My Little Life: The Beginning

by Kind_Of_A_Rarity

Abandoned

Ma and Pa were wonderful parents to Mac, Apple Bloom, and me. They treated us right when we earned it, and punished us rightly when we didn’t. We grew up on a nice piece of land not too far from here. Sure, it wasn’t anything compared to what we got now, with acres and acres of apple trees and chickens and pigs and horses, but it was my home. There were only a small field of apple trees, but not much else to look at. Heck, I don’t even know why we called it a farm, but it sure made the work that much easier.

Both my parents wanted to continue the Apple traditions and run an apple orchard, but starting out, things were tough. Unlike our namesake, money didn’t grow on trees and it was hard to come by. We tried selling what little produce we could manage around to the folks at the local farmer’s market, but that usually only brought in enough to keep the farm running for the next season or so. There wasn’t much left for anything other than the necessities. Ripped, hand-me-down clothes doesn’t earn you many friends. Apples can only last a family for so long, despite what Granny Smith might tell ya’. When your breakfast, lunch, and dinner are just… apples… in different shapes… you tend to get sick of it.

Then, when you’re forced to eat part of your product, you notice it the next time you get back from the farmer’s market. We were forced to cut back; eat less, work more. Ma and Pa were to proud to ask anybody for help. I could see the pain in their eyes every time we sat down for a meal. Knowing there wasn’t much you could do to ease the pain except… keep working. “If we just work hard, things’ll turn around, you’ll see!” Pa was always to optimistic about everything, but he couldn’t hide it from us any better than Ma could.

During lunch one day, a classmate of mine saw me open an apple-themed lunch for the hundredth day in a row. “Hey Applejack,” he said. “Why don’t you try something other than apples for once? I know that’s basically all you know, but look at this!” He pulled out an orange from his lunch bag and waved it in my face. “They call this an orange!” Between laughs from himself and other kids around him, he began peeling it before taking a huge bite. “Mmm… Delicious!” The juice dripped from his mouth, and I began to feel the tears well up in my eyes.

“And look at this thing!” He reached into his bag a second time and pulled out a sandwich. “It’s called a turkey sandwich! Do you know what turkey is?” I nodded, and felt my lips begin to quiver as the first tears began to lead the way down my cheeks. “Oh, I’m sorry, that’s rude of me!” I looked back up at him as he began to tear away the crusts of his sandwich and toss them towards me. “Why don’t you try this? Be careful though! There’s no apple in it!” And just like that, the kids began laughing all around me. The tears started dripping from my face, but all I could do was clench my eyes and face the floor, trying to tune everything out.

I knew it was just teasing from the other kids, but everything they said just tore at me more and more until I thought I would snap at any second. I was about to shout back at them, to tell them to leave me alone, but I heard another voice step in before my own. “That’s enough!” My head shot up to see Big Mac standing in front of me through my tears. To this day I don’t know where he came from, but to be honest, it doesn’t really matter none to me.

“What are you gonna do about it?” A couple of the boys got to their feet and made their way through the others towards Mac. “You’re just an apple-eater too! I bet you’ve never eaten anything that isn’t an apple!”

Big Mac was a couple of grades ahead of us, but he still wasn’t much bigger than we were at the time. Some of the bigger boys in the group quickly realized this and began surrounding him, but it didn’t seem to faze Big Mac a bit. “That ain’t got nothin’ to do with anythin’! Y’all just go on and leave my baby sister alone!” I always hated it when Mac called me his baby sister, but that day I took pride in it.

The boys started laughing at him. “These guys probably eat apples all day and roll around in mud, just like pigs! Hear that? You’re both nothing but pigs! And so is your family!” Big Mac stood firm, not letting anything those rotten kids said get through to him. I wish I could have done the same, but the tears hit again. They hit hard this time, running down my face through my cries and sobbing. But Mac just eyed the boys down.

“Come on!” One of the boys said. “These pigs aren’t worth it!” Luckily the other boys started agreeing with him and slowly started making their way towards another group of kids, oinking back at us the whole way.

My crying didn’t let up at all, even after the boys had left. I didn’t want to eat apples anymore, not because of those kids’ insults, but because they were the ones who brought my own thoughts out into the open. I ate apples for every meal, every day. Truthfully, it had been a long time since I’d eaten anything else. The last sandwich I’d had was probably at a family reunion the year before, and I couldn’t even remember what an orange tasted like, it’d been so long. ‘Are we really that much better than pigs?’ I found myself thinking. ‘All they do is eat apples and roll around in mud, and all we do is work through the mud and dirt just to grow more apples to eat,’

I suddenly felt a weight on my shoulder and I looked up through my sniffling to see Big Mac staring back at me. Even through my own tears, I could see his eyes welling up in the same way mine had. I’d never seen Big Mac cry before, and I haven’t since that day, but seeing him like that pushed away any hope I had at regaining my composure, and I just threw my arms around him as he had always done for me.

That night, I sat down with my parents. I asked, “How much longer do we have to eat apples? When can we get new clothes?” I felt the tears find their way back into my eyes. “How long do we have to live like pigs?” And I started crying all over again, just like that. It hurt to say, but at the time, I felt like it was true.

Ma gasped and pulled me into her embrace. Pa took a second to muster up a response. “W-we don’t-! We aren’t...” he sighed, “We won’t for much longer, Applejack, I promise,” He held Ma and me tight. It was the first time in a long time that I truly thought they were being honest with me. I knew their pride got in the way. What parent wants their kid to know they’re struggling? But we were a family, and family’s gotta stick together.

I guess that’s what we all were thinking, because the next thing Mac and I knew, our little piece of land was sold and we were living with Granny Smith back on the old farm. Of course, Granny Smith was ecstatic. She could finally have some real help on the farm and get rid of the farmhands that, as she put it, “aren’t worth the buds they snip off the trees!”

Anyway, we all settled in and began giving Granny Smith the help she deserved on her farm. The work itself wasn’t any different from what it was on our farm, but there was a lot more of it. Granny Smith had better connections that we had too. That, in addition to all of the different kinds of apples she had and apple products she made, brought us more money in a month than we’d seen in a year. People would order our pies and cider months ahead of time, just to make sure they got some of it before it was all gone!

We were finally able to afford new clothes, and we could eat things other than apples for a change. I finally felt… good about working on the farm. For once, I could tell my classmates with pride that I worked on an apple orchard with my family. I didn’t have to explain why my lunch was always the same, or why I wore the same clothes a couple of times a week. I could tell Mac felt the same, and I could swear little Apple Bloom was excited to eat something other than applesauce at feeding time.

My parents, however, didn’t seem to be quite as excited for this change in pace. They both were… quiet most of the time. They didn’t talk much at dinner, or at breakfast, and they would always find a way out of the conversation if you wanted to start one with them. I’d begun thinking that it was all my fault, that all that stuff I’d said just before we moved hurt their pride and their feelings. They always changed the subject when I tried to bring it up, though. Mac tried to talk to them too, but he couldn’t get any more out of them than I could.

This went on for quite a while, until one day, they were gone. Apple Bloom had just started walking, and they left not long after her first steps. I’m surprised she still remembers what they look like. All they left behind was a note that just said, “We’ll be back as soon as we can. We’re so sorry,” Granny Smith always said she didn’t know anything about it until the day they decided to leave. Mac and I were in school, so we didn’t know anything until we got home.

It took us all about a week to realize that “soon” meant much longer than what any of us had thought it meant. We asked Granny Smith every day what had happened the day they left, but she just kept insisting that they didn’t say anything to her. They just packed up their things and left.

Even after years, we heard nothing from them. They just… abandoned us, without so much as a goodbye.

Eventually, Granny Smith decided it would be best to get a fresh start. We packed up our things, sold the farm to a nearby rival, and found a spot here, where we settled down and… well… you know the rest…

----------

“Nobody says it, but,” Applejack paused a moment and glanced away from me, towards the ground, “I don’t know if anybody thinks they’re coming back...”

Her eyes stayed focused on the floorboards. I felt like I should’ve said something, but how does somebody respond to something like that? When your friend says they lost a relative, it’s usually met with the usual rounds of, “I’m so sorry to hear about your loss,” and, “If there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know!” But I knew from experience that none of that ever made anybody feel any better.

After a few moments, I decided that being honest with her had already gotten me this far, so why should my response be any different? “I… I’m not sure what to say…”

“There ain’t much to say,” was all she muttered.

Even still, I felt like I had to try. “I’m sorry that talking about my dad brought back those memories. I can’t imagine how you must feel about all of that...”

“Actually,” she lifted her head to meet my gaze, “I think you’re the first person outside of my family that understands what I’m going through. Reading that note from your stepmom reminded me of the note that my parents left for me. They left both of us with nothing, without caring for whether or not we would find our ways,” Suddenly, she spoke with such certainty that I couldn’t help but agree with her, even though I found her situation to be much worse than I thought mine ever was.

My parents didn’t leave me by choice. My mother died in a car accident, and my dad had been bedridden for the past year. Applejack’s parents seemed to leave them on their own accord. My stepmom had left me in the same way, sure, but I never cared for her in the way that I cared for my real parents, like Applejack did.

Things quickly grew quiet once more, neither of us knowing what we should say next. Applejack finally broke the silence with a soft sigh. “Well, I guess we should get downstairs to dinner,” I politely agreed, rising to my feet, Applejack silently following behind. “But...” I heard from behind as I reached for the doorknob. I turned to see Applejack glance from the ground up to my eyes. “Thanks for listening, Sky...”

She made an attempt at a smile, which I easily returned. “Anytime.”

----------

The weekend passed slowly, with nothing in the way of events. Applejack tried to convince me that it would do me some good to get out of the house, especially since all of my friends had the time, but I convinced her that I was just too tired to do much of anything except help out around the house with Granny Smith, since the three siblings would be out working on the farm for the majority of the weekend.

I did, however, get the chance to meet Apple Bloom’s friends. Applejack was right about them too; they certainly were a handful.

It was Sunday, and Apple Bloom had just recently finished her chores. I happened to be in the kitchen helping Granny Smith prepare for Sunday dinner when Apple Bloom burst into the room. “Granny Smith!” She yelled, nearly scaring the both of us out of our skin.

“Good lord, Apple Bloom!” Granny Smith exclaimed, hand over her chest, “Ya gotta announce yerself if yer gonna be shoutin’ like that!”

“Oops,” Apple Bloom squeaked, “Sorry...”

Granny Smith let out a sigh. “That’s alright, dearie. Now what’s so gosh-darn important?”

Apple Bloom brightened up once more. “Oh yeah! Can Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo come over today? Can they, please?” I happened to glance back in her direction in time to see the biggest eyes I’ve ever seen, and her lips were puckered out and almost quivering. I wasn’t even sure who Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo was, but I had almost felt the need to give her permission myself.

“Well, I don’t see why not!” Granny Smith interrupted my trance. “So long as you got yer chores all done.”

Apple Bloom beamed. “Yes, ma’am! They’re all done!”

Granny Smith chuckled, continuing to chop the apples that lay in front of her. “Alrighty then, you go ahead and-” Apple Bloom had already hurried out the door before Granny Smith could finish her sentence. “That child...” she laughed between cuts.

I suddenly felt the need to continue the conversation. “Who are Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?”

“Oh, they’re just friends of Apple Bloom’s. I’m glad she’s making friends,” she slid the sliced apples into a mixing bowl, “but they can certainly be a handful at times.”

“Yeah,” I continued cutting the apples on my cutting board. It almost seemed that Granny Smith was already expecting two more mouths to show up that day. She had planned to bake another pie and several more servings for dinner. “Applejack said they were energetic.”

I heard a chuckle from behind me. “Ain’t that the understatement of the year.”

After about a half-hour or so, I heard a knock on the front door. Granny Smith perked up. “Why don’t you go ahead and let them in, Sky? I’m sure they’d like to meet you. I’ve got everything taken care of from here,” Assured I wasn’t going to be missed, I made my way towards the front door.

I noted that Apple Bloom was nowhere to be found. After assuming she was getting ready in her room, I opened the door to reveal two girls, both about a foot shorter than myself.

One had light pink curls with bright purple curls running throughout it and a pink headband to keep them all in place. She wore a simple white dress, about knee-high, with a purple jacket covering the top portion of the outfit.

The other wore an orange hoodie with a black undershirt and blue jeans. Her hair was purple, and was a short, rough style.

They both looked at me a moment before the girl in orange spoke up. “Is, uh… Apple Bloom here?”

I suddenly realized that I was a stranger who had just answered the door to their friend’s house. Luckily, a certain red-haired girl decided to make her presence known. “Yep!” She exclaimed, darting around me. Once again, I jumped at the sudden outburst.

“Oh, hey, Apple Bloom!” the same girl spoke up. I stepped aside to let the two enter.

It was the girl with the white dress’s turn to speak up. “Um… aren’t you going to introduce us to your… um… friend?”

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened. “Oh, right!” She looked at me first. “Sky, this here’s Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle,” she motioned at the two of them before turning to face them. “Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, this here’s Sky!” She leaned in towards them and began whispering, “He was the one who uh...” Her voice trailed off as she made a finger gun and began shooting it in my direction.

I deadpanned, “You know I can see and hear you, right?”

The girls didn’t seem to notice my remark. Instead, their eyes lit up as they eyed me down. “That’s so cool!” They practically shouted in unison.

“Well, I wouldn’t really say-” I was cut off by a barrage of questioning.

“Did it hurt?”

“Did you pass out?”

“How long were you in the hospital?”

“Does it still hurt?”

“Are you-”

“Hey!” I shouted at them, careful not to sound too upset. “Okay, so I didn’t actually feel it at first, but it started hurting after a minute. Yes, I passed out. I was only in the hospital for three days. And thanks to pain medicine, it only hurts when I do this,” I tapped the wound through my shirt and winced at the small jolt of pain it sent through my body.

They both stared at me, wide-eyed, as if I were some kind of superhero standing before them. Suddenly Sweetie Belle snapped herself out of her daze, “Oh, that means you know my sister, right?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Who’s your sister?”

“Rarity!” Apple Bloom chimed in. “Rarity and Sweetie Belle are sisters! You didn’t know that?”

I shook my head. “Rarity never said anything about having any siblings,” Sweetie Belle almost began to pout, while the other two girls started snickering at her expression. I quickly turned back towards Apple Bloom. “Applejack never mentioned you either before I met you.”

Apple Bloom stopped laughing with a high-pitched, “What?” before Sweetie Belle took her turn to giggle. “Oh, she is so gonna get it!”

I started laughing, but was quickly cut off by a shout from the kitchen. “Sky! Could I get a hand in here? There’s more goin’ on in here than I thought!”

I suddenly caught a whiff of burning apple, and shouted, “Coming!” I turned back to the girls before making a quick getaway to the kitchen. “Alright, well it was nice meeting you girls! It looks like I’m needed, so I’ll see you three later!”

A trio of goodbyes left me alone with Granny Smith and a couple of nearly burnt pies. It was at that moment, through the attempts to save dessert, that I realized that my next day at school might be filled with more people questioning my… condition than I would’ve liked. The girls asked questions, but they were on more of a personal level than I knew the other people’s questioning would be. I suddenly grew a little nauseous, and reminded myself to apologize to Fluttershy for making her feel this way on that day.

Author's Note:

I know it's been a long time! Like... three years long time... But I'm back now! And I don't have much intention of leaving! So sit back and enjoy the ride!

Comments

[lolpony33]

Holy shit you live

[The Darkened Soul]

What, I'm so glad this is back from the dead, i was so sad when it ended up looking like it never was going to come back

[Kind_Of_A_Rarity]

9306651
Yeah, I know Sorry, I made a blog post about it a few days ago, if anybody wants to check it out.

On a side note, I was so excited to continue this that I sat down for four straight hours to write this chapter. I've never done that before, but it was fun!

[Deltorix]

9308168
Oh

[Discord77a]

I started fimfiction a few months ago and am reading your story for the first time!