Mirrored - Part 1: Applejack

by Jet Cannon

1

AJ leaned back against an apple tree, trusty Stetson pulled down over the eyes, and absentmindedly chewed on a stalk of grass plucked from the ground. A cool breeze whispered through the leaves, a relief on the warm evening as it carried the combined scent of several different varieties of apples, the fruits ripe and nearly ready for harvesting. The sun, a glowing orange semicircle on the horizon, had almost set, with the moon already high in the sky and glimmering away through the hot haze rising from the fields. Crickets chirped away, a few birds flew around, and everything proceeded as normal for a summer evening. AJ finally decided that it would be a good time to head back to the house for the night, and so he spat out the grass stalk, put a hand over his mouth in a yawn, adjusted his hat and stood up, looking up at the cloudless evening sky.

Adam Jack Smith, twenty-two years old, faced the breeze to feel its soothing effects to the fullest. His shoulder-length light blonde hair, tied back in a ponytail, blew lazily behind him as he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, opening them again as he exhaled to reveal vivid green irises. Years of hard work under the strong Southern sun on his family’s farm had made him fit, strong and had tanned his skin golden-brown, evidenced by the lean, well-muscled arms hanging by his sides. Any imposing effect his physique and height (just over six feet) may have had on a passing stranger would normally be offset by his boyish face, complete with freckles, and winning smile. Tonight, however, AJ was a bit pissed off at the world in general, and his smile was vacant in place of a scowl. On a girl the effect may have still been appealing to look at, possibly even cute, but AJ was not a girl, and a nearby cow soon felt rather uncomfortable as he glared at it, before it finally decided that enough was enough and moved away.

Frustration ebbed and flowed in his mind as he pondered the day’s events. His family had left that morning for a fortnight’s holiday as a birthday treat for his baby brother, Bloomberg, who had turned ten today. This in itself wasn’t a problem. Much as he might have liked to see Disneyland and all the rest, even if it was just so that he could say he had finally been, someone had to stay behind and run the farm. His grandfather being too frail and his older sister being too short, AJ had been the obvious choice, and he didn’t mind that at all. Without the ever-present distraction of Bloom and his friends, AJ would finally get some much needed peace and quiet. A nice little bit of R and R. However…

The first thing to go wrong had been the tractor. The minute he had driven it from the barn it promptly decided to die, making him waste two hours trying to fix it. He had checked the cylinders and sparkplugs, adjusted and readjusted the carburettors, tested every single piece of wiring and even replaced the oil before finally realising that the fuel-connection pipe had come loose. Copious curses and vulgarities later, aimed equally between the tractor and his own stupidity, and the offending vehicle was finally put to use ploughing the fields.

Okay, technically speaking the tractor had actually been the only thing to go wrong, but as he couldn’t proceed until it had been fixed this effectively buggered up the rest of the day, and he was considerably later in finishing the day’s tasks than he would have liked. Despite all of this, a sickeningly calming voice in the back of his mind whispered, he didn’t really have anything to be annoyed about. It wasn’t as if he had anything planned for the evening, other than to sit under a tree for a while and relax. Rather than be annoyed, he would be better off simply going back to the house and watching some TV for a while before going to bed.

Why’s mah subconscious talk better’n Ah do?

Irritatingly composed all of a sudden, he set off at a brisk walk, mentally going over that night’s TV schedule as he went.

Let’s think now, what’s on again? Already seen that zombie film, not too bothered ‘bout Total Wipeout repeats, definitely not watchin’ that froufrou fashion program… Wait, what the heck is that cloud doin’?

The cloud in question was a small grey thing, apparently having appeared from nowhere, and was floating through the sky above him in erratic circles. A sudden gust of wind blew from behind him, and he grabbed his hat just in time to save it being blown away. Meanwhile, the cloud plonked itself right above the nearby forest (there was no other way of describing the very deliberate way in which it stopped) and began to rain far too heavily for its small size. The wind really started picking up then, swirling up the dust around him before blowing it back in his face and away. The small cloud began to grow in size and swirl around, before it stretched at least a mile in every direction, a broiling storm centred above the forest.

Common sense dictates that one does not simply walk into the centre of a growing storm, especially one that has just appeared from out of the ether, but before AJ knew what he was doing he had begun to run straight towards it, Stetson in hand so as not to lose it. Something was drawing him towards that storm, unearthly though it was, and not only was he powerless to resist but he didn’t want to. He could taste electricity in the air, felt excitement coursing through his veins; something big was coming, and whatever happened he was going to have a front row seat.

He came to a stop at the edge of the local river, which was almost bursting its banks despite it being the middle of the dry season. The water looked almost as wild as the clouds above, flowing downstream in a mad rush of eddies and large waves, splashing to the left and right and almost soaking AJ, who jumped back. Unable to proceed any further, he looked around for a way to cross the river just as the setting sun dipped below the horizon. The instant darkness came it was pierced by a single, huge lightning bolt, which struck the water of the river whilst a deafening roar of thunder echoed all around. Flinging himself to the ground to avoid being hit by any further discharges, he peered through the rising steam just in time to see something falling from the clouds.

Is that…? It can’t be!

He watched incredulously as a young woman, an honest to goodness human being, fell from the sky with a scream, long blonde hair billowing around her before she disappeared beneath the river’s surface. He quickly rose to a crouch and yanked off his boots, keeping an eye out for the girl resurfacing as he pulled his shirt over his head, before securing it and his hat in place with his boots.

Thankfully he didn’t have to wait long, and after a few seconds she broke the water’s surface again, floundering wildly and screaming in distress, although he could barely hear her over the wind.

“Hold on!” he called, not caring if she actually heard before diving in after her. The water was freezing cold, and it took all his self-control not to cry out in pain and replace his lungful of air with it. The current was also very strong, which he had realised it must be from the flow on the surface, but as usual he had forgotten that it would be even stronger lower down, and he quickly found himself spinning around uncontrollably as he desperately tried to force himself up. His head finally came free of the river’s icy clutches and he greedily gulped down fresh air before looking for the girl, who he saw clinging for dear life to a branch hanging a little downstream over the river’s edge.

“Hold on!” he yelled again, and she looked back fearfully as he ploughed through the currents before grasping the branch himself.

“Ah need you to hold onto me! Ah’ll pull us to shore!” he said, still having to shout despite being right next to the girl. She just shook her head and gripped the branch all the tighter, clearly too terrified to move as her eyes darted from him to the water and back again. AJ knew that neither of them could stay like this for very much longer: he had already begun to lose the feeling in his extremities, and the cold was sapping his strength at an alarming rate, so he didn’t like to think about how she was coping, especially as she didn’t seem to be wearing much.

Taking a risk and removing one hand from the branch, he placed it firmly on her shoulder, forcing him to her attention as he looked into her eyes, which were the same vivid green as his own. He tried to keep his voice steady, and shouted as gently as he could:

“Listen! Ah know yer scared, and cold, but we can’t stay here! Ah need you to hold onto me, and Ah promise Ah will not let you fall in! You have mah word!” He removed the hand from her shoulder and held it out to her, never once breaking eye contact. The girl wavered, before finally relenting and grabbing his hand. He quickly swung her behind him, and she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck somewhat tighter than was comfortable. He didn’t complain, however, and instead focused on pulling them both along the branch. It was tough work, even though it couldn’t have been any more than five feet to the bank, and twice he had to save the girl from slipping, grabbing her arm just in time and pulling her back.

Eventually they were safe, and he collapsed to his knees several feet up the riverbank, letting the girl slide to the ground before himself flopping facedown into the damp grass, exhausted. A cessation of noise from the river prompted him to wearily turn and look as the waters calmed and sank back to their seasonal levels, all in a matter of seconds.

“Well ain’t that just typical!” he spat angrily, glaring up at the now-receding clouds above. They had one last thing to surprise him with, however, and as the final puff of cloud vanished (this time, he was sure, with an actual “puff” noise) a second object floated down to them, landing on the grass beside the girl. It was a Stetson hat not unlike AJ’s own, a bit smaller perhaps but otherwise very similar. He shook his head, hardly believing what had transpired that night, despite both witnessing it and playing a major part in it himself. A shiver, caused by the no-longer-soothing cool breeze from before, reminded him of his drenched state, and that of the girl beside him. She too was shivering in the cold, but her mind had seen fit to withdraw her from consciousness, and so she had fainted where she lay, face down in the grass.

They needed to get back to the house, and quickly, before either of them succumbed to the cold, and as he was the only one still awake it was down to him to get them there. He quickly ascertained that they were on the bank he had dived from earlier, due to the flow of the river, but there was no knowing how far downstream they had been swept.

Best get a move on, Ah guess.

And so he bent down, picked up her hat and placed it on his head, before beginning to pick her up as well. He almost dropped her again when he realised that she was, in fact, not simply wearing not much, but nothing at all. Doing his darnedest not to look, he arranged her (very, very long, not that he came to examine it) hair as best he could to save embarrassment, mostly his own, before he began the long walk back.

N’here Ah was, thinkin’ Ah might get some peace’n’quiet. Well, Ah guess that ain’t gonna happen now thanks to you, missy.

A small smile formed at the corner of his mouth as he looked down at her again, taking a proper look at her face as he did so, and he started as he noticed how similar she was to himself. Admittedly whilst his face may have looked boyish hers was most definitely feminine, but the freckles, the eyebrows, the nose and even the little dimples which formed in her cheeks could have been his own. It took him a minute to get over their similarities, but once he had a new thought formed unbidden in his head.

Ah hope this don’t make me sound narcissistic, but Ah gotta say: she sure is pretty.

Comments

[PSY]

keep going i like it

[Shpoople96]

Go on...

[Angellove]

well don't stop....
here have a pony
cdn.derpiboo.ru/media/BAhbBlsHOgZmSSJWMjAxMi8wOC8xMi8wNF8xMF8zMl80MTVfNzI1NTJfX1VOT1BUX19zYWZlX2FwcGxlamFja19hbmltYXRlZF9hcnRpc3Rfc3RhcnN0ZXBwb255BjoGRVQ/72552__safe_applejack_animated_sleeping_pixel-art_artist-starsteppony.gif

[Jet Cannon]

Thank you guys

[Jet Cannon]

Thanks to the various ppls who have favourited this