> Applecore
>  by Nines
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Love is the seed from which all things grow...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beneath a lone apple tree on a tall hill, Applejack was finding herself concerned with the inevitable advance of time, a dimension she had always received without falter, but that particular summer evening had her preoccupied by the steady march of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years...

Her brow furrowed over her green gaze as the setting sun painted long shadows over the land that four generations of her family had toiled with love and sweat. She could feel her pride, strong and healthy like a big barreled tree in her chest. Sweet Apple Acres was their home. It had been since Granny Smith and her kin had come to this valley and helped establish Ponyville.

So then where were Applejack's parents?

It was a question that the farm mare typically avoided wrestling with. Fretting over the endless wanderlust of her parents, Honeycrisp and Jonagold, wouldn't keep her family fed or the farm running. Granny Smith was too old for most of the chores, and Big Macintosh didn't understand more than half of the unique challenges a young filly like Applebloom struggled with. It was up to Applejack to lead her family in these regards. There was nopony else.

The responsibility didn't scare her. It settled over Applejack's strong withers like a familiar blanket, warm and soft, despite its weight. However, trickling down her heart as thick and as viscous as sap was a sense of loss. These seconds, minutes, and hours were irretrievable once they slipped through the sieve of existence into the hungry sea of yesterday. That was time her parents could never recover. All those moments, all those memories, all those experiences...gone. They had missed so many of Applejack's accomplishments, both in running their farm and in her service to the Equestrian kingdom with her friends. They had missed Applebloom singing on stage with her friends and Coloratura. At this rate, they stood to miss the day when Big Mac married, and worse yet, Granny Smith's final days.

The last Applejack had spoken to her parents face to face had been when she was a teenager, barely out of school. Applebloom was still a foal too young to begin her education proper. It was an early foggy morning, and the whippoorwills were still chirping sleepily in the orchards. Honeycrisp's bright red coat was hidden under an emerald cloak as she carried a basket of sundries to their covered wagon. Her muzzle, which was lightly frosted in a soft lime shade, was split wide in a grin when she told Applejack with a wink of her green eye, "We're off to unlock all the secrets of apples." When her daughter helped her load the basket onto the carriage, she added sagely, "After all, there's more to farmin' than sticking seeds into the ground!"

"Darn tootin'," Jonagold pitched in with an energetic whinny as he cantered over to his wife and daughter, the brim of his stetson hat tilted up high. Behind him trailed Granny Smith, and Big Macintosh, the latter carrying a young Applebloom. "There ain't no nobler a pursuit than the refinement of one's profession. Right, AJ?"

Applejack smiled, her chest puffing at her father's attention. "Yes, Pa! Nothin' nobler."

Jonagold laughed and ruffled her mane. "That's my girl!' He turned to the rest of the family. "Mama, ah know you'd rather we stick closer to the homestead and quit our roamin', but trust that your one and only son is carryin' on those supernal values you so determinedly hammered into his thick skull. Hoof shakin' and continuous discourse with prospective customers in this competitive mart o' commerce is the best way to ensure the longevity of our clan, so--"

"Jona, will you stop your highfalutin ramblin' and jes' get on that there wagon before I whop you a good'un?" Granny Smith snapped. "Heavens, you talk as if we ain't out here freezin' our flanks in this chill!"

Jonagold threw his blonde head back for a hearty laugh. "Oh! Mama, I do so love you. I'll count the days till you can whop me again," he chortled as he gave her a hug. He turned next to Big Mac, his head raising high with a smirk. "And you, son. Protect the mares. Don't shy from the hard jobs--you know these gals are strong, but you're the strongest. Got that?"

Big Mac mirrored the smirk on his father's soft orange face. "Eyup!" he said.

The older stallion patted a hoof on his son's shoulder. "Atta boy." Next he moved to kiss Applebloom on the head. "See ya soon, little filly. Pa loves you. Don't grow up too fast, y'hear?"

He turned around and regarded Applejack, his blue eyes meeting her green. Behind him, Honeycrisp said goodbye to her mother-in-law and other children. With a gentle smile, the stallion took off his stetson hat, and placed it upon his daughter's head. "And you, sugarcube. I trust you to help your brother keep the trees healthy and the bits flowin'. Ain't nobody got a greener touch than you, Applejack."

She beamed. "I promise to take care of the farm and the family, Pa. It's all in good hooves!"

He kissed her brow and stepped back to allow Honeycrisp to hug her daughter. "I know it is."

She couldn't have known how long she would be held to that promise. For all Applejack knew, it could extend into infinity the way her parents seemed to find more reasons to stay on the road, traveling ever further in their pursuit of new business and farming knowledge. So much time had gone by. The last letter she had received had been a year ago. In just that amount of time, Applebloom had earned her cutie mark. What other things would her parents miss out on? What if Granny Smith passed on? What if Big Mac had foals of his own? Applejack had no way of reaching her parents to send the news. No way of finding them, either.

The question of whether they truly loved their family above all else was an unwelcome thought, but AJ found herself unable to resist it as she glared at the setting sun, its dying light making her green eyes smolder.

"Applejack?" Granny Smith's voice called out to the mare from further down the hill.

Applejack turned, her eyes fluttering as she took in her granny making the arduous trip to join her granddaughter under the apple tree. The farm mare jumped to her hooves and trotted to her elder, her brow creasing with concern. "Granny, what do you think you're doing trottin' all the way out here with them creaky hips o' yours? I thought you were helping Applebloom with supper!"

"I was," Granny shot back with an affronted glare as she shook of AJ's attempt at walking her up the slope. "But then I saw you sittin' up here all on your lonesome and figgered somethin' must be wrong! Now I know I figgered right."

Applejack's ears pinned flat against her head. "Ah'm fine, Granny."

A graceless snort. "The hay you are."

Now the younger mare glowered. "Ah just wanted to think on my own for a while. Tain't nothing to raise the alarm about!"

Granny sighed, the lines of her aged eyes softening as she sat on the grass. "I saw the look on yer face when the mail was brought in. Today makes it a year, don't it?"

Applejack looked away without saying anything.

Granny Smith placed a hoof on her granddaughter's back. "Applejack, if there's one thing I learnt about your father early on, it was that he was a rollin' stone. It's how he met yer mother. It's how our family's apples have become a staple of Equestria."

"So that makes it okay that he and Ma miss so much?" Applejack retorted heatedly. "I'm grateful for the work they do, but is it really necessary for my parents to leave us behind for so long? I thought Apples were s'posed to plant roots, not blow in the wind!"

The elderly mare's lips puckered. "Ah wonder," she said slowly. "What really has ya so riled up, granddaughter. You mad a'cuz you feel your folks haven't been here, or a'cuz you're afraid you ain't enough to fill their horseshoes?"

Applejack scowled. "You know I don't shy from work, and I'd do anythin' for our family!"

"I know that. But yer just one mare, Applejack. Big Macintosh is gettin' to that age where he's gonna be settlin' down soon. He'd still be here to help on the farm, but that leaves ya to raise Applebloom on your own once I pass on. We both know that's a'gonna be soon."

Her granddaughter winced. "Aw, Granny, don't talk about that..."

"Hush. You know it's true." Granny rubbed AJ's back, a warm smile spreading across her muzzle. "But you oughta know somethin'. In the years since your Pa left, I have seen you learn and grow so much with your friends that ah'm sure the day he finally gets his hide back here, he'll be so gobsmacked you'll have to poke him with a pitchfork!" Despite herself, Applejack chuckled at the image. Granny Smith's eyes brightened and she squeezed the younger mare in a tight one-legged hug. "You done a wonderful job with Applebloom so far. She's gonna grow up to be a fine mare, you'll see. And this farm? Shoot, it runs smoother than a greased pig over ice! Don't doubt yerself, Applejack. Yer more than enough for this family. Why, yer the core o' the apple!"

Applejack's eyes misted. She smiled with a stiffened lip and hugged Granny Smith around the barrel. "Thanks, Granny. Ah love ya more than ah can put into words!"

"Thank goodness!" Granny chuckled over her shoulder. "If there's one thing ah count my lucky stars for ever'day, it's that ya didn't pick up your Pa's gift o' gab!"

The farm mare pulled back and winked. "Now I wouldn't go alleging my apparent lack of verbosity, Granny Smith! After all, how you think ah manage to sell our precious product in that competitive mart of commerce so well?"

Granny Smith pulled Applejack's stetson hat over her eyes. "Hush, you! I can still whop ya good, just like your Pa!" She gingerly stood to all hooves. "Now we better git back to the house a'fore your sister burns it down..."

Smiling happily, Applejack walked back home with her granny, her mind no longer preoccupied with the inevitable advance of time. Not its seconds, hours, or its years...