Applejack's Day Off

by 1Bit

Part 4 - A Greater Understanding

Applejack slowly closed the book, letting it fall out of her hooves. She sat there for a minute, sniffling as the events in the diary kept replaying in her head. She turned her head to look out the window, a cool evening breeze sweeping into the room as the sun began to set on the horizon. Ah can't belive Granny went through all that, ah mean... comin' across a Timberwolf like that, and at that age. She looked away from the book in shame and stuffed her face into a pillow. All of those things ah said to her, all of that complainin'. The orange mare curled up into a ball and put her hooves across her face as she failed to stop tears trickle down her cheeks. And ah didn't even consider what she might have gone through before me. Applejack continued to lay there for a while, unable to move as she muffled a sob.

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Sunlight seeped through Applejack's window, birdsong filling the air as the farmer slowly rose from her slumber. She rubbed her eyes, her vision blurry and her mind even more so. Gradually, Applejack made sense of her surroundings, stifling a yawn. Suddenly, memories of the diary awoke in Applejack's head and she quickly made her way to the door, ignoring her leg crying out in pain. She stumbled through the hallway, barely keeping her footing as she hastily descended down the wooden stairs. The stairs continued to creak in protest as Applejack's hooves landed heavily on each stair. She barely made it into the kitchen in one piece.

She panted and wheezed, grunting a little as the pain in her hindleg began to reach her. Big Macintosh and Applebloom stopped eating and lifted their heads up. Big Macintosh nodded a good morning and gestured towards the table. Applebloom, on the other hoof, leapt from her seat and threw herself at Applejack, tightly hugging her neck with a giant smile on her face.

"Applejack! It was so amazing yesterday." Applebloom could barely contain her excitement as she blurted out the words. "We got so much done and Big Mac was able to knock down over three trees of apples with a single buck!"

Big Macintosh laughed and gave a hearty "Eeyup."

"Seriously sis! Why didn't you ever tell me applbuckin' was so amazin'? Maybe ah'll get an applebuckin' cutie mark at this rate." She let Applejack go and bounced back over to her chair. Applejack giggled as she reached for her Stetson, hanging on the wall.

"Well ah sure am glad that you two are gettin' along just fine and dandy without me." Applejack took her place at the table and hungrily licked her lips as the smell of apple pie reached her muzzle. "Maybe next season, you can help out some more Applebloom"

"For real?" Applebloom stretched over the table with starry eyes while Applejack simply laid back in her chair and winked at her.

"Well it seems somepony's in a good mood today" Granny Smith steadily made her way over to them. "Definitely a lot better than yesterday anyway."

"Ah do feel better. A lot better. That's why ah wanted to apologize fer what ah said." Applejack couldn't even face Granny, choosing to look down into her plate. "Ah should have known you were right about restin' up and all but ah guess mah stubborn streak got a hold of me and ah tried to take matters into my own hooves" Applejack held her stetson against her chest as she walked over to Granny and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Ah'm mighty sorry, Granny. For everythin'."

Granny smiled warmly and ruffled Applejack's mane. "Oh, it's alright child. Ah understand perfectly your want to get back to work, but believe me, the rest will do ya the world of good."

Applejack placed the stetson back on her head and looked back at her bandaged leg once more before turning back to her. "Ah know."