Everything Went Down Hill

by WannaFlugelHorn

Focus On The Now

Apple Jack woke up to find that they had never made it back to the shelter to sleep. She had been laying on the ground with her younger sister the whole night. But now the sun was starting to shift over the horizon, and the dry air of winter scratched against Apple Jack's throat. She glanced sadly at the patch of dirt where she had buried her brother that night,and the who experience was emotionally exhausting for both Apple Jack and Apple Bloom. But it was time to get up, as Apple Jack had to prepare breakfast for her younger sister.

The dead leaves crinkled underneath her hooves as she walked over to the trash bag she had carried home from town the other day. Untying the tight knot at the top of the bag, a wave of what had to be the most disgusting odor in the world, pored out of the opening. Emptying the bag, items of all shapes and sizes rolled out onto the ground. Apple Jack began sifting through the stinky stuff for anything that could be eaten. Most of the trash couldn't, as a large portion of the bag's contents were things such as cans, bottles, plastic bags, diapers, you name it. Their were other things that Apple Jack couldn't even identify. After a few minutes of searching, Apple Jack located a partially eaten bagel, a water bottle that was still about half full, and a couple carrot stems and apple cores. It wasn't much, but it was something.

After dragging the food over to the safety of the shelter, Apple Jack began collecting small containers that could be used for storing rain water. She only found about two that were undamaged and clean enough to be used. She put the rest of the junk still on the ground back into the trash bag, and consumes half of the food she found. Then she quietly trots over to Apple Bloom to wake her up.

"Hey, Apple Bloom." Apple Bloom shifts onto her side to face her sister before speaking.

"You gonna head into town again?"

"Yah, but are you gonna be okay without . . . You gonna be okay by yourself?" Apple Bloom paused for a moment. I could tell she was still sad about our resent loss, but she was doing a lot better. I Think she accepted that it had happened, and there wasn't much we could do at this point. He wiped her eyes before continuing.

"I-I think so. There aren't any dangerous animals around, are there?"

"Not that I know of, sugar cube. I'll be back before sunset."

"Bye, Apple Jack."

"Good bye, Apple Bloom." She set off, and while she was walking, she considered why she was going to town again. She didn't have bits to buy anything, and she hadn't found anyone willing to give her a job. She was far away from Ponyville, and no one knew how reliable and hard working she was. But there was nothing she could do, just like when Flim and Flam took over. The memory caused her great pain, but she couldn't help but go through what happened again.

"Fear not everypony, there's more than enough cider to go around!" Flam's words seemed flow out of his mouth and tighten around Apple Jack's stomach. Flam flashed a taunting smile at her, then joined into his brother's triumphant laugh. Apple Jack started to walk away, but then realized no pony stepped up to get cider.

"Go ahead every pony, go on y'all, it's okay." If she had to give up the apple farm, the least she could do before leaving Ponyville would be to let everypony enjoy the cider that the Apple family's trees produced. Then she remembered how'd she'd seen Flim and Flam turn off quality control. Maybe, just maybe, the others wouldn't buy any cider, forcing them to leave. Apple Jack looked hopefully at the Flim and Flam's Apple Cider filled barrels. They were over flowing with rocks, twigs, and leaves. But Flim noticed Apple Jack staring at them.

"Hey, brother of mine, perhaps we should make some new cider for everypony. One of higher quality, as they say."

"Good catch, Flim. Hey Apples, only paying customers are allowed on our property."

"Yah, so get moving!" Another round of laughter exploded from the two.

Apple Jack hadn't realized how long she'd been in thought. She was near to the town now, she'd most likely replayed the scene over in her head.

"No, I gotta focus on the now," Apple Jack told herself, and she trotted off towards the busy streets of the town, dirt kicking up behind her.