Author's Note: This chapter is only up because I found an internet connection. :) This is the only chapter that will be uploaded until I get back from my trip which is tomorrow.
Today is a day for Applejack. After contemplating how to kick off the week of celebration, you decided to go alphabetical. That would be six days with each of your daughters. Bonding, having fun, hell they may even get their cutie marks. Cutie marks… Oh please it can’t be true. You forgot about getting your little fillies their cutie marks. They are nearing the age where they received them, but how can they get them here. Earth is not a place they belong in. If they can’t get their cutie marks, they will never find out what they are destined to be. If they never find out what they are destined to be then… no. They all will get their cutie marks if it’s the last thing you do. You daughters will have the happiness of receiving them; and you will be there for them when they get them. No matter what it takes, you will be there for your daughters. You always will…
You snap out of your thoughts, and race over to Applejack. She knew this day was coming, and has been preparing for it for a while now. She slept soundly through last night, despite being overjoyed to hear that she has been chosen to be the first filly to have a day with her daddy. You have also been preparing throughout these past few days, anticipating how you will get your little fillies their cutie marks. They don’t yet know what cutie marks are, but that will all add up when they get them. It is also quite a convenience that the previous owners of your house took up farming. They have planted various apple trees throughout the three acres of land that rest on your plot; perfect for today, because today… today you will witness one of your daughter’s first cutie mark. You race around the house in search of your sweet little Applejack; her location unknown to you. You call out her name, hoping she is inside the house. Usually Applejack has been outside a lot of the time, checking on the apple trees and helping them grow. They have been growing, slowly; but some are ready for harvest.
You don’t get any sort of answer, so you go out to the backyard to check there. You can hear some giggling emitting from the backyard, so you saunter out there hoping to find Applejack. But unfortunately, it is only Fluttershy and Twilight, surveying the various birds and squirrels. You slowly pace back inside, unaware of the location of Applejack. You run upstairs to Rainbow’s room, counting on her possibly being in there. But as you open the door, all you see is some curled up, frazzled bed sheets; wrapping around your little Dashie. She notices your presence, and slowly mumbles something just quietly enough for you not to hear. Rainbow then leans up, staring at you with sleepy, crusted eyes. “Oh, hey daddy! Are you looking for Applejack?” She slowly unravels her bed sheets; her mane and tail in a mess. You quickly toss over her hair brush for her, as you begin to speak. “Uhm, yes actually. Have you seen her anywhere?” Rainbow then slowly lifts herself off of her haunches, and trots over to mirror. She then slowly brushes her mane, making sure to preserve its tossed style. “Sorry daddy, I can’t say I have. I haven’t seen her since she slept in my bed with me last night. She gets nightmares an awful lot. I really feel bad ab-
You quickly cut her off before she can get carried away again. She always would get carried away like that; ever since you taught your daughters to speak more properly and smoothly, Rainbow has gotten the tendency to carry on as such. “Uh, I was just wondering where Applejack was…” Rainbow stared blankly into the mirror. “Oh… sorry daddy.” She drops her head in sorrow, her ears dropping as well. “Dashie, it’s okay! I just want to know where Applejack is.” Her ears soon perk back up to normal, and she excitedly turns around and blurts out that Applejack should be somewhere in the front yard. You stumble down the stairs, already wasting enough time as it is trying to find your little Applejack. You aspire that not much more time will be consumed without the meager cowpony. You quickly open the door, and frantically look around for her. With no luck, you head back inside. You observe the fact that your house is now completely empty; usually livened up by nopony else but Pinkie Pie. You now notice massive amounts of laughing and playing coming from the backyard, followed by a large thud. You rush outside to see if any of your fillies were hurt by said thud. You open the screen door to see Applejack attempting to harvest the trees. She galloped as hard as she could towards one of the trees, and kicked out both of her back-hooves just in time to strike the tree; enough force to knock down a few leaves. Hell, at her age, she’s a natural. Almost as good as her TV equivalent…
You walk out to the other five fillies, and tell them to go inside to play; for today as said earlier, is a day for Applejack. You notice them scamper off inside, followed by five little curious faces appearing in various windows facing the backyard. You sigh, and turn to Applejack; who is now looking at you curious as to what the day will hold. You know that Applejack’s cutie mark is due to her abilities in harvesting, honesty, and… apples. Those three elements are being shown for today, good signs that the day may or may not go well. “Okay, little Applejack…” You could see her blushing, her face hidden by her golden mane. “Do you want to start off the day?” Her ears perk up with delight, she happily nods and squeals just a tad; obviously over-excited about being the first filly to have a day alone with their daddy. You take her over to one of the apple trees, her face beaming with pride. “Do you want to practice some tree-bucking?” Applejack nods furiously as you slowly sit down on the grass, still wet from the morning dew. But you don’t care, you are here for Applejack, and she knows it. You gesture her to start, and she backs up about three to five steps. You could see a rose pink emitting from her cheeks, as she starts a small gallop. She speeds up, and hastily kicks out her back two hooves; shaking the tree from the impact, a few leaves slowly fall. "That's very good Applejack! You are doing really well so far! Do you want to try again?" She promptly nods her head, slight squeals emitting from her. She is almost as good as she is in the show...
--
After a few more hours of teaching her how to buck trees, Applejack has finally understood the gist of what you are teaching her. Yet countless tries later, she has yet to knock any apples off of the tree. She has been getting closer; slowly inching her way. You wish she could hopefully knock one or two apples at least, but hopefully she could get anything. Applejack as well has started to slowly lose hope, thinking of herself as a failure in your eyes. But once again she backs up; closing her eyes, and gallops as hard as she can towards the tree. Applejack then sharply kicked out her back two hooves, flying through the air with such speed, such velocity. After connecting with the tree, she opened her eyes to survey how this attempt has fared. All that appeared however were a few leaves and twigs. Applejack begins to slowly tear up, looking at the ground in sorrow; her eyes glistening with tears. She closes her eyes as a single tear emerges from her eye and falls to the ground. "I'm s-sorry I wasted y-your time d-daddy..." Applejack turns around and slowly trots off, back to the house. The sound of a small filly crying fills the air, breaking your heart; smashing it to bits. You look up towards the house, noticing the expressions of the five little fillies that stood in the one window. All of them looked at you with sorrow, some of them were crying. As soon as your eyes made contact with them, they looked away; not wanting to look at you at the moment. You wanted to save this for when the time had come, but now is a more opportune time than ever.
"Hey Applejack?" You call out to her, hoping to catch her attention. A single hand behind your back...
"Y-yes daddy?" Her eyes were already swollen red from her crying.
"I was thinking... maybe you would have a better shot at being a cowpony if you looked like one." Applejack's ears perked up; she is now looking as confused as ever. You pull your hand out from behind your back, revealing a brown cowboy hat. You knew it would be too big for her, but it was the smallest size you could find. Besides, she will grow into it as well; adding nostalgic value to it as she grows up. Grows up... you didn't want them to grow up, but as time goes on you have noticed that your little fillies have been growing up faster than you want them to. Hell maybe you shouldn't even call them fillies anymore, they technically aren't going to be as soon as Saturday rolls by. It will be a whole year since you brought those little tykes into your care. You snap out of your train of thought to see Applejack, face lit up, wide open eyes; staring at the hat. The crying has since stopped, and the swelling has gone down. "I-is that for me..?" Applejack is at a loss for words; barely sputtering out that sentence. You simply respond with a single word: yes. As soon as you said that, Applejack zoomed up and snatched the hat out of your hand, threw it on her head and adjusted it to her liking. The hat was too big for her, and the both of you knew that. Applejack has been adjusting the hat since she swiped it out of your hands, and has succumbed to just resting the hat on her ears. He tiny orange ears now fully perked up out of her hat. She gallops up to you as hard as she can before jumping on you, giving you the most heartily hug in the entire world. "Th-thanks daddy!"
She finally releases you out of her death-grip hug, and jumps around; the hat bouncing aroundon her head, matting down her golden mane. Applejack finally stops running around, and looks at you, smiling. As soon as she stopped, her hat fell off of her ears and down over her eyes. You chuckle at the sight, and lift up the brim of the brown-trimmed hat; revealing her marvelous green eyes. She blushes, and starts giggling. Applejack then gallops at full force inside to show the other five ponies. You could see through the window that the other five fillies were amazed at the sight, proud of Applejack; Rarity even a bit envious of the fashion statement. They then gesture her back outside; her hat bouncing up and down with every stride. You know that she will love that hat, as you told her of the poem written on the inside of the brim; for her eyes only. She gives your leg a quick nuzzle, and backs up in the direction of the tree. She stops, about three meters away from the infamous apple tree. "So, are you ready Applejack?" She then nods hastily, small squeals emitting from her throat. It's now or never...
Applejack galloped harder than she ever had before towards the lone tree, stirring up a slight breeze as she blows right by you. You could see her eyes closed, rose pink radiating off of her orange cheeks. She was determined; she knew that this was her only chance. This was the only chance she had left... Applejack galloped harder and harder towards the tree, and kicks out her back two hooves. You close your eyes, not wanting to see the end results. *CRACK* All you could hear was a single loud crack, and nothing else. You could not hear Applejack saying anything; no 'Yes I did it' or 'I didn't do it.'. No noise at all came after the loud crack. You open your eyes, blurry to say the least. All you could make out was Applejack staring at the ground. As your vision came to, you saw Applejack staring at the ground... staring at three red apples. "You... you did it!" Applejack's jaw fell, as you gestured the other ponies outside; and they came out celebrating. Applejack began to cry; tears of joy. Pinkie Pie scooped up under Applejack and lifts her up, all chanting her name. "Th-thank you guys," Applejack states as she wipes away tears. You noticed a small flash of white light on Applejack's flank, shaping into three red apples.
"Uh... Applejack?" You catch her attention surprisingly, as Applejack’s name being chanted fills the air.
“Yes daddy?”
You then point towards Applejack’s flank, at the three red apples now resembling Applejack’s destiny. Now all of your little fillies have stopped to stare at the cutie mark, unaware of what it is. “Uh, daddy? What is that?” She has a small hint of concern in her voice, but your facial expression took it away. You then tell them that Applejack has just received her cutie mark, and explained what it is, and how you get it. All of your ponies seem amazed at it, especially Applejack; who now adores her cutie mark, staring at it for what seems like hours. You then bring them all inside, and cook up an average-looking apple pie using those three that Applejack bucked off of the tree. You have never been a good cook, but memorized all of the recipes. But as long as the person, or pony, that you are making the food for enjoys it, you are happy; and all of your little fillies seem to really be enjoying this apple pie. The only discussion at the dinner table was about cutie marks, and Applejack. After what seemed like hours of answering endless questions, you have closed the discussion on case of bedtime. You ushered your daughters upstairs to each of their rooms; but for this special night, you have allowed Applejack to start being able to sleep in Rainbow’s bed whenever she wanted to, not just sneaking in late at night. This seemed to please both Applejack and Rainbow Dash, as they raced onto Dashie’s bed, playing and tackling each other onto the soft mattress; giggling and laughing, Rainbow’s wings fluttering with delight.
You put all of your little ponies to bed, Applejack and Rainbow being the hardest due to the both of them wanting to stay up to play. You slowly stumble into your bed, grunting as your knees pop on command. You have been getting older and older, parenting and stress has weighed you down. Even though it has only been one year, it has felt like twenty. You snuggle up to your pillow, the only source of comfort; as your little fillies no longer want to sleep in your bed. They are growing up, and it breaks your heart. But every child must one day leave their home, and you don’t want that day to come for your little ponies. Yet it has to happen… You can now hear muffled giggling, noticing that Applejack and Rainbow Dash now playing and jumping around on Rainbow’s bed once more. You put that thought at the back of your mind, allowing your little fillies to have their fun; as today was the best day of Applejack’s life. You slowly start to shift into the dream realm; all thoughts, sounds, and vision has been slowly falling away. You can feel a small filly cuddling up against you, but you shrug it off; too tired to think. You could feel the warmth radiating off of her, shifting around the soft bed to find a more comfortable spot. You couldn’t feel anything at the moment, so you believe that the filly has left the room. But a sudden jump onto your chest has since proven otherwise. You could feel the filly settling down, letting out a small huff, and slowly falling asleep. “Goodnight daddy,” she slowly whispers to you, you have now recognized this certain filly as none other than Applejack. “Goodnight, Applejack.”
Today was a day for Applejack.