Cherry Trees

Darkness. Hot, stuffy darkness.

Applejack takes this moment alone to do something unusual. For her, anyway. Her thoughts are running over the last few days, just...going over things.

And what a few days it had been.

Out working hard, all day, every day. But she’d eased up a bit after that first night. The other ranch hands seemed nice, now that she actually talked to them. She even put faces to a few names. Making friends, if only in that fleeting co-worker sense.

And at night...well, she’d been up late engaged in all kinds of interesting debauchery. She gets a sure, proud smirk, letting her head wander into just a few naughty details.

Cherry sure does know her way around a bed, I’ll give her that.

She snorts out a sly chuckle.

That ain’t all I’ll give her.

She chuckles again. It had been a plum fine couple of nights.

At a price, though. She’s exhausted, worn out in the best of ways. A lazy burn buzzes from behind her eyeballs. Her limbs are heavy and creaky.

I’d wager it was worth it.

Besides, today was a nice day off. Cherry had asked for an escort into town. To do a little shopping and whatnot. And Applejack had been all too happy to come along. They’d shared a pleasant walk, huddled under Cherry’s lacy parasol.

You look beat, sugar. Tuckered out.

Aw shucks, Miss Jub—

Cherry.

A sly smile. Applejack giggles like a filly, just like she’d wanted to at the time. Cherry. A lovely, sweet little word.

You should rest up when we get back. Take a nap.

You orderin’ me around on my day off?

You bet yer fine rump, I am. And while I’m at it...

And then she’d leaned over and whispered a few suggestions concerning said nap. Suggestions that made Applejack’s tail practically spin in circles. She takes her time remembering every little detail of that voice in her ear, running her thoughts over the...

“Hurry hurry hurry hurry hurry!”

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

“Hurry it up in there!”

Oh, for the love of...

Applejack rolls her eyes and finishes up.

Can’t a gal have a quiet moment?

She slams the door open and trots out, not even looking.

“Some ponies. Sheesh.”

See, this is why just goin’ outside is the way to do it.

She trots on, barely aware that her head is sinking lower and lower as she does.

Y’know, that really almost sounded like Pinkie.

She sighs, looking down at the dirt.

“Applejack!”

Her ear twitches in disbelief.

“I found her I found her I found her I found her...!”

She snaps her head up, seeing five familiar pairs of eyes staring back.

My friends! MY FRIENDS!

Before the joy can even register on her face, panic takes its place.

My...my friends.

Oh. Oh jeez.

...uh...

…

Oh no.

* * *

“Uh...hey everypony...” Applejack says.

What are you doing here?

“...What’s up?”

Brilliant. That’ll throw ‘em fer sure.

“Why didn’t you come back to Ponyville?”

I wish I could tell you.

“Yes, why are you here?”

Because I let everypony down.

“Are you okay?”

No.

“Do you have any snacks?”

Uh...?

“Tell us what happened, Applejack.”

They want to know. They want to help. They care.

Would they, if they knew?

I ain’t about to find out...

But they’re all looking at her. She feels it, swollen in her chest, right at the back of her throat.

I can’t, I just can’t but I gotta tell ‘em but I can’t but...

Her mouth opens on its own, threatening to spill the beans whether she likes it or not. She can’t talk without telling them. How could she?

“Applejack? Are these some of your Ponyville friends?”

Salvation. Just in the nick of time. Cherry Jubilee chats them up, distracting them. Explaining. Wrapping it all up with a nice little bow.

Wait a minute is she talkin’ about the rodeo? No no no NO STOP

“Aw, shucks, Miss Jubilee. You don’t have to go into all that.”

“She’s so modest!”

Cherry puts a hoof to Applejack’s chin, triggering all kinds of dirty little memories. She cringes inside, tiny in the glare of a massive spotlight.

“Anyway, I could always use a pony with quick hooves and a strong back.”

Applejack glances around nervously, unable to contain the goofy little grin on her face. Her friends heard that. They heard it, for pony’s sake.

“...I’ll let you catch up with your friends. See you back at the ranch!”

No don’t go don’t leave me with them noooooooo

“Change of scenery? What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow Dash says, getting right in her face. Of course.

“It’s no big deal guys...”

I am so, so sorry, Dash. I mean it.

She rambles on, saying nothing like what’s going on in her head. She makes excuses. Puts up walls. Wraps things up in a tattered, sloppy bow.

“That’s it. End of story,” she finishes with her nose up in the air.

“That’s it? Well that’s a terrible story.”

Yeah. Yeah, it is.

She tries to walk away, but Rainbow Dash cuts her off, of course. Applejack barely hears the words between them, it’s all muffled, underwater and far away.

“We didn’t travel all over Equestria...”

Of course you did you guys are the best and I love every single one of no NO stop it.

“...To come home without you!”

Rage growls from deep in her body, sharp and mean-eyed. How dare they? How dare they? Everything was perfect, coulda just done this and come home and nopony woulda been the wiser...

I ain’t worth all this.

“Well I didn’t ask you to come lookin’ for me!”

Why did you come lookin’ for me?

“There is nothin’ to tell, and I am not goin’ back to Ponyville!”

* * *

It’s dark, again. Applejack lies in bed, wreathed in moonlight. One dim oil lamp flickers on a nightstand, washed out by the pale light from outside. She’s on her back, cradling a glass of schnapps on her belly. Sweat cools on her coat, still there from a pretty darn vigorous session of lovemaking.

She’d been angry, before. Intense. Rough. Somehow, it had been even better than the past few nights put together.

How could you? Bringin’ them on as workers. What’s wrong with you?

I was trying to help you, sugar.

You knew exactly what you were doin’!

Cherry had replied with only a sly smile, that same damn smile that always makes Applejack feel all kinds of funny. And then the older mare had shown her some very creative ways of apologizing.

Applejack sighs, taking a sweet, tarty sip at her glass. She isn’t angry anymore.

“You feelin’ better, sugar?”

Applejack looks over. Cherry is next to her, at her side. Nursing her own glass of sweet pinkish-reddish loveliness.

“Whaddya mean?” Applejack turns away, glaring out the window.

“Oh, come off it.” She feels Cherry against her side, snuggling closer. “You’re right. I shoulda talked it over with you. About those friends of yours.”

Applejack snorts, intent on staring out the window at nothing.

“I really thought I was helpin’,” Cherry almost whispers into her ear. Applejack can smell the sweet burn of schnapps on her breath, mingled with the unsavory smell of her own fleeting pleasure. “They seem like a good group of girls. Comin’ all the way out here on your account.”

Applejack says nothing. A gust of wind howls outside, setting the wood of the house creaking in place.

“Did they do you wrong?” Cherry asks. “Is that why—”

“No, nothin’ like that.” Applejack grips her glass a little tighter in her hooves. “They really are great.”

Every one of them.

“Then what is it?”

Something in Cherry’s voice forces Applejack to turn to her. “I didn’t want them to know,” she says.

“About us?”

“No! I mean...it ain’t about that. It wasn’t.”

Cherry raises an almost offended eyebrow, drawing away from Applejack ever so slightly.

“There’s a whole other mess goin’ on, honestly, and...this really ain’t helpin’, is the thing of it,” Applejack says, kicking herself the moment it comes out.

Cherry’s frown speaks all the words she needs.

Oh. Is that how it is?

“Shoot, I didn’t mean it like that!” Applejack scrambles to patch it up. “But...y’know, they don’t know about this, or any of it, and I don’t know how...” she hems and haws, desperately casting around for words, getting more wound up by the second. “On top of everything else, and then this, and you, and me already in for it, and I don’t even—MMF!”

Her yelp of surprise is muffled by Cherry’s luscious lips. It’s a quick, fierce kiss. Applejack doesn’t even have time to close her eyes before it’s over.

“Sorry,” Cherry says. Simply. Softly. Then she finishes her glass with a rueful toss of her hair. She climbs halfway over Applejack, grabbing her glass as well, and stows both on the nightstand. But she doesn’t pull back—she stays against Applejack, nestling against her side, resting her lovely head in the crook of Applejack’s neck.

Applejack loops one arm around her and holds her close, without even thinking. It feels too right to not do it.

“You do what you gotta do, sugar,” Cherry says, pecking a light kiss into Applejack’s chest. “I can keep a secret with the best of ‘em.”

It hurts. Applejack grimaces, glad that her lover’s face is buried into her coat. It hurts worse than when she thought Cherry was mad at her.

A long silence stretches out, timed by the rise and fall of Cherry’s chest against her.

“You ever done this before?” Applejack asks.

“Hmm?” Cherry glances up at her, just a bit surprised.

“You know...with a mare.” The question had been on Applejack’s mind for longer than she cared to admit.

“Just once.” Cherry stares off towards a window, longingly.

“Were you gettin’ naughty with some poor, innocent worker o’ yours?” Applejack says with a cheeky grin.

“No.” That naughty little smile is back. “Nothin’ like that. And she was nothin’ like you, that’s fer sure. It was a long time ago.” Cherry stares off again, this time with a smile, and sighs. “Before I even met my husband.”

It hadn’t even occurred to Applejack that there was no Mister to her employer’s Missus. “Say, whatever happened to him?” she says without thinking, immediately feeling rude. “Uh...if you don’t mind me askin’ that is.”

“It’s fine. That was a long time ago, too,” Cherry Jubilee says. “He just ran off one day.”

“Oh.”

Jeez...

“He just left you? With foals and the farm and all?” Applejack says, eyes wide with disbelief.

Cherry Jubilee nods.

“You never saw him again?”

“Not once.” Cherry Jubilee glares viciously. “Lucky for him, too. I’d probably kill the son of a bitch.”

Applejack’s eyes get wider.

Dang...more grit to her than I thought.

“I’m mighty sorry to hear all that,” Applejack says.

“Don’t fret none about it. It was hard, but we got by. Made me who I am today.”

Think I just might know what you mean there.

She doesn’t say it. She realizes, now, that she had said all this to change the subject. Get away from the part that hurts. But it only led her to a different kind of hurt.

Straight up. Tell her. Pony up and do it, for once. For her, at least.

“I’m leavin’,” Applejack says. “Tomorrow morning.”

She feels Cherry’s arms tighten around her. “S’pose I’m not surprised to hear that,” Cherry says. “Where you goin’?”

“I dunno.”

“What direction?”

“I dunno. Away.”

“And what are you gonna do when those friends of yours find you again?”

Applejack glares at her. This damn mare—always hitting where it counts.

“I dunno. Go somewhere else, I suppose.”

“Applejack,” Cherry says very sternly.

Young lady.

Applejack perks up, suddenly listening very closely.

“You can’t just keep running,” Cherry says.

“Well I can’t go back with ‘em.”

“Then stay here.” Cherry’s eyes look weak, for just a second. Alone. “At least here, we have each other.”

“I’m sorry.” Applejack sinks back into the dark bed, her ears flopping against her head. “I made promises. Promises I can’t keep. I ain’t got no right.”

“Sure I can’t change your mind? Nothin’ I can say?” Cherry trails a hoof up Applejack’s chest, teasing at her neck with it. “Nothin’ I can...do?”

Her eyes send shivers all through Applejack’s thoughts. She looks alone again, hidden under all the overwhelming seduction. Almost desperate. It leaves a bad taste in Applejack’s mouth.

She needs someone.

Applejack sighs, stone cold in the face of Cherry’s temptations.

Someone better.

“I wish I could,” Applejack says. “I really do. But I was always gonna leave. Doesn’t make you any less lovely. Just how it is.” Applejack frowns, wondering if that hurt as much to hear as it did to say.

“Well, listen to you!” Cherry drops her hoof and gives Applejack an almost proud smile. “I should be more careful. I might just have made you into a real heart breaker.”

A bemused, dry chuckle escapes Applejack’s mouth.

Applejack, the heart breaker. What a hoot.

“I ain’t aimin’ to break any hearts. Least of all yours,” she says.

They both pause, drinking each other’s gaze. It’s a fleeting joy, a fading echo of the last few nights—just the two of them and no other cares in the world.

Cherry hugs her tightly, nuzzling against her neck.

“First train leaves at seven-ten on the dot,” Cherry whispers against her coat.

“Guess I should get to sleep, then.”

Cherry slides up on top of Applejack, straddling her. She hooks her forelegs around the back of Applejack’s neck and presses their noses together, her smile growing all the while.

“Yup,” Cherry breathes out in a husky whisper. “You probably should.”

Applejack slides her hooves up Cherry’s sides, bringing them up and running them into the heavenly tresses of her mane. Her lungs tighten up, and everything else just kind of...melts away.

“I reckon it would be pretty foolish to stay up all night,” Cherry says, batting her eyelashes. “Making the most of it.”

She stares down into Applejack, so close that she’s blurred out, just holding there. On her. With her.

“Yeah...” Applejack looks back, sure as sugar. About this part, anyway. “I reckon it would.”

* * *

Applejack thuds her way up a dusty dirt road. The sun is high, edging towards noon. Her hat keeps her comfy, but the bright heat burns into her coat all over. She normally wouldn’t mind, but memories of a lacy little parasol are fresh in her head.

She’s unburdened. Her bags are back at the station, waiting with her friends. She’d told them she would just be a little while. An hour, at most. Saying a proper goodbye.

She’s already passed the front gate of the ranch. The house looms up ahead. Cherry Jubilee is waiting, of course. Must’ve seen Applejack coming—it’s nothing but flat scrub and sage brush for miles along the road.

The matriarch is standing out on the front porch, alone. Fanning herself with one of those fancy folding fans, dull pink in the shade of the covered porch.

Applejack clops her way up a few steps and onto the porch, silently coming to a stop in front of the other mare. She doffs her hat and fans herself a few times, looking down at the worn planks she’s standing on.

“Hoped I might see you again,” Cherry Jubilee says.

“Yeah, me too.” Applejack replaces her hat, finally meeting Cherry’s eyes.

Neither says anything for a moment. The wind picks up to fill in their silence, blowing dry and raspy through tufts of brittle grass out in the sun.

“So,” Cherry closes her fan abruptly, making a show of nonchalance. “Did those friends of yours catch up to you?”

“They did, indeed.”

“And?”

Applejack feels a hopeful smile bleed out, ruling out the slight ache in her ribs where Rainbow Dash tackled her. A wonderful ache. A perfect, forgiving ache.

“We set things straight. I think,” she says. “I guess things weren’t as bad as I thought.”

“I’m glad.” Cherry glows as she says it, a warm, genuine smile. “Things usually ain’t so bad, in the end. You goin’ back to Ponyville, then?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Mmm.” Cherry nods, still smiling.

Applejack takes a second to chew on her lip, setting up what needs to be said. “I wanted to thank you,” she says. “Again. For...well, for everything.” She feels just a slight blush on that last sentence.

“It was my pleasure,” Cherry says. She moves closer—Applejack isn’t sure if she’s going for a hug or a kiss or whatever. Applejack shoots a hoof out, holding the older mare back. She glances around, checking for witnesses, completely on instinct.

“Sorry,” Applejack says. “I...it’s over. Best not muddy the waters, right?”

“Probably smart,” Cherry says. She doesn’t look surprised. Or upset.

“Just sayin’ goodbye,” Applejack adds. “I owe you that much.”

“You don’t owe me a thing.”

Applejack’s manners dictate that she protest, but they can’t quite muster themselves up. It’s been quite the morning. Instead, she just gives a weak smile and nods.

“Would you mind if I wrote to you?” Cherry asks.

“That would be nice,” Applejack says. She means it.

“Well alright, then.” Cherry seems to relax a bit. “Best not keep yer friends waitin’.”

“Yeah...” Applejack casts a wistful glance down the road. “Maybe I’ll see you again. Rodeo, or somethin’.”

“I’d like that.” Cherry follows her glance, then fixes her right in the eyes again. “Goodbye...”

...sugar?

“...Applejack.”

Applejack’s breath almost catches in her throat, but she keeps a handle on it. She sets her face up, plain and blank, and politely tips her hat.

“...Miss Jubilee.”

She turns without another word and sets out, back down the dusty road she came.

* * *

THUNK.

A good hit. Apples land all around her, spreading the huge smile on her face wider. She rears up again.

THUNK.

Solid, ungiving wood. Just beautiful.

THUNK.

She throws every muscle into it.

THUNK.

Buckets slowly fill with apples. Famous for miles around. Applejack wipes at her brow with a hoof, grinning proudly.

She looks around, taking a well-timed breather. Sweet Apple Acres. It’s just as beautiful as ever, here in the cool shade of hundreds and hundreds of Equestria’s finest apple trees. Here, at home.

A distant echo of laughter drifts through the trees. It’s Applebloom and her friends, of course, probably getting into some kind of mischief. And somewhere off yonder she knows that Big Mac is pulling stumps out of the rich, dark earth. And past that, back at the house, Winona’s takin’ a nap right by the porch. And Granny’s inside, baking or napping. Take your pick.

She knows this, all of this, sure as her own hoof. Almost every day, her whole life.

She looks around, not really at anything, just...taking it in. The thick grass, the rolling, gentle hills, and the trees, of course the trees, stretching out as far as the eye can see. She knows and recognizes each one, somewhere deep in the back of her mind.

That one way off there is the first one she ever bucked apples out of.

That one over there is the one Bloomberg’s seeds came from.

This one’s the one she was buckin’ the first time she met Twilight.

She heaves a sigh, heavy with contentment. Even the smell of the air is better than anything else in the world.

Home.

Something shakes and rattles it’s way through the branches above her. She knows who it is without even having to look.

“Rainbow?” She does look up.

“Hey.” Rainbow Dash picks her way into the lower branches of a tree from above, perching in a low crouch. “‘Sup, AJ?”

“You, from the looks of it.”

“Heh, yeah.” Rainbow Dash prowls around the branches for a second, licking her lips. She quickly finds one she likes and helps herself to an apple, crunching and smacking loudly.

Applejack forces a glare, overdoing it on purpose. “Don’t s’pose yer gonna pay for that?”

“When have I ever?” Dash reclines on a branch, somehow making it look comfortable. “Just put it on my tab.”

“Think I lost track of your tab a long time ago.” Applejack grimaces, only halfway forcing it. “All I know is you owe me a whole bunch of bits. Or a few days honest work.”

“Pffffft. Yeah, right. Work.” Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes. Then she grins down from her branch, arching her eyebrows as suggestively as a pony can. “I don’t know about this farm stuff. But I can think of a few ways I could pay you back.”

Applejack startles a little. Dash always throws out lines like that, ever since that talk they had long ago. It always, always throws Applejack, even if just for a second. Which is, of course, why Dash does it.

Applejack is about to throw back one of her usual witty rejections, but...somethings different. Is it? She takes a long look at her friend, leaving her mouth hanging open a bit. Rainbow Dash is above her, bright and beautiful, sleek as always, her wild mane hanging haphazardly with the leaves.

I mean, she’s always been pretty, but...

Is there...?

…

Nope. Nothing. Applejack, a little surprised, feels nothing but her usual friendly fondness for the mare above her.

Huh.

Maybe it really was the water.

No, that’s crazy talk.

“Yeah, whatever,” Rainbow Dash rolls on, as if Applejack had thrown out a comeback. She takes another noisy bite, talking with her mouth full. “You know, it’s weird. When you were gone, I could come here all the time and nap wherever and take as many apples as I wanted. And nopony gave me any crap about it.”

Applejack raises an eyebrow, not sure where the pegasus is going with this. Rainbow Dash wipes at her mouth and rolls over a bit, peering down at her again.

“It’s good to have you back,” Rainbow Dash says.

“It’s good to be back,” Applejack says quietly. “How ‘bout Rarity and Pinkie? How’re they holdin’ up?”

“Oh, Pinkie’s fine. Rarity, though...man. You’d think I cut off her mane or something. Jeez.”

“Didya tell her how we looked for ‘em?”

“Course I did!” Dash throws her hooves up, done with the whole situation. “It’s not my fault they went the wrong way.”

“Where’d they even end up?”

“Las Pegasus. Rarity was demanding that I pay her back for their tickets home. Do you have any idea how much it costs for a ride all the way out to Las Pegasus?”

“Heh, can’t say I do.” Applejack chuckles. “So...did you pay up, or...?”

“Naw, she calmed down.” Rainbow Dash huffily folds her arms. “I took her out to dinner. One of her stupid fancy restaurants.”

“Oooooh, sounds romantic,” Applejack jeers.

“Don’t even.” Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes again. “Although I feel like I should’ve gotten some action, after how much it cost. Which is why I appreciate all these free apples you’re giving me.”

She finishes off her apple, nibbling it down to it’s skinny core. Applejack wonders why they even pretend anymore—not that the act isn’t fun, but it’s been a long, long while since she would’ve let Rainbow pay for anything.

“I think I owe you one, actually. After all that,” Applejack says.

“Don’t mention it. It’s cool.” Rainbow Dash carelessly throws her apple core down, letting it thud to the ground right at Applejack’s feet. “I gotta say, it was kind of exciting. Never figured you would do something like that.”

“Whaddya mean?”

“You know, you. Honest old Applejack. Boring farm pony, running off all mysterious. Crazy stuff.”

Applejack glares up at her, not sure what to make of any of that.

“Oh, come on. You know what I mean. And you’re not really boring, honest,” Rainbow Dash adds. “I was kind of impressed, actually. Once I wasn’t mad at you.”

“Huh,” is all Applejack manages to say.

“Just don’t go all crazy and run off on us again.”

“Wouldn’t think of it.”

A full second passes before Applejack realizes that they’re just staring at each other. The trash at her feet is forgotten, lost in a warm moment.

“Hey.” Rainbow Dash breaks the bond, darting her head into a nearby branch. She snatches an apple with her teeth and drops it down, expertly landing it next to the already-eaten fruit. It’s small and green, not quite ready. But then again, it is off-season.

“This one’s on me,” she says. “And even if you did run off again? I’d still want you back.”

Applejack looks up and down, speechless. Rainbow Dash is staring down at her, with some kind of calm, heavenly smile. When Applejack looks up, she doesn’t feel any romance. But she does feel love.

Somehow, impossibly, Rainbow Dash seems to not notice Applejack’s fawning look.

“Anyway,” she says, like she always does. “I’m takin’ off. I’ll catch you later, cool?”

“...Sure,” Applejack almost mumbles.

A few branches rattle, and a few leaves fall, and then she’s gone, somewhere up in the skies above. Applejack tries to follow with her eyes, hopeless from beneath the canopy. She stands in place for a long while afterwards, alone with her silent thoughts. A few birds sing sporadically. Random pieces of a song, never put together.

She tries, against her instincts, to puzzle out some of this. Of all of it. She wants something, any small piece of this bigger picture. There’s something great and important here, she just knows it, something worth sitting down and thinking a spell over.

But it’s just out of grasp. And what did it matter, anyway? They’d found out. They’d found out about...

...Everything?

Would it matter, if they knew?

I don’t even know.

She’d been found out. All had been forgiven. All would be forgiven, she was sure. They are her friends. Her family. She knows, now, that she can tell them anything.

Then why don’t I want to?

There’s the rub. Why not?

Why?

She glares at the ground, scrunching her muzzle up in concentration.

Maybe I just don’t want to. Maybe that’s just it.

That ain’t a crime, after all. Maybe...

Maybe this one’s just for me.

It makes sense. Everyone’s got secrets. Nopony is perfect.

Ain’t none of us at our best all the time.

A shy, tender thing can make her friends cry. A smart unicorn can go crazy over nothing. A rodeo champion can choke and lose the prize. But they aren’t like that every day.

Was it...wrong?

It feels wrong to think so. Cherry was too sweet to be ashamed of.

Maybe it’s just mine. My own little secret.

That’s better. Not wrong. Not bad.

But why don’t I want to tell anypony?

She shakes her head, not quite satisfied, but unable to put up with pondering for any longer. There’s work to be done, after all. And Applejack is a working pony, sure as sugar. She sets back to her harvest, the nagging thoughts shrinking so tiny that you’d have to stop and really try to listen.

A sly smile sneaks out onto her lips, despite the muffled, wayward thoughts.. She feels strangely free. New. Alive. Exciting.

Different.

Even honesty can have a secret, here and there.