Apples and Lies
Applejack’s Little Secret
By Honored Service
Editors MissInfinityness
“Ah’ll be right over once I get this here basket of golden delicious into the cellar, Big Mac!” An orange pony called out to her older brother. The Applejack whistled to herself as she marched along the dirt path leading from the apple fields to the cellar underneath the barn. The sun beat down on the blond haired cowpony. It was getting late in the afternoon and Applejack was near completing her chores for the day on the farm. Sixteen rows of apple trees had been bucked, the leaky pipe had been fixed, and the pigs had been fed, which left the young mare exhausted.
“Just a little longer Applejack, then you’ll be free,” she whispered to herself as she opened the cellar door and climbed down the old rickety stairs to the dirt packed floor. Applejack moved a hoof along the wooden wall till she found a switch and turned on the lights. A dim yellow glow washed over the room, giving everything a pale appearance.
“Let’s see here. Red, Green, Grannies, ah here we go, Golden Delicious.” The mare bounced the basket of apples off her back and into the correct area in the cellar. “And now I have some time… all to mahself.” The pony removed her hat and wiped her brow while flicking off the light switch and climbing the stairs.
The mare poked her head out of the cellar and looked to the left, just the farm house and the pig pens. She turned and looked right, all she could see was endless rows of apple trees. She stepped out of the cellar and let out a sigh of relief, she was alone. Now that her work was done, Applejack could carefully head over to her secret spot that nopony new about.
“Hey big sis, where you off to?” A thick southern accent called out to the creeping earth pony.
“Ahhh!” Applejack launched herself into the air and spun around coming face to face with a little yellow filly with a pink bow in her dark red mane. “Oh, um, hi there Apple Bloom. Ah was just on my way to… to… finish harvesting some apples. Yup, harvest some apples. Hehe.” Applejack looked left and right at a rapid pace while scrunching up her muzzle. She was having a lot of trouble meeting her younger sister’s gaze.
“But Applejack, the apple trees are that way.” Apple Bloom pointed a hoof in the opposite direction, while giving her sister a most curious look.
“Oh…well I was just testing you. And um….you passed! Congratulations AB, now go ask Big Macintosh about your reward.” Applejack began to sweat heavily as her green eyes darted around in her head. A large fake smile slowly spread across her face as she tried even harder not to look at her sister.
“Alright! And Granny Smith said she needed your help with something… I don’t really remember what for though.” Apple Bloom turned around and began walking towards the edge of the Apple family’s farm where the Cutie Mark Crusaders official clubhouse was located.
Applejack held her breath until the little foal was out of sight. “Whew!” She let out a long sigh and looked off towards the east edge of the farm. Her secret spot, where she kept her little secret safe from her family and her friends. Applejack took a hesitant step towards the east but stopped. “Aw darn it. Ah need to go see what Granny needs.” The orange mare kicked a hoof against the ground, dust and dirt puffing up into the air.
Applejack sighed and sluggishly turned to the farm house and plodded along. “Ah was so close. Ah’ve been waiting nearly all week for this. Ah need this. Hopefully Granny won’t need me for long.” Applejack said to herself as she slowly pulled open the squeaky screen door leading into the Apple family house. Have to put some oil on the hinges, another chore to add to her list for tomorrow. Old family photos covered the walls and the smell of food cooking wafted through the air. Applejack followed the smell to the kitchen where Granny Smith was humming to herself and pulling a pie out of the oven.
“Granny, Apple Bloom said y’all needed mah help?” Applejack said as she walked up to her grandmother.
“What’s that dearie?” Granny Smith asked as she laid the pie on the large wooden kitchen table. “Oh yes I was hoping that you would lend some help with a simple thing.” The old green mare pulled Applejack over to the pantry where she left Applejack standing at the door and gestured to a cabinet in the corner of the small space.
“If’n you could just sort the old recipes for me, I’d be happier than a turtle with new shell wax.” Granny patted her granddaughter on the shoulder and marched back to the kitchen where she continued humming and cooking the dinner while taking momentary breaks to whisper words of wisdom to the food she was baking.
“Well I reckon this won’t take too long.” Applejack sighed for the sixth time that afternoon and opened the bottom drawer of the old recipe cabinet. An avalanche of papers, notecards, and spider webs exploded out of the cabinet and fell around Applejacks hooves. For the seventh time that day the cowpony sighed and hung her head in defeat. “I’ll never get alone time.”
After what felt like years, really only three hours, Applejack came out of the pantry with the evil Celestia forsaken recipe cabinet looking more organized than Twilight Sparkle’s lecture notes. The orange mare sauntered out of the house and began heading off towards the east edge of the apple orchard. Everything she could possibly think of had been completed. Chores were done, at least for today, Granny Smith had been helped, and Big Macintosh along with Apple Bloom should be off doing their own thing.
“No stopping me this time,” she said to herself with confidence. Applejack licked her lips in anticipation with the act she was about to commit. The feelings of euphoric bliss that would overtake her once she got to her secret spo—
“Sis.” the deep voice called out from the last row of apple trees.
No not him. Anypony but him. Big Macintosh would see right through any lie that the nervous mare could create. And her lies were terrible to begin with, the Element of Honesty and all that. He would know something was up, and how could she tell her older brother about her terrible secret.
“Oh hey there Mac. You finishing up here?” Applejack choked out, trying to keep a neutral face. Her heart was racing a mile a minute and she fumbled with her words. The orange mare leaned from side to side, shifting uncomfortably where she stood.
“Eeyup.” Big Macintosh drawled out in a flat tone but his face revealed a trace of suspicion on it. “What are ya up to sis?” He stared down his younger sister, not allowing her to pass.
“Ah’m just ah… ah’m just taking a walk to make sure that there aren't any… varmint out stealing apples. Yup, stealing our apples. Fluttershy said that some pesky rabbits got out and might be heading this way.” Applejack locked eyes with her brother and forced a smile to spread across her face. “Hehe, them rabbits need to be stopped… and ah’m going to do that. Stop them. Pesky rabbits.”
Big Macintosh took a step closer to his younger sister and stared her down. His eyes felt like they were uncovering the horrible truth that Applejack was trying to hide. She gulped loudly and began to sweat all over as her brother just nodded, “Eeyup,” and slowly trotted off towards the farm house for some much deserved dinner after a long day working.
Applejack collapsed on the ground out of sheer relief that her brother had bought the lie. It was probably only because she had mentioned Fluttershy to him. If it had been any other pony, he may have thought harder on it. But any mention of Fluttershy always seemed to send the large stallion into a different state of mind.
“Now let’s enjoy some quality me time,” Applejack said as she stood up on her still trembling hooves and walked towards the east edge of the apple orchard. Turning left at the edge of the forest along the farm, Applejack hurried her pace with expectation of what she kept hidden at the farthest ends of the farm. Over a small brook the orange mare jumped and landed at the beginning of a slightly worn path that cut into the Whitetail Woods that reached the east end of the Apple family land.
“Ah can almost feel it.” Applejack moaned to herself as she broke into a fast trot, heading deeper into the woods. Her heart was beating like a drum as she approached her secret spot. The sun was almost about to set, which would give her the perfect backdrop for her secret activities.
Applejack rounded a bend in the path and came into a peaceful clearing in the Whitetail Woods. Birch trees formed a small circle where grass and flowers grew, allowing the perfect spot to lay down and watch the sky turn into the wonderful colors of sunset.
The farmer moved over to the largest of the birch trees in the clearing and spun around bucking the tree dead center of the trunk.
The sound of a small latch popping open shattered the silence of the clearing as Applejack took a step backwards from the tree.
A hidden door swung open to reveal Applejack’s little secret. If any pony found out about this, then the farmer’s reputation would be destroyed. A hard working Apple family member enjoying something as sinister as this, it would break Granny’s heart. Big Macintosh would be devastated and little Apple Bloom would be scarred for life. That is why this secret would have to remain that way forever.
Applejack reached into the hidden compartment and dragged out a large oak crate. She licked her lips at the box and flipped off the lid.
There it was. Her prize. Once a week she would come to this spot and indulge herself and give into temptation.
Inside the crate sat Applejack’s terrible secret. Here secret of many different shapes and sizes: tangerines, kumquats, key limes, grape fruits, and oranges, her favorite of the citrus fruits.
Applejack inhaled the smell that wafted forth from the crate of fruit. That smell brought her back to how she had discovered her loves for the citrus fruits. Applejack was staying with her Aunt and Uncle Orange in Manehattan. Those few days of the city flooded Applejack’s mind as she fell backwards onto the soft ground and began to rip the tough outer skin off the orange.
She was spending her first night away from the farm, just getting away from it all. The Oranges had so kindly allowed her to stay with them and help turn this country pony into a high class city pony. After the scrawny meal she had eaten, Applejack retired to her room still very hungry, missing Granny Smith’s apple pies or apple strudels, when a strange smell caught her attention.
It came from a blue bowl resting on the bureau across the room. Applejack investigated the bowl to find several orange circle fruits resting in the bowl. She knew what oranges were, but the Apple family never served fruits other than apples. Not that they didn’t like them, but because oranges were considered, as Granny Smith put it, “Made for them fancy city folk.”
The young Applejack tasted her first orange that night. It was the single best thing she had eaten all night. The flavor. The texture. The sensation of eating the forbidden fruit. It was unlike anything she had ever had before. By the end of that night Applejack had devoured all the sweet fruit in her room and fell asleep dreaming of oranges.
Once she had returned home her longing for becoming a city pony was gone, but now the desire to eat more oranges remained in her mind, ever present in her thoughts, consuming her till she could settle her craving for the next orange. It was only once in a while that Applejack was able to escape from her family and farm duties long enough to sneak out to her secret place and eat her weight in sweet delicious fruit.
She had to be careful or else some pony would find out, and then eventually all of Ponyville would know that the respected apple farmer, who only talked of apples, apple farming, and apple recipes, was now partaking of the enemy’s treats, especially her.
Orange Delight, that horrid mare, would never let the farmer live this down. If she ever found out that her biggest competitor in the farming business was secretly in love with her fruits, Applejack would never hear the end of it. Applejack had to secretly dress up and slip into town under cover of a different name, Berryjill, to purchase this assortment of fruits without getting caught.
As Applejack bit into another citrus fruit, she was reminded how worth it was. The sweet flavors mixing in her mouth as she swallowed the perfect fruit. Oh the irony of the situation. The mare chuckled lightly to herself as she whispered a farewell to the fruits and placed the lid back on the wooden crate.
“Hey Applejack, it’s time for dinner!” A loud voice called out of the woods. Apple Bloom’s small form stepped into the clearing. Applejack spun around and slammed her back against the crate. She began to pant heavily and stammer out words that made no sense. Her mind was trying to come up with some kind of excuse to tell Apple Bloom and save her precious citrus fruits.
All the planning.
All the secrets.
The perfect hiding spot far away from the farm.
All of it was for nothing now.
“I followed ya out here sis so I could let ya know dinner was ready!” The little foal almost didn’t seem to care that her older sister was out here in the woods all alone. Applejack had the slightest thought of being able to get out of this without being caug—
“Hey sis, what’s in the box?” Apple Bloom cocked her head and tried to peer around to see more of the brown box.
“Um nothing AB, just some um… things that I keep out here… and stuff.” Applejack was sweating bullets, whatever those were, and was having trouble breathing. She shifted left and right to keep the curious filly from seeing the crate, but she shifted to far and began to slip. In her moment of falling, Applejack stuck a hoof out to try and catch herself, but ended up tipping the box over and spilling its contents right in front of her sister.
Applebloom let out a gasp and her jaw dropped. Applejack only buried her face in the grass and began to plan her new farm she would open up in a new part of Equestria, far away from Orange Delight. Maybe an apple and orange farm.
Apple Bloom smiled and bit her bottom lip to keep herself from exploding into fits of giggles directed at her sister. “You like oranges don’t you Applejack?”