Part 1
“Another day, the same shit”, I though while getting out of bed. I just woke up, and my manly tears were already flowing through my face. Ever since Dashie left, I felt very lonely and sad. Nothing could cheer me up, not even my friends. The only things that could get a smile on my face were the pictures and memories of me and Rainbow Dash. Still, that smile wouldn’t last long, and would become tears seconds later. I couldn’t talk or eat a lot. And, with enough luck, I would get some hours of sleep. Still, Dashie could always get into my dreams, and wake me up.
I decided to make a toast for breakfast, and a cup of coffee. That replaced the hours of sleep I couldn’t manage to get last night. After finishing my breakfast, I got dressed and walked to my work. Walking used to distract me, but, it didn’t this time. The memories came back to my head right after getting out of my home, and I felt another tear coming out from my left eye.
After work, I noticed something. My routine changed back to normal, before Dashie appeared. Wake up, have breakfast, go to job, come back and sleep, then repeat. “Damn it”, I though. I couldn’t hold myself any longer, and I cried like never before. I tried to “be a man” and stop, and luckily, I could. Then I realized I was really tired, and went to my bed. Again, woke up, this time, satisfied that I got more than 5 hours of sleep. My brain decided not to troll me with sad memories of the last fifteen years, so I got breakfast, and seconds later, I was on my way to work. After work, I decided to take another route to my house. I was hoping something to appear, like the last time. But there was no box, nor a little pony on the street.
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Sad, I finally was back in home. I was searching my house keys in my pocket, and suddenly, something fell from the sky. Though it was an airplane the first time, but it actually crashed in my field, which I bought for me and Dashie before my old neighborhood got transformed into a large factory. I ran as fast as I could, to see what happened. Though I was very tired, my curiosity gave me the strength I needed to continue running. As I got closer to what landed in my field, a giant ball of smoke appeared. I couldn’t see a darn thing, but I kept moving on. Then, a small figure showed up. It seemed to be a baby horse. But, I couldn’t see enough to make myself an idea. So, I slowly walked further to investigate what just landed near my house. Then, I saw it.
“No, no, it just can’t be!” I said. “No, this must be a dream. Yeah, I probably fell asleep watching TV in the couch. Now, I have to wake up”. I pinched myself, once, twice, and the third time; I realized it was not a dream. It was a young Applejack. I had no idea of how she got here, or how she survived the fall, well, ponies survive crashes, fights, races, so it ain’t a big surprise, the thing is, that she did survive, that was the only thing that matters right now. It was a cold winter, and it was snowing. I thought that the poor filly could be freezing, so I took off my jacket, and tried to grab her with it. Then, I felt that something hit me on the knee.
“She kicked me?” I though. “She kicked me! Christ, this is not a dream then!” The little pain that pony inflicted on me was a proof that this was real life. “Why would she kick me? Oh….” My brain finally realized that she was scared.
“Don’t worry. I don’t want to hurt you” I said as calm as I could. “Come on, it’s freezing out here, let’s go home alright?”
Seems that it did the trick, since I was able to take her home without her hitting me again. She was a young filly, with no more than 5 years. “Like with Dashie!” I though. “Wait a minute! What if these ponies are actually playing a really mean prank on me?” They probably knew that I was going to fall in love with Applejack, and then they would have to take her away from me, breaking my heart, again. I decided to stay a little away from her, so my lonely soul wouldn’t use her to fill the empty space in my heart.
As soon as we entered the house, I tried to give her something to eat. But she refused to eat what I had. “It’s Applejack” I thought. “I think she only eats apples”. I found a shiny red apple in my refrigerator, luckily. Gave it to her, and she ate it with joy. Then we had a tour of the house. There wasn’t much to see, but I thought she would like to choose were to sleep.
“Do you like the house?” I asked. Not a single word, as I was expecting. She couldn’t talk, but I did notice that she understood me, since she nodded.
“Choose somewhere to sleep, Applejack” I said. She then pointed forwards to the couch. “Alright then, here, have another apple before going to sleep” And I handled he a green apple I found. She ate it, and laid down in the couch. Brought a cotton blanket to keep her warm and, before going upstairs I said: “If you feel afraid or need something, you’re more than welcome to go into my room” and smiled. Then I went upstairs to hopefully get some sleep.
But, I awoke one or two hours later because I heard noises coming from the stairs. I got up to see what was happening. And there she was, trying to ascend the stairs, but, since she was only a filly, it was really difficult for her.
“Applejack!” I said, and went to help the young pony. When I got to her position, she jumped and hugged me. And, I couldn’t resist anymore, my heart exploded. “Come on, let’s go get some sleep” I softly said.
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The next morning, I woke up thinking about how to tell Applejack that I had to go to work. I didn’t know how she would react. Would she understand me and let me go? Or would she be scared about me leaving her alone in the house? I decided to leave her a note. “How silly I am” I thought. “She probably can’t read, she’s just a filly”. I had to go, but, she was still sleeping, and I didn’t have the balls to wake her up.
“Looks like my work, will have to wait!” I said referring to Rainbow Dash’s fad: “Looks like my Skyrim, will have to wait” Memories of me and my little Dashie rushed in my mind, and I couldn’t stop a tear coming out from my right eye. I missed her so much, even when having Applejack with me. Luckily, my memories were interrupted by her coming into the kitchen.
“Good morning my young filly. Did you sleep well?” I asked with a smile, and she nodded. It was 9 o’clock in the morning, and I really had to go to work, so, I had to ask.
“Um, I’d like to ask you two things” I started. “First of all, I have to go to my job, and, that means leaving you alone in here. Is it ok with you? I’ll leave you apples and a bucket of water, and I’ll be back in some hours” Seems like it was my lucky day, after a long, long time, since she nodded. “Good, now, to the second subject. Is it ok if I call you Jackie? I can’t call you Applejack forever? I smiled, and she nodded happily again. “Ok, see you soon then” And I left.
On my way to work, I realized that I said that magic, yet terrorizing word. “FOREVER” “Damn” I thought. Anyway, I didn’t care too much; I was more worried about Applejack being all alone in the house, and about work. I continued walking, and, for the first time in weeks, it actually kept me distracted from any though of Dashie and me. Work went really fast, and, before I could notice, I was out of it.
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One year has passed since Jackie landed on my house. She learned how to talk, and now we could fully communicate, thing which made everything easier. Today is her birthday, and we made a cake. My baking skill improved a lot since Dashie left, since I didn’t want to come out to get something to eat; I was “on my own”. The cake was really tasty, and was well cooked, however we couldn’t finish it. Six month ago, I bought four fully grown apple trees, and tomorrow, I’m going to take her out to kick them out. She already knew the territory, and had been investigating those trees closely.
Well, I must say these two days were fantastic. First day, her birthday, which I decided it to be the day I found her. Second, her Cutie Mark. After kicking those trees, their apples fell off, and she felt so good, that she decided to kick all the other trees, and after ten seconds or so, the cutie mark appeared in her flank. This time, I did know what to do; I had been through that.
After a long chat, about what a Cutie Mark is, and what it means, she had a lot more questions about it:
“Does this thing mean I can only buck apple trees and nothing else?” she asked.
“Of course not, you can do whatever you want apart from that.” I answered. What I knew, is that the Cutie Mark is the reference of what you enjoy most, and, you can do other things from that, but I didn’t know whether it would disappear if you just stopped doing what you liked.
“And, does it disappears, or is it permanent?” she said
“I’m sorry my young pony, I don’t have the answer for that” I admitted. “Anyway, it’s time to go to bed”
“But, I’m not tired!”
“Maybe you’re not tired, but, if you don’t have a rest, you will be tomorrow”
“Okay…. I guess you’re right”
“Common, let’s go to bed”
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You know? Years go by really fast. I remember how I found Applejack, and it seems like it was yesterday I did. Five years, that’s a lot of time, and a lot of things happened. I mean, that’s five birthdays, over 1670 days of work, well, I guess you understand me. The apple trees are now fully grown, as well as Applejack is. I also noticed that she’s getting that little accent from the show, somehow. She hasn’t discovered about the show yet, I completely blocked the Hub, but I’m thinking about telling her about it, I don’t want to make the same mistakes.
So far, I’m enjoying her company, trying to avoid thoughts of when they’re going to take her back to Equestria, but still having in mind that that might occur. We’re having a lot of fun for now. I decided to bring home some more fully grown trees, and have a kind of man-made Sweet Apple Acres, so she can feel more “in home” (though she doesn’t know Apple Acres is her real home). I’m waiting for those trees to come here and be planted, so then I can talk her about the show, who she really is, and what is really going on. I’m just anxious for those trees to come, I must tell her the truth as soon as I can, she’s a grown mare, and she deserves it.
Two weeks later, some workers started to plant the trees. It has been the first time someone (not somepony) visits my house, and Applejack was quite worried about it.
“Wha’ in tarnation is that? She asked while going down the stairs.
“Oh, that? It’s quite a surprise, which will be revealed when those guys out there are gone” I said, trying not to mess anything up.
“Uhm, sugar cube, we don’t really need all those trees, ya’ know? We have plenty of apples with the ones we already have”
“You’ll know the tru—, the reason in a few moments, just be patient, alright?” Damn, I almost gave myself away; but she didn’t seem suspect anything.
“Alrite then, call me when they’re done”.
Minutes later, they were done planting the trees. I exhaled, and told to myself “c’mon! you can do this!”
“Applejack!” I called her. “They’re done, come here!”
“Okay, I’m commin’” she said from the other room. “What’s the matter, sugar cube?”
“Uhm” I hesitated. “I have something to tell you”