The Stetson

by Magicolt808

The Stetson

The Stetson

It was early in the morning and the sun was just rising in the distance, illuminating the vast orchard that belonged to the Apple family. Each ruby, red apple was easily visible from a distance and shone in the light with a simple brilliance. This brilliance made the orange mare smile, for this is all she knew.

Applejack got out of bed, ready to start the day. However, she did wake up later than she used to. Her age was slowing her down, not allowing her to work at the same pace as before. Each morning she would scowl at her own reflection, unable to recognize the mare staring back into her emerald eyes.

Nonetheless, she left her house to do her one and only chore; bucking apples. Though her age had been adding resistance to her life, her muscles still kept up with the times. Her muscles toned every inch of her body, making her look as fit as any young stallion while still maintaining her original beauty of a mare. As she bucked the trees, the apples all fell into the baskets below, making her smile at the “fruits” of her labor. After hours of working, she decided that her work was finished and started her lone walk through the orchard.

She always loved walking through the familiar fields. Seeing all the falling leaves, apples and hills always brought memories to her mind and brought nostalgia to her heart. Her friends and family took up most of her recollections and their faces always seemed to be everywhere she went. A smile crept onto her face as she reminisced.

Through her daze, a ragged brown object caught her eye just below a tree. As she walked toward it, her eyes grew wide in shock and surprise. It was her old Stetson hat, weathered with scuffs, bends and tears. Tears were brought to her eyes as she remembered how much she cared for it, while it lay torn on the ground.

She soon picked up the hat and held it between her hooves. As she held her family heirloom, her tears ran down the rim and dripped to the dirt floor. Anger soon took over her emotions as she squeezed the hat in her grip. Who did this? What was it doing out here?

As she stood, fuming at what had become of her hat, tiny hoof steps came from a distance, unaware of the hostile atmosphere. Applejack heard them coming and whirled around to yell at the stranger but was stopped at the sight of the young colt she saw before her.

“Hey Ma,” said Zap, his rainbow mane ruffled and unkempt.

Applejacks expression softened and she knelt down to be the same height as her son. She wiped her tears away and smiled to the young colt, filling him with warmth and comfort.

“Ah shucks, did ya’ll come all the way out here to see me?” said Applejack, acting flattered.
The young colt looked to the ground and a tear started to escape him. Applejack saw this and immediately sought out to comfort him.

“What’s wrong Sugarcube?”

“Ah miss Mama Dash,” said Zap.

Rainbow Dash had been gone on tour with the Wonderbolts for about six months. She had been accepted as part of the team when she performed a Sonic Rainboom going up instead of plummeting down at Shining Armor and Cadence’s wedding. Because of her long absence, her family had to live on their own, only getting letters from their loving mother/wife.

Nothing could be done about how often Rainbow Dash can see her family but they accepted it and let her live her dream.

They even saw her perform once. She simply shined in the white clouds and outshone even some of the Wonderbolts captains. Afterwards, everypony shouted her name and all she could do was beam her confident smile with a hint of blush that she would never admit was present.

Though RD had made it big, she yearned for her family. After Applejack had become her world and Zap became her priority, she could think of nothing else she wanted to do than to spend time with them. The letters she wrote to them made it clear of that.

“Ah do too Sugarcube. But you know what? Ya still got me!” The young colt looked up to see one of his mothers beaming at him, filling him with the same warmth as before. As he stared into his mother’s emerald eyes, something caught their attention, shaking the trees and the very ground they stood on.

Applejack whirled around just in time to see a mid-air shockwave of multicolored rings, reflecting light and color onto the plain ground, making it shine brilliantly in the sunlight. Zap’s eyes widened at the familiar sight and immediately set out to find the source of the spectacle, sure to be pleased when he found it.

He didn’t get far however, because as soon as he turned around to do so, a cyan blur wrapped her hooves around both him and his mother, making them fall to the dirt. Once the dust settled, Zap and Applejack opened their eyes only to see magenta ones staring back at them. Zap’s mouth opened up into a wide grin that made Rainbow Dash tear a little and bring him into a tighter hug.

“Hiya Squirt,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Ah missed ya so much Mama Dash!” said Zap, practically bawling his eyes out.

“I missed ya too little man! How about you go to the house? I got a present for ya!”

“YAY,” said the little colt, sprinting his little legs as fast as they could go toward the house, leaving Rainbow Dash and Applejack alone.

“Whater you doin’ here so early? I thought you were suppose ta be on tour!”

“I was but Spitfire hurt her wing when I did another sonic rainboom. When she hit the turbulence in my wake, she slammed into the barrier and crushed the bones in her right wing. She was the coordinator of our routine. None of our shows are the same ya know.”

“Gosh Ah hope she’s ok.”

“She’ll be fine. Besides I get to spend way more time with you two while she recovers.”

“Yeah, that sounds mighty fine Rainbow,” said Applejack, nuzzling her snout against Dash’s neck.

Dash looked down and closed her eyes, resting her chin against Applejacks head. As she opened her eyes, she saw the torn hat on the ground and took a step towards it. At the shift of movement, Applejack looked up to see Dash walking towards the hat.

“Hey AJ? What happened to your hat? I thought it was hanging in the hallway near our bedroom.”

“Ah have no idea. With you gone, Ah had other things to worry about. I never noticed it was gone.”

“Do ya think it was Zap?” RD was curious as to what happened to the thing that made Applejack Applejack.

“Rainbow, Ah don’t care about the hat!”

“But it-“

“Dash. Ah don’t need a hat to keep me happy. You are here and that’s all that matters.”

Dash’s curiosity evaporated and she softened her appearance. Her tension left her body and she quickly relaxed.

“If ya say so,” said Rainbow Dash.

“So what did ya get Zap as a surprise?”

“Well, in actuality, Spitfire doesn’t have any money to her name. She has no place to stay. So guess who was waiting at the house for Zap.”

Both mares laughed at the sudden sound of a colt screaming in utmost joy.

“Well I guess he found her.”

“C’mon let’s go. We need to be there before he falls head over heels for her like Spike for Rarity.”

Both mares walked toward the house, completely forgetting the broken Stetson in the dirt. But the memories were no longer in the hat at all, but in their minds and hearts.

Comments

[Meadow_Elune]

Hmmm.... interesting.

[Fluttersquee]

I was excited when I saw a new notification, and even more excited when it about a new story from you.
About the story, I really liked it. I'm not a huge AppleDash fan, but there was just the right amount here to still make me feel a feel.
I thought the whole idea that they had a child was great, I've never read something like that before, it was a pleasant surprise.
I loved the bit about Spitfire being in the house, I'm not sure why, but it just really grabbed my attention.
Also, I didn't really see any mistakes, I don't know if you had it proofread already or not, but it looked good to me.
Is there any plan to continue it? (I know it says complete, but I was just wondering)

[Foregrip Butterfly]

This filled my day with happy

[bookplayer]

I loved it, and I love little Zap. Too too too cute!

One note. . . I didn't think you needed the line: Yes that’s right, Applejack and Rainbow are married and had a baby.

A) You kinda said that in the summery. And
B) It sounds more like the author talking then keeping the third person limited POV. It pulled me out of a wonderful sweet story for a second.

If you feel like you need to say it, I would try to work it into Applejack's thinking.

[Proud Blank Flank]

Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack = Favorites. Child Hood Ruined. Ashleigh Ball - Mad.
Nah, Just kidding.

[Dqnylqny117]

Please could you do moar?

[Pancake29]

1337 words...

I see what you did there.

[Magicolt808]

522126 Have you noticed this isn't the first time I've done that?

520870 I got rid of that line and now you can enjoy it in it's third person POV greatness like it was intended.

520629 I never gave a lot of thought into it but may be I can continue it. I'm going to have to get crackin if I want to get it done.

521220 Exactly what I just said to Fluttersquee. I wll continue it. But in another story, not a chapter.

[TheForsaken]

Oh sweet ,AppleDash isn't my favourite but for me,any story of love with Dash (but not necessarly with her) is just .... *sigh* heartwarming....

[Fluttrick]

DAW DAW DAW! and that was so heart warming and sweet and heart warming and sweet and,GAH! SO AWESOME!

[Fluttrick]

DAW DAW DAW! and that was so heart warming and sweet and heart warming and sweet and,GAH! SO AWESOME!

[Dezmo]

Truth Review: (Massive Spoilers)

First paragraph: Overkill much?
"It was early in the morning and the sun was just rising in the distance, illuminating the vast orchard that belonged to the Apple family. Each ruby, red apple was easily visible from a distance and shone in the light with a simple brilliance. This brilliance made the orange mare smile, for this is all she knew."
Every writer, big or small, knows that a good story requires great description skills. Here you show truly that you understand that unspoken rule, yet, overkill much? I can easily tell that this is all forced. Its unnatural and just does not seem to go with any flow, its just there. Same thing for the next paragraph with describing Apple Jack (Oh and the muscle toned part too in the third paragraph).

Little Zap: History.
First off, Little Zap was cute. But like always you need to provide some basic information about him. In the story description you pretend that the mares have had a child, well, why not? If you ever want to expand your story word count try explaining things you would normally skip. For instance you could have easily thrown in 3-4 paragraphs about Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash adopting Little Zap. Then for a good measure ad in a reason or mini-story about how he got his name. You see, the one consistent main problem with your stories is that they are always short and rushed. You have a knack at writing but slow down, and take your time. I would like to see a story that is over 5K words.

Stetson Hat: The mystery.
Now obviously at the get go the title gave away the main focus. Sure not everyone would get the connection until it was made but you cant fool the veteran readers with a small ploy like that. Now i am not saying I am better at 'reading' than others but i instantly knew that everything is written for a reason and i was able to assume correctly what this story was about when i first opened it up.

(Suddenly i have to do something. I will finish this review later today!)

[Magicolt808]

528251 I see.
Hmmm…

Damn I really rushed this one huh? Well to be honest, the first five paragraphs were from when you asked me to write about Applejack about I don't know how many months ago. The reason it's overkill was because It was going to be an emotionally griping story yet I knew you wanted at least a little happy in it so I scraped this whole draft. Little did I know that it was still saved in my student folder. I came across it and I flipped the whole story to be happy, not bothering to change the beginning.

But here's some good news. I am planning two stories of which are both going to be almost 10K Words long (well not that much but somewhere in that range) and I would love nothing more than for you to review those as well.

Thanks for everything you do. Especially for me.

EDIT: Also, Zap is not adopted. He's flesh and blood.

[Geacu]

annd-iwas not alerted that you had a new story... -_-

[Proud Blank Flank]

I Must say, Thank you. Because ever since I read this story. I remember what Apple Jack's hat is actually called. XD

[LunaTheFox]

This was good, I thought it was very cute. A fun, heartwarming story. The hat was a nice little twist on things.

[High Moon]

I really needed that
thank you

[Basic Runner27]

wow that was great