “Ah will.” The silence returned between us. Big Mac glanced back at the oncoming train before speaking again. “Make sure to write. Ah will. Try and earn some bits to send back to help ya out. Get somethin’ nice for Apple Bloom.” “Alright then. Just make sure to save up while yer out there.” I coughed, my throat feeling tight. The train pulled into the station, meaning that our time was running short. “AJ...” Big Mac opened his forelegs for a hug. I hesitated. I felt like I was dreaming, like any second I’d wake up, and Big Mac would ask about the farm’s chores for the day. Hugging would make the dream a reality. My brother gave me a pleading look, and he extended his forelegs. “Please.” Granny gently nudged me forward, and that broke the dam. My chest felt tight as I embraced Big Mac. I bit down on my lip and I tried to fight back the tears. My brother was leaving home, and there wasn’t a darn thing I could do about it. He held onto me and rubbed at my back to try and comfort me. I just wanted him to stay and keep us a family under one roof. Apple Bloom looked from side to side, seemingly unsure what she was supposed to do. After a moment of indecision, she stepped forward and joined the hug. Big Mac and I each draped a leg around her to include her and we sat there in silence for a minute. “Ah need to go,” Big Mac said finally. “Train’s gonna leave soon.” “That’s my train,” she said, as the train to Canterlot rolled into the station. She turned her gaze from the train to look at me. There was a moment of hesitation before she said, “It’s time for me to leave.” He gave Apple Bloom a final squeeze. “Make sure to write.” “Ah will.” Apple Bloom’s chest heaved a couple times as she tried not to sob. “Ah’ll write every day.” “Good,” he said while ruffling Apple Bloom’s mane. We all made our final goodbyes. Darn it if every moment of it didn’t hurt. Big Mac picked up his bags and stopped short of actually boarding the train. “Ah’ll miss all of ya.” I pulled my sister to my side and held her close. “We will too.” Big Mac stood there, hesitating to move as he stared at us. He swallowed and finally stepped onto the train. All of us stood around watching as the train slowly made its way out of the station. And so my brother left my life.  I woke up with the sun's gentle rays warming my cheeks. A second later, I realized what that meant to a pony who was normally awake an hour before dawn. “Consarnit, Ah’m late!” Springing out of bed, my brain ran through molasses as it tried to take stock of what I needed to do. I regretted jumping out of bed the moment my hooves hit the floor and my legs nearly gave out from under me. I fell against the side of my bed. Pinpricks ran up my legs as blood went through them, and I could barely move them. The past few days had been long. I had get used to a whole different routine to get everything done, and I was feeling it all over that morning. I’d been plum tuckered out the night before, and probably fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow, forgetting to set my alarm clock in the process. Such a stupid thing to do. Either that, or my old alarm clock had finally broken. Not something I wanted to think about, given I couldn’t find that one alarm clock back in the attic for Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom! I glanced at my clock and a pit formed in my stomach. Apple Bloom was gonna be late for school! “Apple Bloom, wake up!” I called out. I grunted as I quickly stretched my legs to get blood moving through them. This was not what I needed to wake up to in the morning. Granny wasn’t getting up as early as she used to, so she hadn’t woken me or Apple Bloom up. Why hadn’t Big Mac gone and woken me up? He was ... oh. Right... I shook my head and tried to wipe the sleepiness out of my eyes. I was wide awake, but my body was only beginning to catch up with me. Stumbling my way into the upstairs hallway, I urgently knocked at Apple Bloom’s door. “Apple Bloom, git up! Yer gonna be late for school!” My hoof fumbled with the door knob for a couple of seconds, the blurriness in my eyes and numbness in my leg making it difficult to move it around, but I finally managed to get the door open. Apple Bloom groaned as she sat up. “Applejack?” She blinked a couple of times as she stared at me. “Git up and get goin’!” I hobbled over to her bed and gently pushed her to encourage her to get moving. “Ya need to get ready for school right away or yer gonna be late. Up and at’em!” “Fine, fine.” She hopped out of bed, and went about getting ready for school. “Hurry up. Ah’ll get somethin’ ready fer you to eat on the road while ya get ready.” I probably looked like a mess given I hadn’t had time to groom myself, but that just wasn’t as important as getting my sister to school on time. I could live with ponies seeing I had bedmane. I nearly fell down the stairs as I made my way down them. My body just wasn’t cooperating that morning. Still, I quickly sliced up some apples and some crackers, and put them in a bag for Apple Bloom. “Are ya ‘bout ready, Apple Bloom?” I called up the stairs as I finished my sister’s breakfast. Apple Bloom groggily made her way. “Yeah-yeah, Ah’m comin’. When we goin’?” Lifting her up onto my back and headed towards the door. “Right now.” I took a moment to toss Apple Bloom her breakfast, and she caught it. “Ah’ll trot, you eat.” She rubbed at her eye as she yawned. “Alright then.” “Now hang on!” I ran as fast as I could to the school. I slumped down at the dinner table with a sigh. I’d managed to get Apple Bloom to school, and not a moment too soon. We had arrived just after the schoolbell rang. Frankly, we were lucky that Ms. Cheerilee let us off the hook and accepted my explanation for why we were a mite bit late. It probably helped that I looked like I had just taken a run through the Everfree Forest. Hopefully Apple Bloom wouldn’t get teased too much at school from how I looked. Now that the excitement was over, it was time to deal with the more practical parts of the day. First, I needed some coffee. You would think after oversleeping a couple of hours I would be ready and raring to go, but now that the adrenaline was wearing off, the weariness in my body was coming back hard. Pulling myself to my hooves, I walked over to the cabinet and got the coffee can. Opening it up, I saw that last thing I wanted to see. “Empty,” I groaned. I tossed the can into the garbage can in disgust. During all the recent craziness, I had forgotten to get more coffee. My head thumped against the kitchen counter as I beat myself up over not remembering to buy more of what I desperately needed at that moment. “Somethin’ a-botherin’ ya, hon?” Granny asked, entering the kitchen. It was about the time she was supposed to be up and about. At least while she was getting better, anyways. “We’re outta coffee.” Seeing nothing else I could do unless I wanted to march all the way to town or beg one of the neighbors for some coffee, I went about searching the cabinets to see if we had something like tea or anything else with caffeine in it. Granny murmured neutrally as she went about gathering supplies for breakfast. “Want me to go to town to get some later?” I shook my head. “Ah’ll take care of it. You just relax, Granny.” “If yer sure ‘bout that.” Granny cracked an egg, and emptied the yolk into a skillet. I had a feeling it was going to be one of those days. Rifling through the cabinets, I found a box of tea sitting against the wall. It looked like it had been there for a while, so I took a gander at its expiration date. Luckily, it looked like I had caught it a month short of when it was supposed to go bad.  I would have hated for it to go to waste. Not that I drank tea much. Especially jasmine flavored tea like I was holding. That was more of Ra— “Something wrong, AJ?” Granny frowned at me. “Yer kinda spacing out there.” I blinked a couple of times. “N-no, Ah’m fine. Just thinkin’ is all.” I gave her a smile that I hoped was ressuring. “Let’s just get breakfast goin’.” Granny considered me for a long moment before saying, “If ya say so, dearie.” A matronly grin creased her lips. “Let’s get some food in yer belly. That always makes a pony feel better.” I couldn’t argue with that, so I set the tea on the stove and helped Granny make a meal. After getting some food and drink in me, it was back to the fields to get some good honest work done. As the day dragged on, something just didn’t feel right. I mean, the whole day had started off on the wrong hoof when I woke up late, but there was something else nagging me. I couldn’t think of anything right off the top of my head that could be wrong. The fruitbats had been taken care of, the trees looked fine, and our supplies were good for a while. Whether it was my experience as a farmer or my earth pony senses, I wasn’t sure, but I knew my instincts were right. It was about halfway through the day that I figured out what was wrong: the orchards were too dry. The rain had been on schedule, so that meant something must have been wrong with the irrigation system. I marched up to where we had the irrigation system stored on the farm. I marched up to the small barn where we stored the irrigation system and started looking around for problems. Our irrigation system was getting pretty old now, so we were always having one problem or another show up. Hopefully, it was just some minor problem that would require a quick part repair. It didn’t take me long to figure out what was wrong. The pump had broke, badly. Without a working pump, we couldn’t get any water out of the well, and if we couldn’t do that... From the looks of it, the engine had broken down. I knew a thing or two where irrigation systems were concerned, having repaired them now and again for half my life, but this was a bit more complex than what I was used to. A few of the parts inside of the pump were so busted up I could hardly tell how they were even supposed to look. I looked around the shed, and couldn’t find any of the parts I’d need to fix it either. That was bad—really bad. Without that well-water getting pumped, a lot of our apples were gonna dry right on up. Given how bad of a year we were having, that could bankrupt the farm. Sweet Apple Acres was doomed if I didn’t get the irrigation system up and running, and I didn’t know how to fix it.