Granny Smith was shocked. Big Macintosh was holding her close, and refused to let go of her until a weak Twilight convinced him to put down his dead sister and get the police down to the farm. It was Apple Bloom, however, who was the most upset of all. She was mortified when he brought her sister in. But now, she was tearing up. Granny Smith was so shocked she couldn't speak. Twilight knew she should stay out of this, it was between the Apples. Apple Bloom galloped out the door into the field, sobbing heavily. Twilight knew she would have go after her now, considering Granny Smith had walked off to the front yard and Big Mac was getting the police, she was the only one now who could be with Apple Bloom.
Twilight walked out into the field after the little filly, asking her "Apple Bloom? I know this is a lot for you-" Apple Bloom interrupted her, "You don't know nothin'! All you know is how to MAKE friends, ya can't LOSE em!! Just..oh buck it!" Twilight was shocked by the filly's language, but knew she was just upset. She walked closer to the filly and hugged her, and the two embraced until officials came and asked them to leave.
Twilight ran to find her friends. Rarity and Fluttershy had been near the town hall, and they were the first she encountered. She tried to remain calm as she told the story, but not far into her recount of the incident her voice quivered and her eyes teared up, and the others embraced her. Pinkie Pie hopped over to the hugging ponies and joined them,
"I love group hugs!!" she shouted excitedly. Her saddened friends and their quiet sobs made her quickly realize why they were hugging. Twilight tried to tell Pinkie, but ultimately couldn't. Rarity briefly explained what happened before she also began to cry.
Twilight gathered her friends and went to visit the Apples. Rarity allowed Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo to see their grieving friend. They went to Apple Bloom's room to be with her, leaving the adults alone downstairs. Granny Smith tried to start up a conversation, but had to excuse herself. Big Macintosh and the 5 mares shared memories about AppleJack.
Rarity recollected the night of the Grand Galloping Gala, "We were so excited. It was-" she stopped briefly to cry, but tried to continue her story, "Such a fun night. She looked..so..beautiful!!" she shouted before she fell to the ground, dramatically, sobbing.
Fluttershy told the story of when she became a bat, and how AppleJack had felt that night, "She really didn't like those bats." She said with a chuckle. They all giggled, but the laughter soon turned into more tears.
Rainbow Dash shared her experience with AppleJack when she was feeling competitve, "She just wanted to beat me. I kinda sorta almost cheated a little bit. Almost." she admitted, followed by the hug of Pinkie Pie,
"I remember that"she smiled at Dash. Then they quietly cried for a moment on each other's shoulders.
After they had shared their best and worst memories with AJ, Big Mac asked them all to leave. Her body had already been taken, and the walk home was almost completely silent, except for the occasional small talk of a few ponies, which was always short lived. After all the other ponies had left, Twilight and Rainbow Dash took a flight over Ponyville. They chatted and eventually Dash convinced Twilight to go to her place for a drink. And so the two ponies flew to Rainbow's home.
END OF CHAPTER TWO
Maybe it was true. How could it be? The pale, limp body. Glazed, blankly expressed eyes. Her mouth hung open slightly, and she gasped for air weakly one last time.
"Ungh. Tell...Apple..bloom, and.." she fell completely limp in Twilight's hooves. "Oh, buck it! Applejack, wake up!!" she cried. Why?
"No, no! Why you? Why now?!" She yelled. A light rain began to fall, as if the world knew that it had just lost a great pony. She sat there for several minutes, rocking Applejack's cold limp body. After several minutes, she just sat there, staring into AJ's expressionless eyes, hoping for a blink, a nod, or even just a look back. She bent her head down, and cried.
Applejack had been very troubling lately. She was always tired, or drunk, or occasionally both. She would always respond, when questioned about it, with the same response. "It ain't nothin' y'all should worry about."
But it was. She was becoming increasingly drunk. Sometimes for what seemed like days. She was moody, grumpy, and smelled of hard liquor. Twilight was, of course, the first to notice. Then Rarity began to complain about Applejack falling asleep outside her home. Rainbow Dash got worried for her friend. Fluttershy said AJ had threatened her on several occasions. Pinkie Pie tried cheering her up, but she would only party and get more drunk. Even her family asked for help on the farm because of her constant state of alcoholism.
But no pony expected her to go this far.
Twilight had gone to see her friend when she found her. She was still and cold, laying out in the field. She had a bottle of hard cider on her side, some of it dripping from her mouth. Twilight inspected it and found it smelled of several other heavy drinks. And something else...but what was it? Twilight couldn't believe her eyes. She was. No, she couldn't be.
She was dead.
Twilight ran to the barn to find the rest of the apple family. Granny Smith was baking with Applebloom, and Big Mac was getting ready to go into town.
"Everypony, I NEED to talk with you all," Twilight said, breathlessly. She had galloped from the field, and was exhausted.
"Applejack...is, is..."she spat out before collapsing onto the hardwood floor. granny Smith and Applebloom helped her to the couch in the living room while Big Mac ran to the field to see what happened to Applejack. What he saw made him feel sick, and he picked her up and carried into the barn.
The remaining apples got into a big group hug and cried. Twilight regained her strength and joined them.
END OF CHAPTER ONE.
