Chapter 3 – Broken Arrow
Rii-iiii-iing!!
Applejack bolted upright with a gasp from the cacophony of her alarm clock. She rolled over to strike the clock, but the edge of the bed rushed past her. AJ hit the floor with a hard thud and the vibrating clock swan-dived off the nightstand at her. The timepiece painfully bounced off AJ’s head and clattered onto the floor. The incessant ringing burned in the orange pony’s ears.
AJ fumbled with her clock and struck the little button on top with a hard blow. The ringing immediately ceased and the clock resumed its peaceful ticking sound.
“I hate you,” AJ muttered to the clock.
Tick, tick, tick, tick…
AJ sighed and sat up. She rubbed the light bump that the clock gave her and looked around. The birds sung their morning songs outside on the fence again. Applejack stood up and placed her clock back on her nightstand. She noticed that the day displayed on the face was Friday.
This wasn’t unusual since yesterday was Thursday, but time for AJ was jumbled up like a ball of yarn in her mind. The band aid on her check was there, but not the gauze around her shoulder. This gave her hope that she was remembering events correctly again.
AJ reached out for her hat, but it wasn’t on her bedpost. Instead, there was a fancy red bow that hung quietly off the headboard.
Now that was unusual.
Applejack’s hope was dealt a major blow. She quietly exited her room and listened to the sounds downstairs. She heard her little sister whistling an off-key tune in the dining room and plates being shuffled in the kitchen. AJ cautiously walked downstairs with her mind mentally braced for what she might see in the dining room. She turned the corner into the dining room and abruptly stopped.
The muscular green-yellow stallion was there at the table with the newspaper open in his hooves. Winona sat on the floor by his side and contently chewed on a wooden bone.
“No,” AJ whispered to herself. “No, no, no…”
The burnt-orange coated mare stepped out of the kitchen with tall stack of waffles on a large plate. She set the waffles down on the table and gave Applejack a concerned look.
“Sweetie, is something the matter?” Cara asked her older daughter.
“What in the name of all things cinnamon-swirl is going on?!” Applejack shouted.
“Breakfast,” Bramley said sarcastically without looking up from the paper. “Or is that too old-school for you kids nowadays?”
“No, you two can’t be here!” AJ shouted angrily. “Why do y’all keep hauntin’ me?!”
Apple Bloom looked utterly stunned that her big sister was yelling. “Sis, why are you so upset?” Bloom asked. “Mama made us waffles. You love waffles!”
“No, t-this ain’t right and I can’t accept it!” AJ stuttered. She turned and bolted for the front door. The orange pony threw the door open and nearly collided with her brother. AJ pushed her way past him and ran out into the fields.
“AJ, you alright?” Big Mac asked.
“No, I’m not!” Applejack cried. She fled through the fields and continued to gallop with no direction in mind. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stumbled out of the far side of the field and onto the dusty road that led into Ponyville. AJ slowed her pace to a trot and caught her breath.
Applejack questioned her own sanity and whether her parents were dead or not. Was she dreaming again, or was yesterday the dream?
She walked through Ponyville and her hooves pointed AJ in the direction of Rarity’s home. Applejack had a gut feeling to visit her again. Although Rarity tended to be dramatic, the white unicorn had an eye for detail and perhaps she could pick out something with AJ’s problem that might help explain the things AJ saw lately.
In any case, Rarity was a close friend and would not think that AJ was making up a bad joke about what was happening to her mind.
~ ~ ~
“You’re joking, right?” Rarity asked as she set down her tea cup.
This was not the response Applejack expected. She came to her best friend’s home and told her about the two ponies that looked like her parents, the strange shadows she couldn’t quite see, and the voices that whispered to her from the Everfree Forest.
However, Rarity accused her of making up a tall tale. AJ sighed as she pushed away her own empty tea cup. She tried to start her story over.
“Alright,” AJ began anew, “My mind keeps tellin’ me that my parents have been dead a long time.”
Rarity interrupted AJ with a gasp. “How could you say such a thing!” the white unicorn scolded. “Why, your dear sweet mother was in my boutique just the other day. She wanted to purchase one of my newest summer line hats.”
“I beg your pardon?” AJ asked with a confused look.
Rarity used her magical horn to levitate a beautiful cream hat over to the dining room table they sat at. The orange jewels on the wide brim still sparkled under the window’s diffuse overcast light. AJ noticed that the red bow on top looked similar in style to Apple Bloom’s hairpiece.
“Cara came in and purchased this beautiful hat,” Rarity explained. “Your mother has an exquisite Manehatten taste, by the way. She wanted a lighter bow, of course, so that she could match better with Apple Bloom’s accessory.”
AJ looked over the hat and nodded in agreement that it was fancy. In fact, it did have a certain style that reminded her of Aunt and Uncle Orange from Manehattan. AJ sighed. “Alright, but then why are all my memories muddied?” she asked. “What would cause that to happen?”
Rarity gave her a clueless shrug. This conversation was less productive than the last one which… didn’t happen yet? Applejack had hit an epiphany that this was the conversation Rarity mentioned at Sugar Cube Corner after she left the hospital. Was that event really a prophetic dream?
The front door to Rarity’s boutique opened and rang a bell over the doorframe. Rainbow Dash flew in, followed closely by Big McIntosh and Apple Bloom. The group raced over to Applejack.
“Sis, here you are!” Bloom shouted. She jumped at her sister and delivered a big hug. “What happened to you this morning? Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Dash added, “Your brother told me that you ran out of the house crying. What was that all about?”
“Uh, well I’m mighty confused here,” AJ said. “Over the past few days I keep seeing my parents and then not seeing them. My mind says they ain’t supposed to be here, but every pony tells me they’re alive and well.”
“Uh, is there supposed something wrong with your folks?” the cerulean pegasus asked.
“Of course not!” Apple Bloom interjected.
Rarity cleared her throat. “Applejack came to me this morning looking very confused,” the unicorn explained. “She said that her parents were dead and that she was seeing strange things around the town.”
Rainbow Dash raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “Wait, AJ said that her parents are dead? As in, Apple Bramley and Cara Orange are dead?”
“Yeah,” an annoyed AJ answered, “Because all my memories say that they are.”
“Why would you think that?” a worried Apple Bloom asked.
The pegasus landed with a curious expression upon her face. Applejack watched Dash study her face as if the pegasus was trying to read a book. “What did you cut yourself on?” Dash asked as she pointed to the fresh scar on AJ’s cheek.
“Oh, this?” AJ asked. “I was just helpin’ Apple Bloom fix the old grandfather clock last night. I dropped a plate of glass on my face.”
Dash chuckled, but continued to study Applejack. She looked up at AJ’s messy mane and pointed. “Oh, I get it now,” Dash finally said. “You got into a fight with your old dad, didn’t you? Pretending they’re ‘dead’ because you don’t want to talk to him, right?”
“What? No!” AJ exclaimed. “Gals, don’t you all get it?! All the memories in my head keep tellin’ me that my folks died years ago, but every pony here is tellin’ me otherwise! I’m questionin’ half my life here, and if I’m wrong… then why are all my memories of them missin’?” Applejack pressed her head against the table. She thought she was sure that her parents were dead, but everything around her told her otherwise.
“I just don’t know what to believe anymore! I can’t tell if I’m dreamin’ or awake. What if I forget my best friends, or worse, my own siblings?”
“How much tea did you give her?” Dash asked Rarity.
“Just the one cup,” Rarity answered. The white unicorn reached over and put a gentle hoof on Applejack’s head. She stroked through AJ’s blonde mane.
“Oh, Applejack, you’re serious about this, aren’t you?” Rarity asked softly. “If you feel this strongly about it, why don’t we get you over to a doctor? Dash can even go fetch Twilight. I’m sure they can help you sort out your problem. Perhaps you’re simply stressed out over something and your mind made up your bad memories?”
Applejack looked up from the table and sniffled. “What if they can’t help me?” she asked her friends. “What if I lose all my memories? I don’t want to live my life as a vegetable.”
“Applejack,” Bloom squeaked sadly, “No matter what happens, you’re my big sister. Even if you forget your own name, I’m going to be right here beside you. I’ll take care of you, and Big Mac will feed Winona for you. We’ll remind you every day of who you are and that we all love you.”
Applejack broke down into tears as she hugged her sister tight. Big McIntosh joined in the hug as Rarity patted AJ softly on the head. Rainbow Dash looked away before the sappy moment got to her too. After nearly a minute, AJ wiped her tears and stood up.
“Thank you all,” AJ said. “I-I guess if I only remember one thing, it’s that I can count on you all to help me through this.” Applejack stopped fighting the evidence. Her siblings and friends had to be right. She had to accept that her parents were alive and that her mind was broken. No sane pony would ever fake their parents’ passing.
“You should tell your parents about your problem too,” Rarity said. “You shouldn’t let them worry about you any longer.”
AJ nodded, but she quickly remembered something. Rarity told her this already at Sugar Cube Corner, or was it that she will tell her this at Sugar Cube Corner? Pain surfaced in her head as AJ tried to sort out the timing of her memories. There was something else too, a fight she had with a timberwolf that left her hospitalized. Yes, she remembered now, it happened at the marketplace. Rather, it will happen?
The pain flared in her mind. AJ nearly lost her balance from the intense migraine, but as she let her mind go blank, the pain subsided. It was like a storm of jumbled memories passed through her head whenever she tried to remember details.
“A storm of jumbled memories,” AJ thought to herself. “What was up with that storm from the Everfree Forest?” She turned to the cerulean pegasus with a curious question.
“Hey Dash,” she said out loud, “You’re on the weather team. What was up with that big storm last evening?”
Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. “Well, it wasn’t one of ours. It came from the Everfree Forest, so we just assumed that it was a wild storm system.”
“How come the weather team didn’t break it up, then?” AJ questioned.
“Well, we tried to,” Dash said defensively, “But that storm was too big to even move. We had to give up and let it pass through Ponyville. I can’t believe it’s still cloudy up there this morning.”
“Did that storm give you any problems, Applejack?” Rarity asked.
“Well, Winona was actin’ mighty scared of somethin’,” AJ said. She pondered the best choice of words to describe the ‘something’ so that she didn’t sound any crazier to her friends.
“I think there was a big critter from the forest that wandered out to the farm just before the rain hit. I don’t know what it was though.”
“My guess was that it was a timberwolf,” Apple Bloom added.
“Why don’t you ask Fluttershy?” Rarity suggested. “She might identify that creature for you since she lives by the forest.”
“Yeah, she’s with Twilight at the library right now,” Dash said. “A lot of animals acted weird last night, so they’re studying that storm. I’m sure they’d love to hear what you saw.”
“Nah,” AJ said dismissively. “I’d rather not be subjected to more of Twi’s weird testin’ in that basement of hers. My fanny is still wary after Pinkie Pie told Twilight this crazy theory about me. Said that I might be made of something called dark matter, whatever that is.”
AJ pondered over Dash’s story about last night’s storm. Maybe that storm caused her memory loss and made her think of events out of order? It was a very weak idea, but then again, the Everfree worked in unnatural ways that AJ never understood. If Twilight was studying it, then there might be a chance that it was strange enough to have caused her memory issues.
The thought of a possible explanation gave Applejack renewed hope.
Apple Bloom tugged at her sister’s shoulder. “Can we go home now?” Bloom asked. “Our folks are waiting for us to get back after we found you.”
AJ took in a deep breath. “Yeah, let’s go talk to our… folks.” She looked up at Rarity and Dash. Her two friends had approving smiles on their faces. Applejack led her sibling outside and back towards their farm home. As she exited Rarity’s home, AJ glanced back at them.
“Thanks for listenin’,” AJ said honestly, “And no matter what happens, you’re both good friends.”
“Good luck, Applejack!” Rarity shouted back.
Applejack stepped outside the boutique and looked up at the overcast sky. Several pegasi attempted to sweep away the gloomy weather, but the clouds continued to drift in from the Everfree Forest at a steady pace. The citizens of Ponyville were not discouraged, however, as they continued about their daily routine unabated.
The three siblings walked through the town’s open market, but AJ was lost in thought over what to say to her… parents. A familiar stallion snapped her out of the trance.
“Hey, Applejack!” shouted Mr. Cake from the porch of his bakery, Sugar Cube Corner. “Could you tell your father I’d like to buy another four bushels of apples today? I got a big order this afternoon.”
“Sure thing!” AJ replied with a half-hearted smile.
Her smile wasn’t completely false, however. The idea that she had living parents appealed to Applejack. Assuming that Twilight or the town doctor was able to prevent any further memory loss, she could relearn every experience she had lost. Furthermore, she’d have a complete family again for many years to come.
Among the crowds of ponies around her, AJ heard the same whispers again that spoke from within the Everfree Forest. She stopped in her tracks. AJ just realized that she was walking through the market. She looked around apprehensively, but it appeared that only she heard these voices.
“Sis?” Apple Bloom asked her.
Something caught AJ’s attention from between two produce stalls in the market. She had that feeling of danger again, the one from the unseen presence yesterday. AJ narrowed her eyes to try and find something that stood between the stalls, but there was simply nothing there.
“AJ?” Big Mac asked with concern.
“I can feel it again,” Applejack said quietly to her siblings. “You know that critter I said that chased me into the house yesterday? I think it’s watchin’ us from between those blue stalls over there.”
“I don’t see anything,” Apple Bloom said.
The ground between the two stalls rose up into a small mound of dirt and scurried at the three Apple children. It moved like a hamster under a rug and left no tracks. AJ glanced around. No pony noticed the moving lump, not even her siblings. The lump darted for Apple Bloom.
AJ shoved his brother aside and lifted a large rock off the ground.
“What in tarnation?” Big Mac muttered as he stumbled backwards.
Apple Bloom screamed in a panic as AJ lifted huge stone in her little sister’s direction. The orange pony brought down the large stone and smashed the mound flat before it reached Apple Bloom. The ground made no noise and showed no sign that it was ever there.
A curious crowed gathered around the siblings in response to Bloom’s scream.
“You alright, sis?” AJ asked her little sister.
Apple Bloom looked up with anger and confusion. “No, I’m not alright!” she yelled. “You scared me half to death with that rock! What were you trying to do with that?”
The ground exploded under the rock and showered nearby ponies with dirt. A large canine creature made of tree limbs and leaves climbed out of the earth. It scanned the crowed of ponies with a pair of glowing green eyes.
"Timberwolf!" several ponies shouted.
The creature howled angrily and the crowd scattered in a panic. The wolf snarled at Apple Bloom as saliva dripped from its sharp teeth. The little filly sat there frozen with fear.
Applejack jumped at the creature as Big Mac yanked Apple Bloom away. The orange pony socked the timberwolf with her fore-hooves and broke several of its wooden teeth. The creature lashed back with its jaw wide open. Applejack grabbed the wolf by a wooden ear and yanked the creature to the ground. The creature snarled and kicked into the air, but AJ twisted its ear harder. The wooden lobe tore off in the orange pony's hoof and she stumbled forward unbalanced.
The timberwolf lunged up at Applejack and bit her hard in the right shoulder. She cried out in pain as she pushed back on the creature, but it held on tight. The creature violently shook her and then pinned the pony against the ground. The pain in AJ’s shoulder seared like a hot iron against her flesh. She saw her own blood ooze out between the timberwolf’s teeth.
“Leave my daughter alone!” shouted a muscular yellow-green stallion. He jumped onto the wolf and wrapped his forelegs around its throat.
The timberwolf released Applejack and flailed to break free of the chokehold, but Apple Bramley held on strong. He continued to squeeze hard on the creature and its wooden neck began to splinter under the stallion’s mighty grip. The wolf lashed out, but it was unable to overcome the stallion’s strength. With a violent wrench, Bramley ripped the timberwolf’s head off with a wood-splintering crack. The creature let out a high-pitched squeal as its body broke down into a mass of inert branches and twigs.
The crowd cheered Bramley’s bravery and stomped their hooves in admiration. The stallion dropped the mass of branches that was once the creature's head. He dismissed the cheering crowd away with a wave.
“Bah, don’t you ponies have jobs?” Bramley said in an annoyed tone.
Applejack sat up as the bleeding wound on her shoulder stung hard. Apple Bloom rushed to her sister’s side, followed by a frantic burnt-orange mare.
“AJ, sweetie!” Cara Orange shouted as she hugged her daughter tight. “Oh, my dear girl, are you alright?”
AJ was in shock. Was she just saved by her father? She couldn’t tell with her blurry vision. Applejack’s mind swam with conflicting emotions, pain, and possibly dizziness from the blood loss.
Meanwhile, Bramley sounded like he had one definite emotion to show. “Celestia damn it, Mac!” he scolded his son. “How could you just idle there while your sister is gettin’ chewed up by a timberwolf?!”
Big Mac’s bit his lower lip in shame. The crowd around him looked on with dismay.
“Son, you have to protect your little sisters,” Bramley said with a calmer voice. “They look up to you for safety. When danger rounds the bend, you got to pony up and fight back.” He turned to Applejack’s wound and poked it a few times, despite that AJ visibly flinched from the pain.
“Eh, it ain’t deep. Come on Cara, let’s take AJ to the hospital and get her cleaned up.”
Applejack grabbed a hold of Cara’s cream blouse. “M-mama…?” she asked as her eyesight began to fade.
The burnt-orange mare continued to hold AJ in a warm embrace. “I’m here, sweetie,” Cara assured. “Please don’t ever run from me again. You scared me this morning.”
“I…” Applejack’s head continued to swim with vertigo. She staggered to get up and fell over again. Bramley caught AJ before she hit the ground. Applejack could hear her father mumble something about girls and the sight of blood, but she couldn’t understand the words in between.
AJ’s world grew hazy. Her surroundings faded to shadows, and she passed out.
~ ~ ~
Tick, tick, tick, tick…
Applejack slowly opened her eyes as the little windup clock on her night stand ticked loudly in her ears. She was lying on her bed, in her own room. The curtains were pulled apart to let in the early evening sunlight, but despite the familiarity of her surrounding, she felt like something wasn’t right.
AJ slowly sat up. Her right shoulder was bandaged up with dirty dressings and the pain still ached. She looked at the clock and it read twenty-three minutes after four, on a Friday.
Applejack had to wonder which Friday it was.
She heard Apple Bloom’s laughter outside in the yard, as well as Winona’s barking. AJ leaned over to the window beside her bed and looked outside. Down below in the yard, Apple Bloom and Bramley played fetch with Winona. AJ’s little sister appeared to be having a good time with her father.
Applejack rifled through her memories. Apple Bloom was only a few weeks old when their parents passed away… except that they didn’t die. No, they were here now. They were always here, weren’t they? Well, it appeared that ‘here’ was at some point after rescuing Zecora and bringing her home.
AJ’s thoughts were interrupted when Cara walked into her room. The burnt-orange mare approached her daughter with a sad smile upon her face.
“Afternoon, AJ,” Cara said warmly. “Did you rest well?”
“Uh, yeah, I reckon I did,” Applejack muttered falsely in return.
Cara appeared to be worried. “How is your shoulder doing?” she asked. Cara picked at the soiled bandages to remove them. She relented when AJ leaned away from her.
The burnt-orange mare pointed at the door. “Dinner is ready, sweetie. I’m sure you’re absolutely famished after all you’ve been through today.”
“It’s alright,” AJ said flatly. “I’m really not all that hungry right now. Um, but thanks for offerin’.”
Cara fidgeted again, this time with AJ’s hair. “Well then come here if you’re not going to eat,” she commanded. Cara gently pulled Applejack over to the dresser and sat her daughter in front of the large oval mirror. “At least let me fix up that messy mane of yours.”
“My mane don’t need fixin’,” AJ said defensively.
“‘Doesn’t’ dear,” Cara corrected. “As in, ‘does not’. I swear your drawl is as bad as your father’s. However, I also don’t approve of my little girls looking all tom-coltish. You are a lady, and you should carry yourself with the refinement of one.”
AJ fought back half-heartedly with her mother. Cara grabbed a hairbrush and pulled roughly on AJ’s hair until all the knots were removed. Cara stroked the locks into place like an artist with a paintbrush. AJ gave up the fuss and let her mom finish with a quick braid of her mane’s lower half.
Cara stepped back and marveled at her handiwork. “There now, don’t you just look beautiful?” she said happily.
Applejack looked at her reflection in the mirror. She noticed how similar her eyes were to her mother’s and how they both had fine and long hair. AJ never cared much to look fancy, but she only remembered now why she thought that way for so long. The first couple years after she lost her mother, AJ’s own face brought only painful memories of her loss.
She had thrown out her brushes and bows since then, but now she was ashamed that she had forgotten where her beautiful green eyes came from.
“Is something wrong, AJ?” Cara asked.
AJ slowly stood up and turned around. Tears welled up in her eyes as she latched onto her mother and held her tight. It didn’t matter anymore if her memories were real or jumbled. Some miracle had given Applejack one more moment to hug her mother, and by Celestia, she embraced it. She held her mom and cried for every hour of every day that she had grown up without the warm breath of her mother on her brow.
“I missed you so much, mama,” AJ whispered.
Cara strokes her daughter’s head. “Oh, my dear sweet Applejack,” she said warmly. “I’ve always been here for you. Well, I did have that spa appointment with Rarity yesterday, but other than that, I’ve always been here for you.”
AJ chuckled softly at her mother’s odd sense of humor. “Thank you, mama. I’m sorry I was actin’ so addled today. My mind just hasn’t been right lately.”
Cara wiped her daughter’s tears. “Shh, don’t worry yourself about that. The experience of every pretty filly growing up into a beautiful mare is always confusing. Why, I should tell you the story of when your Aunt Orange’s voice cracked so much, that she thought she had swallowed a bullfrog.”
AJ’s stomach made a low rumble. “Well, maybe later,” she said. “I reckon I’m feelin’ mighty peckish after all. Give me a moment and I’ll come down to dinner.”
“Alright then,” Cara said, “I’ll see you down stairs.” AJ’s mother kissed her gently on the forehead and then gracefully left the room. Cara closed the door silently behind her.
The room became eerily quiet as Applejack stood there in front of the mirror for another minute. It was like she didn't recognize the reflection that looked back with those same green eyes. Her thought was interrupted by a strange noise from the clock on the night stand.
Click, click…
Applejack picked up her alarm clock and shoved it into the nightstand drawer. “No more shenanigans for you,” she muttered. She looked around the room for her hat, but it was still missing. Not wearing it for so long bugged her and she at least wanted to find her personal effect before she moved on.
AJ thought back to the last memory she had of her hat. It was on the night of the storm and she had tossed her Stetson toward her dresser in the dark and missed. AJ walked over to the dresser and looked under it. She found her hat underneath; the Stetson had slid all the way towards the wall. She reached under the dresser to grab it, but the hat skittered away from her.
This was the first time her hat had ever performed such a trick.
Applejack reached under the dresser again for her personal effect, but the hat bolted out from its hiding spot and zigzagged across the room until it zipped under her bed.
“Alright, now that’s just plum weird,” she thought.
AJ grabbed her hairbrush and slowly crept to the bed. Her first thought was that there was a rodent under her hat that was playing a joke with her. She leaned down and slowly reached for her hat with one hoof as the other held the hairbrush tightly.
With a quick swipe, AJ grabbed the hat and pulled it back. The hat pulled apart into shadows and a small doll dropped out. The darkness evaporated from AJ’s hoof and left a cold feeling in her leg. She didn’t understand what happened, but she did recognize the fabric doll as Big Mac’s possession, Smarty Pants.
AJ was pretty sure that her hat was a solid object and that the doll had never been in her room before. Then again, she remembered that Big Mac got that doll from Twilight several months ago. Perhaps in her youth, Twilight had hexed it a few times and some of that magic still resided in the doll.
Applejack would have to ask Twilight about it later. The orange pony simply did not know much about unicorn magic to make a good guess. She got up and went for her room’s door before something else unexplained happened to her.
“Applejack…” a tiny male voice under the bed whispered.
AJ sighed that the weirdness refused to quit her. She should have been surprised, but after the past couple of days, she felt more frustrated than anything else. AJ bent down and looked under the bed again. The doll was there, but it had no mouth to speak with. Then again, dolls don’t talk.
She felt silly and gave up on the odd toy. AJ got up to leave, but the whispers cried out to her.
“Applejack, please help me,” the tiny voice pleaded.
The orange pony felt a presence under the bed, but, it wasn’t the sinister one she felt from the forest yesterday. This one felt… small and fragile. She didn’t understand why she felt things that weren’t there.
“I’m losin’ my mind, aren’t I?” AJ asked to nothing in particular.
“No, you’re not,” the little voice stated. “You are losing time.”
Applejack slowly crept back towards her bed, but dared not look under it. “I don’t understand,” she said aloud. “What do you mean by me losing time?”
“Find your father’s diary,” the whisper replied. “He hid it in the barn before he died.”
“My pa never had no diary that I can recollect,” AJ stated, although that didn’t say much given how little of her memory she was able to rely upon.
“The barn, Applejack,” the voice weakly pleaded. “You must fix the mistake before the shadows of sunrise…”
AJ took a deep breath and ducked down under the bed. The doll had still not moved at all. AJ picked it up and looked over the raggedy toy. “What did you mean by all that? What mistake?”
The doll said nothing.
“You ain’t Big Mac’s doll, are you?” AJ asked. “You’re something else entirely, right?”
The doll remained silent.
Applejack threw the doll against the wall. “If I have to hear voices in my head for my entire life,” she muttered, “They could at least be more verbal than my brother.”
There was a knock at the door and AJ nearly jumped to the ceiling with a startle. She opened the door carefully and saw that Zecora stood in the hallway. The zebra had bandages around the major cuts she received from her attacker earlier.
Zecora shifted in place. “I came to check up on you,” she started to say.
“I’m fine, actually,” AJ interrupted. “Let’s just get some dinner.”
She led Zecora down stairs into the dining room where Cara and Big McIntosh had set the table. The warm scents of vegetable stew and baked potatoes filled the air. A sweet aroma of apple pie teased AJ’s nostrils from the kitchen. She pulled up a seat for Zecora before AJ sat beside her.
“Say, ma,” AJ began, “Where’s granny?”
“Your grandmother is on that vacation with Apple Strudel,” Cara responded. “You don’t remember? You took her to the train station yesterday with your siblings.”
“Oh, right,” Applejack quickly corrected. “Must of slipped my mind.” She let out a mental sigh of relief that granny had not changed since she last remembered her.
Apple Bloom entered the house with Winona, and the filly took a seat by her big sister. Bramley walked in last, but he approached the table much more cautiously.
“Cara, who invited her here?” Bramley asked as he pointed to Zecora.
“I did,” AJ stated. “She’s my guest here for the night.”
Bramley finally sat down at the table with Cara. “Applejack, you know you should ask me about these things first,” he said firmly. “I don’t like surprises.”
“Don’t like surprises, or don’t like zebras?” AJ countered accusingly.
Apple Bloom mimed out an ‘Oh snap’ from her lips as Applejack passed Zecora a biscuit. The orange pony was resolved that if she was going to accept her father as being alive, he had to accept her choice in friends. She glanced at Zecora, who appeared to have sunk down in her chair several inches.
Bramley gave AJ a good, hard stare. Cara put a gentle hoof on her husband’s shoulder. The father looked into his wife’s concerned eyes and took a deep breath. He surrendered the argument. “You’re right AJ,” he said calmly. “You’re right. We Apples are nothing if not hospitable to all folks regardless of what they are. I reckon I’m just bein’ an old-fashioned, stubborn workhorse. Your friend can stay the night.”
“Thanks, pa,” AJ said with a smile. She continued to pass the biscuits around as the family filled their bows with stew. AJ was happy that there were no whispers or shadows that interrupted her meal. She paid attention to as many details as she could to remember this moment with clarity.
Apple Bramley spoke up after quickly gobbling a spoonful of stew. “Hey son,” he said casually, “How’s that pretty lass of a school teacher doin’? What’s her name, Cheerilee?”
Big Mac’s usual red-coated face reached a new record in blush. “Uh, she’s fine,” the eldest sibling said.
“More like mighty fine, am I right?” Bramley teased.
“Oh Bramley,” Cara said. “Don’t fluster our Little Mac like that.”
Applejack let out snort of laughter upon hearing the nickname ‘Little Mac’. Her younger sister joined in with a giggle as well, until Big Mac threw both siblings a disapproving glance.
Bramley shrugged. “I’m just sayin’,” the green-yellow stallion stated defensively, “That our son here has a real nice gal and he should pay her more attention.” He leaned closer to Big Mac.
“Trust me son, a smart and pretty lass like that don’t come around every day. Now, I ain’t sayin’ you ought to bed her tomorrow, but I don’t want you to think that a fancy pony like her will wait for you. You have to take a chance and open your heart to her. Otherwise she’ll find another stallion that will. Why, Cara here nearly walked out on me on the account that I spent all my time workin’ the apple orchard instead of takin’ her out on a date.”
Cara smirked. “I recall that Granny Smith threatened to kick you off the farm if you stood me up one more night.”
“Hey, mama don’t make much sense nowadays,” Bramley said, “But that was the best threat she ever did give me. I took it to heart, and now look at us. I got the best darned family in Ponyville.”
Applejack nudged her brother and gave him a wink when he glanced back. “Should I get Fluttershy to give you some assertive lessons?” she whispered to her brother.
Big Mac shook his head. “You trying to make it worse?” he replied. “I get his point, I’m just no good with words around the mares is all.”
“Let your actions speak for you then,” Cara said. “Listen to what your heart tells you and follow that.”
Applejack stopped in mid-bite after she heard her mother’s words. ‘Listen to what your heart tells you.’ AJ’s heart skipped a beat as it told her that Bramley and Cara died years ago.
It was a tragic day, one so long ago that she barely remembered the exact date. Her parents had left early in the morning to venture into the Everfree Forest for a reason she was never told. They never came back and their bodies were not found for several days, killed by a creature she overheard as a… ‘Tree Ant’ if she remembered it correctly. Applejack remembered the weeks of tears and loneliness, the days that she would refuse to get up in the morning or even eat.
Then she remembered her brother and sister. How sad they were too, but when the three were together, their friendship helped them survive. They learned to run the farm together and took care of each other. Time healed the wound in their hearts, but their friendship was what filled the empty void left behind when their parents were no longer with them.
Applejack realized that she was only given this one moment with her parents, but she could not have it forever. It was a mistake to simply live this lie and just because every pony said the sky was green, it didn’t make it so. She was the Element of Honesty, and that meant accepting the truth no matter how painful.
Applejack resolved to listen to the meek voice from her room and find her father’s diary. She was unsure what she would find within the pages, or how it could help the voice, but there was something about it that felt friendly. It was the same meek voice that warned her to run from the presence in the forest the other day.
AJ glanced over at the quiet zebra next to her and saw an ally. Zecora had said that she too felt the invisible presence when it attacked her earlier. Zecora knew things about magic and the supernatural world that AJ didn’t. It only made sense to convince her to join AJ’s quest and fix whatever the mistake was. If anyone would believe AJ’s strange tales of shadows and voices, it was Zecora.
Although it couldn’t hurt to bring Smarty Pants along, just in case the doll decided to strike up another conversation.
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The spacing, still needs slight amounts of work. Whether or not any errors in spelling or grammar are apparent. I very much so like how you have plotted out the storyline, not to mention. It's original.
"There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. Yet that will be the beginning." - Louis L'Amour
Thankfully, I'm getting e-mails again about updates to my favorites here on FIMFiction. This is a good thing, because otherwise I might not have caught this addition until much, much later!
I am excited too see what comes up next, So Apple Jack in this story wakes up to heart filled loving parents, And then the next day there dead.
Why does this story remind me so much of the movie 'Coraline' where a daughter ,of two very depressed parents, walks through a door way into another reality. Where her parents are full of joy and pride.
I'm just excited to see where this story is going.
Oh noes! This ain't a Pony story, it's an Adventure Time cross-over!
I can't believe I didn't think of Coraline by Neil Gaiman (the book, didn't know there was a movie) before Windchester mentioned it. Definitely some similarities.
Keep it up
These two are sort of drifting into Trixie-esque third-person territory. It sounds a bit like she's thinking of herself as "AJ" not as "me", if you get my drift.
That last bit is a bit awkward. You could leave it at the description, or you could have "a timberwolf!" be something that somepony shouts out in warning. As part of the narration itself it's much too blunt.
"ran into a frenzied mob" sounds a little off.
That's how I'd word it, anyway.
2813780
Thanks for the feed back! I'll certainly revisit the spacing and work on improving it.
2817736
I've never seen Coraline, so I don't know how the comparison looks, but maybe I'll try a Netflix rental after I finish this story and find out.
2823407
Thanks for spotting some of those errors! Coraline is going on my "Need to Watch" list.