Is the Apple Rotten, Or...?
Bells rang from under the orchard’s entwined trees, decorations strewn about the trees as Big McIntosh and Sugar Belle shared in a kiss. The couple had waited as long as they could, but no longer. Big Mac stood clad in a black suit, a simple string bow tie hanging over his white button-down shirt with a stetson on his head to match, while Sugar Belle wore a simple gown of purest white, mane tied up in a tight bun. With friends on either side, Mayor Mare led the cheers as the happy couple cantered down the makeshift aisle. Chief among those cheering were Applejack and Apple Bloom, each with a tear in their eye as they watched their brother start his new life.
“I can’t believe ‘e finally did it!” Applejack exclaimed, putting a hoof on her sister’s shoulder. “He looks so happy, I…”
Apple Bloom smirked back at the mare. “Well, I ain’t even a little surprised.”
With a brief chuckle, Applejack tussled the filly’s mane. “‘Course not, seein’ as you helped set ‘em up.”
“And look how it turned out!” she started, gesturing to the decorations all around them before her hoof pressed against her cheek. “I just knew havin’ somepony special was the way ta go!” She fell to her rump with a swooning sigh, losing herself in the moment until… “That reminds me…” She looked back over her shoulder with a crooked grin.
Applejack's eyes widened at the expression, knowing full well what it meant. "Oh no…!" She stepped back with a hoof raised between them. "Don't you even--"
"We still gotta find your special somepony!" Apple Bloom declared, hopping back to her hooves with ecstatic determination.
With a defeated sigh, Applejack looked aside. "Yeah, I thought so…"
The next day there came a glow about the farm. It was clear that the previous night had been eventful for some members of the family, and while they were all certainly happy about it, it did little to distract Applejack from a foreboding feeling. She trudged into the kitchen, dragging her hooves as she turned toward the stove. I can't believe that Apple Bloom… Ya'd think after this long she'd've given up on that dang crusade o' hers! Her mind raced as she began making breakfast for the family. I swear, at this rate she's gonna frag me all over Equestria an' it ain't gonna do a lick o' good! The one date I went on that was any fun at all was with Discord, an' it wasn't even a romantic one! She let out a low groan of annoyance as the meal took a rather rough shape. Is it really so awful, not having a special somepony? Never needed one before. Why now?
Her thoughts were cut short by the sound of hoofsteps entering the room. She looked to the door, catching that glow in her peripheral as Sugar Belle walked in. On her face was a smile that looked more content and happy than any she'd ever seen. She moved almost automatically, made increasingly more evident by the impact when she bumped into the orange mare. “Hm?” Her eyes opened fully, shining with a fond familiarity. “Oh! Good morning, Applejack.”
“Heh… Mornin’ Sugar Belle.” She answered, stepping aside to accommodate the baker. "Ya hungry? I got sumthin' cookin' already if ya wanna take it easy."
The newlywed mare’s smile only got bigger. “Oh! Well thank you, Applejack.” She eyed the meal in progress. It looked… decent enough. Though it seemed a little malformed. “But I think I’ll join you. I’ve always wanted to cook with my sister, you know!”
As Sugar Belle took the spot beside her, Applejack let out a nervous laugh. “I appreciate it.” She watched as the Unicorn’s horn lit up, taking a nearby spatula and working the pan with practiced ease. It was a marvel to behold, she had to admit. Eventually, she took a step back, putting her utensils down. “Ya know, I been lookin’ forward ta this too, but…” She rubbed her neck, looking away. “I think you got this covered. I think I’ll just… do some chores, alright?”
Sugar Belle raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. You got this.”
“Okay, then.” She slowly looked back to her work, swishing her tail. “I’ll let you know when it’s ready, okay?”
A more genuine smile graced the farmer’s face. “Thanks, Sugar Belle.” She turned to the exit, chancing a glance over her shoulder to smile at her brand new sister. “I’ll see ya later.”
Closing the door behind her, Applejack wiped her brow with a breath of relief. Moving to a trot, the thought of tending to those trees melted any wariness she had away. Finally, something that could help her keep her mind off of-- “Wait up, Applejack!” Apple Bloom… The filly in question approached her sister in a half-canter, half-stomp, kicking up no end of dust on the way. “I was hopin’ I’d see you! Thought we could go over my next idea!” She patted a saddlebag that hung from her side, gazing up with sparkling eyes.
The orange mare immediately tensed up, forcing a grin onto her muzzle. “Oh yeah?” She looked at her grinning sister with a stiff tilt of her head. “Whatcha got in mind?”
“Right!” She reached into her bag, pulling out a scroll that unfurled into a long trail on the ground. “So we pretty much introduced you ta everypony in at least Ponyville and Manehattan. Can’t remember if we’ve done Canterlot yet.” She quickly rolled it up, stowing it away to replace it with an envelope. “So, what if we sent out letters ‘n see who’s interested? Ponies’ll be comin’ from all over ta see you!”
Applejack swallowed a lump in her throat, letting her smile fall away into a disturbed frown. “All over? D’you really wanna bring so many strangers here ta Sweet Apple Acres?”
"Why not? We've had big parties here before."
"Well, yeah, but--"
"Come on, Applejack, give it a chance!"
"Can I just--"
"Don'tcha wanna be happy like Big Mac?"
And there it was again. Always that question. That comparison. Applejack couldn’t stand it anymore. Her brow furrowed with frustration, sending her hoof down hard. "Why the heck 're you so dang obsessed with this, Apple Bloom?!" She lifted her now-sore hoof, doing her best to resist gritting her teeth as she knocked the envelopes away. "I get that you have yer crusade an' yer 'lookin' out for me', but enough is enough!"
A wave of confusion washed over the filly, sending her reeling backwards. Falling to her rump, she sat there among the fallen papers, watching as her big sister turned around with an aggravated growl. Her confusion didn't last long, though. A year's worth of effort. A year's worth of devotion. All that she'd done for her big sister, and this was how it was gonna end? "Fat chance, Applejack!" She shouted, gathering up the envelopes on her own fit of rage. "Mark my words! When I'm done you're gonna be thankin' me!"
The door to the clubhouse opened with a telltale creak, letting Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo in with slow and tentative steps. It was unusually dark, with the sound of scribbling filling up the place. In what little light the window provided, Apple Bloom sat, hunched over a piece of paper with a pencil in her mouth. When her friends’ hoofsteps got closer, her head turned to meet them, pencil hanging from her enormous smile. "Hey, girls! Yer just in time!"
Sweetie Belle took a tentative step closer. "Hi, there." She reached for the Earth Pony, stopping short when she found her hoof coming down on another parchment. "Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine! Fine! Just fine!" She replied, nodding profusely as she turned back to her work. "Just ironin' out the kinks on this potion."
"A potion?" Scootaloo repeated, sending her wings buzzing into a hover and looking over Apple Bloom's shoulder. "What kind of potion?"
Apple Bloom’s pupils shrank. “Oh, it’s nuthin’ special. Just sumthin’ I’ve been workin’ on with Zecora these past few months.”
“Sounds cool!” the Unicorn declared, stepping forward to get a peek of her own. To her, it looked more like scratch, hobbled together in a rush. “If I… knew what I was looking at.”
“Oh, you just need ta see it in the light.” The gold-eyed girl sprang toward the far window, opening it wide to fill the room with light. All over, papers had been scattered, each with their own bits of information scratched on. Most notable among them was the back wall, lined almost completely with papers that had been tacked into place. Their writing seemed more cohesive than the rest. Forming into some kind of shape.
A heart shape.
Sweetie Belle backed away at the sight, lighting her horn to pull Scootaloo along with her. "You're making the love poison?!"
Apple Bloom's ears fell flat against her head as she sat back. "Well, not so much makin' it as it is refinin'." She gestured to various parts of her notes. "Ya see, I figured Applejack needed a good ol' shove I'm the right direction, so I've been workin' on a safe version o' that old potion so that she can see how great havin' a special somepony is!" She ran up to the other Crusaders, taking a large clump of the notes in her forelegs. "Whaddaya think? Am I a genius or what?"
“Or what?” Sweetie Belle repeated, taking a step back. “You’re using the thing that almost turned your brother and Ms. Cheerilee insane, all so that you can get your sister a boyfriend?!”
“Or a girlfriend.” Apple Bloom corrected, dropping the notes to look back at the enormous heart. “Depends on what Applejack likes, you know?”
“Yeah, we get it.” the flying filly affirmed. She touched down beside the Unicorn, scratching the back of her neck. “But isn’t all of this…” She motioned to the entire clubhouse and the mess that lined it. “... a little extreme?”
"What's so extreme about it?" the farm filly wondered, following her friend's hoof. "I've done the research with advice from your ma, asked Zecora fer help, and got permission from Fluttershy ta test with willing animal subjects!" She sat flat on her rump, crossing her forelegs in a huff. "In fact, my potion is helping us increase Ponyville's bunny population!"
Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure the bunnies don't need any help increasing their population." Behind her, Scootaloo stifled a laugh.
A light flush flashed in the filly’s face. “Yeah, well, it works! That’s what’s important!”
“What do you even plan to do with that potion, anyway?” Scootaloo inquired. “I get you got it working, but what’s the point if she won’t see anyone?”
Apple Bloom stood firm once more, replacing her flush with a confident smirk. “Oh, I’ve already got that taken care of!”
The other Crusaders glanced at one another, their expressions saying the same thing. Looking back to the red-head with some shaky grins. “You didn’t… invite a whole bunch of ponies to the farm, did you?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Apple Bloom let out a sinister giggle. "Maaaaaaaaybe."
"And you did this with Applejack's permission, right?" There was a longing silence in the clubhouse, with the yellow filly widening her grin as her friends' faces ceased smiling. "You did this with Applejack's permission, right?"
Apple Bloom’s smile faltered a bit. "Well, I thought it'd be nice if it was a surprise!"
Sweetie Belle cast a look back at the orange filly. "We tell Applejack?"
Scootaloo nodded. "We tell Applejack!"
With their plan set, they immediately turned toward the door and started walking. At least, until a streak of yellow and red sped by, coming to hold the door shut in front of them. "Wait a sec! You can't just turn around an' tell 'er! She… She needs my help!"
"Does she, though?" Sweetie Belle asked, raising an inquisitive hoof. "We've been trying to be her matchmakers for over a year now, and nothing has worked!"
“She just hasn’t tried hard enough!” the desperate filly declared, motioning to the window. “Somewhere out there, there’s somepony that’ll make Applejack happy! Like Sugar Belle for Big Mac! Or Cheese Sandwich fer Pinkie, or… or…"
"My parents…" Scootaloo suggested.
"Exactly!" The filly's hooves flew into the air. "I just want my big sister ta have a piece of that!" She returned to all fours, panting in her fervor. "Is that really so bad?"
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle's features softened, both of them understanding full well what their friend was saying. On that thought, Sweetie Belle stepped forward, placing a hoof on Apple Bloom's shoulder. "It's not, but… Is it really worth lying to everypony?"
"Well, I--"
"APPLE BLOOM! YOU GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!!"
The filly in question jumped at the sudden exclamation, scrambling back toward the far wall. "They're here!" She dove into a nearby pile of papers, tossing excess aside in search of something. "You two go see how many ponies made it. I gotta find sumthin'!"
Sweetie Belle raised a suspicious hoof. “You’re not going to…?”
“I SAID NOW LITTLE SISTER!” came yet another bellow from Applejack, sending all three fillies jumping.
“Got it!” Apple Bloom announced, holding aloft something that looked like a perfume bottle. She swung the door open with a force that nearly knocked it from its hinges, hurrying down the ramp toward the farm. “I’M COMIN’ APPLEJACK!”
Standing in the clubhouse by themselves, all the remaining Crusaders could do was exchange worried looks.
Simple words could not describe how Applejack felt as she looked over the throng of ponies looking at her. Mares, stallions, Griffons, Changelings, and even a few lizardfolk had all shown up for apparently no reason. Or at least, no reason that she could figure. Now, she just waited. Tapping her hoof and grumbling to herself. Of once thing, she was certain. “That Apple Bloom’s got a lot ta answer for!”
After a minute or so, there was movement through the crowd. "'Scuse me! Sorry! Comin' through!" Finally, the yellow-coated filly appeared in front with a bag slung over her back. “Wow! That letter worked better 'n I thought!"
“Somehow I knew you were behind this!” the older Apple stated, stomping with each step forward. “What the heck did you tell all these folks? I swear, I ain’t even seen parasprites swarm this much!”
“All I did was send out a mass letter sayin’ that the best apple in history is available!” she answered, waving a dismissive hoof at her.
Applejack recoiled, her eyes wide with shock. “So you… lied… ta every single one o’ them?!”
“Ain’t my problem if they don’t know that Apple didn’t sprout from a tree, is it?” the filly reasoned with a smirk.
“That’s not how that works, an’ you know it!” Applejack insisted, pointing aggressively at her little sister. “I can’t believe my own sister would do sumthin’ like this!”
Apple Bloom’s face began to mirror her sister’s, smacking the accusing hoof away with her own. “Well I wouldn’t hafta do sumthin’ like this if you’d just pick somepony!”
Applejack threw her head back with a furious groan. “If only it were that easy!” She gestured broadly to the crowd, jutting her head forward with enough force to throw off her hat. “If I could do that I wouldn’t feel so bad about all o’ this! D’ you have any idea what it’s like, havin’ my baby sister tryin’ so hard ta do sumthin’ just ta make me happy, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t even hope ta let ‘er succeed ‘cause… Well… I don’t know why!”
“Well--” The filly stopped herself short, finding a softness returning to her features. She, of all ponies, knew how her sister would get when her emotions got the better of her. It was hard to pinpoint sometimes, but it was clear now. She let out a long exhale, looking back at the hat that now lay behind her. “Well, what if I had sumthin’ that could help?”
The elder sibling was taken aback, raising a curious hoof. “What are you gettin’ at, Apple Bloom?”
Apple Bloom reached into her saddlebag, rummaging for a moment before producing a flask filled with a pink tincture. “I was gonna surprise you with this, but…” She held it up to the mare, swishing it around to reveal that every way it flowed, there seemed to be a heart shape forming. “Been workin’ on it for months, and it really is tested and proven ta be safe, Zecora’s approval an’ everythin’!”
“So you’re sayin’ this is…” Applejack eyed the concoction closely, finding a strange kind of sparkle to it. “A love potion?”
“That’s right.” She confirmed, pulling back just long enough to pull the cork out. “Just take a drink and look at somepony while thinkin’ of love. Should help you get those feelings goin’ faster than the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy Six Thousand can lose a cider-makin’ contest.”
That forced a chuckle out of Applejack, letting her look on with a genuine smile. “Well, If you’re that confident, I guess it couldn’t hurt ta try, right? Besides, after all ”
A hoof was raised from the crowd, with a voice soon to follow. “Excuse me, miss! Where’s that apple the letter was talking about?”
“Yeah! I came a long way to get here!” cried a Changeling in reply.
“Yeah! Out with the apple already!” a Griffon called out.
“Hold yer horses, will ya?” Applejack retorted, sending the lot of them a vicious glare. “We’ll get everything sorted once I take my medicine, ya hear?”
The only reply she received was mumbles.
Turning back to her sister, she reached out her hoof. “Alright, now, Apple Bloom. Let’s do this.” She took the flask tentatively, swallowing a lump in her throat and breathing deep. “Bottoms up!”
In a single motion, she pounded the bottle back, emptying it of its contents in seconds. It tasted sweet at first, with a few bubbles for good measure. But taste wasn't the point. Her thoughts shifted to those of love. What that word meant to her. Who that feeling might encompass. Visions of her family passed by, the farm, the trees, Ponyville. She saw her friends, prancing all around her, each smiling and enjoying each other's company.
And mid all of it, something loomed over her, putting a sludge-covered hoof on her shoulder. "You can't have what they got, ya know…"
"Wha…?" She turned around, looking up to find some… thing… looking like a pony with a dark grin on its face as some kind of muck ran down its body. "What the heck are you?!"
"Bearer of honesty and she can't handle the truth!" The thing let out a short but powerful laugh, holding onto its stomach "Kinda ironic, don'tcha think? You of all ponies should know somepony like you can't get real love!"
"I don't know what yer talkin' about!" Applejack retorted, albeit shakily. "That's the whole point of this here potion, ain't it? Just gotta open my eyes, and…"
Opening her eyes took far longer than she would have liked. As if she was desperate to keep them shut. Dreading what she might see. Eventually, though, she had no choice. Out before her was a slew of potential suitors. Everyone she could see smiling, and some looking downright friendly. But…
"Well?" Apple Bloom began, tugging at the farm mare's attention. "Do ya see anyone that stands out?"
"I… I don't…" she couldn't help but admit. Her jaw slackened, sending her rump to the dirt. "Not one of 'em." She sent a mournful look to her glowing sister. Wait… glowing? "I mean I guess there's you, what with the glowin' an' such…"
"Me?" Apple Bloom cocked an eyebrow, pointing to herself like she'd been accused of something. "But that doesn't make sense! The one that's glowin' should be the one who makes you happiest!" She pulled a parchment from her saddlebag, looking it over carefully. "Did I mess up sumthin' in the mix? Maybe I boiled it a little too long?"
"I don't think there's anything wrong with the potion, Apple Bloom." Applejack corrected, reaching out only for her hoof to fall limp. "I think… I think there's…" she quickly rose to her hooves, clearing her throat and turning to the crowd. "I dunno why you came here or… or what I'm even doin', but…" She snorted up a sniffle that threatened to emerge, forcing a. Ig smile onto her face. "But y'all have earned at least three complimentary ones each for yer patience! Talk to my sister, and she'll take care of it."
Apple Bloom looked up from her papers with a dumbfounded expression. “Wait, what?”
But Applejack was wasting no time. She was already in a canter back to the house. “I gotta talk to Granny!”
“GRANNY!” Applejack exclaimed, bursting through the door. She raced to the living room, where the elderly mare rocked in her chair. “Granny, I gotta ask you sumthin’!”
Granny Smith’s eyes opened with a start, falling upon her granddaughter with a smile. “Hm? Whaddaya need, Applejack?”
“I just wanna know…” She took quiet steps forward, sitting next to the rocking chair. “Is it alright if I don’t have a special somepony?”
Granny’s eyebrow made a decisive ascent. “I beg yer pardon?”
“I just…” An exasperated sigh escaped as Applejack searched her thoughts. “I wanna know if you want me to… well… get married an’ have foals someday…”
“If’n that makes you happy, o’ course!” she replied, putting her foreleg on the arm of the chair. “Nuthin’ would make me more proud ta see you smilin’ the way Sugar Belle was yesterday. Reminds me of yer grandpappy all those years ago…” She leaned back in the chair, looking up in her nostalgia.
Applejack found a breath caught in her throat as she inhaled. “I see.”
The oldest Apple put a hoof to her chin as a thought sprang to mind. “And I gotta admit I’d love hearin’ the pitter patter of little hooves again.”
If she were honest with herself, this was not what she hoped to hear. Heart sinking to the floor, Applejack got up, putting her hoof on her grand-mare’s shoulder. “Yeah, that’s be nice…” was all she could get out before getting up.
Granny Smith closed her eyes and let out a chuckle. ‘Course, with all Big Mac ‘n Sugar Belle were up to last night, I don’t think that’s anything you gotta worry about.” With another soft laugh, she looked around the room, finding nothing but the breeze from the open door. “Applejack?”
The trees rushed by as she galloped on, filling her peripheral with shades of green, red and brown all shrouded in mist. She didn’t know where she was going, and she honestly didn’t care. She just needed to get away. To be alone.
Alone…
Alone.
Her hooves moved faster, darting between the trees with branches scratching at her. One such branch pulled at her mane, stopping her for a moment. But with a brisk shake of her head, she was free, mane flowing freely in the wind as she sprang forward. Over and over, she replayed the day’s events in her mind. Every word, every action, every thought. That rotten thing in my head… it was right! She told herself, shutting her eyes tight with a moisture she didn’t often feel. I ain’t never gonna have what everypony else has… Couldn’t have it even if I wanted it!
With the almost automated movement of her hooves, she could hardly feel the strain building up in her legs. In fact, she could hardly feel her legs at all. She didn’t even feel it when her hind leg caught on a root, sending her tumbling forward to land face-first in a clearing. She stayed there in the dirt, pulling her hooves up and burying her face in her hooves. Her breaths staggered, turning into heaving sobs as she pounded her hoof into the dirt. “Why’s it gotta be like this, huh?! Why can’t I just think like everyone else?” She turned her misty eyes upward, finding a familiar pair of twisted trees towering over her. Her pupils shrinking, there was nothing she could do to keep the tears from falling. “I’m sorry Ma… I’m sorry, Pa!” She clutched her head, looking away like she was unworthy. “I can’t… I can’t give you what you want… I just can’t!” Her words again devolved into weeping, letting her voice out like never before. At this point, she hardly cared who could hear her, she just couldn’t keep it in any longer.
“Applejack?” came an old stallion’s voice behind her, followed by a warm hoof on her back. “Sugarcube, what’s wrong?” The hoof left her back, replaced by a body laying beside her. She opened her eyes, finding an aged yellow stallion with a puffy white mane with a brown stripe. His brown eyes were full of concern, and the warm hoof had returned to her back, rubbing back and forth. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a state like this. Why don’tcha tell ol’ Grand Pear what’s up? I bet it’ll help you feel better.”
Applejack’s first response was a sniffle, wiping her eyes clear and resting her head on her foreleg. “There’s sumthin’ wrong with me, Grand Pear… I just know it.”
“What do you mean, ‘wrong with you’?” he wondered, putting a hoof on her forehead. “Are ya sick or something?”
“No, I--” She pushed the hoof away, averting her eyes. “I can’t seem to- well, I can’t love like everypony else does. Like Big Mac, or Twilight, or even Rainbow Dash!” She took a deep breath, crossing her forelegs and focusing her gaze upon them. “Apple Bloom’s been tryin’ fer over a year now to… help me make it happen, but… I got nuthin’. It’s like there’s sumthin’ funny in my heart, an’ it just don’t work the same way, even though everypony wants it to.”
“What, you mean like a special somepony?” the stallion asked, raising an eyebrow. “Well, do you want one?”
Applejack pondered for a moment, tilting her head at the idea. “I mean, I’m told it’d be nice.”
“That isn’t what I was asking, sugarcube.” he corrected, booping her nose with his hoof. “I wanna know if you want it. Do you think you would be happier with a special somepony?”
“Well…” She thought back on the subject more, remembering everything that happened over the last year. So many ponies, so many strange encounters. It was an interesting year, to say the least, but through it all, none of it had felt right. The fondest memory she could recall of a date was when she had inadvertently been paired up with Discord, and the two had agreed to simply spend the time together as friends. “I guess… not really.”
“Well then that’s that.” He stated in a matter-of-factly tone. “If you don’t want it, then why should we expect any different?”
Applejack recoiled a bit at that. “Are you sure?”
Grand Pear nodded. “Sure as jam on a flapjack.”
“It’s that simple?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“But what about you? An’ everypony else? And--”
“Now don’t you worry about that!” he commanded, putting a hoof over her mouth. “As long as it’s what you want, I’m happy.” he put his hooves forward, resting on his fetlocks and looking up at the trees before them. “Truth is, the last time I tried to make somepony I love live the way I wanted, I never saw her again…”
“Grand Pear…” Applejack took a long look at her grandfather, raising a tentative hoof.
“I just don’t wanna make the same mistake twice.” he concluded, sending her a teary-eyed smile. “You go ahead and be happy, no matter how you do it. I’ll always support you.” His ear twitched from a sound behind them, turning his gaze toward it. “And I’m pretty sure they agree with me.” He sent her a smirk, tilting his head toward the rear.
Applejack followed where he led, her eyes growing wide at the sight of Granny Smith and Apple Bloom galloping toward them. “APPLEJACK!” they shouted in unison, skidding to a stop in a cloud of dust.
“D’ you have any idea how hard it is ta catch up with you?!” Apple Bloom asked, giving her sister a glare. “I came back to the house an’ Granny was worried sick about ya!” She looked over to the Granny in question. She was still panting from the run over, holding a hoof over her heart. “What the heck is so bad that you gotta run off like that, anyway?”
Rising slowly to her hooves, Applejack could only look at the ground. “Well, I…” Her thoughts dwelled still on her exchange with Grand Pear. She glanced back at him, catching a knowing smile back. “I’ve gotta talk with you. Both o’ you.”
As she caught her breath, Granny Smith got a good look at the orange mare. Eyes puffy like she’d been crying, covered in dirt from where she’d fallen, her mane hanging loose and waving in the wind. Whatever she’d been going through, her determined face told her that it needed to be addressed right now. “Of course, sugarcube. Whatever you gotta say, you go right ahead an’ say it.”
“Well, then,” she straightened her back. This was it. Everything she’d been thinking over the past year, it was time to let it out. Come to terms with it. Be honest. “Granny, Apple Bloom, I’m sorry.” she began, taking a step forward with a hoof raised up. “I’m sorry that I can’t find that special somepony like everyone else. It just don’t feel right, tryin’ ta romance someone when I just ain’t feelin’ it.”
“Whaddaya mean, you ain’t feelin’ it?” Apple Bloom wondered, a curious step forward accompanied by a lowering of her ears. “You’ve been tryin’ yer best with every date you went on, right?”
“I did my best, yeah, but…” Applejack shook her head vehemently. “Not once was I feelin’ it. I only did it ‘cause you were so passionate about it. I thought you were prob’ly onto sumthin’ a few times, but it never really, well, panned out.” She brought her hoof forward, taking a long look at it. “That whole datin’ and marryin’ thing… I just don’t think it’s sumthin’ I want fer myself. Do you get it?”
The look on Apple Bloom’s face was one of utter confusion. Her mouth hung open a bit as she tilted her head. “I… I think I get it. Like you told me before, about havin’ lotsa special someponies you love.”
“Exactly!” the older sister said with a smile. She turned to Granny Smith with pleading eyes, almost desperate to see a smile.
And a smile is precisely what she saw. Accompanied by a laugh that sent the blonde reeling. “Of course I get it, silly filly!” she exclaimed, playfully punching her grand-foal in the arm. “You’ve been just like this since you was a little’un! I dunno why you’d expect ta be any different now!”
Applejack’s jaw dropped, but not for long, as an inquisitive hoof was quickly raised. “But what about that pitter-patterin’ you were talkin’ about?”
The eldest of the Apples rolled her eyes and pointed back to the farm. “Aw, Big Mac’s been workin’ on that ever since the weddin’! Ain’tcha ever heard of a honeymoon? Just give it time.” She approached her green-eyed granddaughter, taking her hoof and holding it close. “You jus’ go on bein’ the same pony ya always were, ya hear me?”
The old farmer’s smiling face made her smile in return. Thinking about it again, she felt… silly. An entire year, fretting about dating this, dating that, gotta find that special somepony, when in the long run, none of it really mattered. The moment that thought occurred to her, she burst into laughter, pulling her Granny into a tight hug. “Thank you, Granny. I really needed ta hear that.” Looking back to her Grand Pear, she offered him a hoof up. “All of it. Thank you.”
“Ain’t no problem, Applejack.” Grand Pear answered, accepting the help and joining the hug. “No problem at all.”
“So, does that mean I don’t need to look fer more folks to set you up with?” Apple Bloom inquired, chancing a look toward the farm. “No more dates?”
Applejack gave her little sister a firm nod. “No more dates.”
A long sigh escaped the filly as she fell to her rump. “Phew!! That’s a relief! No wall we gotta worry about is the free pies you promised that giant crowd over by the barn!”
Granny’s smile instantly disappeared. “I beg yer pardon?”
“Oh yeah!” Applejack took a step back from her grandparents, letting out an awkward laugh. “About that…”
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This is very good, I'm giving you six stars for doing a good job. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was definitely worth the wait. Great job.
nice, a long awaited chapter, from probs one of my fav fics. im happy for the research wait, im glad you took yer time to do that. i can relate with Applejack, i cant feel romantic love either, only familial love or friendly love/caring for others because family, or friends. i may also be gay, but its more because i feel i look at the world differently too.
just wanted to say, thanks for the chapter, and also tackling this issue which i can relate to. and also recognizing part of people is a good thing imo. like i said, take yer time, ill be here to read whenever. i check fimfiction daily or every few hours per day, either to read My Little Pokemon's daily chapters, or other works that came out here and then.
Hoo that Apple Bloom sure needs to take no for an answer.
I like the character shift of Scoots and Sweetie deciding to tell AJ. Not that anything came of it, but it was a nice touch.
Also hugs Applejack
I'm proud to see Scootaloo flying, I always wanted to see her fly. And now, she's flying with Rainbow Dash.
Can't wait to see more of your chapters and remember: Have a vision for yourself. You need to have foresight into your future – your goals, your dreams, and what you want to achieve for yourself.
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Actually, this story is the first one in this little continuity in which I do have a solid vision for it. I've got plans that will take me years to bring about. It's things on the non-pony side, like my own mind, that get in my way lately. But slowly it is getting there.
11550518
Well, okay. Don't forget to pop in to say happy birthday to me tomorrow on Saturday, April 8.