A Fistful of Apples: True Grit is Magic

by Alsvid

Brothers Together

Applejack snapped awake abruptly.

Someone was standing over her bed. She threw off her covers, and sat up to look at the intruder.

It was a small girl Applejack hadn't seen before, in a frilly black dress with white lace. Her brightly colored red hair made Applejack think it was -

"Applebloom!" Applejack cried out, reaching for the girl's shoulder. The girl turned to face her.

Applejack froze. The girl's face was pale, haughty and unkind, a sneer tugging at the corners of her small mouth. A twisted black horn thrust up from her forehead. Her eyes were a weird green hue.

"I don't know who that is!" the girl hissed at Applejack. She recoiled from Applejack's hand.

"What's more, you're the one who destroyed the Chrysalid Scout Ship, aren't you? AREN'T YOU!?" she shrieked. "You HAVEN'T seen the last of us! You just wait! I'll make you VERY sorry you destroyed our Scout Ship!"

"What in Tarnation are you talkin' about?" Applejack asked helplessly. "What scout ship?"

"Don't play dumb!" The little girl pointed at her. "You think you can get away with this!? I'll show you the true power of Princess Crimson, daughter of Queen Chrysalis!"

______________________________________________________________

Applejack's eyes snapped open, again.

She found herself quite alone. It was midday, she could tell, from the bright yellow sunshine streaming in through the picture windows at her left. Her room, while a little musty, was cozily built, with a dresser, a chest of drawers, a mirror, and a chair. There was a door to her far right that very likely led to a bathroom. There was a fireplace in front of her, currently empty.

"Darn it...must've been dreamin'," she murmured to herself, twitching her blankets off. She glanced down, noticing that she'd slept in her clothes, and wished (again) that she could bathe. Her hat was sitting next to her on the night-stand with a lamp. Her guns, she was pleased to see, sat atop it as well, with the belts of bullets, and her rifle leaned against the wall.

There was a knock on her door. "C'min," Applejack grunted, rubbing her eyes and trying to collect her wits.

Applejack found herself holding her breath, hoping it wasn't that creepy little girl again.

Instead it was a pleasant-looking young woman with long, messy blonde hair, as if she'd just rolled out of bed. The first thing Applejack noticed was that the woman must have had a lazy eye...or two. She was very obviously wall-eyed. Applejack had to wonder to herself how the woman ever saw anything. Indeed, she seemed a little uncoordinated. She was wearing a rather gaudy taffeta-and-silk, strapless, that showed off her slender white shoulders.

"Yay, Applejack! Woo-hoo! You woke up!"

"Aaaaand...you are?" Applejack said, cautiously. "An' how in the hay do you know my name?"

"Oh! I'm Derpy! Flim 'n' Flam told me all about you, Applejack! They said you're really brave and strong, and a good fighter!"

"Heh heh...Ah don't know about all that," Applejack said modestly, shuffling her boots. "Sorry," she added in retrospect.

"Wha? Oh, it's nothing! We were gonna clean up that bed, anyway, while you were having your bath!"

Applejack practically leapt out of the bed. "Yeeee-haw! Now THAT's what ah wanted ta hear! Ah feel like ah've got on a extra coat of dirt!"

Derpy nodded. "Yep, yep! We got you a tooth-brush too! And after that, you can go downstairs and eat some food. You like food, Applejack? I like food! Food is nice! Especially when you're hungry!"

"Y'can say that again, Derpy." Applejack rubbed her belly. "Ah'm cloppin' well starved!"

Derpy waved as Applejack went in the bath, and then left.

Applejack came back wrapped in one of the huge, luxurious, fluffy white towels she'd found in the bathroom, smelling deliciously of soap and shampoo. She found a change of clothes waiting for her on dresser.

There was a white shirt, a black jacket, red-and-black shorts, a belt, stockings, and a long black coat - a duster, from the looks of it. They looked strong, durable, and well-made.

She put on the clothes, pulled on her hat, her holsters, stepped into her boots, examined herself in the mirror briefly, adjusting her hat and her long black coat a touch, and then left her quarters.

___________________________________________________________________

Applejack found herself on the top floor of a rather full saloon. There was a bar where an impressive array of bottles, decanters, flagons, and barrels stood at the ready, staffed by a perky barmaid who was serving up drink after drink. There were some card tables and a roulette wheel, surrounded by people vying to try their luck.

Waitresses darted about, laden with plates of food, to tables adjacent to the bar. Applejack found herself rather overwhelmed by all the activity. She was standing next to the stairs, wondering where she should go next, when a familiar voice boomed out, and she found herself face-to-face with the mustachioed, red-haired gentleman. Flam, she remembered he was called.

"Applejack! Welcome, welcome! Come, sit down! Have a drink! Have some lunch. I'm sure you must be a little hungry. Take the edge off, why don't you? You could also say hello to our friends. They're all dying to meet the savior of our town. Right this way, Applejack. Pardon me, ma'am," he said grandly, doffing his hat to a finely-dressed woman as she walked past them. The woman gave Applejack a haughty stare. Applejack stared right back, but she let Flam lead her over to one of the tables.

Trixie was sitting there, resplendent in her purple dress spangled with stars, with Derpy sitting nearby her, and another man - the spitting image of Flam, dressed the same, but with a clean-shaven face and chin - at her other side.

They were quaffing a fine white wine from crystal flutes, eating handfuls of prosciutto and melon from a silver plate, and smoking quite expensive cigars. Applejack could smell the richly scented blue smoke rising in a haze above their ashtray. Her mouth watered. Flam maneuvered Applejack into a chair, and then sat down himself next to her.

"Well!" Flam said grandly, shaking out his napkin, and spreading it in his lap. "Here we are. First, a toast, eh? Eh?"

"Why, certainly," Trixie said. "Shall I?"

"Go on, my dear, work your magic," Flam's brother said generously. He had a slightly lighter voice than Flam.

Trixie poured him a fresh glass, then Flam, then Applejack, then herself. She finally came to Derpy. Derpy was so enthusiastic about her drink that she nearly tipped her wineglass over.

Trixie gave Derpy a sharp look. "Now be careful, Derpy. You don't want to do anymore damage than you already have."

"I just don't know what went wrong!" Derpy said, plaintively.

Trixie sighed, filling Derpy's glass up. "All right. To Applejack!" She raised her glass.

"To Applejack!" the others cried, touching their glasses together. Applejack did the same, feeling rather silly all the same. She drank the wine. It was deliciously crisp and tart on her tongue. She drank some more.

"Ooh, it seems as if Miss Applejack is thirsty. Here, have another," Trixie said indulgently, pouring Applejack a little more from the bottle.

"Care for a cigar, Applejack? They're from the Southern reaches. Aged to perfection," Flam said, opening a cedar box.

Applejack looked at him with no small amount of suspicion. But she took a cigar. She knifed off the tip with her dinner knife - much to Trixie's shock - and struck a match, lighting it. "Thanks, pard," she said, leaning back in her chair, and blowing smoke clouds contentedly.

"My pleasure, Miss," Flam said, grandly. "Ah, here comes another appetizer. Oyster? But first, try the melon, try the melon! It is ripe. It is succulent. Come, taste. Have a morsel. Have several."

Applejack dubiously chewed on the melon with prosciutto. The prosciutto was salty and savory, and lent a most agreeable porcine flavor to the juicy melon. She swallowed, and wolfed down another chunk of melon and prosciutto. Then another. And another. She washed down each bite with a swallow or two of the white wine.

A waitress plonked down a platter of oysters on ice before them. Flam rubbed his hands together. "This will settle your stomach nicely, miss. And then, we can discuss the little matter of your payment..."

"Brother, there is ample time for Miss Applejack to dine before you wear her down with such harshly business-like speech! Let us turn our attention to lighter matters! We can set aside the burden of capital for a moment, and assume a holiday mood instead! After all, we would certainly have been sunk if Miss Applejack hadn't stepped into the breach, I say. I believe introductions are in order." Flam's younger brother leaned forward, extending his hand over the table.

"I am Flim, brother to Flam. 'Tis an honor, Miss Applejack, to be in the company of such a talented individual as yourself, and, if you don't mind my saying so, certainly one of the prettiest."

"Yer pushin' it, Flim," Applejack growled, but she shook Flim's hand anyway.

Flam raised his hands theatrically. "Tread carefully, brother! She's a perilous rose, our Applejack!" He turned to Trixie. "Behold, the top financier of Appleloosa, Madam Trixie. But you two have already met, haven't you?"

"Financi-what?" Applejack said.

"I manage the Bank of Appleloosa, my dear," Trixie said grandly, grabbing and shaking Applejack's hand. "In fact, if it would not be too boastful of me to say so, you could very well call me Appleloosa's Financial Magician! Would you care to buy some property? I shall gladly offer you the capital necessary to start your venture! And the interest rates of mine are quite manageable! Rest assured, I'm very understanding! If you miss a payment, you needn't let it ruin your nights! We can forgive it!"

"And if ah miss another payment?" Applejack said dubiously.

Trixie looked nervous. Her face went red, and she hastily downed a swallow of wine. "Well-"

"This, Miss Applejack, is Derpy!" Flim cut in, saving Trixie from having to explain further. Derpy bounced up and down in her seat helpfully. "She owns the very same saloon you're in right now."

"I helped her set it up," Trixie said, glad to have a change of subject. "It was quite an interesting little financial venture. Oh, it was a little difficult for her to adjust to running it at first, but then she came around quickly enough, and now, just look at the place!"

Trixie leaned forward and whispered into Applejack's ear. "She goes all to pieces if you ask her to write her signature, though. Has to use a rubber stamp and ink. Poor girl. Rather unfortunate."

Trixie's breath smelt heavily of alcohol, cigar smoke, and prosciutto. Applejack felt relieved when Trixie sat back down.

"Oyster, Applejack?" Flim said, brightly.

"Ah don't know about-"

He popped the shell to Applejack's lips before she could finish. It was salty, like swallowing a mouthful of brine, with a vaguely fishy flavor, yet a touch of lemon made it deliciously tart. She could taste pepper as well.

Applejack polished off five more of the oysters.

"Wow, Applejack! You ate a looooot!" Derpy hooted. She was on her third shell. The general idea of sucking the succulent oyster flesh seemed to be beyond her, so she was spooning it out.

Trixie sat back and patted her belly. There were only two empty shells before her. "My! I hardly imagine I shall be able to make room for the main course!" she sighed melodramatically.

"Nonsense! Why, it's a good cut of beef, Trixie," Flam said, tapping some ash off his cigar.

"Oh, my stars! I shall probably end up eating it all. And then I shan't fit into my clothes a week later. You -are- terrible, Mr. Flam."

Flam leaned closer to Trixie, with a wicked grin. "Chocolate souffle, after?"

Trixie threw an arm over her eyes. "My wardrobe will suffer! You slay me, Mr. Flam. You slay me."

Applejack thought of something to say to that, and filled her mouth with wine, instead.

"Steady, friends, I think our main course is here," Flim said, winking at Derpy. Derpy was noisily sucking from her glass.

Comments

[PinkaminaDianePie]

I like the story so far! can't wait to read more

[nothingtoseehere]

Well that certainly happened. This is not a bad story per se; in fact it's fairly well written. There's just no context. Applejack's in jail, gets hanged, comes back to life, apparently has some kind of affinity for darkness, and then suddenly aliens happen. All for no apparent reason.

Anyway, by all means keep going. I find myself bizarrely driven to see how this ends.

[FallBlau]

Well, I can say that I'm hooked. Excellent story! The way you describe everything brings it all very much alive. I really can't wait to see an update for this...

[Alsvid]

4474343

Soon. I already have an entire overarching story planned.

Originally, though, this was going to be a very small, fun story. But then it swelled into something many-layered and complex. The people who are complaining about its disjointed nature? Sorry. It is glaringly obvious, the transition from ficlet to Serious Business, isn't it?

This will be a gigantic story when it's finished. I actually ended up having to draw a map of the Continent of Equestria, among other things.

I plan on making a Wiki for this story and possibly a Formspring so that I can properly document it.

[FallBlau]

4474371 Ambitious, I like that.

Not disjointed at all - at least, not in my mind. The exposition to me is almost akin to how a dark western might frame the opening shots of a movie. That being said, you do an excellent job crafting all these wonderful characters and giving them a voice and a soul. I love love love it. <3

Though, I'm tempted to ask, if it's so big, why not just change the characters and make it a real sci-fi/western novel? I'm already hooked on the premise (and this story could already shed it's pony framing device, since it seems superfluous to the plot anyway). It could make for an excellent read! :D

[Alsvid]

4474386

Because then I'd hafta actually research what Frontier Western life was like.

Not that it makes a diff, because, in fact, I ended up researching it anyway, in order to improve the realism. I have also been reading Western literature such as Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy.

Also, this story has political/conspiracy elements that will be expanded on.

Trixie and the twins killing the old Appleloosans? An allusion to similar massacres in American History(Tulsa Race Riots, Trail Of Tears, etc). Notice how they ingratiate themselves to Applejack and attempt to smooth over the incident , as well. Hmmmmm.

Someone asked me what Applejack got in trouble for. A hint: the unfair laws Trixie, Flim, and Flam implemented might get you sent to the gallows simply for being in the Wrong Place at the wrong time.

This fic is also an Attack On Ayn Rand; Trixie is Dagny Taggart with a horn and magic powers. Flim and Flam are copies of Hank Rearden.

[Alsvid]

4474386

Originally, I was going to put this on the Wiki for this story, but, seeing as you mentioned it...

>The exposition to me is almost akin to how a dark western might frame the opening shots of a movie

This, in fact, was what I was attempting to convey all along.

Ideally, in my mind, this story could be made into a movie. I could probably even draw storyboards and write a script for it. I also already identified a Cast for it. Here, let me show you my 'Played By' list. Let me show you my pokemons..

Trixie, the Unyielding Financier:
s15.postimg.org/jr9xdotkb/image.jpg

Flim, the Conniving Crony Capitalist:
s12.postimg.org/htelxjlwt/image.jpg

Flam, the Opportunistic Engineer:
s12.postimg.org/jh95ygael/image.jpg

Applejack, an ordinary farm-girl:
s12.postimg.org/vlt0t6cod/image.jpg

This will never happen, seeing as 'Capitalism Is Bad'* would NOT fly in America, these days. I'd probably get run out of my own home country for being a sedition-ridden Pinko Communist, the way they did with Michael Moore. *sigh*

______________________________________________
*The central theme underpinning this fic?

1) Capitalism Is Bad.

2) Capitalism Is Still Bad.

[FallBlau]

4475262 All economic systems that exploit people are bad - communism and capitalism alike. But that's just my take of it.

The more you describe it though, the more I want to see this happen. I think you underestimate the American public too - I think a lot of Americans are fed up with crony capitalism and the extravagant lifestyles of the rich. I believe if you artfully show how these robber barons manipulate the levers of power through a high-stakes, shoot em up western where the good-guy triumphs, I bet it would be a roaring success.

Like I said before, this idea has the potential to transcend the pony-fandom, and be an awesome piece of fiction, in it's own right.

[Alsvid]

4475651

Oh, I don't disagree with your analysis.

But have you noticed the Right-Wing Reactionary sector in the United States, and their tendency to exhort the virtue and values of 'Free-Market Capitalism'?

Not a day goes by without Republicans and their little internet friends bellowing at us hideous Leftist types about how MUH INVISIBLE HAND OF MUH FREE MARKET would solve all our problems. Also, if you're poor? You are 'lazy', a 'taker', and should probably just commit suicide in a quiet corner somewhere.

They also show a proclivity to shouting dreck about how the Banking Cartel and the Military-Industrial Complex - oh, and our oversized, overfinanced, overwrought Military Police(currently in the fourth decade or so of the War On American Citizens Drugs)* - are all necessary and important.

I am of the opinion that Free-Market Capitalism is not nearly as pleasant, or safe, as they would like to imply. The answer is not to swing totally in the opposite side by way of Communism, but I believe a serious re-evaluation of our economic mechanisms is called for.

_______________
*Not just today I was reading about a SWAT Police team in Georgia that threw a flashbang at a baby. An infant in a playpen. What were they afraid of? That the baby would cry very loudly in their direction?

And people say that the miscarriages of justice in my fic are unrealistic...they're meant to mirror the real and very present abuses of Law Enforcement powers in our society.

Women and men are executed wrongfully in this country, every day.

[Alsvid]

7841672

I actually like this review a lot. I will explain things in more detail in a little; I'm so tired I can barely think straight. For now I shall go to bed.