Just A Rough Patch
When Better Days Are Past
Chapter 1: Just a Rough Patch
I love farming. I can’t say how good it feels to be able to get up in the morning and go out there to do some honest, hard work. There’s nothing like the satisfaction that comes with making something grow and then reaping the rewards of your own blood, sweat, and tears.
Shame how it can be so gosh darn hard to do sometimes.
I pointed at some half-eaten apples still hanging on their branches. “Ah have a problem, Junebug. The fruit-bats aren’t stickin’ to the west fields like they’re supposed to, and they’ve been ravishing mah crops.”
Junebug pursed her lips as she looked up into the branches at the fruit-bats that were hanging up there. “Do you know why they’ve left the west fields?”
“Ah don’t know! That’s why I got ya!” I snapped. I felt instant guilt for raising my voice at Junebug when I saw her ears flattened to her head. She was a decent enough animal caretaker, I supposed, and she hadn’t earned me being snippy with her. “Sorry, it’s just ... Ah really can’t afford this right now. It’s been a rough year, and it ain’t lookin’ to get better anytime soon.”
Junebug made some clicking noises with her tongue and coaxed one of the fruit-bats to land on her light-orange, outstretched leg. “I’ll see what I can do, though it might take some time.”
“How much time?” I asked.
She clicked her tongues a few times and the fruit-bat nuzzled her. “Probably a week. Maybe more.”
“A week?” I fumed over that, and I lashed out at a nearby tree. A fruit-bat flew out, irritated by my buck, half-eaten apples falling to the ground. I pick up one of the many apple and showed it to Junebug. “These varmints are eatin’ all mah apples! Ah ain’t goin’ to have anythin’ to sell at the market at this rate!”
Junebug winced at my outburst. “I know, and I’m sorry! I’ll do what I can as soon as I can. It’s just that it’s been a while since I dealt with this bunch here.” She gestured towards the bats in the nearest tree. “So it’s going to take me time to convince them to go back to where they belong. Plus I’m super busy with doing a bunch of animal censuses around here, and this bat issue came out of nowhere. I thought this was a problem we had pinned down already.”
“Yer tellin’ me.” I tipped my hat up and rubbed my forehead. Normally the fruit-bats kept to whatever field we gave them to keep them happy,—but for whatever reason, the rascals had decided not to cooperate. It’s why I’d called on Ponyville’s animal caretaker for help.
I did not like the idea of those fruit-bats having their way with my apple orchards. That was bad news I just did not need right now. Profits hadn’t been too good for the last year or two for Sweet Apple Acres, and I could see the farm’s bottom line falling further and further into the red every day. The farm had been going through a rough patch that we were trying to get through, and this wasn’t helping. I found myself doing the farm’s math again to estimate how we’d be looking by the end of the year. That was never fun. It has always been Big Macintosh who handled all the fancy mathematics for us.
“Are you alright, Applejack?” Junebug asked.
I nearly flinched at the sudden change in subject. Had I just spaced out there? I found myself looking into the animal caretaker’s worried eyes and wondering why she was looking at me like that. “Y-yeah, why do ya ask?”
She gently raised her hoof to encourage the fruit-bat to take flight and give me her full attention. “You look tired. Have you been getting enough sleep?”
I waved off her worries. “It’s nothin’. Just gettin’ into a busy season on the farm, is all. Farmin’ ain’t easy, ya know. Wouldn’t trade it for the world, but Ah do feel a might bit tuckered out when Ah do get to bed.” I gave her a confident grin. She didn’t need to worry about little things like me staying up late trying to fix up the barn. One of the things about running a farm, there’s always work to be done.
Junebug gave me a long look that made me feel more uncomfortable with every passing second before speaking. “So, Sweet Apple Acres is having some troubles?”
“What type of question is that?” I demanded.
“Sorry, just been hearing things.” She gave a brief shake of her head. “Rumors.”
I opened my mouth to tell her that everything was fine...
The mare I loved pursed her lips. She seemed to struggle with what she wanted to say before she spoke. “Applejack, is everything with the farm alright? I’ve overheard you and Big Macintosh talking and—”
I cut her off with a kiss to the lips. “Don’t ya worry about that none. We got it handled. Just—
“—a rough patch, is all,” I said instead, the words having their own comfortable ring to them. I pride myself on being an honest pony, and saying that everything was hunky-dory on the farm wouldn’t have been completely honest. “Nothin’ to get too worried about. Every farm goes through one sooner or later. Even the old Carrot farm went through a spell when they got hit with that blight a decade ago. We’ve gotten through them before, and we’ll do it again.”
Junebug’s mouth turned with a slight frown. “If you say so.”
I could tell that she wasn’t completely convinced. That was fine. A lot of ponies didn’t understand how you sometimes had to tighten your belt when times got tough. Junebug was an animal caretaker, and she didn't have the same worries I did. She worked for the government, so as long as she did her work and turned in her paperwork on time she would get to keep her job and get paid no matter what.
That just ain’t the same as working on a farm. With farming you could do everything right, work hard, play it smart, invest wisely, and still wind up in the red. All it took was for the weather ponies to mess up, pestilence to hit your crops, or varmints to eat everything you worked so hard to grow to ruin you. I’d seen it happen, and heard a hundred other stories besides. It was a mighty scary thought, but it was something all us farmers lived with. But in the end we persevered, one way or another.
But that was enough reminiscing. I needed to think about more practical things. “Get these bats back to the west field, and Ah’ll deal with the rest.” I gave a bat that had just taken a bite out of one of my apples the fiercest look I could. Didn’t do much, but it made me feel a little better at least.
Junebug rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck. “I’ll do what I can.”
I looked about my apple tree-covered acres, coming up with a plan for damage control. “Great. Do this for me quickly enough and Ah’ll make sure that there will be a mug of Sweet Apple Acres cider set aside just for you come cider season.” It would be worth the price. If those darn bats had their way for too long there wouldn’t be a cider season this year.
I moved to make my way toward the sections of the farm near the next nesting grounds of the fruit-bats. Maybe if I was fast and lucky enough I could save some apples from the flying fruity rats. “Now if ya don’t mind, Ah got a bunch of other chores to do around the farm.”
She let out a long huff and I could see her getting her game face on. “Go ahead, I’m going to be a while.”
“See ya later, Junebug.” We waved each other goodbye and I walked off to do what I could to keep my farm afloat.
I spent the better part of the rest of the day bucking the apple trees nearest the fruit-bats. It might not do much, given the varmints might just fly to the trees that still had fruit on their branches, but it was better than doing nothing. We needed apples to sell at the market anyways. Shame neither Big Mac nor I could get to the market today to sell anything. Granny Smith wasn’t feeling well enough to do it herself, and Apple Bloom was just too young to be minding the stand by herself. She needed to go to school, anyways.
After a few hours I had at least built up a buffer between the bats and the rest of the orchard. I had just finished up filling some baskets with apples when I saw Big Macintosh winding his way towards me through the apple orchard. I could see the grease that matted his coat, and looking at the way his mane was clinging to his head, he had probably also been wet recently. Guessing that he wanted to talk to me, I finished bucking the tree I was working on before turning towards him to give him my full attention.
“Any luck with getting the irrigation system up and runnin’?” I asked.
The old irrigation system had been pitching a fit as of late. It usually did that every so often. Shame it was something we absolutely needed running for the sake of the farm. The apples and the rest of the crops needed their water. Simple as that.
Big Mac grunted neutrally. “Got it goin’ again.”
I didn’t like the way he said that. “Somethin’ the matter?”
He rubbed at a shoulder to work out a knot that had probably built up. “Irrigation ain’t lookin’ so good.”
I bumped his flank with my own. “Aw, don’t worry too much about it. That old thing’s always acting up.”
Big Mac stared off into the orchard with a distant look in his eyes. He’d been doing that a lot recently for some reason. I’d asked what was on his mind in the past but he’d just shake it off as nothing. So I gave him room to do his thinking until he was ready to speak.
After a few moments thinking to himself he finally said, “Patch jobs ain’t gonna work forever.”
I gave my wife a loving nuzzle as she pulled down some plates for dinner. Her alabaster coat felt as wonderfully silky as always and smelled of lavender.
“Hey, sugar. I’ve been meaning to ask if I could get another loan to replace the irrigation system.” I’d been a bit reluctant to ask her for a loan. Again. I liked to think of myself as an independent pony who could pull her own weight. But we really needed that new irrigation system. Especially after that fight I had with the weather team manager. And if you couldn’t ask your spouse for a little bit of help, then who could you ask? “It ain’t doin’ so hot. So...”
The plates froze in place in the air. Silence hung between us for a tense moment. “Applejack, about that...”
I felt my heart clench as I thought about needing to replace the irrigation system. The topic only dug up bad memories. “Well, we’re just gonna have to keep patching it until we can get the bits to replace it.”
Big Mac blew a long breath out of his nostrils. “What we said last year, and the year before that.”
“Yeah, Ah know.” I pushed up my hat and rubbed at the sweat that had gathered on my forehead. My hat was good at keeping the sun out of my eyes, but it didn’t keep the thing from getting hot enough to burn at the touch from being beaten on by the sun all day long. “Ah know things didn’t work out. Not when we absolutely needed to get the new barn, an’ it don’t help that cider season was pretty much a bust last year.”
Cider season not working out had hurt Sweet Apple Acres’ bottom line. Cider was one of the farm’s big profit makers. Had always been so since my great grandpappy built the farm. We could sell apples as long as they grew on the branches and what survived in our stores. But it took a lot of apples to get the farm into the green. The zap apple harvest was a nice bumper crop to earn some bits. But they weren’t dependable as a crop given it was almost entirely random when the zap apples grew. In the end, it was cider that was the lifeblood of the farm.
Shame our profits for cider had dried up when those snakeoil salesponies Flim and Flam had shown up. Thanks to the apples they got from Carrot Top’s farm, they could produce enough cider cheaply enough to drive our business down. It had been an awful thing to experience. The farm barely made enough off of cider sales to cover our expenses, and if those two showed up again this year things'd probably be even worse.
Big Mac grunted as he lifted up a basket filled with apples. “Ya could apologize to Raindrops. Gettin’ more rain would help with our water problems.”
My temper rose at the mention of Ponyville’s boneheaded weather manager. “Ah told ya, Ah’m not gonna apologize for what that stubborn mule of a pony said to mah face.”
Big Mac huffed out a breath as he shifted the basket of apples on his back. His words had an angry edge to them. Something you normally don’t see in my big brother. “Ya aren't helpin’ any. Ya two are always arguin’ and it ain’t helpin’ the farm. Did ya turn in that request for rain like Ah asked?”
“Of course Ah did.” My brother narrowed his eyes suspiciously at me. “Ah put it into the weather services mail box yesterday while I was in town.” I nodded firmly.
“Ah wanted ya to give it to Miss Raindrops—not drop it off.” He looked away from me and shook his head. “She’s just gonna put the request at the bottom of the pile like always because you two can’t get along.”
I stomped a hoof on a rotten apple on the ground, splattering it across the grass. It didn’t do anything to help, but the topic of Raindrops always got my blood boiling, and Big Mac’s tone with me after a long day wasn’t improving my mood. “Well shame her havin’ a problem with me causes so much of a hassle for the farm!”
My brother closed his eyes and I saw his shoulders slump. “Can’t keep doin’ this forever, AJ.”
I ground my teeth. “There wouldn’t be a problem if—”
“Ain’t what I mean,” he said, interrupted me. That came as a bit of a shock to me. Big Mac was always so laid back that I could hardly think of a time he spoke up before somepony else was done talking. “It’s just...” He glanced around the ground as he didn’t meet my eyes. Either he’d been as surprised as I had been by him talking over me and didn’t know how to follow up, or hadn’t thought through what he wanted to say.
This was all starting to concern me. I frowned and gave him a nudge to the shoulder. “Yer actin’ a bit out of it today. Something eatin’ ya?”
He shook his head and let out a long sigh. “It ain’t just about yer fight with Raindrops. Or the irrigation system. It’s a lot of things, ya know?”
It dawned on me what my brother was talking about. I nuzzled his neck. He stiffened at the gesture. Big Mac was like pretty much every stallion about being fidgety about showing affection. “Hey, I know things are rough right now with everything coming down on us. But we’ll make it work.” I lifted up a basket onto my own back and gave him a confident smirk. “Us Apples always find a way. Hard work always pays off in the end.”
Ma and Pa had taught me the value of hard work. Hay, I could hardly think of a time when I hadn’t been working on the farm. Farming was in my blood. Same for Big Macintosh. And if anything was going to get us out of this pickle it was going to be some old-fashioned elbow grease.
Big Mac gave me a smile that seemed strained at the edges. “How ‘bout we get these apples to the barn?”
“Now yer startin’ to talk my language.” I bumped him in the shoulder was we made our way to the barn. “Just another rough patch. You’ll see.”
Big Macintosh kept his peace.
I was woken by one of the most annoying noises in the whole wide world. The bells of my alarm clock rang just like they did every morning, nice and early. I could be a pretty heavy sleeper after a hard day of work on the farm, so I needed an alarm that raised a racket. Of course, that did mean I had to wake up every morning to a ringing that was just about loud enough to rattle my teeth.
My hoof instinctively shot out to try and hit the clock to make it stop its ringing. I was still half-asleep, so it took a few swings to finally hit the alarm and make the dreadful noise stop. I rolled around in my bed for a few moments. My tired body just wanted to pull my warm covers back up and go back to sleep. But my internal clock had gone off, and I had work to do. There’s always work that need getting done on a farm.
My body protested as I started to move. I blinked my eyes and rubbed at them to get the fuzziness out. My muscles and joints felt stiff as they recovered from the previous day’s work. They protested me moving and getting out of bed as they locked up. I was forced to stretch while in bed to work out the stiffness and get blood flowing through my limbs again. It’s something I had done plenty of times before, and my limbs and back popped from the effort. Soon enough I was limbered up enough to get moving again.
Groaning as I got out of bed, my legs ached when I put my weight on them. I stretched them out a bit before I went to my dresser and pulled out a brush. Yawning as I put the brush on my hoof, I then started combing out the knots in my mane that I always got during the night. While I was doing that my eyes wandered to the family photos I had lined up on my dresser. The happy smiles of friends and family looked back at me.
All except for the one that was face-down. I knew I should do something about that. Either put it back up, or away in the closet where I wouldn’t have to look at it and be reminded what it was. It was as happy as the others. More so even.
I moved my hoof toward the photo to put it up. Maybe even look at it again. I hadn’t done that in ... months? Years now? My hoof started to push it up, but then I jerked it away like I’d touched a hot oven. My hooves trembled as I hurriedly pulled my brush off and tossed it onto the dresser. Taking a step back, I stared at the floor as a shiver ran through me.
I just couldn’t do it. It hurt too much to look at. Maybe sometime later.
I shook my head back and forth as I tried to clear my thoughts. I needed to get my head into the game. There were apples that needed bucking and a whole hay of other chores needing doing. Reminiscing wasn’t going to help anypony.
I quickly cleaned myself up in the bathroom and exited in time to see Big Macintosh waiting for his turn. He gave me a curt nod and a weary grunt as he made his way to the bathroom. My big bro wasn’t really awake until he got some breakfast and caffeine in him. So we all knew to give him some space until he had gotten himself sorted out.
I made my way to Apple Bloom’s door and gave it a few raps. “Apple Bloom! Time to get up and get ready to go to school!” I heard some groaning and a reply that was muffled by the door. Having already honored her privacy by knocking, I opened it a crack to see that my little sister had sat up and was rubbing at sleepy eyes. Confirming she wasn’t just going to nod off again, I headed downstairs to help make some breakfast for everypony.
Granny Smith was already in the kitchen by the time I’d gotten down there. She’d always been a morning pony, so it was no surprise that she was already up and getting started on the morning rituals. It was reassuring in its own way. Granny had been making breakfast for as long as I could remember.
“Heya, Granny.” I gave her a nuzzle on the cheek. “What’s fer breakfast?”
Granny stirred some eggs that were cooking on a skillet. “Just some haybacon, sliced apples, eggs, and hashbrowns to get the lot of ya goin’.”
It wasn’t anything fancy, but it didn’t really need to be for us simple farming folk. Being filling was way more important. Few things are worse that having to work on an empty stomach. Especially how farming makes you awfully hungry.
I sniffed the air and smelled the delicious aromas of the food that made my mouth water. “Need any help there?” I had every intention of helping her, but you always needed to be a mite bit careful about Granny’s pride. She couldn’t buck for apples anymore due to her bad hip, but she still wanted to help however she could.
She waved at the oven. “Check on them hashbrowns and then cut up some fruit, if ya would.” Granny tilted her head away from the eggs and let out a couple of coughs.
I gave Granny a quick look as I opened the oven. “That cough still botherin’ ya?” She’d been coughing for a couple of weeks now, and she spent most of that time at home due to her saying she didn’t really have the energy to do much as of late. I was getting a mite bit concerned. My grandmother was at an age where you really had to take care of yourself, and I hated the idea of her being sick.
Granny cleared her throat and went back to scrambling the eggs. “It’s nothin’. Just that dry late summer air gettin’ to me.”
“If ya say so.” Seeing that the hashbrowns were done, I pulled them out and placed them on a hotpad that sat on the counter. “Just be sure to tell us if it gets any worse, okay?”
Granny Smith grumbled something under her breath that I couldn’t quite hear. “Ah’m as hale as a horse. So don’t ya go and worry about li’l’ ol’ me.”
“If ya say so.” I pulled out a knife and a cutting board to start cutting up some apples we had sitting in a bowl.
I would have preferred Granny to go to the hospital to be checked out to be on the safe side, but the old matron of the family could be plenty stubborn when she wanted to be. I might as well try and pull a wagon with a broken axle and loaded down with anvils as try and get her to do something she didn’t want to.
I heard somepony’s hurried hoofsteps thumping down the stairs. It wasn’t hard to guess who it was that couldn’t just walk down the stairs, and I looked to see Apple Bloom right as she leapt the final couple of steps. That’s kids for you—can’t wait for anything.
My little sister trotted over and gave her granny a peck on the cheek. “Hiya, Granny!”
Granny gave her granddaughter a pat on the head. “Hey there, Apple Bloom.”
“Is breakfast ready?” Apple Bloom gave Granny a smile brighter than it had any right to be so early in the morning. “Ah’m starvin’!”
Figured she was thinking about her stomach. Kids her age were always growing and so had an appetite to match. From the way Granny put it, you could hardly put a plate in front of Big Mac before everything on it vanished. Everypony was worried the young stallion was going to eat us out of house and home. Luckily, my little sis wasn’t nearly as bad. She only made me wonder if I should take out a loan to feed her.
Granny chuckled. “Almost. How ‘bout ya go ahead and set the table?”
Apple Bloom put on a big grin. “Sure!” With that she started gathering up silverware to put on the table.
I heard Big Macintosh’s heavy and steady steps heading down the stairs. He looked more awake as he reached the bottom of the steps than he had been when I first saw him, but that didn’t keep him from immediately pouring himself a cup of hot coffee. Fixing a pot was pretty much mandatory here on the farm. It wasn’t always easy getting up bright and early.
Big Mac took a whiff of the coffee in his mug before taking a long sip of the stuff. His lips curled up and he hummed satisfactorily. We couldn’t exactly afford the fancy stuff, but getting something strong didn’t cost too much. And looking at my big brother’s satisfied grin, it suited him just fine.
I poured myself a cup in-between putting the food on the dinner table as it was finished and we all sat down at the dining room table and started digging into breakfast.
I sipped at my coffee and almost instantly started to feel invigorated by the brew. “So Ah was thinkin’ that Ah’d spend the mornin’ double-checkin’ where them mangy fruit-bats are.”
Big Macintosh sat opposite of me. “Need somepony to sell at the market.” He frowned as his chair rocked slightly as he shifted his weight. Reaching down, he pushed a sliver of wood back under one of his chair legs to keep it from rocking anymore.
He had a point. We had harvested a bunch of apples yesterday to keep them from getting eaten up by the bats, and all that work would have gone to waste if they just sat in the barn until they rotted.
“Ya wanna take care of that, Big Mac?” I didn’t really want Granny to head out given I wasn’t sure how she was feeling, and Apple Bloom needed to go to school. So that naturally left it up to either me or my brother to run the stand in the market.
My brother shook his head. “Eenope, yer turn.”
The two of us usually took turns at running the market stall so that each of us could get a break from the daily routine of farming. Not to say that minding the stall was easy. It took a lot of energy to constantly get ponies’ attention and see why they should buy your produce for a good price all day long. But at the end of the day, working the fields was tougher.
“If yer sure. There’s plenty of stuff that needs doin’ around here with the bats causin’ trouble.” I didn’t like the idea of leaving Big Mac to do a bunch of the work around the farm for the day, but I also knew that butting heads over who was to run the stall was just going to cause us to both dig in our heels. And we both had better things to do than stand around and argue with each other like a pair of stubborn mules. There was a reason why we took turns in the first place.
Big Mac finished chewing on a hashbrown before speaking. “Go ahead. Ah got the farm.”
“Well alright then.” I took a sip of my coffee.
“When can Ah help with the stand?” Apple Bloom asked with a mouthful of food. I gave her a disapproving look. She returned with apologetic smile and quickly swallowed. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. Just be mindful of yer manners.” I poured myself another cup of coffee. “And to answer yer question, when you’re older. Yer still a bit young for that. And besides, ya got school to go to anyways.”
“‘Kay,” Apple Bloom said with a hint of disappointment. She returned to eating her food with the occasional yawn.
“Bah.” Granny Smith waved a hoof dismissively. “We’ll get that schoolin’ of yer’s out of the way soon enough, and then ya’ll be workin’ the fields alongside yer brother and sister.”
Apple Bloom’s face brightened instantly. “Cool! Maybe Ah’ll finally get mah cutie mark workin’ with mah family!”
My sister gave the two of us a big smile, and I found myself looking at Big Mac. He had looked the same time as me, his face carefully neutral, and our eyes locked. He and I had been talking where Apple Bloom was concerned, and I knew he was thinking what I was.
“Now she already does plenty around the farm with her chores,” I reminded everypony. “No need to rush her into everything else until she’s gone and graduated.” My sister had her chores each day to help around the farm. Plus the help she gave us during the weekends and when school was off. But Big Mac and I always made a point to not let it interfere with her school work. It was important she get her education.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed.
“Yeah, I guess.” Apple Bloom frowned and popped a sliced apple into her mouth to chew on. “Ah’m never gonna get mah cutie mark,” she grumbled.
“Well, there’s a difference between doin’ some chores and a nice day of honest work,” Granny grumbled. She took a bite out of an apple slice.
Apple Bloom fiddled with a hashbrown sitting on her plate. “School is pretty boring.”
Granny murmured in agreement. “Seems kids spend too much time in school these days anyways instead of doin’ something useful, if ya ask me.”
Rather than continue the talk about my sister working the farm, I concentrated on something else more important to her right at that moment. “Speaking of, ya about done eatin’ there Apple Bloom? It’s just about time for ya to go to school.”
Apple Bloom looked down at her plate and sighed. “Guess I gotta.” She stood up and walked over to pull her school-bags from the wall. But instead of slinging them on like she usually did, she gave the bags a deep frown. “Um, I’ve been meanin’ to ask. Can Ah get some new saddlebags?” She poked a hoof into one of the bags and showed us where a hole was starting to form. “This one’s gettin’ kinda raggedy.”
I found myself wincing at the hole in the bag. “We’ll just patch the one back up when ya get back from school.” It shouldn’t be hard to do. I’d patched the thing up more than once with some needle and string. I wasn’t as good as ... someponies, but Granny had taught me the basics as a filly.
Apple Bloom’s lips puckered into a pout. “Why can’t Ah just get a new one? Ah’m gettin’ laughed at by everypony as school because mine’s gettin’ old.”
“Now Apple Bloom, ya know that—”
She levitated the new saddlebags to Apple Bloom. “There you go! A brand new pair of schoolbags for the new school year. Do you like them, darling?”
“Sure do!” Apple Bloom gave her a big hug. “Thanks, sis!”
“Now ya didn’t have to go and do that,” I said. “The old school bags were doin’ just fine. They just needed a bit of patchin’ to get through the year.”
“Applejack, those old hoof-me-downs were falling apart.” She gave the old schoolbags a look of disgust. “I realize sharing between siblings saves money, but there comes a time when you need to throw something away and get a new one. I mean, look at this.” She lifted the bag up with her magic and showed me a spot where one of the straps threatened to break.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Alright, fine. Ya can throw the old thing away.” I leaned in and gave her a quick peck to the cheek. “And thanks for the new schoolbags.”
“—T-that...” I trailed off, unable to say what I was originally going to say. Mentioning her still hurt too much. “L-look, those fruit-bats are ravishin’ our fields right now, so bits might be a little tight for a while.”
Apple Bloom’s face creased into a scowl. “That’s what yer always sayin’!”
“That’s what you said last year.”
I winced. “I know, but it’s the honest truth. There’s always new things we’d like to get, but we just can’t afford them. That’s just how it is. And Ah’m not even gettin’ into all the stuff around the farm that needs replacin’.” Apple Bloom didn’t meet my eyes as I put a hoof on her shoulder. “Now Ah promise that as soon as we can save up some bits we’ll talk about gettin’ some new saddlebags for ya.” I gave her an encouraging nudge. “Hey, who knows. Ah might even win some money at the next rodeo. If that happens then Ah’ll definitely get ya somethin’ ya have been askin’ for.”
My little sister bit down on her lip and looked like she wanted to argue some more. She scuffed her hoof on the floor and let out a huff. “Fine.” Strapping on her schoolbags, she moved towards the front door. “Ah’m headin’ to school.”
I felt mighty terrible watching her walk out all miserable like that and knew I needed to do at least a little something to boost her spirits at least a bit. We’d asked a lot of poor Apple Bloom and I hoped to repay her back what she was owed someday.
“Alright, but first how about ya give yer family a hug.” I spread my forelegs to offer her an embrace.
“‘Kay.” Apple Bloom turned around and gave each of us a hug. I made sure to give her a good squeeze before letting her go. She gave all of us a final farewell and left for school.
That left the rest of us to clean up after breakfast and get ready for the rest of the day.
I had just finished dumping all the dishes in the sink to be washed when Granny gave me that grandmotherly smile of hers. “Don’t ya worry about Apple Bloom. She’ll understand the value of a bit when she gets older and starts buckin’ some trees herself.”
“About that, Granny...” I looked to Big Mac to get some confidence. He met my eyes and nodded firmly. We’d been talking about having this discussion with Granny for a while now, and it seemed the time had finally come.
Granny looked between the two of us. “Ya two got somethin’ ya wanna talk about?”
I nodded slowly. “It’s about Apple Bloom. Ah—the both of us think that we need to tell her the truth about the farm.”
Big Mac nodded in agreement. “Eeeyup.”
Granny narrowed her eyes at the two of us. “What’re you two talkin’ about ‘the truth about the farm?’ She knows we’re goin’ through a rough patch. That ain’t never been a secret.”
I thought really carefully about how I was going to work what I was about to say next. “It’s more than that. Granny ... Ah think we need to tell Apple Bloom that this farm just can’t support a third pony workin’ it.”
My grandmother’s eyes widened. “What nonsense are ya talking about?”
I shrank back a little bit from her. We knew from the start that this wasn’t a talk Granny was going to want to hear, but it needed saying. “It—it all comes down to acreage. The farm just ain’t big enough for the three of us. We’re buckin’ every tree bare and sellin’ just about everything we put on the market, but we’re only barely keepin’ our heads afloat. Havin’ Apple Bloom around ain’t gonna help anythin’.”
“The math don’t add up.” Big Mac stepped over to stand next to me, and I felt reassured by his gentle presence.
Granny’s look of bewilderment slowly turned into a fierce scowl. “Ah can’t believe Ah’m hearin’ this. Ya two should be ashamed of yourselves. Ya two are talkin’ about abandonin’ yer little sister and leavin’ her in the cold, aren’t ya?”
“That ain’t what we’re sayin’!” I had to take a moment to calm myself. Granny’s reaction wasn’t a surprise. This was a family farm, and Apple Bloom was part of the family. What I was trying to explain to her wasn’t easy for anypony. “Ah want mah sister to know how things stand with the farm. She deserves to know what her expectations should be if she wants to be a farmer.”
Granny prodded me in the chest with a hoof. “What do ya mean ‘if?’ Of course she wants to be a farmer! She’s an Apple, and Apples are apple buckers through and through.”
Arguing wasn’t going to help anypony, and certainly not my little sis. So I worked to keep my voice firm but reasonable for my granny. “Now Apple Bloom don’t have to be an apple bucker if she don’t want to.”
Granny snorted derisively. “Of course she wants to be an apple bucker! What got it into yer head otherwise?”
“We didn’t want her to feel tied down to the farm if she didn’t want to be. Especially given how hard strapped the farm is.” I looked away from the fierce glare Granny was giving me. “And she has the right to be whatever she wants to be.”
“Which will be a farmer unless you two”—she gave the two of us an accusatory sneer—“get it into her head that she ain’t welcome on her own family’s farm.” I opened my mouth to say something, but Granny put a hoof to my muzzle. “Not another word. Now let me set ya straight: this farm has supported four generations of Apples, and Ah’m not about to see that change on mah watch. Especially not with mah youngest granddaughter. Ah’m not gonna see her workin’ as some poor laborer on another pony farm. We’re Apples, and we have our pride, if nothin’ else.”
I pushed Granny’s hoof from my muzzle. She might be my grandmother, but she was really pushing my buttons now. I didn’t like the insinuation that I didn’t care about my sister’s future. “Ain’t ya listenin’ to me?! Another pony workin’ this farm ain’t gonna help worth a gosh darn bit.”
“All Ah’m hearin’ is the talk of a quitter.” She waved a hoof in Big Mac’s direction. “Or the silence of a quitter. So tell me, Big Mac, did ya sister browbeat ya into agreeing with her, or was this yer foolish idea to tell yer sister she ain’t welcome on the farm?”
Big Mac scowled down at Granny, looking about as angry as I’ve ever seen him, and he took a step closer to me. “We both decided.”
Granny went into a coughing fit. I instinctually stepped up to help her but she waved me off. “So yer both quitters. If ya both really care about Apple Bloom, then ya’ll buckle down and get some work done. Ya know, earn some bits, expand the farm, use them heads on them there shoulders of yours.”
My brother ground his hoof on the floor. “Ain’t that easy.”
I walked to a nearby window to look outside. Bucking a few apple trees was looking mighty tempting next to an argument with Granny that was tearing me up inside. “The two of us have already looked at what options were available to us, and nothing turned up. We even went to a couple’a banks to see if we could maybe get a loan to buy up some more land, but nopony would give us the time of day with all the debt we’re already under.”
Granny blinked at that. “And how long have ya two been talkin’ about this behind mah back? Behind yer sister’s back? When were ya plannin’ on telling me yer were trying to take out another loan for the farm?”
My ears fell against my head. That accusation hurt enough to take all the wind out of my sails. It was true that the two of us had been kinda shady about this business. But Big Mac and I wanted to know for certain what we could do for our little sis before we brought this up to the rest of the family. Especially Apple Bloom. Still didn’t change the fact Big Mac and I had been talking about this for a while now.
“We’re tellin’ ya now, Granny.” That sounded lame even to my own ears.
Granny’s uncompromising glare didn’t waver for a second. “Ya should have told me sooner.” She shook her head and her tone sounded disappointed. It was the disappointment that hurt the most. “Ah can’t believe ya went behind mah back over this.”
“It’s not like we wanted to, or meant to hurt ya,” I explained.
Big Mac nodded, not meeting Granny in the eyes either. “Eeeyup.”
Granny Smith’s ears wilted. “Well ya did.”
I turned back to Granny and felt like a little filly being scolded by her mother after she’d been caught doing something mighty foolish. “Just let us explain. What we were thinking was—” I stopped when I caught a light yellow colored movement out of the corner of my eye and saw the last pony I wanted seeing her family arguing with one another.
“Apple Bloom, why aren’t ya at school?” I must’ve sounded angrier than I meant, because Apple Bloom flinched at my voice.
With a second look, I could tell something was wrong with her. Her eyes had a puffiness about them that told me that she had been crying. The saddlebag that had the hole that Apple Bloom had shown me earlier now had a gaping hole in it—something that caused my guts to twist, and was carrying books and other school supplies in one of her forelegs.
My sister looked down at the ground—avoiding eye contact with us. “A-Ah was goin’ when Ah ran into Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They were pickin’ on me an’ then they got really mean an’ tore the hole open further an’ all mah stuff fell into the dirt, an’-an’-an’—”
I wrapped my little sis in a hug. She had started shaking when she went about telling us what happened, and looked like she was about to fall apart. So I pulled her to my chest and gently shushed her. “It’s alright, Apple Bloom. It’s j-just a saddlebag. Ain’t no big deal.” I stroked her mane lovingly.
I couldn’t say I was thrilled that Apple Bloom hadn’t toughed it out and gone to school, but from what my sister had said, those bullies had really laid into her.
Apple Bloom’s lips quivered as she looked up to me. “I-is what y-ya said true?”
My heart clenched. This was not how I wanted her to learn about what we had been discussing. “How much did ya hear?”
Her ears flattened to her head. “I d-didn’t mean to listen in. Ah was just runnin’ home when—”
“Apple Bloom,” I said, cutting her off. We would need to talk about her needing to go to school and everything else, but we needed to deal with something else right now. “Ah’m not mad. Ah just want to know what ya heard.”
Big Mac placed a large, comforting hoof on our sister’s shoulder. There had always been a gentle strength about my brother, and it showed itself here. “It’s okay.”
Apple Bloom looked at the floor, and I could feel her reluctance. “Is it true that ya don’t want me on the farm?”
It felt like Apple Bloom had stabbed me in the heart with a cold knife with her words. I was quick to tell her the truth. “No! It ain’t nothing like that.”
Big Mac gave his little sis a rub to the back intended to make her feel better. “Eenope!”
She looked me in the face with pleading eyes. “Then what are ya talkin’ about how Ah’m not gonna be able to work on the farm?”
I thought over my words carefully. It would have been a lot better if I would have had some time to think this through instead of having to rush through explaining some pretty important things to my little sister. This was her, and ours for that matter, future. “Now Ah need ya to listen to me: the first thing Ah want to say is that we all love ya, and nothin’ ain’t ever gonna change that. But what Ah’m gonna explain to ya is some pretty important stuff that ya were gonna have to listen to eventually.”
Apple Bloom sniffed. Probably a result of all the crying she had been doing as of late. “Um, okay.”
I guided her to sit down at the table while Big Mac took the damaged school-bags and put them off to the side. I briefly caught a disapproving look that Granny was giving me while I sat down next to my sister. She was gonna work her way into this conversation in a way I wasn’t going to like, but I couldn’t think of a thing to do about it. Asking her to leave was going to make her madder than a riled-up hornets’ nest, and I couldn’t put off this talk with Apple Bloom now that we had gotten this far. All I could think to do was keep going and hope for the best.
I placed my hoof on Apple Bloom’s and gave it a squeeze with my fetlock. “So ya have probably figured out that our farm ain’t as big as some of the others around Ponyville, right?” She gave me a nod of her head that told me that she was listening and so I kept going. “Well the fact of the matter is that ya need so many acres to support a pony. And given ours ain’t so big, it can’t really support many ponies.”
My train of thought was interrupted when Granny Smith slammed a hoof down on the table. “Now that’s just a bunch of hooey. As Ah told your brother and sister, this farm has supported generations of yer kin, and it can do the same for ya.”
I could feel my temper slipping with Granny’s interruption. “Granny, now Ah’m tryin’ to explain to Apple Bloom how it is.”
Granny didn’t back down an inch as she kept right on barreling over me. “There ain’t nothin’ to it. Yer fillin’ your sister’s head with garbage that she ain’t wanted.”
I ground my teeth as I bit back the first thing I wanted to tell my granny. “Ah don’t think there’s anythin’ wrong with tellin’ mah sister that we’ll be proud of her no matter what she decides to be.”
Granny nodded firmly “Well that’s good, because she’s gonna be an apple bucker just like every other Apple. Like she’s supposed to be.”
“Unless she doesn’t want to be,” I shot back.
“Of course she does!” Granny let out a couple dry wheezes before catching her breath again. “Tell’em, Apple Bloom. Talk some sense into yer siblings.”
Apple Bloom head turned back and forth between me and Granny Smith, and she looked like she wanted to shrink under the table now that her granny had put her on the spot. I could hardly believe that Granny had pulled Apple Bloom into the argument like that. About the worst thing you could do to a kid was put them in the middle of an argument between her guardians. Taking a hint from our own parents, Big Mac and I had always taken any major disagreements we had, especially where Apple Bloom was concerned, beyond where she would have to listen to it.
I slammed both my forehooves on the table. “Now don’t ya drag her into the middle of this like that!”
Granny didn’t even flinch at my reaction. “Ya dragged her into it when ya came up with this nonsense. Ya should be the one ashamed of yerself.”
“Ah ain’t ashamed of nothin’.” I made a cutting motion in the air with a hoof. “Least of all lookin’ out for mah sister’s future.”
Big Macintosh put a hoof on Apple Bloom’s shoulder to get her attention. “Ah think it’s ‘bout time ya went to yer room fer a little bit. Come on.”
Apple Bloom moved with him to leave, but immediately drew the ire of Granny. “Now where do ya think ya’re slinkin’ off to?”
Big Mac stepped between Apple Bloom and the rest of us—looking as though he were shielding her from the argument. Apple Bloom, for her part, kept her head down and seemed to be trying really hard not to be noticed. The part of my head that wasn’t occupied being furious with Granny flinched at that. Could this have gone any worse?
“She don’t need to hear this,” Big Mac said plainly.
Granny stomped a hoof. “Not before she answers mah question, she ain’t.”
“Eenope.” He nudged Apple Bloom to get her moving again.
Frankly, I would have been more than happy if Big Mac had pulled Apple Bloom out of there while I took the time to set Granny straight. But Granny was digging in her hooves now, and she wasn’t gonna let it end there. She moved to keep my brother and sister from leaving the kitchen, but I was a mite bit younger and sprier than her, and I headed her off.
I stuck my face right in hers. I couldn’t think of a time I had stood up to Granny like this, but this whole thing had sent my blood a’boiling. “You and I are havin’ a talk, Granny. Right here an’ now!
“Where do ya get off—” Granny was cut off by a hack. “Ya don’t to just—” She stopped again as she went into a coughing fit.
The anger melted from me as concern took over. “Granny?” I stepped next to her as she kept hacking and I helped her to sit down. “Granny, are ya alright?” I exchanged a worried look with Big Mac while Apple Bloom watched with trepidation.
“C-can’t bre—” Whatever Granny had been trying to say was stopped by more coughing. She was hardly getting a breath in and it was really starting to scare me. I held her, feeling helpless as her hacking didn’t stop.
I looked to my brother. “Big Mac—”
He cut me off with a “Yup!” and darted outside, reading my mind to get the cart so that we could take Granny to the hospital.
I turned back just in time to see her start to fall to the floor. I barely grabbed her in time to cushion the fall, and my heart now raced as I fought down the urge to panic. I knew I should have told Apple Bloom to do something, but I couldn’t think of what as she just stood there wide eyed.
Granny kept hacking as I held her. “Granny! Granny, stay with me here.” She didn’t react to my pleas. I held my hoof to her forehead—unable to think of anything else to do until Big Mac got back—and found her to be burning up. My eyes blurred at the stupidest time and I had to waste time wiping at them so I could see.
I felt her fading quickly in my hooves, and I watched as her eyes closed. I shouted her name, time and time again, but not once did she respond. Her breathing grew faint, and all I could do was sit there and hold her, waiting for my brother to come back.
What else could I do?
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Jeez, Poni, one chapter in and you're setting the stage for a world of pain for poor AJ.
I can't tell you how proud I am of you.
Solid start! Here's looking forward to more.
Well, that's a good way to cause Applejack a ton of pain. And it looks liket things are only going to get worse as the story goes.
Oh dis gon b gud!
.
..
....
In a sad way
Sounds like there's a lot of hardship going around: the farm's in debt, and things are decaying around the apple family. It seems they have no real source of financial assistance, AJ's alienated a lot of potential help, parts of the farm seem to have been sold off to the neighboring Carrot family (who are selling the apples from the trees that came with, instead of replanting), and the dark cloud around things isn't helping.
The Apple Family's pride will drag them toward the event horizon and once passed, things will only get worse before they get better.
Next chapter's forecast: mostly cloudy with a chance of feels.
hashbrowns were done, I pull them (tense correction needed)
Well, had to read it 'cuz I'm a fan of your work, but I'm a draft's worth of revisions away from posting a story with enough similarities to this one that I really just want to bang my head on the wall for a week now.
a applejack rarity shipping? ....... hoping it is a falling out and not a case of get da bitch outta here itus.
.............. overall the story is shaping up good. damn good I would say. though why in the world would anyone buy from flim and flam after what they pulled? seems they are also well known conmen in equestria so anyone buying a product produced by them would be unlikely........ not to mention anyone associated with them would be alienated too.
other than that the set up is pretty good.................
though I might add. supportive friends, and the god dman monarchs of equestria. their friends would try to help best they can. hell its rainbow dash who is in charge of the weather after all.
......... even if they cannot keep the farm, they would never starve or be homeless. Celestia would not permit one of the mares that saved her sister to suffer......... though they would probably not want to get luna involved. her solution might be to destroy carrot tops farm and send her to an asylum or something as a solution or something.
I always have that come to my mind every time I see a story like this. in this case the thought far from ruins the story it still kinda lingers. would celestia knowingly let one of the mane si to be destitute?
4059997
This is a very distant alternate universe, in fact we can't be sure the Elements are around at all, or if Princess Luna has been redeemed. For example: Raindrops is running the weather in Ponyville and Fluttershy isn't the local animal caretaker.
In short, Applejack doesn't have many friends, and she's chased away any help.
4060233 that seems a little.......... contrived. it is far from made clear that this is even a universe where the mane six either never or have not yet formed........''
not to mention the complifcations to follow that. why did they not gather together? if they did not join together then what happened to nightmare moon? how can you even eplain those circusmtances when there is no way applejack would even be aware of ngithmare moon?
4059997
This sounds like Applejack's side of the story that began in "Winning Pony: Road Not Taken," which would mean that Fluttershy and Cloud Kicker are married and living in either Cloudsdale or Canterlot. The story focuses more on Rainbow Dash and Rarity, and doesn't mention what happened to Twilight or Pinkie Pie...
This story could be the answer to some of the questions raised there.
4060362
Well this story shares it's alt universe with Road not Taken where you can get Rarity's take on the whole situation. There, as here, the elements are not mentioned and haven't been taken up by Dash, Rarity, or Fluttershy.
The year isn't clear either, so it might be before Mightmare Moon's return, but in both cases the authors haven't elaborated because those events don't have any hold on these particular stories. My personal theory is that the elements are still dormant, and if Nightmare has returned then she likely hasn't been cured and may simply have been imprisoned instead while Celestia searches for a solution.
Heck, I might end up writing that one myself.
4060233 4060362 4060382
As pointed out, this is a Alternate Universe story, and is related to Chengar Qordath's "Road Not Taken" story. The mane six have not gotten together in a recognizable fashion due to some AU shenanigans. Some of lordofmyth's questions might be handled in future stories, but this one right here is focusing on Applejack and her struggles.
4060406 I never found the alternate universe tag very reliable. if you think about any fanfiction is alternate universe. it is events occurring that do not happen in the series in any form.
we will have to see I guess. it might have helped if you gave a few details on what makes it an alternate world to begin with though. I was thinking that it was based on the series world coming in after all.
This is so DEPRESSING.
Really looking forward to seeing how it goes from here.
Come back to the non-sad tag side Ponibus.
The deadderpyverse is enough sad for the entire rest of the winningverse, no need for you to go there too.
4059635
I shoulda known you'd have your hands in this mess!
Great start here, Poni!
4059990 My advice? Just go for it. There is no truly unique idea at this point, it's just a matter of what you do with it and how.
4059933 I think at this point, they're already passed the event horizon. Although the implication of event horizon is that it's no longer possible to come back.
Seriously, reading this, all I can see is how bleak the Apple's situation is with no foreseeable way out, you've really captured that. Now, I do look forward to what you do next. Offer them a way out? Perhaps through Twilight (who has conspicuously not been mentioned at all yet in this alt universe)? Kick them even more while they're down?
In any case, nothing short of a miracle will bring them out of the gutter they've fallen into. But that's what stories are about, aren't they?
Now I am picturing an absolutely at the end of her rope AJ being found by Rarity (and Rainbow, as it happens).
Cue very tearful reunion.
Also, not cool Raindrops. You very thoroughly deserve to lose your job for this.
Welp, this is definitely the darkest timeline as far as AJ is concerned. Funny how the universe works. In a world where Cloud and Shy are happy, so many others aren't.
Poni, you heartless bastard. I salute you!
........... here is another unfortunate problem i just realized. they would have lsot the farm from flim and flam to begin with if they were part of the story.
the only reason they could match the machine was because aj's friends helped, and they only loss then because it forced flim and flam to ignore quality, and likely health protocols, in order to make up the loss they were getting.
this is a pretty good story but flim and flam is jsut to oquestionable a part to it.
4063494 well, since it's an AU it's possible that event went differently than canon. The beauty, in my opinion, of alternate universes is that any number of things could go differently and change the final outcome of the universe created.
4064022
Indeed. The whole point of an alternate universe is that it's not canon.
4059990
Thanks for catching that.
And feel free to post whatever fic you wrote. As long as the work is your own and contains your own ideas, you'll be fine.
4061386
I just want to write one sad story! Just one to show I can do it!
4063044
Clearly the key to everypony else's happiness is for Cloud to be sad.
Good God... Life has really been taking a nail studded bat to AJ and her family, huh? Mind if I ask about her clan? Kind of seems odd that family would bail on her like that.
Love it so far, by the by^^
Okay... Seeing as it's you, Ponibus, you have my interest enough to see what happens next.
By the by, I caught a word-confusion misuse - which is a rarity (ahaha) for you. (It's so unusual in your work it leaped out at me.)
"Silence hanged between us for a tense moment." Should be "hung."
As I've heard it said, meat is hung but only men are hanged.
(I.e. "hanged" is only valid as the past participle when referring to the method of execution.)
Un...less... Unless... Silence was a pony or one of the farm animals or something. I mean, I know you have gone to the Sad Side of the Force, but that may be taking it a touch too far... That would be simultaneously extremely dark... and extremely hilarious.
Oh dear, I'm not going to be able to not picture that now; AJ and Rarity staring at each other, plates frozen around them, in a deep and meaningful subtext-laden moment...completely ignoring the random dead pony Silence just sort of swinging between them...
I'm sorry [1]. I'll just go now...
[1] This is a lie.
An Applejack story will always have my attention, but one written by Ponibus? Color me interested!
1. I wish old people would listen to reason
The other generations had more family to work. Right now, the work of two ponies has to feed five mouths and a number of livestock. They could work 24/7 and it probably still wouldn't be enough. And AB can do anything she wants. I'm actually working on a one shot about a pony whose profession is legally changing pony names.
2. I've been forced into a conversation kinda including me so I feel you pain AB and your protectiveness AJ
3. I'm not sure how long the Apple farm can go on.....
4. Favorite, Like, and Love
I like! One thing, though.
I believe the words are "mite" and "sprier."
Other than that, loved it! Looking forward to more of this.
4066573
Thanks for catching that, fixed.
4066442
I'm going to say that their family hasn't bailed on them so much that Applejack and the others are a bit too stubborn to accept a handout. It'll be covered a bit more in future chapters, but they have been offered labor jobs on other farms to help them out financially.
4070349
Yep, I had to wrong words, so fixed.
4071470
I think you got the responses to mine and Ebony Gryphon's quotes mixed up.
(Which I'm only saying so that nobody else gets confused...)
4071733
You are correct. What I get for quickly trying to type up replies while also doing edits.
4071470
Okay... I'm a little slow, so please correct if I'm wrong... Going to her clan, her family, is seen as a handout... but shaking down her old lady every once in a while for the bits to replace lost seeds or a new irrigation system... isn't.
AJ's a putz....
4071829
There's a bit of a difference between asking your spouse for some money and asking your cousins, aunts, and uncles for some cash. After all, you tend to see yourself as more closely tied to your spouse than you would your cousins. Given those that are married tend to live together and pay the same bills. While you would have few to no financial ties with your cousins.
Hmmm a fic where applejacks life is going to shit.
ing it