//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Tears under the Stars // Story: Other Voices // by Jongoji245 //------------------------------// Saturday came soon at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack and Big Macintosh rose up early in the morning, ate a quick breakfast, then began loading buckets around a select group of apple trees. It was around ten in the morning when they finished bucking half of the trees. Big Mac began loading the buckets onto the wagon while Applejack finished. Apple bloom woke up a little later, cleaned herself up, walked downstairs, ate breakfast with Granny Smith, and began her chores. Being a little filly, her current niche is handling livestock. After she fed the pigs, Apple Bloom grabbed a basket, walked into a chicken coop and began collecting the eggs out of each nest before checking off a list for which nest had or hadn’t laid an egg. After placing each egg in a carton, Apple bloom loaded them onto a sales wagon after her older siblings loaded the barrels. While they have gotten their work done by the early afternoon, usually Cosgrove would be there on Saturdays to help herd the cattle. Perhaps he was busy with a very elaborate costume needed to be done in a short while. Dragging the wagon back to the barn, they unpacked everything and sorted them by the color of the apple. This harvest was surprising, golden delicious apples were the second largest harvested apple, a place usually taken by granny smith apples. The evening began to roll on as the Apple Family sorted their produce. Once they finished, they returned to their house. While their meals aren't exquisite, they are good enough to satisfy a starved individual. Satisfied with said meal, the siblings cleaned up the table and loaded the dishes into the sink. "Ah'm gonna hit the hay." Apple bloom said after a long yawn. As the filly walked up the stairs, Applejack grabbed a rag and began to scrub the dishes. Granny Smith slowly made her way up the stairs and into her bedroom. Big Mac pulled out an empty folder, wrote the date of today's harvest and placed the documents in. Despite being a large stallion, Big Mac had just the neatest file cabinet, with just the extra space for this new folder. Suddenly a soft growl was heard from Winona. Applejack finished scrubbing on last dish and walked up to the border collie. "What's wrong girl?" She asked. Her ears rose up as she heard a soft sound coming from outside. When Applejack opened the front door, the sound was somewhat louder. It didn't sound like a howl coming from a Timberwolf. Otherwise it would be a sign of Zap Apple harvest time. Rather, it was a moan. "Big Mac, wait here." The farm pony trotted off. She followed the noise outside of the farm and into the town square. The noise came in shorts bursts, but whoever made them had an amazing set of pipes. Her investigation led her to an old house just outside the Everfree Forest. Applejack turned her head around and saw Cosgrove sitting there. She kept her distance as Cosgrove emitted a yowl at the stars. Something was wrong, and the Element of Honesty figured out where to start. The following morning, Applejack walked over to the Barn and Bailey Circus. She spotted Chelsey, Diver, and Zipper talking to each other as their parents practiced for their big acts. Chelsey spotted Applejack easily thanks to her fedora. “Oh it’s you, from the crowd on Friday. How’s Cosgrove?” The young horse asked “I’ve heard that he helps you with the farm.” Diver added out of curiosity. “That’s what Ah was gonna ask you about.” Applejack replied. The trio of circus foals closed their mouths. “Ah saw him crying last night, and he hasn’t come by to help out the day before either.” Zipper motioned his hooves to give them a moment. The three huddled up and began to whisper. Being honest doesn’t mean to intrude, Applejack kept her distance. The trio slowly came out of the huddle. Chelsey walked up to the farmer. “Come with us…” Applejack followed the three at a slow walking pace. Even Zipper didn’t didn’t move at his usual speed. Their heads hung low, something was up. They reached a train car with locks. Zipper raced over and back with the key and unlocked the door. Chelsey grabbed the handle and pulled very hard, slamming the door open. They climbed onto the train car. Chelsey and Zipper lent their hooves to help Applejack onto the train cart. Applejack looked around, but could make very little detail of what is inside. Chelsey flipped a switch, illuminating the inside with an occasional flicker. Lined up at the walls are newspaper articles and a desk. She looked walked to an article to her left and looked at it before walking to the next. “FOAL FOUND IN BEACH.” “FOAL IN CIRCUS CUSTODY.” Applejack looked at the desk and saw what appears to be an adoption parchment. “Under this process, I, Night Dancer, hereby adopt this foal under protection and satisfaction of law.” Right next to the parchment was a birth certificate, with Cosgrove’s name typed on the center and his infant hoof print, with a couple nubs from his dew claws, in the bottom. Looking at the wall to her right. Applejack looked at the photos of this so called Night Dancer and Cosgrove. She began eying one last article. When she walked in front of it, she began to read. Looking at the article Applejack’s eyes widened before looking at Chelsey, Zipper and Diver tearing up. Applejack took off her stetson and held it close to her chest. “Poor kid…”