Applejack had just made a big sale with the Royal Guard. To celebrate, she decided to stay in Canterlot for the weekend. She’d phoned home to let her family know. She looked up at the clock to see it was close to midnight.
“Thanks fer treatin me, Shining! Ah’ll tell Twi ya said howdy!” She tipped her hat to the Guard Captain and walked out the door. As her front hoof hit the ground, she’d heard light squish. “What in tarnation…?”
She looked to see she’d stepped in blood. Not a lot, about the equivalent of a nosebleed. She noticed there was a trail that led under the stairs. Applejack heard crying. “Hullo?” She called out.
The crying stopped at the sound. “It’s ok. C’mon out, ah ain’t gonna hurt’cha. Ah promise.” Applejack said in a sweet voice. After a solid minute of silence, the figure limped out to show a young pegasus colt. His long chocolate brown mane and tail were oily and unruly, His baby blue coat was caked with grime and filth and he didn’t have a cutie mark. His left foreleg was bleeding and he had it pressed with an old newspaper. His eyes were closed.
“Go on, open yer eyes. Ah swear ah’m not a monster.” After a couple of seconds, the young colt opened his eyes. His eyes were as red as rubies.
“You’ve got the most beautiful eyes ah ever saw… Let’s get that wound patched up, huh?” Applejack said, undoing the ribbon in her mane. She touched his foreleg to wrap the wound and he jumped as if she’d punched him.
“It’s alright, little feller, this won’t hurt.” She smiled at him. He watched her closely as she wrapped the ribbon around his wound. “There we go. We’ll getcha to a doctor in the mornin. C’mon, y’all can stay with me.” She got down on the ground and offered to carry him. It took a second but he finally got on her back. She carried him back to her hotel room. “Ya can take a shower if ya want. If ya need help, Ah’ll be right out here.”
She opened her room’s door to a one bed, one bathroom room. The room was small enough for a bed, the TV across the room, a gorgeous view of Canterlot for the fourth floor, a couch adjacent to the bed and the bathroom on the left as you entered the room. Applejack helped him into the shower and turned it on. She sat on the bed and looked out the window.
She was lost in thought, the passage of time lost to her when she heard “Oophm!” She jumped off the bed and ran into the bathroom. “You ok, buddy?” He picked himself up rather wobbly and nodded. He dried off and grabbed the first aid kit under the bathroom sink.
“This here is hydrogen peroxide.” She held up a brown bottle, “Ah’m gonna clean your wound as best Ah can for now but this is gonna sting. Be a brave colt, ok?” She grabbed the guaze in the kit and poured a little peroxide on the wound, causing the colt to wince. “Ah know, sugarcube, it hurts. Jes bare with me.” She pressed the gauze onto the wound and wrapped the gauze with the ribbon in her tail.
“There we go. C’mon, it’s time fer bed. You can have the bed if ya want. Ah’ll take the couch.” She smiled. The colt just nodded and tried to fly onto the bed. He got a few inches before falling.
“That’s ok. Ah’ll help ya up. We can get Rainbow Dash ta teach ya to fly.” She helped him into bed and went to the couch.
“Jackpot.”
Applejack turned to look at the colt. His voice was quite light for his age of, she guessed, eight.
“My name is Jackpot.”
“Can ya tell me what happened ta yer leg?” she asked. Jackpot was looking out the window.
“I got stabbed… I’ve lived alone on the streets of Cloudsdale for years now. I had to steal to eat or else I’d eat out of garbage cans.” The colt said.
“Poor guy. Y’all have had it rough but no more. Now, get ta sleep, ok?” Applejack smiled. The colt just nodded and laid back down. Applejack went to sleep pretty quickly but her dreams liked to torment her. Her mind replayed her most recent physical exam with her doctor. The one where it was told that she was possibly infertile.
And, like every time she had the dream, she sat upright in a cold sweat and couldn’t get to sleep until the morning sun.
As she promised, Applejack took Jackpot to the doctor who had stitched up his wound. Then on the train back to Ponyville, Jackpot looked deep in thought. Applejack thought it best to let him be with his thoughts. As they got off the train, Applejack heard the familiar Boink! Boink! Boink! “Hello, Applejack!” Pinkie said in a singsong voice, “Oooh, and who’s this?” she asked, spotting Jackpot, who hid behind Applejack.
“Easy, there, Pinks. This little feller could give Fluttershy a run fer her bits in bein timid. Ah think yer energy scared him.”
Pinkie flatmaned and laid on her belly. “Aw, I’m sorry, little one. My name’s Pinkie Pie. What’s yours?” Jackpot looked up at Applejack, who nodded.
“J-Jackpot.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Jacky! I hope you’ll stay in Ponyville! Bye!”
“That was Pinkie, Jacky. You’ll get used ta her boundless energy.” Applejack chuckled. Jackpot said nothing until they reached Sweet Apple Acres.
“M-Miss Apple?”
Applejack looked over to Jackpot. “We can drop the formalities, sugarcube. Just Applejack will do.” she smiled.
“I… I’d like to work on the farm to pay back my bill…”
Applejack looked at the colt. “Now, that ain’t neces-”
“Please?” Jackpot asked again.
Applejack looked into his red eyes and after a minute of quiet deliberation, “Ok. Ya wanna work here, ok. But there’s gonna be some rules.” Applejack started and nodded for the colt to come in the house. To her surprise, her family was home.
“Uh… Who’s this?” Big Mac asked.
“Applejack, what did you do?” Granny Smith asked.
“Oh yes! A new friend!” Applebloom squeaked. Jackpot blushed as Applebloom addressed him.
“Settle down, y’all. This here is Jackpot. He’s gonna be stayin with us fer a while. He wants ta work off me payin fer his doctor visit. Now, Jacky, some rules. First, ifen yer gonna stay here, yer gonna be enrolled in school.”
“Can I have goggles then? Or something to hide my eyes?” Jackpot asked.
“No.” Applejack answered, “Ya need to build confidence in yerself and that ain’t gonna happen if ya hide yerself. Second, you’ll work the weekends. Homework comes first. Finally, if ya stay here, yer gonna be treated like family. Got it?”
“Uh huh.” Jackpot said.
“Ok. Now, Ah’ll ask Rainbow later ifen she can teach ya to fly. Bloomy? Can you and the girls show Jacky his new home?”
“Sure thing! Cutie Mark Crusader Tour Guides! C’mon, Jackpot!” With that, Applebloom bolted out the door with Jackpot in tow. Big Mac caught Applejack smiling.
“Aj, what’re you up to?”
“Jes tryin ta make a better life fer…” she looked out the window to see that blue coat disappear over the hill, “A forgotten angel…”
“Ok, kiddo.” Rainbow Dash started talking to Jackpot, “Applejack tells me you’re not the best flyer.”
Two weeks after being brought to the farm, Applejack had finally convinced Rainbow Dash to give Jackpot flying lessons. She told Jackpot to meet her in the park by the lake. This way, if he fell in flight, he’d be ok if he landed in the water.
“R-Right.”
“Well then, today we’re gonna start with some basic-” Rainbow stopped dead in her sentence, “Um… have you never preened your feathers?”
“N-No one taught me how…” Jackpot said. Rainbow Dash sighed and sat behind him.
“Ok, buddy, just watch. I’ll preen your right wing, then I want you to try and do your left. If you do it enough, you’ll fall into a routine and not even think about it.” Rainbow extended his wing and examined it. His feathers were in far worse condition than she thought. Then again, he was homeless until not long ago. She carefully plucked the dead feathers out and adjusted the few healthy ones she found.
She repeated this process for a few minutes, accidentally pulling out a healthy feahter. “Ow!” Jackpot exclaimed.
“Sorry, buddy. Sometimes when your wings are as bad as this, that’ll happen.” Rainbow felt sorry for Jackpot. She’d heard his story from Applejack, as had all her friends and she couldn’t imagine having such a hard life at so young.
“Ok, so now, I want you to try preening your left. Ok? You’re a pegasus, so instinct should kick in pretty quickly.” Rainbow said, finishing up and sitting in front of him.
“Uh… Sure, Rainbow Dash…” Jackpot said, before pulling his wing in front of him. He attempted to recreate what Rainbow had just done. And after a few minutes, he got it it done. His pegasus instincts must have kicked in, and, just as Rainbow said, his instincts had kicked in. From instinct alone, he carefully plucked out the dead and weak feathers to make way for new ones that would grow in.
Rainbow laughed, “Awesome job, kiddo! Now, I don’t wanna rush you, so we’ll take it slow. We’ll start next week. I wanna see those wings nice and healthy by next class, ok?”
“Ok, Rainbow!” Jackpot smiled. With that, Jackpot headed for home.
Back at home, Jackpot went to work at the farm. He was still too little to do any bucking but he helped how he could. Be it catching apples that fell out of the bucket, pulling out other fruits and vegetables, or making small deliveries. He was no earth pony but Applejack noticed he loved the hard work. As the weeks turned into months, Applejack also noticed that Jackpot was gaining muscle mass, getting better at flying and his grades in school kept climbing and climbing She often found herself smiling with pride. Applebloom even told Applejack that Jackpot was gaining his own circle of friends outside of the Crusaders.
After a solid five months after coming to the farm, Applejack noticed that Jackpot was finally flying! His wings had gotten so much stronger from daily, not weekly like before, but daily exercise with Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. That strange feeling of pride was hitting Applejack again. She stood at the barn and watched as Jackpot tried to develop a pegasus way to get the apples. His first attempt, which ended in disaster, was creating a small tornado to pull the apples off using the force of the wind. He eventually lost focus, got dizzy and slammed into Big Mac. “Uh… Sorry, Big Mac!” Jackpot said and took flight again, leaving Big Mac chuckling.
His second attempt worked a little better. He circled the tree and flapped his wings as fast as he could, creating a whirlwind. He got the apples off but not one of them landed in the bucket. Big Mac showed him his technique of apple bucking and gave him lessons on how to get his legs stronger. Applebloom informed her that he and Diamond Tiara were spending a lot of time together at school. He considered her a close friend, but Applejack had a suspicion there was more to the story.
Jackpot and Diamond split up from Silver Spoon and the Crusaders to take a long way home. This happened often so they could talk, make jokes, get to know each other generally. But today was different, as they’d went through Froggy Bottom Bog. Jackpot stopped suddenly. “D… Tell me you heard that.” “No? What?” Jackpot saw the ground around her hooves crack. Thinking fast, he shoved her out of the way as a Tatzlwurm sprung out from the ground! “Jackpot!”
Jackpot was caught in the tentacles but took a bite of it to get free. “I’m fine, go get help!” Jackpot watched as she ran off towards Ponyville and dodged as the tatzlewurm lunged upwards at him, “You’re gonna have to try better than that!” Jackpot yelled. The young colt took off as fast as lightning, trying to lead the beast away from town. As he flew, he thought he felt a heat radiating from his body but he paid it no mind as he flew. The worm grabbed him again and threw him to the ground. One bad landing later, Jackpot was sure he felt his left hindleg snap. All he had to do was just wait and bide time for help.
“C’mon, you big ugly worm! Gonna need more than that to take me down!” Jackpot taunted as he began to fly. He stopped midair when he saw the wurm get blasted with an aura of purple and light blue. He looked over to see Applejack and her friends, and Diamond Tiara, had come.
Rarity and Twilight blasted it with magic, Pinkie and Applejack were herding it to its hole and Fluttershy went for Jackpot. The butter yellow pegasus grabbed him and yelled “I’ve got him!” and flew off with him and Diamond Tiara.
About an hour later, Jackpot had been admitted to the hospital and Applejack and her friends finally arrived.
“Hey, sugarcube! Diamond told us what happened. Ah’m so proud of you, buddy.” Applejack smiled, “And ya got yer cutie mark out of it!”
“Wait, what?!” Jackpot tried to adjust his body to see.
“Whoa, there feller. Hold on, Ah’ll show ya.” Applejack grabbed a mirror from Rarity and held it so Jackpot could see. On his flank were twin thunderbolts, one red and one gold. Jackpot looked as if he were about to explode with excitement!
“Easy Jacky, you need yer rest.” Applejack said, pressing him against the bed, “Otherwise the doctor is gonna throw us out. Oh, and ya got another visitor! We’ll letcha talk in peace, Jacky.” Applejack smiled, leading the girls out.
Then in came Diamond Tiara. “H-Hi, Jackpot.”
“Hey, DT. Are you ok?”
Diamond limped over, not looking up. “A sprained ankle and some scrapes but ok… I just…” Diamond looked up at Jackpot, her eyes on the verge of tears, “I-If I’d stayed with you-”
“You would have gotten hurt or worse. I won’t allow that, DT.”
“But you got hurt because-”
“Because I was biding time for you to get help. Diamond, don’t blame yourself, it’s a broken leg. Give me, what, three months max and I’ll be fine. What’s most important is that you’re ok.” Jackpot smiled, holding his forelegs open. Diamond Tiara took the message and hugged her friend.
“Why’d you push me?” She asked.
“Because you’re my best friend, Diamond. You think I want to lose my best friend to some worm?”
Applejack looked on from the door, smiling. Twilight and her friends knew of Applejack’s plan. “When do you think you’ll do it?” Twilight asked.
“Ah dunno, Twi. Soon, ah know that much.”
Rarity beamed. “You’ll be doing the right thing.”
“Totally! It’s gonna be great!” Rainbow chimed.
“Ah know, girls.” Applejack looked on at the two young ponies, “Ah just need the right moment…”
As Jackpot predicted, he was out of his cast in 3 months. But he was still undergoing physical therapy for his leg. So, in order to keep weight off it, he elected to strengthen the muscles in his wings by flying everywhere. Since the tatzlwurm attack, Diamond Tiara and Jackpot grew even closer. There was even a rumor that the two had a crush on one another.
Applejack was still trying to get her plan in motion as she watched Jackpot grow. Each and every day, she felt more and more pride for the little one. He was at the top of his class, he no longer needed lessons with Rainbow Dash and his work on the farm was getting better. It used to take him an hour to fill a bucket, now he was filling three buckets in the same amount of time.
Summer vacation was almost here and Applejack asked him when his birthday was. He told her he never celebrated it before but he answered June fifth and that he’d be nine years old. Applejack had a month and a half for her plan to work.
Jackpot went into town to look around. He thought he’d go and see if Pinkie needed a hand in the bakery. Sugar Cube Corner was his favorite place. Not because of the food, he tended to steer clear of sweets, but because he liked Pinkie of all of Applejack’s friends.
He got to the town square when he thought he heard Applejack.
“It’s fer the best…” He followed her voice. Was she talking to a stallion? He finally found her. She was sitting at a picnic table, signing something, “The little feller deserves a good home.”
“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU!!!” Jackpot screamed. Applejack jumped, “Jacky?!” Jackpot was livid. He was told he’d be treated like family, Sweet Apple Acres was starting to feel like his home! Applejack hinted he may have a birthday party for the first time!
“You’re trying to get rid of me!”” Jackpot yelled.
“No, Jacky, it ain’t like that!”
“Don’t lie to me!” he said, feeling his eyes well up from the betrayal. Not waiting for a response, he tore off like a rocket. He flew as fast as he could, not caring where he was going. Eventually, he’d made his way to the Crusader Clubhouse. He slammed the door behind him and locked the door.
After an hour, he’d heard a knocking on the door and a familiar voice.
“Jacky?” Applejack called out.
“Go. Away!” the young colt snarled.
Applejack sat in front of the door. “Jacky, please. Open the door. Lemme explain… Ah swear on mah parents’ graves, ah ain’t tryin ta get rid of ya.
“Yeah, sure you’re not.” his voice rang out. The level of venom in his voice hurt her.
“Jacky… it’s time fer a story. Ah don’t care if ya respond, ah just ask that ya listen…” she said, tears forming in her eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(One year ago)
Applejack came into the doctor for her yearly physical. She felt fine but it was routine. The doctor took her blood, checked her height, weight, made her take a urine test and told her to come back in a month. She left, went back to the farm and maintained a regular healthy diet.
A month had passed and she returned to the doctor.
“So how am ah lookin, doc?” she asked. Her doctor, Redheart, had consulted her papers on Applejack and her face was grim.
“Applejack… the results of your blood and urine tests… You’re the picture of health… except for one problem.”
“What’s that?”
“You have damage to your fallopian tubes. Meaning that the odds of you having a baby naturally are slim to none.”
Applejack’s face went hollow. A million questions were forming in her mind, all fighting to be the first one asked.
“B-But how?! Ah haven’t… Ah mean, Ah’m savin mahself fer the right guy! How am ah infertile?!”
“Not completely, Applejack.” Redheart explained, “But the odds, as I said, are very slim. We’re talking five thousand to one odds. Now, you said you’re a virgin. So this could be hereditary, it could be from a birth defect, I’m not sure. But… it’s not looking good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Now)
Applejack closed her eyes as she finished the story. “Ah had given up hope, Jacky. Given up hope of ever havin a baby of mah own.” she sighed. She went into her saddlebag and pulled out the manilla envelope. “Ah was gonna give ya this fer yer birthday… but ah need ya to believe ah ain’t tryin to get rid of you.” Applejack slid the envelope under the door and sat in silence at the railing. A solid ten minutes had passed before the lock clicked. Applejack turned to look at the colt. “Applejack… this… This is…” he began. “Those are yer adoption papers.” she told him.
The colt looked up at Applejack. “Adoption?” Applejack took a shaky breath, she could feel the tears forcing their way out. “Jacky… since you’ve been here, Ah’ve come to care fer ya, come to love you, like you were mah own son. You’ve had way too rough a life fer someone of yer age. Ah wanted ta show ya there’s a better life… give ya a family who loves you. But… if ya hate me, ah underst-”
Applejack’s words were cut off as Jackpot hugged her. “I don’t hate you… I…” The colt buried his face in Applejack’s chest. She could feel the little guy crying. “I love you, Mom!” The dams holding back Applejack’s tears shattered. She hugged her son as tight as she could, sobbing into his shoulder. She held him for what seemed like years, afraid to let go in case this was a just a dream.
She knew that, wherever they were, her parents were looking down on her and smiling. She looked down at her son, who looked up at her, smiling.
“I love you, Mom.”
“Ah love you, son.”
Applejack tucked Jackpot into bed, kissed him goodnight and went into her own room. Jackpot heard a knock on his bedroom door. “C’min.” he said. It was Granny Smith.
“Hey, there, Jackpot… Applejack, she… she told me of her plan. Everyone knew. Big Mac, Bloomy, Twilight and her friends. She swore us all ta secrecy. But now, yer mah great grandson.” she smiled, sitting on his bed, “And ah… ah wanted ya to have something.” She placed a fairly big box in a green wrapping paper. He tore open the box and lifted the lid.
“A hat?” he asked. Granny took the white stetson and placed it on Jackpot’s head, causing it to fall on him.
“A stetson. It’s been a tradition fer Apple stallions to get their first hat. That belonged to Alexander, Applejack’s dad. He got it after Applejack… fer lack of a better word, stole his old one. Yer an Apple now and ferever. And Ah want you to have it.”
“Really? Thanks, Granny!” Jackpot hugged the elderly mare. She returned the hug, told him goodnight and left. An hour later, Applejack came back in once she was sure her son was asleep. She looked at the colt and smiled. She crawled into his bed and snuggled him close, keeping him safe from everything and nothing.