It'll Get Better
When Better Days Are Past
Chapter 2: It’ll Get Better
I don’t like the hospital. Nothing feels right about it. It’s just so sterile and lifeless. It all seems too clean for what you know happens there. Everypony is either sick, injured, or waiting on somepony who is.
Ponies don’t really go to the hospital unless something bad happened. Probably why I never liked being there. Usually when I was there it was because my brother or I had a cracked hoof, or a serious cut. Good as it got was when I took Apple Bloom in for one of her regular checkups. Then there were days like today. The worst type of days.
We’d all run Granny Smith to the hospital quick as we could, and it all felt like a blur now as we sat waiting in the lobby. I remembered carefully putting a limp Granny into the back of the cart with Apple Bloom, hitching myself up next to Mac, and sprinting for the hospital like a bat out of Tartarus. I'd never run faster in my life, but even then I had trouble keeping up with my brother’s long strides. When we arrived I could barely explain what happened between breaths as nurses ran out to help. Granny hadn't stirred an inch since we left.
Then came what had to be the worst part: the waiting. I hated waiting. It was probably the Apple in me, but when there was work to be done, you got to it. I knew the doctors were doing something back there, and it felt like there was something I should be doing too. I didn’t know what, but there had to be something better than sitting around fretting and worrying, just waiting for news on how Granny was doing.
I snapped to attention every time I saw the doors to the back open up. I had nothing but bad memories of this place. After all, I'd once had bad news about kin here before.
I looked to my right and saw Apple Bloom curled up in her brother’s forelegs. Given how Big Mac was holding her to his chest, I wasn’t sure who was getting more comfort out of the embrace. It was clear that he was trying to be strong for her, but I saw the way my big brother’s weary eyes turned towards those doors just as often as mine did. I was a bit jealous of the two of them, but I just couldn’t bring myself to ask to hold Apple Bloom for a bit. If my little sis needed her big brother right now, then that’s all there was to it.
“Applejack?” I jumped a bit at the sound of Apple Bloom’s voice. We’d been sitting there silent for so long that I’d been almost completely lost in thought.
I recovered and looked my sister in the eyes. She looked the worse for wear given she was covered with a pretty good coat of dirt from the wagon ride, and her bow had become loose. From her matted fur under her eyes, it was pretty obvious that she’d been crying. Resisting the urge to fuss over her and clean her up, I asked, “What is it, Apple Bloom?”
She fidgeted in her brother’s legs. “Can we talk about that stuff for the farm? Ya know, what you were talkin’ about before.”
I broke eye contact at the question. Talking about the farm really wasn’t something I wanted to do at that moment. Not after the argument with Granny. But Apple Bloom just sat there, looking up at me, her big sister. I could see the desperate need for answers in her eyes. She’d probably been thinking over the argument the entire time we’d been sitting here. That had been ... I looked at the clock and saw that more than a couple of hours had passed. Had it already been that long? How can two hours feel both like an eternity and no time at all?
Anyways, my sister deserved an explanation. I wasn’t thrilled that she had overheard our argument that she wasn’t supposed to hear, but she had, and there wasn’t any way to turn back the clock. We were gonna have this talk sooner or later, so might as well get it out of the way. At least we’d be able to get our minds off Granny for a bit.
I looked to Big Macintosh to see what he thought and he gave a nod of agreement. No time like the present then...
I reached out a leg to wrap about Apple Bloom’s shoulders, Big Mac letting her shift so that she could sit between the two of us. “Here’s how it is. Ya know that the farm is going through a bit of a rough patch, right?”
Apple Bloom didn’t meet my gaze as she gave the barest of nods. “Yeah, it’s why ya can’t buy me new saddlebags.”
“That’s right.” My jaw clenched at the reminder of my sister’s ruined saddlebags. I think I might have some words for the parents of those bullies who gave Apple Bloom such a hard time. “The fact of the matter is that the farm’s only big enough for so many ponies to work. It’s pretty tight as is with just me and Big Mac, and there isn’t much sense in having three ponies working such a small plot of land.”
“Oh...” Apple Bloom wrung at her hooves, not looking at either me or Big Mac. “So does that mean Ah’m not gonna be able to stay with you two and Granny?”
I waved my hoof in the negative. “That’s not what Ah’m sayin’.” I pulled Apple Bloom against me to give her a comforting squeeze. “Nothing’s set in stone yet. Whatever ya want to be, we’ll stand behind ya one hundred percent. As long as yer doin’ an honest day’s work to make a livin’, we’ll be proud of ya.”
Big Mac put a hoof on Apple Bloom’s back and gave her a brotherly smile. “Eeyup. We just want ya to be happy.”
Apple Bloom puckered her lips as she thought that over. “But what if Ah get a cutie mark for apple buckin’ and Ah want to be an apple bucker?”
“Then we’ll look at our options.” I tipped up my hat as I rubbed at the side of my head, trying to recall all the ideas Big Mac and I came up with. “If need be, we’ll do somethin’ like take turns runnin’ Sweet Apple Acres. Some of our kin are always lookin’ for help on their farms. Cousin Braeburn’s always askin’ for help out west. Ya remember how last year Big Mac and Ah switched off goin’ to Appleloosa to help your cousin set his farm up?”
“Uh-huh.” The shadow of a smile crept onto Apple Bloom’s face. “He’s pretty goofy.”
I ruffled my little sister’s mane, and I smiled through the ache in my heart. “Yeah, little bit.”
Braeburn was a bit of an odd pony. He had a good heart, and infectious grin, but some of us thought he was a bit nuts moving all the way out west to start up a farm in the middle of nowhere, but it looked like he had carved out a niche for himself out in Appleloosa.
Those doors opened again as a doctor entered the lobby. Our heads snapped towards the door and I felt my heart clench. I wondered if we were about to get news on Granny, but I was disappointed as he turned to talk to some other ponies in the lobby. I sighed and turned back to Apple Bloom. “But mah point is that while Ah don’t like the idea of workin’ on somepony else’s farm, we’ll do what we have to. And at least that way it would be working for our kin instead of just somepony we hardly know.”
“Why don’t we, you know, get a bigger farm? Buy some more acres?” Apple Bloom looked between the two of us with worried eyes. “That’d fix everything, right? We’d have more land to farm and earn more money and everything.”
She turned a page for the farm’s account books. A worried frown creased her lips. “And how much would more land cost?”
I felt something in me sink. “It ain’t quite that easy. Thing is ... we just don’t have the bits. We’ve tried to save up some bits to do just that, but every time we do, somethin’ always seems to come up. Usually it was somethin’ that broke and we had to pay to get it fixed or replaced. Or that year some of the trees got sick. And just like that, there went all our savings.”
There were a lot of things we would have liked to save up for. We had almost saved up enough to have Granny’s rickety old hip replaced, but when that storm came in from the Everfree Forest it really messed up the farm. It sure would have been nice to help Granny in her twilight years. Especially since the farm was the reason she had a bum hip in the first place. Apple bucking could be hard on a pony.
I watched my little sister’s spirits sag as her ears wilted. “Oh...” She leaned against me and nuzzled my chest. “How about a loan? I overheard some other farmers talkin’ about gettin’ a loan so they can get a bigger farm.”
Big Mac’s ear twitched. “Can’t get a loan for that.”
“Why not?” Apple Bloom said in a whine.
I told her how much we owed the bank.
She blinked. “Applejack, that’s far too much.”
“Because the banks won’t loan us any more money,” I said, a bit more harshly than I intended. Taking a moment to calm myself, I continued. “We’ve already taken out all the loans we can to keep the farm runnin’.”
Things had gotten rough at Sweet Apple Acres after—when Big Mac and I had to take over the farm. In all honesty, we were just too darn young to do it on our own. Big Macintosh wasn’t even fully grown at the time, and I was too small to help with things like plowing fields, pulling stumps, or any of the really hard work. Not to mention Granny was no spring chicken anymore. It hadn’t exactly helped when I up and ran off to Manehatten for a while either.
The farm had lost a lot of money back then.We were already under a mite bit of debt, but that really made things ugly.
I could see the gears in Apple Bloom’s head turn—probably trying to think of some way to help save the farm. I could sympathize. I’d spent more than one night wide awake, just thinking of what we could do to get out of the red. Those were long nights.
Apple Bloom grabbed onto one of my legs and her eyes pleaded with me. “Ain’t there anythin’ we can do? There has to be somethin’ that’ll make things better.”
“We’re workin’ on it.” I stroked her mane to try and comfort her. “It might just take some time to turn things around.”
Big Mac gave Apple Bloom’s shoulder a squeeze. “We’ll make it work, one way or another.”
“I hope so.” Apple Bloom hugged my leg again, and I drew her to my chest. I waited for my sister to ask more questions, but all the fight seemed to have gone out of her and she kept right on hugging me. Not surprising, given the long day she’d just gone through. I was pretty drained myself. Why did life have to be so darn complicated when all I wanted to do was farm my fields?
I was considering asking Apple Bloom if she had anything else we could help clear up, when I noticed the doors to the back swing open again. One of the hospital’s doctors stepped through and walked our way. My heart started to beat faster as he approached.
I exchanged a look with my brother, and he must have read my mind as he turned to our sister. “Come on, Apple Bloom. Let’s see if there’s anythin’ to eat in the cafeteria.” I wanted either myself or Big Mac to get the news before Apple Bloom did. If it was bad, then she should hear it from family, and not from some pony she’d never met before, not in a place like this. My brother and I learned that the hard way.
Big Macintosh reached down to help her up, but she clutched at me all the harder. “Ah don’t wanna go yet,” she protested. “Ah wanna see Granny. Ah wanna know she’s okay.”
“Go with yer big brother, Apple Bloom.” It hurt to do it, but I gently pried my sister away towards Big Mac. “Ah just need to talk to the doctor first, and then we’ll see if they’ll let us visit Granny.” I tried to think of something to make Apple Bloom feel like I wasn’t just pushing her away. “Maybe ya could buy her some flowers at the gift shop? Ah’m sure Granny would appreciate that.”
“Granny would want ya to get somethin’ to eat too,” Big Mac said, wrapping one of his big legs around Apple Bloom. “Yer a growing filly, ya know.” It felt wrong manipulating Apple Bloom like that, but I really didn’t want her there when the doctor started laying everything out.
Apple Bloom let her big brother pull her close and gave a short nod. “Okay.” It hurt seeing her so dejected, but there wasn’t much to be done for it at the moment.
I got the sense that the doctor had taken his time walking his way over to us. Probably waiting for us to finish before talking to me. Wasn’t hard to guess that he’d probably seen this type of thing a hundred times over.
The brown-coated unicorn looked about what you’d expect a doctor to look like. Clean looking in his white coat, studious, and carrying himself professionally. He stepped up to me and offered a hoof. “Are you family to Granny Smith?”
“Yeah, Ah’m her granddaughter.” I took his hoof and shook it. “Name’s Applejack.”
He nodded deservedly. “I’m Doctor Feelgood, your grandmother’s physician. And I’m in charge of her treatment.”
The introductions only served to make me more unsettled. I was so nervous it felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. It was all I could do to keep myself from shaking. “How is she, Doc?”
Adjusting his glasses, Doctor Feelgood levitated up a clipboard to look at. “We managed to stabilize her, and she’s currently resting.” I felt some of the tension in my body release as my worst fear was put to rest, at least for the moment. “It seems that she’s suffering from a case of acute bronchitis. We’ve put her on oxygen to help her breathe, given her some steroids to strengthen her lungs, and hooked her up to an IV to help keep her hydrated.”
It didn’t sound so great that Granny needed all that, but I just had to trust that the doctors knew what they were doing.
His eyes turned up from his clipboard to look at me. “Has she been dealing with a cough for a significant period of time?”
“Um, for the past couple of weeks, yeah.” I rubbed at my upper foreleg, not liking the idea that I may have ignored my granny’s health. Could we have avoided all this had we just talked Granny into going to the hospital? I doubted I could have convinced her in the first place. She never liked the hospital much. Confronting her about it probably would have just led to her digging in her hooves. Even getting her to come in for a checkup could be a chore. Why did she always have to be so stubborn all the time?
The doctor muttered to himself as he wrote something on his clipboard with a pen. “Has she also had a fever?”
“Ah don’t really know. She said she was fine when I asked.” That excuse sounded weak even to me, and I could feel the disapproval in the doctor’s tone as he answered.
“Your grandmother is reaching an age where she needs to be more careful with her health.” He flipped through a couple pages on his clipboard before finding the one he was looking for. “She was warned during her last checkup that she needs to slow down more. A mare her age doesn’t have the energy she used to, which can leave her vulnerable to diseases like this.”
I had to agree with the doctor, up to a point. Granny really needed to do more to take care of herself, especially after what happened today. Shame that trying to herd Granny around was about as effective as talking to a brick wall. It didn’t make things any easier when we really needed her help making baked goods to sell on the market. Selling ponies things like apple fritters, tarts, and pies did a lot to boost our profits. Big Mac and I weren’t slouches in the kitchen, but it was Granny who taught us everythin' we knew. Put down a couple apple pies made made by Granny, and ponies would be able to tell the difference. I couldn’t help but feel like I was playing second fiddle whenever I helped her in the kitchen.
So that put us in a bit of a pickle. If Granny did less cooking, then it was going to hurt our bottom line. Not to mention that me and Big Mac baking would take time away from working the fields and selling in the market.
And what was I thinking? I was balancing bits against the health of my own granny! That didn’t sit well with me, not at all. Made me feel more than a little guilty. I needed to get my priorities straight, and fast.
“I’ll make sure to talk to her about it, Doc,” I said. “We’ll work on it.”
The doctor held me with a stern look, long enough to make me uncomfortable, before nodding. “See that you do, for her sake.”
I didn’t much like Doctor Feelgood chiding me over what I needed to do with my granny, so I decided to move onto things a bit more important at the moment. We’d talk to Granny about slowing down when she came home again, but right now she needed her family. “Can we see her?”
“Of course,” he answered. “Though I’d like you to keep the visit short. Right now rest is really important for her recovery, but seeing her family should do her some good too.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that news. From the state she’d been in when we’d arrived, just seeing that Granny was alright would mean the world to me. Not to mention Big Mac and Apple Bloom. We might not be able to see her long, but it was far better than not at all. “Thanks. Where’s her room at?”
He gave me the directions along with the normal visiting hours for future visits. “Did you have any other questions?”
I rubbed at the back of my neck, feeling the strain of the last few hours there. I knew there was probably something I should be asking the doctor, but I couldn’t think anything else. Frankly, I was distracted by the idea of seeing Granny, and making sure she was alright. “Nah, I can’t think of anything right now.”
“Alright then. If you have any questions, just ask one of the nurses at the desk.”
“Thanks for everything, Doc.”
“Of course.” We made our final farewells and the doctor went back through the doors he had come from.
I didn’t want to keep Granny waiting, so I went looking for my siblings. It didn’t take me long to find them in the cafeteria. The two of them were sitting at one of the tables opposite of one another. Apple Bloom was slowly poking at the food on her tray, and Big Mac, for his part, was sitting over a half eaten sandwich and absent mindedly sipping at a carton of juice. From the looks of it, neither one of them was particularly hungry. Couldn’t blame them. My own stomach was in such a knot that I could barely even think about eating.
Apple Bloom was the first one to see me and all but leapt from her seat at the table. She knocked me back a step when she tackled me with a hug and words flowed out of her mouth. “Is Granny okay? Where is she? What’s wrong with her? Can we see her?”
“Whoa nelly.” I had to push Apple Bloom back a bit to help settle her down. “Granny’s fine, the doctors are helpin’ her, and we can go see her when you two are done eatin’ here.”
Apple Bloom looked like she was about to shoot off like a rocket the moment I pointed in a direction. “Ah wanna see her right now. Ah’m not hungry.”
Big Mac stood up from the table. “Eeyup.”
“Alright, just pack up yer food for later.” I didn’t see much sense wasting bits paid for perfectly good food.
Apple Bloom impatiently pulled on my leg. “But Ah wanna see Granny now! And we don’t have anythin’ to put it all in anyways.”
I felt a twinge of annoyance at my sister’s wastefulness. “Now Ah’m sure the ponies here have a bag or something we could put that in.”
Big Mac stepped up to speak quietly to me so Apple Bloom couldn’t easily hear. “She’s been waiting to see Granny for hours. Forget the food.”
I had to fight down the urge to argue against my brother. That wasn’t the type of thing Apple Bloom needed to listen to right now of all times. And my heart softened when I saw her looking up at me with those orange eyes of hers. Right, priorities.
“Alright, let’s get goin’ then. Follow me.” I led my siblings towards Granny’s room.
It was pretty much what you expect out of a hospital room: tiled flooring, plain blue walls, and a bed with a nightstand next to it. Or at least it’s what I had come to think of what a hospital room should look like. Ponyville Hospital had been the only one I had ever been to, really.
Granny was lying in one of the two beds in the room. Like the doctor had said, she had one of those IV things sticking out of her leg and a small hose running from a tank of oxygen to her nose. Looking at her, she just looked tired. Her eyes were sunken and her chest rose and fell slowly as she lay there. She looked pretty pitiful, and it hurt to see her like that. Granny had always been such a pillar in our lives, and now she had been reduced to this. Why did we have to get into that stupid argument that got her here? And why couldn’t she have been less stubborn and let us take her to the hospital before it got this bad? It didn’t have to be this way—yet here we were.
Apple Bloom gave a cry as she ran to Granny’s side and nuzzled her. “Ah was so worried! We ran here as fast as we could, and you were coughing, and we waited and waited, and all I wanted to do was see you!”
Granny chuckled, only to start coughing again. I grimaced and began to wonder if I should go get a doctor when she cleared her throat and smiled at us as though nothing was wrong. Big Mac and I gave each other a worried look, but neither of us said anything. She might not have been coughing up a lung like she had been back at the farm, but it was clear she was a long way from healthy.
“Now don't ya worry none, Apple Bloom.” Granny patted her granddaughter on the head. “Your old granny'll be outta here and fit as a fiddle 'fore ya even start missin' me.”
Apple Bloom sniffled and I could tell she was trying her best not to cry for her granny’s sake. I wrapped a leg around my sister’s neck to give her a comforting squeeze. “Ya did give us a bit of a scare,” I said. “Ya’re really gonna need to slow down from here on out.”
Granny Smith snorted. “Now don’t ya go and repeat that nonsense the doctor was goin’ on about. Ah’m gonna be just fine—just ya see.”
There was Granny’s stubbornness kicking in again. Apparently, the doctor had already worked her over, and all that did was cause her to dig her hooves in. Knowing that arguing with her wasn’t likely to make her budge, I gently placed a hoof on her leg. “Granny,” I said cautiously. “Ah—we’re not askin’ ya to stop helpin’ around the farm. We just want ya to cut back on how many chores ya have to do every day.”
Granny’s firm frown didn’t slack any, but her voice softened a bit. “Ah think Ah’m the best one to say what Ah can and can’t do.”
“We just don’t want ya getting sick again.” Big Mac put some flowers in a vase by Granny’s bed and fussed over them. “AJ and I can do most of the stuff ‘round the farm.”
Granny shuffled in her bed and straightened her sheets with a grumble. “And who's gonna do the cookin’ for the stuff we sell at the market? Farm’s gotta make money somehow.”
That caused me to wince. It was hard to deny that Granny’s work made a good chunk of the farm’s profits. Still, I didn’t want a repeat of what happened today. Maybe there was some sort of compromise here? “We can help some more with the cookin’. You’ve been teaching us since we could walk. So we know our way ‘round the kitchen.”
“Ah can help!” Apple Bloom gripped Granny around the leg. “Ah’ll do whatever needs doin’. Ah just want ya to get better and not have to go to the hospital again.”
Granny was about to say something when she started coughing again. Something ripped inside of me watching her doing that until she stopped and leaned back down onto the bed. “We can talk about it later when Ah’m better.” She settled further into the bed. “Ah’m sorry, but Ah’m a mite bit tuckered out now.”
“That’s alright, Granny.” I helped fluff Granny’s pillow. “We understand.” Part of me felt relieved to see Granny getting ready to rest, even if it meant had to clear out soon.
“But we just got here,” Apple Bloom lamented. She looked up at me with a pair of sad eyes that made me feel like a heel for pulling the two of them apart. But I needed to be strong and sensible so that Granny could get her rest. Sometimes we did things we didn’t want to because we had to.
Big Mac wrapped a leg around Apple Bloom to gently pull her away from the bed. “Come on, Apple Bloom. Yer granny needs to sleep.”
Our little sis looked like she wanted to argue, but instead, she let out a resigned sigh and let her big brother guide her away. “Okay...”
I helped pull Granny’s covers up. I wanted to do something to make her feel better. Anything. “There, ya good there?”
“Ah’ll be fine,” Granny mumbled. “Just you see.”
“Ah know,” I said, desperately hoping it would be true. Life without Granny was something I could hardly imagine. I gave her a peck on the head and watched for a sec as she drifted off. I then followed after my brother and sister. I caught up with them in the main lobby.
Apple Bloom scuffed a hoof on the floor before looking up at the two of us. “We’re gonna be able to visit later, right?”
“Of course,” I told her. I gave her a supportive nuzzle. “We’ll visit her again after school tomorrow, alright?” She murmured in agreement, but it was pretty clear she didn’t have much energy left in her after everything that had happened today. “Let’s go home. You look like you could use a nap, and yer brother and I still have things that need doin’ around the farm.”
Big Mac lifted Apple Bloom onto his back and let out a sad sigh. “Eeyup.”
With that, we made our way back home without Granny.
My alarm clock started ringing an hour sooner than it normally did and I groaned as the stupid thing made its racket. My head pulsed with pain as I struggled between needing to get up and needing to sleep. I had hoped to avoid this by going to sleep half an hour early. Somepony needed to go to the market to sell some apples—especially given nopony had gone to town to sell anything for a couple of days now. And we also had to prepare some other dishes to add to the cart to help make some extra bits. With Granny in the hospital, that came down to me.
Big Macintosh had offered to get up with me to help, but I told him to go ahead and get his rest. No sense the both of us getting up when one pony could do everything. We’d argued a bit back and forth about things like split labor, and the both of us getting up half an hour early, and things like that. But in the end he agreed with my plan. At least for now. We would just have to see how things worked out with Granny. Besides, my brother can get mighty grouchy when he hasn’t had enough sleep. I’d rather get up a bit early by myself than have to deal with that all day.
But I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t regret that decision right at that moment. My early to bed, early to rise plan would have worked a lot better if I had actually gotten to sleep like I’d planned. I didn’t want to think about how long I’d been tossing and turning through the night thinking about Granny and everything I was going to have to do in the morning. As desperately as I wanted—needed to go to sleep, the stupid gears in my head just wouldn’t stop turning.
And now it was time to get up and get to work.
I swatted at the alarm clock until I finally managed to hit it, shutting it up. A pained groan escaped my lips as I fought to stay awake and get moving. When I finally managed to get my eyes open, I saw through blurry eyes that ten minutes had already passed. That wasn’t any good. I moaned and rolled off the bed. My legs nearly gave from fatigue when I hit the floor, and I immediately leaned against the bed for support. Rubbing my hoof at my eyes to try and get the blurriness out of them, I fought to try and get awake.
I found myself sitting back down on the bed, stretching my limbs to get blood flowing in them again. My legs and back popped and cracked until I felt like I could move properly again. Looking at the clock, I saw that twenty minutes had passed since I had woken up.
Shoot, this wasn’t working out at all. There wasn’t much point in getting up early to get some work done if all I was going to do was shuffle around like a zombie. I slapped myself in the face and rubbed my cheeks to try and get my brain to jump-start.
Forcing myself to move, I did my usual morning grooming before heading to the bathroom. That was the one benefit of getting up this early: no competition for the bathroom. Something you became very well aware of living with two siblings and your granny. If I ever got an opportunity to expand the farmhouse, I’d want to add another bathroom. Not something that was likely to happen anytime soon, but a mare could dream.
I finished cleaning up in the bathroom and took a couple of pills to deal with the headache that threatened to pound its way out of my skull. That done, I headed down to the kitchen to start fixing everything I’d need to sell at the market. First though, I started on the one thing that I desperately needed to start the morning: coffee. I saw that the coffee can was getting close to empty and made a mental note to pick up some more in town later while I was at the market.
Wth the coffee on the burner, I went about making everything I would need for the market. Time seemed to fly by in a haze as I got into tempo with my work—even after I got some coffee in me to wake me up. I guess that was one of the benefits of Granny’s training in the kitchen; everything just seemed so automatic as I went about it.
I hardly even noticed Big Mac making his way into the kitchen. “AJ,” he said in simple greeting. Predictably, he made right for the coffee.
“Big Mac,” I said back. I didn’t even stop to look at him as I cut some apples up.
Big Mac sipped at a mug of coffee before turning to me. “Got any breakfast goin’?”
The movements of my knife stopped as the question finally got through the blur that had been fogging up my head since I’d woken up. I rubbed at one of my eyes and let out a low groan as I realized I had completely forgotten about breakfast. I’d been so tired and busy that it hadn’t even occurred to me that I might need something to eat. “No, I plum forgot.”
My brother just nodded and went to the icebox to pull out something to eat. “That’s fine. As long as we got somethin’ ready in time for Apple Bloom to eat before goin’ to school.”
“Right, you remembered to wake her up before headin’ down here?” I asked.
Big Mac froze and looked to me. “Didn’t you?”
I quirked an eyebrow at him. “Ah wasn’t gonna wake her up that early. And Ah’ve been busy cookin’ since I got up, remember?”
A long moment of silence hung between us. As one, we both glanced at the clock on the wall, and I was surprised by how much time had passed. I must really have been cooking up a storm to have lost track of time like that.
“Ah’ll get Apple Bloom,” Big Mac said, already making his way towards the stairs.
I could all but hear what he was thinking. “Ah’ll get some breakfast ready.” We needed to get our little sister up and ready for school. I guess the two of us had completely forgotten to coordinate yesterday on who was supposed to wake Apple Bloom up. Normally I went ahead and took care of that, but that went with my normal sleeping schedule. Not to mention Granny usually gave us a reminder to get her up when Big Mac and I got downstairs.
But Granny wasn’t here, and there were things that still needed doing. So I got to work making a quick breakfast so that Apple Bloom could at least go to school on a full stomach. I’d given her schoolbags another patch job to get her through at least a few more days. So she was good to go there at least.
By the time I got around to putting some jelly and butter on the table I was thinking that maybe it was about time Apple Bloom got her own alarm clock. She was at the age where she could take that much care of herself. Problem was that we were already pinching our bits as it was. Alarm clocks weren’t exactly the most expensive thing in the world, but they still cost money. Money we didn’t have at the moment. Maybe there was some old thing up in the attic that none of us remembered. I’d make sure to check later when I got a break.
Just another thing to add to the list of things to do.
After walking Apple Bloom to school, I made my way to the market. I set up shop at the Apple Family’s usual spot and got to work. There hadn’t been enough time to cook up as much as I would have liked to, but I still had enough to make the work worthwhile. It wasn’t going to be fun getting up that early from now on—at least until we got through this rough patch—but I was sure we would manage. Better than letting Granny overwork herself, anyways. We’d just have to find a way to let her relax a bit more.
But it would get better, I was sure of it.
The good news was that I was doing really well at the market. Ponies knew who had the best apple and apple-based products in Equestria, and that showed as I quickly started to sell everything in the cart. By the end of the lunchtime rush, I had sold over three quarters of what I had loaded up. That was good given a lot of what I had sold has been saved from the area around those darn fruit bats. It would have broken my heart to see all that go to waste. But it hadn’t, and it looked like the farm was going to make a tidy profit for the day.
Though it was a bit of a downer when I kept having ponies come up to me saying they were sorry to hear what had happened to Granny Smith. I wasn’t surprised given how quickly news got around in a place like Ponyville. We were a pretty tight knit bunch.
I knew everypony meant well by it, but I didn’t want to be reminded a thousand times in a day that my granny was in the hospital. It’s the type of thing that can drive you sick with worry. Not to mention it made me feel bad when ponies didn’t put up much of a fight while bargaining with me, given that made me feel like I was taking advantage of them. And I had known a lot of these ponies since I was a little filly. It seemed that even when I was doing well, something still wasn’t right these days.
After the rush around lunch, I decided to take a short break. I had been so wrapped up in selling apple that I had almost forgot how worn out I was. It felt like I was running on automatic the entire morning. My head pounded with a dull ache and my body kept demanding at least a nap. Shame there wasn’t any time for that.
So, I let out a yawn as I glanced over my wares to see what looked appealing for a snack. One of the apples on the cart met my fancy, and I plucked it to start eating. It felt good to get something in my belly after what had been a long morning. By the time I had finished the first one, I found myself picking up another one to eat. I was so caught up in just enjoying a nice fresh apple that I didn’t notice somepony come up behind me.
“Hi, Applejack,” she said. I nearly jumped as I was yanked from my thoughts. I turned to see an earth pony mare with a pale goldenrod coat and curly carrot orange mane. The carrot farmer we all knew as Carrot Top gave me a warm smile. “How’re you today?”
I rubbed at my eyes to try and wake myself up, and I had to fight not to splurt out some slogan I normally gave ponies to try and sell them some apples. Say something enough times throughout the day and it starts becoming instinct. Especially when you had trouble just keeping yourself from yawning.
“Ah’m fine,” I assured her. I let out a yawn despite myself. “Sorry, just been a long past couple days.”
“I can imagine.” The edges of Carrot Top’s smile dipped a bit. “I heard about Granny Smith. You holdin’ up alright?”
I tipped up the edge of my hat to rub at my scalp. “Well enough, I guess. Just got a big scare, ya know?”
“I can imagine.” She looked around us to see if anypony was close to us, she placed a hoof on my shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. “Wanna talk about it? I know I’m not family or anything, but sometimes it can be nice just to have a shoulder to cry on.”
I shook my head. “Nah, to be perfectly honest, Ah’m just at the point Ah don’t wanna think ‘bout it.”
Carrot Top’s mouth turned into a sympathetic grimace. “I can understand that. You’ve probably been listening to ponies wishin’ your granny well all day long.”
“Pretty much, yeah.” I looked out at the crowd of ponies gathered in the market square. Many of them turned glances our ways and spoke to each other conversationally. I wondered how many were talking about my family. Ponies were always gossiping about something, and it wasn’t a surprise my family and especially Granny were the topic of the day. “So can we just not talk about it?” I pleaded with her.
“That’s fine.” She gave my shoulder another squeeze before lowering her hoof back down to the dirt.
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence as we didn’t exactly look at each other. Guess that figured, the two of us hadn’t exactly talked to each other a whole lot in the past. I wouldn’t call it bad blood, but we’d had words with one another. That kinda happens when you’re technically business rivals. We weren’t big fancy corporations or anything, but it was a fact that there were only so many bits to go around, and I had a farm to run. Carrot Top too for that matter. Even if her farm seemed to be doing a whole hay of a lot better than mine.
Guessed it helped when her family founded the town to start with. It did give them the inside track for buying up farmland around the town. The size of the Carrot farm had been a fact of life since I had been a little filly. Kinda hard not feel a little bit jealous looking out beyond my fence and seeing how many acres she had—especially when I thought about how much better off we’d be if we owned just a few of those acres.
Carrot Top’s ear twitched and she finally broke the silence. I guess I had kinda zoned out there for a bit. Stupid lack of sleep. “So the other farmin’ gals and I were wonderin’ if you’d be interested in joining us for a girls’ night out? We were thinking about going to one of the bars or something to just unwind one of these days. You interested?”
I thought about that one for a second. It would be nice to do something relaxing for once. Especially with how wound up I’d been feeling. But I did have a bunch of things to do around the farm. Not to mention taking care of Apple Bloom. And hanging out with the gals would end up taking time away from things that were really important to me. Not to mention drinks didn’t come free. A few mugs of cider can quickly add up.
After thinking, I let out a long sigh. “Ah don’t know, Carrot Top. Things are pretty crazy at the farm right now. Granny ain’t gonna be able to do as much now on account of her gettin’ older and everything. So the rest of us are going to have to pull more weight. Not to mention we’re goin’ through a bit of a rough patch with those dang fruitbats harrassin’ our trees.”
Her eyes turned towards the ground and she scraped a hoof along the ground. “Oh, I understand.” I worried that I had just killed the conversation deader than a graveyard when her ears perked. “You know, I could always use a few more laborers on the farm. Everypony here knows you and your brother are hard workers, and I could use your help with my apple orchards.” My ear flicked when she mentioned her orchards, given we both knew who they had belonged to to start with. “I’d be happy to pay you two, and those bits could help you through this rough patch of yours.”
I tried not to groan as Carrot Top tried to pitch that idea of me and my brother working for her again. She always seemed to do that now and again. So I gave her the same answer I always did. “Thanks, but no thanks, Carrot Top,” I replied sternly. “The two of us are proper farmers. We ain’t no laborers or sharecroppers.”
Carrot Top pursed her lips for a moment. I could see something churning around in that noggin of hers before she spoke up again. “Come on, AJ, don’t just turn me down out of hoof like that. I know you’ve turned me down in the past, but it really looks like you could use the extra bits right now. Look, sleep on it for a couple days before making a decision. I’ll understand if you want to think about it and weigh the pros and cons.”
Her pushing her offer churned some anger in me, and I glowered at some of the apples on Carrot Top’s own cart. Not nearly as good as Sweet Apple Acres’s apples, but enough to cut into our profits. “No offense, but that just sounds like a plum-dumb idea on my part. To be frank, Ah’d just be helpin’ ya put mah farm out of business.”
There was more of an edge to my voice that I’d intended, and Carrot Top flinched away at my tone. But there it was, and I wasn’t gonna apologize for it now. Still, I tried to take some of the edge off while still firmly saying what was on my mind.
“AJ, it ain’t like that,” she pleaded. Her eyes flickered towards some of the other ponies around us and lowered her voice to make it harder for anypony else to hear. “Look, we all know how big your farm is. There’s only so much you can do with a plot that size. You have to know that. Much less when you have fruitbats eating all your produce.” She gave me a friendly smile—probably to try and butter me up if I had to guess. “And I promise you that you’d get fair pay for your work. Hay, I bet you and your brother could be managers over the apple fields given nopony knows apples like you two. Especially if I expand my apple orchards like I’m thinking about doing. And that would put more bits into your purse. At least until things turn around for you. ”
“It ain’t like that!” I repeated. I could feel my blood coming to a boil at the idea of her expanding her apple orchards. Especially when more than a fair share of those were acres we had to sell in order to keep Sweet Apple Acres afloat.
My eyes turned to the FlimFlam Cider sitting in nice, neat rows on Carrot Top’s cart. One of Carrot Top’s laborers was even selling it to somepony right that moment. “If yer not tryin’ to put me outta business, then how can ya explain selling that cider? That just ain’t right, ya know. Ponyville’s supposed to be Apple Family cider territory. I can still hardly believe ya made a deal with those snake oil salesponies.”
Carrot Top let out an annoyed huff. “We’ve been over this. Just because you couldn’t make a good deal with them doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to. Instead of just telling them to hike after they made their first offer like you did, I sat down with them and hashed out a deal that let us both earn a good profit.”
“And its hurtin’ mah farm!” I stomped a hoof.
She spoke patiently, lifting a hoof to rub at the side of her head, as though explaining something to a child. Can’t say I appreciated that. “I’m sorry if I’m hurting Sweet Apple Acres. But I’m running a farm—just like you are.”
“Don’t mean ya have to be so greedy,” I grumbled. “Can’t help but notice ya got the biggest farm around here. No reason for ya to cut into everypony else’s business.”
Carrot Top’s voice started rising to meet my own. “And you could stand to be a bit smarter in how you run your farm.” More ponies started looking at us as we started going at it, but I wasn’t one to care right at that moment. “For instance, I can’t see you turning that much of a profit dragging that cart of apple pies out to that swamp. Not when it takes you all day and all the special equipment you need for the trip.”
I turned back to my cart and started putting things away. Suddenly, I didn’t feel like staying in the market anymore. “Ah ain't gonna tell ponies that've been buyin' from us for years and years they can't have any more pies just 'cause it's not efficient to sell to 'em.”
“Still doesn’t change the fact you aren’t getting a good return on that.” Walking around so that she could face me again, Carrot Top tried to catch my eyes with her own. “It’s that type of thinking that’s helped get you into trouble to start with.”
My head snapped towards Carrot Top and I fixed her with a glare that made her take a step back. “Drop it, Carrot Top. Ah ain’t interested in talkin’ no more.” She had pushed me as far as I was willing to go and if she had any sense she’d back the hay off. That pony had no right to tell me how to run my business. I’d run it the way I wanted, and I’d do it through good old hard work and ingenuity.
Carrot Top took a few steps back away from me. “O-okay, Applejack. If that’s how you feel.” She turned to leave but stopped to look over her shoulder at me. There was something remorseful in those eyes of hers. “My offers still on the table if you change your mind. Have a nice day, and I hope your granny gets better.”
“Yeah, me too,” I murmured in grudging agreement. I barely paid her mind as she left and I kept packing up the wagon. I probably could have sold a bit more for the day. But I was now in such a rotten mood that I didn’t think I could be all nice and friendly to everypony as I should be while selling apples.
Whatever. It’ll get better. I’m sure of it.
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It'll get better.
4201780
Poor AJ. She just has none of the luck.
having a hard time buying their business is this falling apart considering how old and big their family is.
also flim and flam would have acted as the parasites they are and consumed whatever carrot top had and then run for it.
Liking the AU so far. It certainly makes a spin on the 'what ifs.'
Applejack is an awful business pony.
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"Guessed it helped when her family founded the town to start with."
Ooh, interesting. Is this a bit of Winningverse canon that I've forgotten, or is it a sign that the PoD for this AU is actually farther back than I'd thought?
Bronchitis. That won't be cheap.
Is anyone else seeing this story reaching a point where AJ cracks and Rarity and Rainbow find her at the end of her rope? (Hopefully not literally...)
4201824
Nope, but she also is distinctly lacking in the ability to minimize the problems and maximize the good things. She is frustrated with Granny's stubbornness, but she is far to stubborn herself. Too bad she never met a certain purple unicorn scholar...
4202073
The Flim Flam thing I agree with. They weren't business ponies and never would have entertained a fair proposition unless backed into a corner. I was having trouble with the rest too, until I saw the part where the Carrot's founded Ponyville in this AU, and not the Apples. That starting lack of an advantage is now piling up with AJ's mistakes (this in particular.) and the problems inherent in running a farm, and the AU seems more plausible now.
4203896 .............. acutally that makes this universe even less plausible to me. that is changing a central factor to the entire series as a whole and yet nothing really came of it. how could there be a sweet apple acres if it were not the apples family? hell even more so, it is the Zap Apples that helped found ponyville as well. it is what drew so many families and business ponies to this area and allowed the community to sprout up and grow.
In other words carrot's family would have to have been the ones to discover the zap apples, built a farm on the acres there, and the apples family....... well to be hones its more than likely they would be somewhere else. they were gathers of seeds and nomadic. either they would have continued or settled somewhere else in equestria.
that is the problem with just arbitrarily making something alt universe like that. cause and effect. it is the apples that founded the place because of the zap apples. carrot's ancestors would have had to be the ones to find and use the apples in order for them to be the founders. and thus the apples would never have settled in ponyville. perhaps they might have when they heard of the village, but they would not be owners fo the farm and would fill some other niche in the community.
there is an entire history here that has been completely changed. and changed far too much for it to merely mean that someone else founded the village and everything else is the same.
4203896 ....... something i once read that handled this a little bit better had a lot of sensible changes. had it that instead of celestia ruling the kingdom, her pain and shame was so great she isolated herself into the everfree. sooo many differences in the future.
one of my favorites was that Applejack's cutie mark was completely different. it was only seeds rather than apples, if representing something similra.
another is that Rarity's proffessions was completely different. she hunted for precious gemes.
most of all there really was no ponyville. all of these lives affected, whether directly of indirectly, by celestia were changed by her absence.
this is not quite far back as celestia becoming a hermit changed but it still changes the entire town and coming events.
4202073
Being old and big alone isn't going to keep a business from failing. There are certainly plenty of examples of that in history. Just look at some of the recent bank failures, or the collapse of Sears. Also this is one farm within the whole Apple Clan. Most of the other farms probably aren't doing as badly as Sweet Apple Acres.
4202593 4203278
There are a number of changes that Chengar and I have made for this little AU.
4203896
There are a lot of factors for why AJ's farm isn't doing very well. Both historical and due to AJ herself, and now they're synergizing to really pound on poor AJ.
The thing with the FlimFlam brothers is that the Super Cider Squeezy 6,000 did produce good cider and quickly. The problem being is that the two of them are too dumb to have seen the good thing they had, and set reasonable goals. If somepony had perhaps sat them down, reasoned with them, and made them sign a contract to keep themselves from getting screwed...
4204205
Because I am a terrible person and should feel bad for what I'm doing to AJ. And trust me, this story is depressing to write, it really is.
4206634
It's not just them being too dumb to realize what they had. They are obviously smart enough to build the silly thing. (Well, allegedly anyway...) But at their core they are con men, after a quick bit and then a quicker exit. It is highly doubtful they would have kept Sweet Apple Acres, for all their talk, they would have almost certainly sold it at the first opportunity. Now, if by reasoned, you perhaps mean Carrot Top sat them down with a lawyer, a contract, and some rope, they might have gotten somewhere, but I also would bank on them having enough legal savvy to be able to weasel out of a contract through duress laws.
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Well... lets see. Rarity failed when she kept on giving up the dough. AJ failed when she decided it was a good idea to keep dipping into the same well. Granny made an ass of herself and could have died, her last words that of an ass.
Still have AB and Mac... well, AB anyway. Aside from being a bit of a soft touch, Mac's about the only one who's worth anything in this sad carnival that the Apples call a life.
I stand corrected. AJ is the grand prix champion of ass hats.
4218457
Derp, fixed that. Thanks for catching that typo.
4218970 Yeah, things aren't looking so good. Why can't Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, or Fluttershy help? (not sure what's up with Rarity. I'm not very good at insinuation). I mean, Twilight runs a library and can leave Spike in charge, Rainbow can help with the weather where it needs it, Pinkie doesn't need to make sweets ALL day, and Fluttershy could get rid of the bats hopefully or at least help pick apples. Is everypony SO busy that they can't help? Maybe Twilight is doing important princess/princess's protege things, a storm hurt dozens of woodland creatures, and maybe there's a break out of sweet tooth fever, but I KNOW Rainbow's got nothing. She just sleeps
4227341
Frankly? Because they owe her nothing. From what I've most have more of a casual friendship with her, as opposed to canon where they must maintain a deeper connection to use the elements, although there the reason is absolutely petty.
And AJ is unwilling to ask for help from her family. Her family! Hells, the Apples easily beat out the KICKERS by a country mlle in terms of familial loyalty, especially if one of the clans cash cows ( hee hee) is about to go under, namely the zap apples.
4227341
I believe I see where your confusion is. This is an alternate universe story, so a number of things have changed, and this story runs concurrently with Chengar Qordath's Road Not Taken. So a number of things are different where this story is concerned and the the shows canon. For instance, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy aren't in Ponyville, and so aren't there to make friends with Applejack and help her out. In fact, the lack of her friends is a significant reason why she is in trouble in this AU.
4229259
ooOOOOOoooohhh, thanks that makes more sense
I love how realistic all of AJ's mistakes and failings are portrayed. It's marvelously rendered despair and her stubbornness is both true to character(in this AU), and a depressingly realistic portrayal of a struggle with poverty.
Anyways, tiny error spotted:
^matted
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