Otterley
Nestled on the northeastern city line that Canterlot shared with the suburb of Shasta View, the neighborhood of Otterley Road was filled with shops, apartment complexes and the occasional car dealership or two. People walked down and around the sidewalks and in the shops, filling the holiday period with a verve that seemed to bring hope and joy for the new year to come. As the shoppers prepped for the party tomorrow night, sorrow and tragedy was the last thing on their minds.
However, for the three people in the minivan pulling into one of the parking strips between two of the buildings, just south of the corner of Otterley Road and Windswept Avenue, that was the order of the night. The family that owned the minivan had been coming here for six years now, and was not likely to stop anytime soon; if anything, it was part of the weft and weave built into the family heritage as of recent. And while everyone else had come here to celebrate joy and the dawning of a new year, for the three exiting the vehicle, it was anything but.
Closing the driver’s door and sucking in the dry winter air, Applejack pulled her coat a little closer to her body and walked over to the passenger side of the car, where Apple Bloom was getting out. “Ready fer this, sugarcube?”
“Ah don’t know,” Apple Bloom replied, looking at her sister. “Ah’d like to say that Ah am, but you never really know, do you, sis?”
“Hey, we’re not th’ ones we gotta be worried ‘bout,” Applejack reminded her. And with that, she opened the side sliding door and looked in. “Can ya walk, Ma, or are ya gonna need th’ wheelchair?”
Inside the van, Cornflower brushed a lock of her long purple-and-white hair behind an ear. “As much as I’d like to walk on my own,” she sighed, “I think the wheelchair’s for the best, Applejack.”
Applejack nodded. “We’re on it, Ma.” She called out over her shoulder, “Apple Bloom, mind getting’ the wheelchair outta th’ back fer Ma?”
A few minutes later, Cornflower and her two daughters were at the corner of Otterley and Windswept. Despite the frigid winter weather, Cornflower carried a bouquet of white roses in her hands, shielding it as best as she could from the elements. “Hard to believe this used to be mostly undeveloped lots six years ago,” the woman voiced with a melancholy look on her face. “Only ones who came through here back then were taking the 299 to or from Bella Vista, really.”
“Ma, why do you come here so often?” Apple Bloom asked. Her mother had come here every year, to the minute, like clockwork, almost as if she was haunting the place.
“Because I feel like I left a part of me here,” Cornflower told her younger daughter, then looking down at her legs, added, “And maybe I did. It’s been six years and it’s still difficult for me to walk, especially in the wintertime. And maybe that’s my penance for what happened.”
“Ma, y’ shouldn’t blame yerself,” Applejack told her. “Granny said th’ car you were drivin’ had a faulty gas pedal that needed a safety recall – and th’ news came out about a month after your crash.”
“Not good enough,” Cornflower said firmly. “I killed a man. A man died because I lost control of the car your father and I were in, and because I was being selfish.” She gestured to her legs, adding, “This fate is the least of what I deserve, girls. It could have been so much worse for me – for you.” She looked at her girls, a bleak visage on her face. “I have nightmares sometimes…nightmares where your father and I were killed in the crash, leaving your grandmother to raise you all. And I thank the Good Lord every day that it didn’t happen…and then I wonder if that man had children too, and if he did…what did I do to that family?”
Bending down as far as she could, she placed the white roses on the corner, where the chipped concrete still showed signs of where the crash had occurred, and said a little prayer. “I hope that you’ll forgive me for what happened that day,” Cornflower said mournfully, “because I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive myself.”
Cornflower, however, was not prepared for what happened next as she heard a gasp behind her. She looked up to find a young woman standing there, slightly older than her son Macintosh, with dark skin, dusty-celeste feathered hair, and deep-red eyes. She was dressed elegantly, and carried two bouquets of red roses. The woman dropped the two bouquets in shock. “You….” she whispered.
Applejack knew her mother to be one of the bravest women she’d ever known in her lifetime. When the doctors told Cornflower that she would not only likely never walk again but there was a good chance she would end up quadriplegic, she defied the odds, improving to the point that she could walk with braces and a cane, and only really had to use the wheelchair when it was the worst of times. Needless to say, Applejack’s opinion of what a girl should grow up to be practically had her mother’s name and picture as the sole example. So to see her mother suddenly break down and cry in fear…it cut her to the quick.
“Apple Bloom, go back to the car,” Applejack ordered.
“Shouldn’t we help M—”
“Ah said go!” the older teen snapped, pointing sharply towards the direction of the van. A second later, she composed herself enough to say, “Please, li’l sis. Let me handle this.”
Seeing the fear and the worry in her older sister’s eyes didn’t help, but Apple Bloom nodded. “Come get me if things get bad, sis,” she pled, then scurried off.
“Ah will. Now go.” Not waiting to see Apple Bloom off, the blonde then moved to her mother’s side. “Ma, it’s okay,” she said, hugging her. “It’s okay.” Applejack then turned to the woman and said, “Look, lady, Ah don’t know what y’ want, but….”
“You were the one who killed my father in the car accident six years ago,” the woman said, matter-of-factly, to Cornflower.
Cornflower looked at the young woman with absolute fear. “I’m sorry,” she moaned, tears streaking down her cheeks. “It…I didn’t….”
What happened next, neither Applejack nor her mother could have expected: The woman got down on her knees to look at Cornflower face to face, and tears fell from her own eyes. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to meet you?” she asked in a choked, nearly inaudible voice. “And all this time you’ve been suffering? It’s not right…it’s just not right….”
“What?” Applejack gasped, not sure if she’d heard the other woman correctly.
“I’m so sorry,” Cornflower said to the woman. “I robbed you of your father, and I can never correct that error.”
But the younger woman shook her head. “No…you saved him.” When Cornflower and Applejack looked in shock at the woman’s teary yet grateful eyes, she nodded. “I think an explanation is in order. My name is Licorice Mint, and my shop is just down the road, if you would like to come and hear the story.”
For Cornflower, there would be no debate. “I think I would. Applejack, let’s get back to the van. Ms. Mint here can show us where to go.”
A few minutes later, all three Apples were in Licorice’s shop, a whimsical little tea shop called Monkey Picked. Despite the cute name, the place was elegant and refined, so much so that Applejack made a mental note to tell Rarity about the place sometime as the fashionista had a penchant for tea and would appreciate the recommendation. Licorice had closed her store for the holidays – a regular thing, she insisted, as she tended not to be in town around this time – and had poured the four of them tea from an ornate Chinese set she said she picked up while on business in Hong Kong.
She then sat down and, gently pouring herself a cup, said, “So, as I said earlier, my name is Licorice Mint, and I’m the daughter of Chamomile Blend and Bronze Shield. The former was my mother; the latter, my father. And please, Mrs. Cornflower – I’m very sincere when I said that the car crash saved my father even though it cost him his life. I cannot even begin to thank you, and it truly pains me to see that you’ve suffered as a result of it all, both in body and mind.”
“I’m guessin’ there’s quite a tale to tell, isn’t there, Ms. Mint?” Applejack inquired.
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” the girl said with a soft smile. “And please, call me Licorice. Anyway, my family was originally from Atlanta. Daddy accepted a position out here with the Darkwood Police Department, worked himself up to assistant chief. Meanwhile, Momma opened up a tea shop; it was a long-time dream of hers, and one that eventually became my passion as well. I grew up here, but we had family back in Atlanta, so when it was time for me to go to college, I went back to attend Georgia State.” She looked down into her cup as she stirred, but kept speaking: “And that, in hindsight, was the biggest mistake of my life.”
“How so?” Cornflower asked.
“The month I got out there, the DPD Scandal occurred.” Cornflower let her mind wander for a second to attempt to recall the whole event, but soon did: During the Darkwood Police Department affair, it was discovered that the mayor and chief of police, as well as several police officers and members of the city government, had run an illegal traffic ticket ring. Both the County DA’s office and the state Attorney General had gotten involved, and by the time it was done, all involved had been sentenced to fifteen-to-thirty years in prison. But the bigger thing was that the new mayor of Darkwood had disbanded the DPD and had handed over law enforcement duties to the Equestria County Sheriff’s Department.
“Daddy had never been involved in it, you see – they hadn’t even told him,” Licorice said, speaking to no one in particular. “I suspect that if he knew, he would’ve blown the whistle himself; Daddy was an upstanding gentleman and a man of the law, and he wouldn’t cotton to things like that.” She then sighed. “But it didn’t matter: he was ruined by the firing of the whole force, and nobody believed him. Sure, he was never charged, but he was the assistant chief – the second-in-charge shoulda known, or probably cut a deal, or something like that, right?” Another tear slid down her cheek as she said, “Best job he could get after that was security guard – and that hurt Daddy something fierce.”
“You don’t have to tell us anymore, Licorice,” Cornflower replied.
“I do. You need to hear this, if only so that it’ll stop haunting you,” Licorice replied. “The person you killed? Daddy died a long time before that, and the man that was left behind was an alcoholic monster who beat Momma and put her in the hospital more than once.”
“I’m sorry that happened. But I’m at a loss to see how the crash helped, instead of making things worse.”
“You see, when he died, Momma went to go live with my aunt in Athens, and was filing for divorce. Daddy was on the way to see her…and he had guns on him. I don’t think I need to tell you what that means.” The reaction from the Apples was one of complete and utter shock; how could anyone sink so low?
“He…there’s no way he could’ve, Licorice, not if’n you say your pa was the man he was!” Applejack insisted.
“But Daddy wasn’t that man anymore,” Licorice mourned. “He’d lost his dream. Momma was supporting the household. And nobody believed he was tellin’ the truth. So he hid in a bottle…and what came out I’m not sure was human anymore. When I met Momma at Aunt Sasparilla’s house, she was telling me stuff Daddy did to her…stuff I know he wouldn’t have if he was in his right mind. But he wasn’t anymore. All that drinking after he lost his job? It turned him into a shell of the man I knew.
“The police told me and Momma that he was headed to the airport with tickets to Atlanta, and all those weapons, fully loaded. I know he wouldn’t have made it on the flight…but that wasn’t my worry. Daddy told me that when he was with the Atlanta PD, and before that the Army back in Iraq during the first Gulf War, he’d had to do his hard duty, and that it took a toll on a soul.” Licorice’s voice was nearly gone as she continued. “I don’t think that, as gone as he was, for one moment any of those people at the airport would’ve seen another day if you hadn’t had your accident.”
Cornflower, despite the fact that she was shocked, nonetheless still felt she had to say her piece. “But I—”
“Didn’t intend for what happened, I know. No one ever does. But I honestly think that, indirectly, you saved countless lives that night. Truthfully? I loved my Daddy, more than I can ever say. But my Daddy died the day he started raising his hand against Momma, and all that was left was a demon a bottle created. And that is the monster that you killed. And I can never even begin to repay you for that.”
Dinner that night was at The Finest Cut, an expensive steakhouse that was just down the street from Licorice’s shop. It had to be the finest cut of sirloin that the trio had ever had, and as Licorice and Cornflower continued to talk during the course of the night, Applejack began to wonder if she saw the inklings of a friendship there. Applejack hoped that the two would have something more to bond with than just their mutual pain. Plus, though the teen would never tell Cornflower directly, it would be good for her: after all, her mother had very few friends to begin with and her accident had left her with even less – the only one she could really think of off the top of her head that had been a longtime friend of her mother’s was Ms. Luna. It was good to see her mother so excited and enjoying herself.
“Hey, sis?” Apple Bloom said in hushed tones while the two adults talked.
“Yeah, what’s up, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.
“Ah have to admit, it’s great to see Ma talking to someone else. Ah think the only friends she has are Ms. Luna and Mrs. Philodendron down at the florist, right?”
The older teen let a bemused look appear on her face; apparently she hadn’t been the only one who’d noticed their mother’s social status. “Ah guess,” she replied glibly. “Ah really don’t keep track o’ her friendships, why?”
“Something bothering me, Ah guess,” Apple Bloom said. “Ma said that she’d made a ‘selfish mistake’. Do you know what’s she was talking about?”
Applejack shook her head. “Not a clue, sugarcube, an’ now’s not the time to ask. Ah’ll talk to her later and find out, okay?”
The conversation never happened that night. Licorice and Cornflower, having traded phone numbers, promised to meet again soon. Apple Bloom had become a victim of food coma and Applejack and Cornflower were driving back to the Apple homestead. But as Applejack turned onto the Interstate for the short jaunt down it towards their home, Applejack briefly looked at her mother. “Ma, Apple Bloom wanted t’ ask ya something, but Ah think she’s a little bit on the asleep side right now.”
Cornflower smiled. “I would assume so, sweetheart. What was it?”
“She wanted t’ know what you meant by you having made a ‘selfish mistake’ back then.”
The smile that had worked its way onto the matron’s face disappeared almost instantly. “I…I’m not going to discuss that with you right now. Not because I don’t think you deserve to know, but because I don’t think Apple Bloom’s ready for it, and I’d rather her wait until she’s old enough.”
That answer seemed extremely odd to Applejack; usually neither of her parents shied away from telling their children anything they didn’t want to hear. “Ma, she’s a teenager. Ah can guarantee Ah heard a lotta ‘objectional’ stuff when Ah was her age.”
“Sweetheart, just…talk to your brother. He knows. Tell him that I said it was okay to tell you. And….”
“And?”
Cornflower reached over and caressed her daughter’s face. “Remember that I love you, Applejack. No matter what, I couldn’t be more proud to be your mother.”
If the statement her mother had made earlier seemed out of bounds for her personality, the second one filled her with dread. And Applejack made a mental note to talk to her brother first thing in the morning.
“Hey, bro,” Applejack said the following morning, meeting him outside, where her brother was loading up the store van to ready to head out. The snow was falling heavily, enough so that she’d thrown on a hat, which generally annoyed her; she hated messing up her hair and hathead was a major offender. Still, it was that or end up with a cold in the long run, so she put on a Stetson her father had given her a few years ago. It was bad enough that it had been a sleepless night for her, but she forced herself to get up so that she could talk to Macintosh. She needed answers, and if he was the only one that could give them to her, then she would get it from him.
“Hey, perfect timin’ sis,” Macintosh said with a laconic smile, dipping the brim of his baseball cap slightly, before picking up one of the boxes and heading towards the van to put it in. “Ah could use some help gettin’ this stuff in the van, if you’re okay with that. We got a big shipment last night delivered here by accident, an’ we want to make sure that we get it to the store before we close up shop for New Ye—”
“What did Ma mean when she said that she made a ‘selfish mistake’ the day she had the accident?” Applejack asked. Her brother’s response was to practically freeze where he stood, as if he’d had ice cold water dumped on him.
“AJ, if’n ya knew what was good for ya, you’d mind your own business and not ask again,” he said in a cold tone that she’d never heard from her brother before.
However, that wasn’t going to dissuade her. “Ma told me to ask you, Mac. She seemed really scared to tell me herself.”
“Smartest thing our mother’s ever done,” he told her, then set the box down in the van before turning to look at her. “Y’know that website that Ah like to fool around on occasionally? TVTropes? There’s a phrase there that comes to mind: ‘there ‘re things man wasn’t meant t’ know’, er something like that. Ah never really put anything on that page.” He took off his hat, scratched the top of his head more in though than to take care of an itch, then put it back on. “That’s what this whole bucket o’ shit is, sis.”
“Ah think Ah have the right to know, Mac. Me an’ Apple Bloom.”
“Y’do,” he replied, but the look on his face was somber. “But you may not want to. There are times Ah wish Ah didn’t know it.”
“Tell ‘er.” Both of them took a look back towards the house, to find the family matriarch, Granny Smith, standing there, in her sweats, getting ready for a morning walk. Given her age, it was surprising how spry and agile she was, when so many her age were using canes or walkers. It wasn’t surprising, given that when she was in her prime, Applesmith had been an Olympic swimmer.
“Granny….” Macintosh began.
“Tell ‘er, or Ah will, youngin’,” she said, her voice firm. “Lord knows Ah love both yer ma an’ yer pa t’ death, but neither o’ them was at their most shinin’ moment back then. Ah hate t’ say it, but th’ accident wuz th’ best thing that coulda happen’d t’ them – an’ y’all.”
Macintosh sighed, as if in defeat then stood up straight. Looking his sister straight in the eye, he said, “Ma an’ Pa were plannin’ t’ get a divorce…because Ma had an affair.”
The look in Applejack’s eyes turned from surprise to outright disbelief. “It…it can’t be,” she murmured.
“It’s true,” Smith replied. “Yer father…we Apples love th’ land, and when we all had t’ move here to take over yer Grandpa’s shop, yer father hated t’ sell th’ farm, even though yer uncle an’ aunt took it over. He blamed yer mother fer that, an’ she ran inta th’ arms o’ another man fer solace; cain’t say Ah totally blame her; Appleseed was bein’ downright stupid.
“But…but they never argued!” Applejack protested. “How could they have been plannin’ a divorce, if’n they never told us?”
“Too ‘fraid to, Ah reckon,” Macintosh replied. “Ah’m guessin’ we woulda found out the hard way if’n it wasn’t fer the accident.”
Applejack felt tears sting her eyes. Her family’s love for one another was an utter lie. They were destroying each other six years ago – more than that, given that they’d moved from the farm the year before – and were headed for a ruined relationship. Applejack knew the toll of that well; Fluttershy’s parents were divorced, and from the few times she met her mother, Dr. Posey looked as though she ran herself ragged taking care of her two children, something that wouldn’t have happened if her father had stayed behind.
But that brought up a new question in Applejack’s mind: Why had her father stayed behind? Her mother had been unfaithful, and her father had more than enough reasons to call the relationship quits, kids or no. And if her grandmother was correct, her father had been the indirect cause of that infidelity, treating his wife to the point that she felt she could only get solace in the arms of another man. What had happened to change all of that?
Smith looked at her two grandchildren, then at the road that led out of their housing subdivision and towards the other parts of Canterlot. “Looks like Ah’m not gettin’ a mornin’ run in,” she sighed. “We need t’ put this t’ rest for once and fer all. Put th’ boxes in the van, then come in. Ah’m gonna wake up th’ others, an’ then we’re gonna talk about all this.” She smiled sadly. “Looks like a French toast kinda mornin’.”
Both Applejack and Macintosh nodded agreement with that statement; their grandmother only made her family-renowned cinnamon French toast only when there was something to discuss over breakfast.
The French toast turned out to be vitally needed. Seated there and looking very ashamed, both of Applejack’s parents were resigned to the fact that Smith that the news had to come out, one way or another. With that, the Apple matriarch then recounted everything she knew, every sordid detail of the whole event over a half-decade past.
Sure enough, Cornflower’s comment that Apple Bloom wasn’t ready turned out to be right; she bawled on her sister’s shoulder enough that when this was all done, Applejack was going to have to change her shirt. Macintosh was reliving all the hell he remembered from those years, and given that save for their father’s light-brown hair, both father and son were practically as identical as Posey and Fluttershy were, Applejack had a pretty good feeling her father had the same look on his face when he found out about his wife’s scandal.
As for Appleseed himself, he cleared his throat then looked at his wife, who kissed him the cheek and leaned closer to him for comfort. He then looked at his mother, who nodded, then finally to his three children. “Ah reckon y’all shoulda known this sooner,” he began.
“Should’ve known this sooner?” Apple Bloom shouted. “How can any of us believe a single thing you two say?”
“Apple Bloom,” Macintosh interjected, “they’re our parents. Ah think y’ owe them respect…so show it.” Though Applejack sympathized with her sister’s feelings, she had to agree with her brother. Flawed or not, they were their parents.
“No, Mac,” Cornflower said softly. “Your sister’s right. We’ve lied to you – though omission – and kept a lid on something we should’ve told you three about from the very beginning. We never really handled it right, and we’ve been too ashamed of what we did back then to tell you what you all had the right to know. But now the truth is out, and here we are.”
Appleseed began. “It was partially mah fault. Ah pushed the woman Ah loved inta th’ arms of another man – an’ we ain’t gonna tell ya who that was; that ain’t none o’ yer beeswax – but it wouldn’t’a happened if’n Ah’d just…let th’ farm go.” He looked at his children. “Y’know the family motto, right? ‘Apples t’ the Core’? Ah shoulda remembered it. It’s not ‘bout the farm, it was about the family. An’ Ah looked at it th’ wrong way.”
“And as for me,” Cornflower added, “I felt betrayed. I loved your father, but it was clear to me – at the time – that he loved the farm more than me. And as for me and my paramour? I….” She paused, as if to recollect her thoughts. “He’d been coming on to me in front of your father, but at the time, I thought it was just friendly flirting. I didn’t know he was serious…but I still found out otherwise.” She sobbed, her body shaking as the memories came through. “When your father and I started fighting, we started taking long drives just to do that, so we wouldn’t fight in front of you. It was both the right thing to do and a mistake. The former because it shielded you from all the pain…but the latter, because we never really discussed, just fought.
“The day of the accident, your father was telling me he was leaving, going back to Heavener to return to the farm. And I….” She turned and leaned against her shoulder, sobbing quietly.
Appleseed bent down and kissed her on the head. “It’s okay, sugar. It’s in th’ past.”
“No,” she sobbed into his shoulder. “They deserve to know.” She pulled away and looked at her children. “Despite meeting with Licorice, despite the fact that the accident was due to the faulty pedal? In the end, I know it was divine punishment for my sins. Because…I was pregnant with the other man’s child.” Her three children gasped as they realized what their mother had said: the three would’ve had another sibling, but not a full one.
“When we came to, we were both in th’ hospital,” Appleseed said. “Ah got off easy, since Ah only had a busted leg, coupl’a crushed ribs on th’ left side, whiplash and cuts on mah right arm from where th’ glass had cut it. The police told me that when they had to cut me out o’ th’ car, though, there was a jag o’ metal from th’ engine that had stopped just inches from piercin’ mah chest. Ah tell ya, Ah thanked th’ Good Lord that Ah survived. But when th’ doctors told me yer ma was in a coma, that done broke mah heart.”
“The doctors told me I was comatose for about a week and a half,” Cornflower continued, “and that I had to have three surgeries to remove all the debris that had impaled me. And when it was all done, they told me that I wasn’t going to be able to walk again, but that the baby had survived.” She then looked at her husband and said, “The first time we saw each other after all was said and done? We couldn’t face one another. I had a child in me that was another man’s. Your father was ready to walk out because he resented me for our move here.”
“But when Ah saw her lyin’ there, Ah knew ‘twas mah fault,” Appleseed said. “Ah drove her t’ that man. All because Ah couldn’t give up th’ farm in mah heart. Ah nearly ruined mah family because of mah selfishness.”
Cornflower raised her hand and delicately caressed her husband’s face. “I wanted to die that day, love…but you didn’t give up. You were willing to forgive everything – my selfishness, my betrayal….”
He held her hand to his face. “No more than you were willin’ t’ forgive me fer treatin’ like worse than dirt. Ah spit on yer father, yer mother…and on our own children by extension.”
The three Apple children watched as their parents looked at each other with nothing less than love in their eyes. It was clear that they’d been through a complete and utter gauntlet, and somehow managed to last together – the past six years had been a testament to that. But one question was Applejack’s mind, something she had to know.
“Ma…the baby….”
At that point, Cornflower broke down in tears against her husband’s shoulder, and Appleseed put his arms around her. “It’s okay, honey,” he told her. “Ah’m here fer ya.”
The intensity of the situation started to bring tears to everyone’s eyes as Smith told her son, “Take ‘er up, son. Ah’ll take care o’ the rest.” As Appleseed took his wife back upstairs, Smith looked at her grandchildren. “Yer ma miscarried two months later. She an’ yer pa wanted t’ keep the baby, but…there was nothin’ that could be done.”
The trio looked at one another, feeling completely and utterly drained. Just a simple conversation of a minute had destroyed everything they’d known about their family and the reason they’d moved to Canterlot. But their grandmother was nothing if not smart, and had prepared for that.
“So, y’all feel like things have been ripped out from beneath you, dontcha? Well, Ah know how y’ feel. Ah feel it in mah bones every time Ah hear ‘bout how yer uncle and aunt an’ cousin Braeburn are, back on th’ farm. Ah hear it every time yer ma takes me t’ the doctor, or every time yer pa watches out fer me. None of it’s easy, Ah know. But y’ see: that’s the real truth about th’ family motto. ‘Apples t’ th’ Core’? Ain’t got nothin’ t’ do with farms or stores or nothin’ like that. It’s about family.” She pointed upstairs. “All about yer ma and yer pa, and y’all and me, and anyone that’s a member o’ th’ Apple clan, not that yer other kin aren’t any less important, mind.
“Okay, Ah think that’s ‘nough fer today. Ah wantcha three t’ cover th’ store fer now. Ah think they’re gonna need some time t’ recover from this.” She rose from the table and went and gave each of her grandchildren a kiss and a hug. “They’ll be there some time in th’ afternoon, Ah’m sure. As fer me, Ah gotta get mah workout in. Gotta keep this ol’ body runnin’ ya know.”
The afternoon came and Applejack’s parents had come in, as if nothing had ever been wrong. But to Applejack and her siblings, they saw something in both their parents’ faces: that they were free of the lies and the shame that they’d hidden from their three kids for so long. It was a good feeling, both for them, Applejack was sure, and for her as well.
But that wasn’t the only interesting thing that was going on in the store right now. Rainbow, Scootaloo and a strange girl that Applejack had never met before were here, stocking up on a case of Apple Zap, Rainbow’s favorite soda. To both her and Apple Bloom’s surprise, the girl turned out to be Scootaloo’s biological sister, a girl named Melancholy Rose, and something had gone down the past couple of days that ended up with Rainbow’s younger sister meeting her biological family.
“And hey, even though she met Rose and she’s cool and all, it still feels great that at the end of the day, Scootaloo still calls me her big sis,” Rainbow said to her friend as they watched Scootaloo excitedly introduce Rose to one of the former’s best friends. “I know it feels kinda dumb, but for a moment there, even though I knew that I wasn’t going to lose her…it felt like that.”
“Yeah,” Applejack said quietly, digesting all the things she’d discovered about her family the past couple of days. In a sense, the world felt more muted now, less realistic and bright knowing that she almost had a little sister or brother that would now never live, or that she’d almost lost her mother and father to divorce, not just the chance of death that had been earlier.
“Something wrong?” Rainbow asked.
“Nothin’,” Applejack evaded, hoping Rainbow wouldn’t pick up on that. She wasn’t going to lie to her friend – she wasn’t good at it and it went against her principles, personally – but she didn’t think Rainbow would understand.
And just like that, her friend surprised her.
“Okay. Heh – y’know, I think I learned a lesson in all this: it’s that family sticks together no matter what, through thick and thin. Scootaloo was really worried that she was going to be taken away from us, and Mom, Dad and I showed her that’s never going to happen. And in the end? Not only did it not happen, her biological family wants to get to know her, but know her home’s here. So, teal deer version: Family always trumps problems, and as long as you stay together, you’ll always stay together. How cool is that?”
Somehow, it was the words that Applejack needed to hear. Reaching over, she hugged her friend. “Thanks, Rainbow. Y’don’t know how much Ah needed t’ hear that.”
Rainbow looked at her friend oddly as they embraced. “You sure you don’t want to talk about anything?”
“Naah, Ah’m good. It’s just…it’s good t’ have a friend who can explain things so clearly.”
“Uh, you’re…welcome? I mean…yeah, I’m no egghead like Twily, but…uh, nevermind.”
“Yeah, Ah think Ah’ll just do that.” The door chime rang, and Applejack turned in the direction of the door. “Welcome to the Sweet Apple Supply St – oh, hi, Licorice! What brings y’ here?”
Licorice stood at the door, a smile on her face. “I was wondering if your mom was here, Applejack. Wanted to talk to her about a business idea I had that could help both of our stores.”
“Really? Well, don’t let me stop ya, sugarcube. She’s in the back with Pa. Trust me, you’ll like him. Apple Bloom, show her the way, wouldja?” Apple Bloom nodded and signaled for Licorice to follow.
“So, looks like you have a story to tell as well, huh?”
“Maybe,” Applejack admitted. She could tell Rainbow an edited version, now that it occurred to her. Her friend didn’t have to know about her family’s past, but telling her about her mother’s newfound friendship and how that came about would help; Rainbow did know about the accident, after all.
“Oh? Do tell.”
“Yeah. Tell ya what: gather up Scoots an’ Rose, an’ Ah’ll get Apple Bloom, an’ we can head over t’ Sugarcube Corner. If’n Sunny’s there, and it’s slow enough, maybe she’d want t’ hear it too. It’s one of those stories Ah just gotta get off mah chest.”
“That good, huh?” Rainbow inquired.
“Yeah. Years in th’ makin’, Rainbow. Years in th’ makin’.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.034 seconds
Total duration
975 users online
1,781,964 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
So, AJ's mother, Cornflower, was crippled after she hit a man in a car accident due to a faulty part? It's sad when good people are twisted, by circumstances and an inability to accept their own pain and misery, into monsters. So, it seems Cornflower's accident stopped an evil man from hurting innocents. Wow. I guess every family has their secrets and mistakes. Nice tie-in to the previous chapter there. First comment!
Oopsies.
5455893
Fixing.
That wouldn't be a sideways reference to Kopi luwak would it?
5456088
No, it refers to a type of oolong tea that was believed in the past to have been picked by monkeys specially-trained by Buddhist monks.
5456287 nice. Knew there was likely also a tea reference there too, just couldn't think of it.
Hearing about a man so broken his own daughter believed it was a good thing he died. I agree, though it's still dark.
And Feather was too dark to come out on the holiday season.
Holy Shit! How dark and twisted is it. Is it Fallout's Raider levels of atrocity?
I am scared. And excited. I bring it up only because I love seeing more content about this story world you and blue have created.
5460725
So you're saying we should cancel Feather?
5460859 NO! I'm saying I have some sort of sick excitement for it. Just like really scary horror movies.
No what I want is for you to publish it as soon as possible. I apologize for not making that clearer.
5462795
I know the feeling about the hitting close to home; one or two of the stories (this one included) had elements taken from my own life.
5461947
So we should clearly cancel Feather then?
Seriously, I don't think that Licorice thought that it was a good idea that her father died, only that he was stopped from hurting others. It just so happens that he was stopped in a macabre fashion, but if Shining had been a cop six years prior and arrested him for DWI, that would've been the same result - he would've been stopped.
Wasn't Bronze Shield part of.the backstory in A Hairy Problem?
Sweet Jesus, this hit me like a freight train. Every single chapter before was a heavy hitter, but goddamn this makes me feel like I just went eight rounds with a professional boxer without headgear on. You're playing my heart like a harp and I love it. I hope the next chapter is just as good, if not better. Also, I put on Apples to the Core and it ended at the same time the chapter did. That right there is something I don't think I'll forget anytime soon.