My Time with the Farmer

It had been a few months since I found applejack in that bush. I had never thought that I could enjoy myself as much as I did in that time. My shoulder had healed a bit and I could now move it with a little bit of stiffness. The wound had closed up nicely without to much trouble. I had kept anyone from finding applejack, including my parents. Things were looking up. Me and applejack had grown a lot closer since that morning after I had been shot. She slept in my bed usually (nothing like that. Get your mind out of the gutter). It felt nice to have someone there. We knew just about everything about each other. She liked to cook though she never got any practice back at home but here she made breakfast every Saturday. I liked to shoot and she enjoyed it to.(How she held a handgun with her hooves and drew back a bow still boggles my mind but I chose not to question it)

One day as I was lying around. When she busted into my room from the backyard.

"Joe," she said slightly out of breath."I just saw something in that forest beyond your fence!" She said excitedly.

"What did it look like." I asked her. "I probably know what it is."

"We'll it was a little bit taller than me with gray fur." She said. I knew what it was  before she finished talking. I I easily sot up and grabbed my bow off the wall and slung my quiver over my shoulder. I strapped on my soothing glove and went for the door. "Wait joe, where are you going, what is it." I ignored her and kept walking. "Joe, Joe, JOE." She yelled standing infringing of the door to get my attention. "I'm not moving until you tell me what that thing is." She said with a determined look on her face. I stopped and looked at her and realized that she wasn't going to move until she knew the answer.

"It's a wolf." I said to her in a flat tone. I could tell that this frightened her. Her air of determination and confidence melted and revealed her softer side. I could understand this since her parents had been killed by timber wolves she must be terrified by the thought. "They never come this close to the houses unless they are desperate for a meal." I said. Applejack started to quiver. I picked her up and moved her out of the way. "Don't worry," I said to her calmly. I hadn't sen her like this since she told me what happened to her after her parents died. "I'm gonna go take care of it," I said shouldering my bow and quiver. I set her down and ran my hand thought her mane. And walked out the door.

I hopped the fence and creeped into the wood. I crouched down in the cover of a bush and waited. I had an arrow knocked and ready to draw back the bow at any moment. I heard a stick breaking behind me and instantly turned around and brought my right arm back feeling my shoulder grind and protest. I was just about ready to send my arrow on a killing path with the barbed point on the end when applejack walked out of the brush.

"Applejack, what he hell are you doing here." I yelled

"I came to help you get rid of the wolves." She said in her normal determined tone. I lower my bow and let the bowstring go slack.

"Applejack I told you I can handle it." I said to her slightly calmer.

"I know but that's what my pa said before he went to take care of the timber wolves and am went with him." She said. "I'm not going to lose you to. I leaned forward and embraced her.

"Applejack, I understand but you need to get back home before the wolves come. I can handle it." I told her. I stood up shouldering my bow and with her at my side we started back towards the house. When we almost made it out of the tree line, it happened.

The wolf jumped out out of the brush and tackled me to the ground. I was stunned, but only for a second and withdrew an arrow from my quiver and dispatched it by shoving it into its throat. As I stood up and dusted of my jeans I extracted the arrow from the wolf's throat and inserted it back into my quiver when another wolf jumped out and tackled applejack. I drew the hunting knife I always carried with me in the woods and charged at the wolf. I bowled it over and pinned it to the ground. I saw foam coming from its mouth and new that was a very bad thing. I plunged my knife into its throat and twisted it till the current of blood started to stream from the wolf's neck. I stood back up and saw Applejack still lying on the ground shivering. I picked her up and started to run. She had grown a lot since I first found her. She was a bit heavier than las time  I carried her. Two more wolves jumped out of the brush. They both lunged for my throat. I threw up my arm in defense. The bit into the softer flesh in my forearm and toppled me over, knocking applejack out of my hand and my knife skittering somewhere in the bush. One of the wolves jumped on top of me pinning me to the ground and the other did the same to applejack. I saw it descend it's head toward AJ's neck. I felt a new strength flow into my body and I heard celestia's command ring in my ears. I kicked the wolf off me and lunged at the wolf on top of applejack. I bowled it over and we rolled a bit till it was on top of me.

"I'm sorry applejack," I said as I stared the wolf in the eye. Suddenly the weight disappeared and I saw applejack with my blade in her mouth. She had just bucked the wolf into the bush. I lunged into the bush and plunged my knife into the stunned wolf's chest. I walked out of the bushes and saw something that turned my blood to ice. Applejack was there clamped in the wolf's jaws. I lunged at it in blind rage and plunged my blade into the wolf's skull until my hand was doused in blood. I dropped to my knees, dropping my blade. I turned around and saw applejack's limp body. I started to crawl over to her. I put my war to her chest and heard nothing but the crickets in the background.

"I'm sorry applejack," I said my voice cracking. "I've failed you." I said as. I began to sob.