Of Apples and Cherries

by Astropony

Chapter 1: How We Got Here

Chapter 1—How We Got Here

As my eyes open up, I feel that something is wrong. I look around the bedroom to see it is illuminated in the light of Celestia's sun. To most people, this would not be a bad thing, but to me, this means I'm behind in my chores. I'm usually up just as Luna's night is ending to get my chores started, but today, I slept in. Yeah, that's right, ol' Applejack's taking some time off. But this was not cause I wanted to be lazy, oh no. You see, today is a very special day for me. How is this special, you may ask? Well, one year ago today, I became Mrs. Applejack. Yeah, I married the one sleeping next to me. As I look over to my partner, I see beauty that would give even Celestia a run for her bits.

I see her beautiful lips and although her eyes are closed, I can still see her big round green eyes...

I see that lovely mole under her left eye.

I see her amazing curves and wonder how she has them at this point in her life...

And I see her most amazing feature, that sexy mass of red hair that I could get lost in for hours.

Unknown to her, I give her one of my huge smiles, take a look at the wedding band on my finger, and know in my heart, she is my wife, my lifelong love....

….my Cherry Jubilee.

“Ah love you,” I whisper into her ear. But this was the moment Cherry showed me she still has a few tricks up her sleeve.

“Ah love you too, sugah,” I hear her whisper back to me. She opens her eyes and gives me the first kiss of the day, one of many that I'm sure to get. “You know what day this is, right, dear?”

Of course I know what day this is. There is no way I could forget. “Has it been a year already? It seems like only yesterday we were saying our 'I dos.”

I see Cherry get up and head towards the stand where her robe rests. It's only few feet, but sweet Celestia, I have never seen a more amazing walk than what I just saw...yet another reason that I love her so much. I still can't believe that one of the worst moments of my life turned out to be one of my best.

“I should hop in the shower and get ready. We got a big day ahead of us. If I remember the last letter, your friend Pinkie Pie wants to throw us a big celebration party back in Ponyville.”

Oh, I guess I forgot to tell y'all that I don't live in Ponyville no more. See, 'bout 6 months before we got married, I decided to move to Dodge Junction to be with Cherry, I don't think I need to tell you that it was perhaps the hardest decision in my 23 years of being alive. But I'll get to that point another time; right now, I need to get ready to head back to my hometown and see what kind of party Pinkie's gonna throw for us. If she's the same hyperactive girl I've always remembered—and she probably still is—Pink's probably got the whole town covered in party favors

One Hour Later

Here at the Cherry Hill and Apple Valley Ranch, everything’s like clockwork. Everyone who has come by has given us their congratulations on our anniversary. What's that? Yeah, I said “Cherry Hill and Apple Valley”. That's cause when I moved here, I took a few of the apple trees from the farm with me. It turned out the soil here was right for my apples to thrive. Pretty soon, I had an apple farm of my own, a bit of a taste of home, if you will. Since then, Cherry has decreed that since I'm used to harvesting apples on my own, I get to do so on my own. Of course, I can ask for help when I need it. However, this orchard isn't yet as big as the one back home, so I'm fine for now. Before any y'all ask, I never forgot about the time I tried to harvest the Sweet Apple Acres crop on my own, so I will ask for help when that time comes.

I hear a door open and see Cherry walking out. She has a look of confidence on her face, which tells me everything here is going to be just fine. “Everything's gonna be fine,” she tells me. “I told the foremen to only contact me if there's an emergency. Otherwise, I'll handle the paperwork when I get back. Now, let's get to the station. The next train to Ponyville leaves in a couple of hours.” As we pick up our luggage, I start wondering why CJ needs so much luggage. We're only going to be in Ponyville for a couple of days. In all honesty, we only need one bag each. Just as I ask her why she needs three bags for a two-day trip, I realize it would be a fool's errand and keep my mouth shut. We get into the carriage(I don't think I'll ever get over how much this place reminds of the old Western books I read when I was younger) and begin our way to the station.

Dodge Junction Train Station

Well, here we are at the station, waiting for the train to Ponyville to arrive. I adjust my hat to block the sun while Cherry uses her fancy umbrella. Just between you and me, I can't see why she would carry such a frilly thing around. It looks like something Rarity would carry around when she's in one of her prissy moods. The funny part is even though I'm not a big fan of froo-froo stuff, it just looks good on Cherry. Heck, she could make an apple sack look drop dead gorgeous.

Judging by the fact there is no train at the station yet, I would say that the train hasn't arrived yet...and yes, I am being sarcastic. As I look around to pass the time, there is something I see that reminds me of what I didn't see very much of in Ponyville. I'm sure they didn't want me too see, but I do see them making faces of distaste at me and Cherry. I guess it should be hard to blend in considering my wife is perhaps the biggest known person in Dodge Junction. But I know those looks are the fact that she married me, a girl 21 years younger—yes, Cherry is 44(don't tell her I told you). You could say that I married someone old enough to be my mother; heck, a few people here have. I just wish they would get over that and see how much we love each other, but I guess that's just wishful thinking.

“Sugar, are you okay? You look like you're staring into space.” The sound of CJ's voice jumps me back into where I am.

“Oh, yeah, I'm...fine.”

“Hon, I know when you're fine and you're anything but fine. What's wrong?”

“Well, you see...”

A kiss on the cheek gives me what I need to make me feel better. “I know, the age thing. Look sugar, we both knew people weren't going to be too keen on that. But we agreed that all that counts is how we feel about each other, not others. Besides, I could probably count the number of people who don't want us together on one hand. So c'mon, give Cherry a smile.”

I do as she says and give her one of my Applejack smiles. “Thanks, CJ. You know how to make this Apple feel good about herself.”

“Oh?” Cherry gives me that sly look I usually see after Celestia sets her sun. I may have been raised on a farm, but I know what's she talking about and I'm sure y'all as well.

As if it were on cue of sorts, the speaker blares, “The train to Ponyville will be arriving shortly. Make sure you have your tickets ready.” I check my pockets to make sure my ticket back home is still there and of course, it still is. I usually wouldn't worry about such a thing, but being as this is a big day, it could be, to say the least, a big shame if I lost my ticket.

Ah yes, there's the train. We pick up our bags and head to the closest car we can find. As the conductor takes our tickets, he suddenly realizes who he taking tickets from. “Oh, Mrs. Jubilee,” he says, “it's nice to see you again. There should be seats at the front for you and your lovely wife. I hope you enjoy the trip.”

“Might nice of you,” Cherry replies, “but I think we'll pass on that fancy stuff for now...unless of course, the missus would like to take the gentleman up on his offer.”

“Ah, no, thanks,” I reply and we board at what looks like the third train from the front. We find seats, load our luggage, and take our seats.

As we take our seats, we hear the engineer speak over the speaker. “Attention passengers, this train will be traveling non-stop to Ponyville. The estimated travel time will be approximately five hours, so there will be food and beverages available during the ride. Thank you for choosing Ponyville Express and we hope you enjoy your trip.” Since I have nothing better to do, I relax in my seat and think back on everything that's happened from that fateful day at the rodeo to where I am now.

Comments

[A7X Camerooni]

Huh.

I've never seen anything for an ApplejackXCherry Jubilee pairing(Applejubilee?).

I'll give it a looksy