Chapters Applejack and the Soldier.
Chapter 1: The Lonely Poor Soldier.
Chapter 1: The Lonely Poor Soldier.
“Man today’s applebuck’s harvest sure was excellent!” Applejack exclaimed with excitement as she carried her saddle sacks full of her juicy sweet apples and bags of her Granny Smith’s famous home cooked apple pastries.
She just happily trotted along the path whistling a little tune to herself and admiring the beautiful early morning sights. The birds were signing their hooting songs and tweeting happily to one and other as the Pegasus ponies flew in the sky setting and rearranging clouds for today’s weather. According to the newspaper, Cloudsdale had said the weather for Ponyville was supposed to be nice and sunny with a few clouds but nice none the less. As Applejack was trotting along the path, she came across a friend of hers, Fluttershy a Pegasus, with her pet/assistant bunny Angel.
“Howdy do Fluttershy?” AJ greeted with her warm smile. Fluttershy, who always had part of her face covered with her mane smiled back.
When AJ finally reached Ponyville, she headed to the market block where her stand was located. Because it was still relatively early, there was hardly anyone on the streets with the exception of a few Earth ponies who were getting up to head to the field.
Normally AJ’s little sister Applebloom would be helping her with the stand but she had school today. Plus it didn’t help the fact that Applebloom was a lousy salesman; AJ and Big Macintosh were still paying that fine they had to pay after Applebloom poured applesauce all over a rich business pony’s expensive coat (don’t ask why, it involved some complex scheme to get her cutie mark).
AJ carefully unloaded the apples onto the stand taking great cares not to bruise any of them. Once the apples and apple pastries where carefully and neatly placed on the stand, AJ flipped the sign from “closed” to “Open.”
Across from Sugarcube Corner, she saw an inn with its door open and a purple pony yelling at a human at the door. This was unusual; humans lived in a separate land and were not a common sight in Equestria, especially Ponyville. AJ herself had only seen a human once in her life when she was a very very young filly and she barely remembered him. The human was tall and appeared to be in his mid twenties and Caucasian.
He had black hair which had been shaved and he was most likely in the military for he was wearing a woodland camouflage military uniform with matching cap and he had an M16 rifle and a backpack which must have been very heavy strung on his back.
But what got AJ was how sad he looked, he appeared to be pleading with the innkeeper to let him in but she yelled back and refused him slamming the door on him. The human soldier then walked down the corner, appearing sad, tired, and exhausted.
“Excuse me!” a voice interrupted AJ from her trance. Applejack shook her head a little and looked at who contacted her. It was a pony with spring green fur, a blue mane, and what appeared to be a cutie mark in the shape of flower pedals.
Despite the success of the harvest, the business was very slow today. Applejack got her usual number of customers but not a whole lot. While AJ kept her smile for the customers, it was difficult to hide her disappointment. There were in fact several points during the day were she didn’t even get any customers. It was the Grand Galloping Gala all over again.
“Oh hay,” AJ sighed with disappointed at the slow sales. She checked and counted how much gold bits she had made during the day. Sure she had made a profit, but it was much less than it was last year. But she kept her chin up. After all, it was only the first day of business. She had learnt from past experience that you are gonna have slow business some days. Sometimes, ponies just aren’t in the mood for apples but it was no reason to give up.
Applejack gathered up her surplus and put them in the cart and started to head home. As she was pulling the cart away from the stand one of the hinges broke off and caused the cart to roll out of control. Normally Applejack was strong enough to manage this, but she was tired and exhausted from bucking Apples yesterday.
“Whoo whaaa!” she screamed as she struggled to maintain her balance and fell hard with a thud to the ground with the cart. The tipped cart spilled its cargo and the entire ground was covered with fallen apples.
The person was the human soldier she had seen earlier. He was still carrying his rifle and backpack and was reaching out with his left hand to help as his right held onto his pack and rifle strap.
“Hmmm, this cart is still broken.” The human said as he analyzed it. “Maybe I can help you carry this stuff back to your home?”What’s wrong with me? She asked herself. She normally didn’t act like this.
But the human soldier just smiled back. “No I insist.”
AJ and the soldier walked and worked their way to the farm keeping the cart full of apples stable. Applejack was a little impressed by the human’s strength. Despite carrying both a heavy rifle and backpack, he was dragging a heavy cart and he never once complained. There were a few close calls but they quickly recovered and just laughed it off.
“I’m a soldier in the Karelian army.” He answered. The Unites States of Karelia was where most of the humans were from.
“I was on my way to the army base we have in the outskirts of the city you ponies called Fillydelphia. But I accidentally got aboard the wrong train. I ended up here. I’ve been looking for a place to stay a few days until I can contact my commander about the mix up” He continued occasionally grunting from the weight of the cart.
“Ah.” AJ answered back.
“Uh…yeah.” She answered back nervously. “I own the stand I was selling apples.”
“Oh look we’re here!” she called out as soon as they reached the gates of Sweet Apple Acres.
“Oh we have a shed we can store em in until tomorrow.” She answered back.
“Is that it?” He asked while wiping the sweat off his face.
“Oh, okay then.” Ryan answered back in a rather sad mood. “I guess I’ll be on my way. Nice knowing you Applejack”
He then turned away and began heading for the main gate. AJ remembered the expression he gave when the innkeeper rejected him.
Ryan rushed back and approached AJ with a look on his face so happy and full of gratitude.
Ryan nodded and walked besides AJ as she led him to her house where he could finally get some well needed rest. But Applejack couldn’t help but notice the conflicting feelings in her. Every time she looked at him, she felt this warm fuzziness of comfort that she had never felt before she felt like she almost had…feelings for him.
No AJ! It’s not that! She shouted to herself in her head. Yer just being friendly that’s all. He’s a guest and maybe he could be a friend but he’s not…well…
“You okay Applejack?” he asked her.
Then he did something Applejack didn’t expect. He leaned forward and gently kissed her on the cheek. Even though it was just a little peck similar to the ones she and Applebloom would exchange when they dropped her off at school, the warm fuzziness returned and she blushed heavily. Her heart was racing and beating faster than Rainbow Dash’s wings when she was flying at mach speed.
“Oh uh I’m sorry!” Ryan apologized when he noticed AJ blushing. “It’s just that, where I’m from, it’s customary for us to kiss the cheek of whoever shows us a great act of kindness. I’m so very sorry I should have told you first!”
As AJ let him in and closed the door her mind was racing. His kiss was more than just sweet. It was wonderful! AJ felt like she could fly and felt a rush that she normally only got from bucking apples from the trees. She wished it had been longer more romantic. She just wanted to reach out and….No AJ what’s wrong with you! She screamed in her head to snap herself out of it. Take it easy there girl. He’s just a guest and you’re being friendly with him. And that’s all. Just take it one step at a time.
Author's Note
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Applejack and the Soldier.
Chapter 2- Meeting the Apple family. (not one hundred percent complete but very close)
Chapter 2- Meeting the Apple family. (not one hundred percent complete but very close)
“Applebloom, Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, I’m home!” Applejack called out to her family.
Ryan took his M16 off his shoulder and set it down carefully next to a coat rack. He then removed its magazine and bullets from the chamber so it wouldn’t accidentally go off and hurt anyone. He also took off his cap too as it was starting to make his head itch and he took some time to take a look at Applejack’s place.
He had to admit AJ’s place was very home friendly. The living room was rather small and filled with apple, farm, and cowboy related items as décor. The walls were coating with pictures of the Apple family going back several generations. There was a staircase at the center which Ryan guessed led to their bedrooms. Overall, it was a nice place. He wouldn’t mind staying here for a few days if they had the room.
As Applejack entered the dining room, a little filly and a tan and white border collie jumped on her. Applejack fell over laughing as the dog crawled on her chest and licked her face.
“Whoah there, Winona I missed you too!” Applejack laughed as she pet the dog and carefully pushed her off her and got on her hooves again. Ryan laughed and smiled at this as he too owned a dog when he was very young and it would behave the same way.
The little filly, who Ryan assumed must have been a younger sibling. She was yellow and had a red mane. However, unlike Applejack, she did not have a mark on her flank. Ryan knew a thing or two about pony culture and he did know what cutie marks were, but he didn’t really remember how they worked.
“Applejack!” the filly shouted with excitement as she hugged AJ. AJ hugged the filly back with great warmth and family love.
“Applebloom!” AJ scolded very sternly “What did I tell you about staring?”
“What…are you?” she questioned with as she shook his hand with her hoof.
“Now Applebloom, that’s no way to treat our guest. He’s gonna be staying with us.” She told her sibling with a frown. She then looked back at Ryan trying to keep a straight face.
As she was heading towards the kitchen, an elderly green furred pony came out from the kitchen wearing an apron and holding a wooden spoon in her mouth.
“I hope you don’t mind Granny, but Ryan here’s a bit lost.” She explained. “He’s in the human army ya see, but he got separated from his unit by accident. He just needs a place to stay for awhile until he can get back with them.”
Ryan nodded back with a laugh.
While the army kept him well fed, freeze dried rice, beef jerky, overcooked vegetables, and MRE’s were definitely not an A classed meal.
Granny Smith went to the fireplace which had a hot cauldron full of what appeared to be some sort of soup. Ryan couldn’t help but lift his nostrils and smell the savory aroma.
Applejack came from behind and tapped Ryan on his shoulder.
The basement was a little larger than Ryan thought it would be. While it was cold, it was still very friendly and was definitely a much better than the barracks he had slept in. The basement had a single window which allowed some outside light in. But other than that the basement was dependent on lantern light. There were stacks of what appeared to be empty glass jars and farming supplies. To the corner was a small bed which Ryan assumed he would be sleeping in while he stayed here.
“Soups on every pony!!!” they heard Granny Smith shout which broke their silence.
Applejack and the Soldier.
Chapter 3: A lovely family meal.
Chapter 3: A lovely family meal.
Once Ryan was upstairs, the dining room was set for four. Ryan also got a chance to meet AJ’s older brother Big Macintosh. He was a large red furred pony who was very very quiet. So far the only word Ryan got to get him to say was “Eeeyup.”
He noticed her blushing a little when he sat next to her and he couldn’t help but blush a little too.
Ryan helped himself to a little bit of stew; it appeared to contain peas, corn, and potatoes. He had to admit, even though it was meatless (in the town where he came from, not putting beef in a stew was considered blasphemy), it was very delicious! The potatoes were well done and the corn and peas actually complemented each other. It was far better than the stew he was served at the army base where the cook always burnt the food and when it wasn’t burnt, it was served cold.
Ryan was the only one at the table using utensils and even then, they were his, standard issue ration utensils which every soldier had. Applebloom kept staring at the way Ryan ate his food.
“Applebloom what did I tell you about staring!” Applejack scolded to her sister.
“I’m sorry Applejack, it’s just I ain’t never seen no human before.” She responded.
“Oh really?” Ryan asked with interest as he ate a small piece of potato.
“You met United Trading Corporation owner and founder, J.D. Fuller?” Ryan asked with excitement.
“Darn tootin’!” she exclaimed. “But back then he was just a yerng eccentric entrepreneur. Had this crazy idea for an import/export and he loved our zap apple jam. So we sold a few jars to him and then he imported them to Karelia.”
“Nice!” Ryan replied as he wiped his hands with a napkin. Applebloom suddenly raised her hoof and began jumping with excitement.
“Why yes. I was raised on one actually.” He explained as he took a piece of bread and buttered it. “My parents died in a car accident when I was only a child and my uncle adopted me.”
“Awe that’s horrible sugar cube,” AJ said with condolence in her voice.
“Yeah, our mama and papa died when I was a filly too.” Applebloom said as she tapped her hoof on the table rather slowly. “N’ I don’t even remember them much because I was so little.”
“Oh well my condolences.” Ryan replied very respectfully. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Ryan smiled back and nodded.
“What kinda orchid did he grow?” Applebloom asked practically jumping up and down in her seat.
Ryan laughed at this question.
Ryan looked back kinda awkward. He wasn’t sure how to explain to the vegetarian ponies how cows were raised for their meat in the human world.
“Ohhh, that’s right!” she exclaimed “Ya humans are omnivorous!”
“It means they eat both meat and plants Applebloom.”
“Applebloom!” Applejack yelled at her.
“Don’t worry Applebloom. Ponies, aren’t really popular foods.” He said with a smile. In all honesty, he liked this family! Ryan hadn’t had a good time well, since…that day.
Eventually the meal was finished and Granny Smith and Big Mac took the dishes away. Ryan helped AJ and Granny Smith with the dishes in spite of AJ’s response that he didn’t need to do such a thing (“it’s the least I can do”).
Once dinner was finished, the Apple family gathered in the living room and sat down with each other. Because ponies didn’t have any TV’s or computers, they had relied on each other’s company to keep each other entertained.
“Well, I’m gonna turn in for tonight.” He said as he yawned and stretched his arms over his head.
“Aw shucks, it was nothing sugar cube.” She said covering her blushing cheeks with her hooves.
Applejack couldn’t help but stare at him as he left. Hay, ever since she first laid eyes on him, she couldn’t take her eyes off him.
Ryan reached his crude bed and sat down on it. Pulling off his boots and hanging up his army jacket, he climbed into bed and just spent the next few minutes relaxing and staring at the ceiling. But for all the good that had came to him, something troubled him inside. It was Applejack again, there was just….something about her.
And Applejack.