Sweet Apple Retirement

MEANWHILE

The hot, unrelenting sun beamed down, and two work weary harvesters were just finishing up the day's work by hauling their crop back from the orchard. As they walked, one of the two, an orange mare, wiped her brow and commented, "Hey, Big MacIntosh?" The red stallion only responded by looking in her direction. "Ah know we gotta deliver these here apples back to the barn, but since we got all today's work done, ah was wonderin' if'ns we might take a quick rest from the heat?" The mare continued, slightly overheated by the sun. "Eeyup." The reserved stallion replied to his sister. "Thank you kindly Big MacIntosh, jus' let me set this cart down an'-" "APPLEJACK!! BIG MACINTOSH!!" A young voice cried out, stopping the very notion of relaxation in the shade. "Now what in the hay could it be!?" Said a slightly agitated Applejack. Soon, a young filly with a bow in her mane following Applejack's faithful pet appeared before them, trying to catch her breath. "What is it Sugarcube?" The cowpony asked her kin. "SOMETHIN'S pant HAPPENED wheeze TO GRANNY!!!" This news weighed down heavily on Applejack; ever since the incident that claimed her parents' lives, Granny Smith had been looking after her, her older brother, and her younger sister, making sure that they had as good of a foalhood as she could provide them. "Big MacIntosh," Applejack had finally said, "drop everythin', we need to be as swift as, well, me durin' last year's rodeo, remember?" The stallion only responded with his ever-so-reliable "Eeyup" that always seemed to speak more volumes than any type of lengthy speech or lecture.