Not All the Leaves Have Fallen
"Phew wee! Now the feast will be ready anytime!" Applejack exclaimed, wiping off the sweat from her forehead. She took off her hat and shook her head, fixed her mane, and resumed to pull the dandelion colored wooden wagon, which she used to carry all the bucked zap apples and regular apples off the strong and healthy trees.
After returning the wagon back into the back of the hot red barn, the honest Apple went back to retrieve her hat. She sniffed a extravagant smell that surpasses the Cakes' sweets, a smell that can levitate ponies better than unicorn magic, a smell that flourishes all of the apple orchard, every creature stopped and took their sweet time to experience what is true passion. It is indeed Granny Smith cooking the greatest meal of all ponykind history: Apples of course! Just cooking them this time to make it juicy and heated. Everytime when Granny Smith compresses an apple, the juice and the smell will escape as far as they can, having been sick and tired of living inside a small fruit together, their actions of freedom is the sign of joy and glory. This is what the Apple family have been thinking since they arrived to establish Ponyville.
"Big Mac!" Applejack called towards her left, where her older brother was bringing his own wagon back to the shed. He heard his sister's call, but continued to stay silent until he reached where she was standing. He stopped his hooves, turned his head towards the farming mare, she responded with a quick glance, the wagon was empty, and so were the trees. She smiled and asked him,
"Whoo! I'm beat! Wanna go sit at the hilltop and watch the sun go down before the family celebrates?"
"Ee-yup!" Was the obvious and only reply.
The walk to the hilltop wasn't that long, but it was worth the time to enjoy the autumn breeze. Big Mac watched the leaves glide onto the ground off the trees from his left and right, also a bit sad that they were going to die soon.
"Refreshin'! Isn't it Big Mac?" Applejack collapsed onto the grassy soil once they reached the hilltop, Big Mac however, did not do the same. Instead, he sat down in front of a giant apple tree, and watched the flaming skies and the earth yawn from such a perfect spot.
"Ee-yup!" He replied.
"How many years have we been together as one? Like ten since Apple Bloom was born?" The mare spread her front hooves to her side. She gazed upon to the clouds as they slowly slid over, while the birds and few pegasi soared and swung through the air. There was a spectrum amongst the infinite sky, that distributed the four colors of red, orange, yellow, and purple. She now realized: Nighttime is falling back.
"I remembered tha' one time we were preparing the Apple Fest, Apple Bloom was so darn excited that she knocked over the whole table down! And we had to start everythin' all over again!" Applejack chuckled, but her brother just stood there by the tip of the hill, watching over to Granny Smith and Apple Bloom, who were talking to each other, not paying a single shickle about what her sister had to say. Applejack stopped smiling, and was more concerned about Big Mac's facial expression. Nevertheless, she tried again to bring back some illusional happiness,
"Orrrr, how 'bout when cousin Apple Fritter came to surprise us with a sudden visit, and then once she reached our doorstep, Caramel Apple jumped on her with another surprise? I missed those days!"
But it was a blow from the wind, Big Mac continued to ignore her. The younger sibling sighed and walked over to the tree and sat down next to her brother. Her tone shifted to a much calmer one as she spoke,
"Big Mac, if anythin's on your mind, just spill the beans already! Ah don' know what's troubling you, but Ah don' want to see you grievin' in pain either."
Big Macintosh sighed as he closed his eyes, and finally allowed his shiny red heart to be opened,
"We may have been together and enjoying many of our great times together, but I fear that will not last forever, I constantly see Granny struggling to walk even with her cane, Apple Bloom already got her cutie mark, and is growing up like zap apple jam!" He glanced back to the oldest and the youngest Apple members walking back into the good ol' red barn, their smiles pounded against him even harder.
"Just take a look at those trees. They've been around Equestria longer than we have, perhaps even before Granny's birth..." he sighed louder this time, "... and they are already showing signs of cease, they're going to slip away into the dark, permenantly."
Applejack turned to all directions, every single tree was stripped of flaming colored leaves, all naked with brown skins, some even collapsed due to their dysfunctional condition from all the applebucking. Vampire fruit bats picked up the remaining bad apples and spat them out back onto the orchard land. Her big brother was right: Everything does seem to be passing away quickly, and it's impossible to stop it. She then remembered when Apple Bloom received her cutie mark along with her friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, after multiple attempts and hardwork, they managed to do it. It really did pass by quickly. The first time she realized her little sister was so much in a rush to discover her talent, she caused a lot of trouble, a lot.
It ached like an acorn to the mare's heart, when she told her sister, "Oh, sugarcube, if Mom and Dad were here, they'd be so proud of ya."
"Time. Is not something to be worthless looking at, it's endless, eternal, but it brings an end to everypony, and everything. It is a cruel and rotten apple holed with worms inside it, wiggling through and chewing away all the delicious parts of it." He dropped his head, and continued,
"I just wish, time wasn't a thing at all, it's just... An illusion, or a dream..."
Even a large stallion like him, can not bear to hold in his emotional outburst, even though he does not seem like it. Applejack's peridot eyes can see through all the traumas inside his brother's mind, well hidden, but its presence is impossible to conceal. She sighed again, and bumped Big Mac's arm hard enough for him to snap out of his trance. The Honest Apple rose up and walked in front of him.
There is still one healthy and strong tree standing, no leaves have fell, it's still fairly green, and it's the one where they are standing in front of.
"Ya know, Big Mac, Ah still had 'dis memory, recalling me back all the way when I was barely a filly." She wept a single shed of tear, and it was enough to let her continue, "Ah was playin' with mah friends back in mah camp in Whitetail Woods, and all of a sudden Ah got lost. Couldn't find mah way out and rather exhausted, I collapsed and fainted." She sat down next to Big Mac leaned closer towards him, who was somewhat baffled by her actions.
"The whole camp couldn't find me, so the coach of mah camp called y'all over. The sun almost had slept, just like this day. It was the time for those good ol' darn wild creatures to come out and be in charge of the forest. By the time Ah woke up, Ah was on that one pony's hunch, and it felt sweet and comfortable!"
Big Mac had a strong and positive feeling, that it would be nopony but...
"Cousin Orchard Blossom!"
"Nope!"
"Looks like Ah didn' get you there have I?" His sister giggled a bit, and resumed talking,
"Anyways, Ah was on your back, rubbin' mah face into it, it was hard and solid, just like the big and grown stallion you are today! We watched the stars shoot down like everytime when I think of our parents. Why shoot! Ah couldn' help but feel the struggles without few immediate family members! Ah constantly wonder where they would be for me all mah life, but now that I finally realized... They can't, and will never..."
"I guess you have to be right about that." Big Mac sighed and turned his head up to the skies, memories of him playing a role as a big brother came back as he saw two shooting stars collide with the ground, emitting a smal orb of pure, beaming white light, it turned into beautiful dusts. The sky right now is just like what Applejack reminded him of in their memory. He couldn't help, but smile the red lips of his.
"Deja vu? Ee-yup!"
"The sky was purple, red, orange and yellow. Just like today! It's equally shared between Apple Bloom, you, and me! What a coincidence, don' ya think? Purple... Well, about that one, it can represent the royalty of Princess Luna ruling the night Ah guess!" Applejack smiled bright, Big Mac's eyes opened wide for a short while, then shook his head in joy as he began to realize the message.
"Anyways, on the way back to the camp, Ah was upset and distraught about how much I got carried away and got into such trouble; for myself and everypony else worryin' about me. However, you told me something that Ah never forgot and kept it to my honest heart"— she put her hat down, and held it to her orange chest which was now being sparkled by the southern sun —
"You told me, that no matter what mistakes Ah make in my life, it's actually a terrific start for me to become and recognize myself better. Time rots like apples, no matter how giant and red they look. Don' be stuck in the darn past, and just move on to the next orchard, with a whole new tree Ah can have mah hooves buck on!"
Applejack now has her whole face onto her beloved brother, smudging her cheeks and nose into his red round hooves, strong as a pole that can withstand all sorts of storms. Big Mac wrapped his hooves around his little sister, clutching her tightly like two peas in a pod. He's no longer the drowned appleseed hopelessly ate by the worms, but the shining alicorn prince he has always dreamed of in his calm and peaceful sleeps.
"Movin' on may be painful, but it's all for the good of our ponykind. Our deceased Apple members are never gone, for they are always up there beyond the bright, burnin' stars. Watchin' us, carin' for us, lovin' us. Soon Granny Smith will be up there too, and the rest of us will stay down here and pick up where they left off. Our little sis' will bloom to be a fantastic Apple in the blink of our eyes! Ain't ya excited for that?"
"Ee-yup!" Big Mac replied, however he still is in a troubled coma, mixed with flipped Equestria upside down, and all he can do is fall endlessly into the blue. Trying to think clearly about what his sister said.
"That's why we celebrate this Applicious Day! Where we honor and thank especially the Apple Family that Granny Smith was in, who they settled onto this beautiful piece of untradable land, They not only did it for us, but our eldest ponies who found Ponyville, and to everypony who lives in Ponyville today wouldn' be here. We ain't no losin' time at all! It will remain forever and always!"
It hit Big Mac, when they collected zap apples every autumn. It reminded him of how Ponyville was made, he wouldn't have made friends with Carrot Cake, or Spike. They would never have had those good times with their hoofball cards trading. Those zap apples helped Granny and her family settle for what is known today as Sweet Apple Acres. To him, the rainbow streak painted on those zap apples were symbols of hope, happiness, love, family... The events are all planned out by some unknown power. Everything was made to coincide against the greatest odds. As the colors of the sky began dropping to a deep lunar blue blended with a tad of royal purple, he knew it was a sign of a fresh new start. The red and handsome stallion couldn't help but laugh loudly inside his now meditated mind, his spirit felt alive and euphoric once again, thanks to the love from his orange sister, who's skin is bounded with the natural beauty of autumn itself.
"Golden Delicious once told me, that if he was not an Apple, he would pick you as his "prize"." His forgotten voice of happiness finally has returned to the blushing Applejack, as she laughed with delight,
"O' gosh Big Mac! Like hay Ah would get mah hooves muddy with anypony! Even with the... Looks of his." She really couldn't help but push all her feelings out, she really liked Golden Delicious, but never too much to make entwined complications.
"But he does pull the attention of even the best of the best mares, doesn't she?" Big Mac now had this naughty smile, which had his sister's face blush even more. Upset and annoyed, she got off his brother's grasp and slapped his face with her tied ponytail. She lied down on the ground, mouthing off more memories from her album,
"Jonagold was carrying the apples home one day to her house, she wanted to show some of her best artworks with apples to the Oranges. But then Apple Cider and Perfect Pie made a prank, and the apples were switched to oranges instead!" Both Apples burst our laughing this time, for they both remembered this fine piece of their own story.
"O-o-oh, and I ain't done yet! Jonagold was sooo darn scared that the Oranges will despise her for her dishonesty, that she painted the oranges red!"
They laughed so hard, that they could not retrieve their breaths, but it was worthwhile to enjoy.
"I remembered this one," it was Big Mac the one doing the talking now, "Braeburn was walking high and mighty, because he won a medal for the Rodeo. What's funny is that he tripped onto the railroad, and found himself to be stuck within it!"
"Honestly Big Mac, that seriously ain't funny..." Applejack gave him the awkward silent treatment, in return he rolled his leafy green eyes and continued the story, disregarding his sister's reaction,
"So then, he saw the Friendship Express coming towards his way, he had no choice but to put himself in between the railroad tracks, so that the train at least won't hit him or run him over. He attempted to fit himself inside the cramped space in between the railroad, but the train just sped closer and closer— "
"APPLEJACK! BIG MACINTOSH! GET YOUR PLOTS BACK INTO THE BARN AND EAT UP UNTIL YOUR STOMACHS POP!" It was no other than Granny Smith, who finally finished the preparations of the Applicious Fest with Apple Bloom. Though excited and eager, the oldest and the middle children slowly got up and ambled towards the wooden barn, and on the way, Big Mac whispered to Applejack's ear,
"We'll continue this episode next time."
"Well, if ya say so." The country mare rolled her eyes and tried to withhold herself from chuckling. "But just promise me this, Big Mac."
Her brother did not respond, but instead opened his ears wide open.
"We ain't gonna be hurt from the disturbance in the past, nor will we ever submit to the fear of the future. We will stick to today, and live on without remorse or regrets!"
"Ee-yup!" Was the obvious reply.
The two blended with courageous red, and the energetic orange, trotted down the green and refreshing hills that won't be seen in another few months. The leaves are now dancing across the air, circling around trees, flipping off the ground, searching for a place for eternal rest. So did the mare who's skin blends in with the twirling leaves, she walked over to Big Mac, and put her hooves onto his hunch, then climbed onto him. Big Mac shook his head in delight as his sister is about to shut her eyes and fall asleep... The two siblings knew they were too old for this, especially Applejack, but she rather prefer the orange joy, living life like it's nothing. The Apples walked over fallen branches, kicked piles of leaves into the air, all for the sake to enjoy who they once were, fillies and colts.
"Just like the good ol' times..."
"Ee-yup!"
It's officially nighttime now, moonlight beamed across all of Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville and Canterlot. Its pure white substance was let out and embracing the darkness, as if the atmosphere was shattered into gazillion glimmering pieces. Princess Luna pointed her telescope over towards Sweet Apple Acres, and noticed the two siblings' cutie marks glow even the slightest. Smiling, she got off the telescope and leaned towards the balcony, looking upwards to the moon, she couldn't help but think of her own disturbing and dark past, instead of grieving at her consequences, she told herself,
"The past has passed, the future is already shone on me, what I enjoy presently is the splendid gift that I shall forever replenish."
From the big and healthy tree the two Apples once stood in front of, a zap apple dropped, and it's glow was enhanced with the beautiful moon. All seven colors on it were revivified into life...