An Apple in a Bushel of Peaches

Introduction chapter - New Home

An Applejack in the Vogonverse story

Ah looked at Bloom as we rode out to somewhere we’d never been. Ah couldn’t really remember gettin’ in this contraption, but Ah wasn’t too worried about it. I smiled at Bloom as she fiddled with her little overalls. The shirt she had on matched her little bow, and finally she looked up at me.

“Applejack, where are we goin’?” she asked.

“Ah’m not too sure Bloom, but it’ll be okay,” Ah said.

The contraption finally stopped, and a moment later a door opened up. Ah looked out to see a couple of steps that lead down to the ground, and outside there was green grass, and Big Macintosh! Ah scooped up Bloom and we both ran to him. He sprinted over to us and I felt him lift us up in his powerful arms.

“Bloom, AJ! It’s so darned good to see you both!” he said.

He sat us down, and I looked to see somepony that kind of looked like us, but she was a little different. She walked up and leaned against Mac as he let us down.

“Applejack, Apple Bloom, this is Jessica,” he said.

Ah studied her for a moment, and then she stretched out her hand to ma own.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said.

Ah watched her close fer a moment before Ah took her hand and shook it.

“Pleasure to meet ya,” Ah said.

“This ain’t Sweet Apple Acres,” Apple Bloom said.

“Eeeeenope, this is Sweet Nectar Acres. This is Jessica and ma farm,” Big Mac said.

“Wait… Big Mac are ya sayin’ that the two of ya are hitched?” Ah asked.

He shuffled his hoof and finally looked up at her.

“More or less,” he replied.

“What do ya mean more or less. It ain’t a more or less question! Big Macintosh Apple, Granny Smith would be mighty disappointed in ya if’n ya weren’t married, but was just shacked up with some filly!” Ah shouted at him.

“We’re married. We haven’t had the official ceremony yet, but we are married,” she said.

Ah took a look at her, nodded, and looked at Apple Bloom who was trying to figure out what was going on.

“So… Yer ma sister?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I suppose I am,” Jessica replied.

“Ah got another sister! Ah got another sister! Applejack this is awesome!” Apple Bloom said as she pranced around.

“Why don’t the both of you come inside, and we’ll have a bit of peach pie,” Jessica suggested.

Ah followed them into the house and sucks, it was as clean and purty as any Ah’d be in before. Jessica cut both Apple Bloom and me a large slice of that pie, and then she cut Big Mac a large piece, before cutting herself a slightly smaller one. Ah took a whiff of the piece of pie I had before me before taking a bite. The flavors exploded in ma mouth as I chewed the first bite.

Ah always said that there weren’t nothing as good as a Sweet Apple Acres Apple Pie. Ah still believe that, but this peach pie is a close second. I looked over at Apple Bloom and saw that she had done away with her piece of pie and was eyeing the half a pie that was left.

“If you want another piece help yourself,” Jessica said.

Apple Bloom cut herself another piece of the peach pie and quickly plopped it onto her plate. Ah watched as she tore into that piece of pie like a starving foal, but then Ah guess she was one. Ah couldn’t remember the last time we’d ate, and Ah was still feeling mighty hungry as well. Jessica pushed the pie plate toward me, and Ah gave her a smile before Ah cut another piece and followed Apple Bloom’s example.

When we finished up eatin’ Jessica took us on a little tour of Sweet Nectar Acres. There were Peach Trees on just about every scrap of land they had, and then there was the barn. Ah walked toward the old barn and Ah saw the wagon full of bushels, with about another half a dozen bushels on the ground.

“Ya’ll’s doin’ purty good huh?” Ah asked.

“We’re doing okay, but in truth there’s just too many peaches for us to really keep up with. Our farm is fairly small compared to some of the others, but recently the peach trees have been producing more peaches than they ever have before. We’ve got a market for them, but getting them moved out before they get too ripe is getting to be a problem,” Jessica said.

“Eeeeeyup,” Big Mac said in agreement.

Ah looked at the peaches, then back at the wagon. Ah took a look around and could see the parts to another wagon that hadn’t been assembled yet. Ah walked toward it and studied the antiquated mode of transportation. Ah reached out and felt the rough wood of the wagon, studied the old bench that was on top, and then looked at the wagon wheels.

“If’n we can git this wagon in working condition then Big Mac and Ah can haul the peaches out. It’d only seem right since ‘Bloom and me are stayin’ with ya’ll,” Ah said, “Those doors in the back open up?”

Big Mac walked past me and opened the doors up. They seemed to creak as the hinges moved, but both of them opened wide. Once they were opened Ah walked toward the wagon and looked at Mac.

“Wanna help me move this thing out there?” Ah asked.

“Be careful, that wagon bed has to weigh at least seven hundred pounds,” Jessica said.

Ah watched as Big Mac reached down, grabbed his side of the wagon and lifted it. He didn’t look too strained, and I followed his example. She was right that it was heavy. Ah could feel ma muscles screaming for release as we walked that wagon bed out behind the barn. We sat it down and Ah walked on the top of it. The boards held my weight, but one of them buckled a little. It was gonna need changed before We could haul much on it.

“It’ll be a fine wagon once we git it fixed. Mac, ya’ll feel like helpin’ me get this thing right?” Ah asked.

“Eeeeeyup,” he answered.

Ah walked with him back into the barn and we went to grabbin’ the wagon wheels, spare lumber, and the tools we’d need. Once we got back out we sat onta fixin’ that wagon like Pinkie Pie would sat onta clearin’ a whole buffet table of cakes and pies. Ah looked up to see Jessica taking ‘Bloom back to the house, and in a few minutes they both walked back out with a hose. She helped ‘Bloom hook the hose up to a spigot on the side of the house.

“So, what are we waterin’?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Well, partly we’re gonna water the trees, but I also want do another check on the back five’s irrigation system. It’s been working fairly well, but there’s still some places that don’t seem the get the water that the rest of the orchard does,” Jessica said.

I watched they hooked the hose up to a another spigot, and then she turned it on. For a moment nothing happened and then I heard the gurgling of a tank being filled. I looked over at Big Mac.

“There’s a thousand gallon tank buried over there. The pump is inside of the blocked off room in the front of the barn. Usually she doesn’t fill the tank with the small hose, but since it’s only down about a hundred gallons I’m guessing she just wants to add enough to make sure there’s enough pressure,” he said.

She stayed there with ‘Bloom until finally she smiled and nodded to ma little sister. I watched as ‘Bloom took off back toward the house and turned off the spigot there. She then unhooked the hose and started rollin’ it back toward Jessica. I watched as she helped ‘Bloom hook the ends together and then she walked into the barn with her and opened the door to the small closed off room.

“That’s an awfully big thing-a-ma-jig,” Apple Bloom said.

“That’s the water pump for the entire orchard. My grandmother told me that her father named it old Reliable, because it never broke down on him,” Jessica said.

She flicked on a switch and the pump started coming to life. Ah watched as it started making a loud racket and soon there was another gurgling sound as the little places around where the trees were began sending out water from the ground. She grinned and walked with ‘Bloom back toward the back of the orchard, and Ah watched as they walked off.

“‘Bloom’ll be fine AJ,” Big Mac said.

“How’d ya’ll meet?” Ah asked.

“Well, a couple of fellars gave me a ride out here. Ah ‘member tellin’ ‘em that Ah liked farms, and they brought me here. Jessica had a spare room, and Ah took it. I started helping out around here, and… Well, ya’ll sure you wanna hear ‘bout it?” he asked.

Ah nodded and he went to work on a wagon wheel as he let out a breath.

“Alright,” he said.

(Big Mac’s POV/three and a half months ago)

“The orchard finally looks like how my Granny used to say it looked like,” Jessica said.

Ah sniffed the air and smiled at the hard work we had done. The entire orchard was clear of weeds, and the peach trees on the rest of the orchard had been checked for bugs, the dead limbs removed, and at the end of it was an orchard worth having. It had been three weeks of hard work, and now it was something to be proud of.

Ah followed Jessica into the house and the two of us took a seat at the kitchen table. She leaned back, and then a smile crossed her face. She got up, walked over to the refrigrator, opened it, and pulled out a rich brown bottle. She worked with the plug for a moment and then when it came off she grabbed a couple of mason jars and poured what was in the bottle into those jars.

“I figured we could use a little celebration,” she said.

Ah took the bottle and sniffed it. It smelled sweet, like the peaches, and it was like someone had brewed peach whiskey, and bottled it. It tasted sweet on ma tongue, burned ma throat, and left a comfortable burn in ma belly. Jessica finished off her glass, and then she poured another for us before putting the bottle back.

“You know, you’re the first male I feel like I can trust. Mac, I know that you’ve checked me out a few times, but you’ve never done anything about it. You’ve been a gentleman, gentlecolt, whatever, the entire time. I… I never thought that I would ever trust another man. Not after what my mom’s loser boyfriend did,” she said.

“What happened?” Ah asked.

She looked at the table, took another swig from her jar, and then shook her head.

“I was so stupid. I mean I was just a kid, but I was so stupid. My granny wanted me to live with her, but I wanted to be close to my mom. I didn’t realize that my granny was trying to protect me. I should’ve though,” she whimpered.

“What did he do to ya?” Ah asked getting angry with this stallion Ah didn’t even know.

“It was late, both he and my mom were pretty messed up on Scratch,” she said as she looked at me, “It’s a bad drug… a really bad one that makes you do stupid and irresponsible things. They were both really messed up on it when he stumbled into my room. I was sleeping, and I… I was sleeping when he…”

Ah pulled her tight against me as she cried out and held on to her. She held onto ma shirt, crying out the hurt and pain that stallion put on her. It came flooding out, and Ah let her get settled. We sat there for a couple of hours before she finally looked up at me. She surprised me when she gave me a kiss. Ah wasn’t expecting it, and Ah wouldn’t have tried to get one anyway. Not since she had been hurt the way she was. It wouldn’t have been right to try anything with her feeling the way she did ‘bout stallions.

She got up, offered me her hand, and she led me into her room.

(Applejack’s POV/Present time)

Ah looked at ma brother as he stopped tellin’ me ‘bout what happened between him and Jessica.

“Ya mean to tell me that some stallion made her… against her durned will?!” Ah almost shouted.

He nodded, and continued working on the wagon wheel.

“We slept together, but didn’t do nuthing else that night. Just let her snuggle close to me as Ah held her. We did that fer a while, and then well things happened,” he said as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Ah don’t wanna know Big Mac, but it sounds like ya helped her,” Ah said.

He nodded.

“Eeeeyup,” he said.

We worked with that wagon fer the next couple of hours until it started looking like a wagon again. When we finished we rolled it around and noticed that it moved easily enough. After that we started loading the peach bushels in it and soon it was completely full.

“‘Morrow we got to make some delivers, and the farmers market said that if we had enough they would take our surplus to sell in their grocery stores,” he said.

“Sounds like the two of ya have been doing purty good,” Ah said.

“Been alright, but missed seeing ya AJ,” he said.

Ah smiled and hugged him tight. he returned it and smiled at me.

The sky was already getting dark, and so the two of us made our way into the house. We got in there found Jessica setting the table along with Apple Bloom. Ah watched ma little sister as she carried a pot of something that smelled purty good to the table and sat it on a pot holder.

“I hope that beans, cornbread, and peach cobbler sounds good,” Jessica said.

“Sounds mighty good, thank ya,” Ah replied.

We began eating and Jessica brought something else over. I eyed the platter sitting there. It looked like apple fritters, but Ah knew it wasn’t.

“Mac said that you were the champion Apple Fritter eater back home,” she said.

“Eeeyup, ain’t nopony can eat more apple fritters than me,” Ah said.

“Well, currently Mac holds the record for the most Peach Fritters eaten. He even beat my great uncle Michael’s record of twenty-seven,” she said.

“Really?” Ah said looking at him.

“Eeeeyup,” he said leaning back.

“How you feel about losing that record?” Ah asked.

“Eeeeenope,” he said looking at me.

Ah could see Jessica’s eyes widen as Ah took four fritters and quickly shoveled them into ma muzzle. Mac did the same thing and soon the two of us were a clearing off that platter.

“Apple bloom, we need to fix some more fritters,” she said.

A few minutes later two more platters were brought in and we began taking care of them. Ah was taking three or four of ‘em at a time, and Mac was right behind me. We cleared the platters, and the next set brought out, and the set after that. Ah don’t know how many fritters we ate when I heard Mac belch and push away from the table.

“Ah can’t eat ‘nother bite,” he said.

“Applejack, Mac’s ahead by three fritters. He’s got thirty-seven to your thirty-four,” Apple Bloom said.

“Ah Luv ya Affle Boom,” Ah mumbled as I shoved the last four fritters on the platter into ma mouth.

“Ah love you too Applejack,” she said.

Ah leaned forward and Ah heard,and felt, the most tremendous fart rip outta of me before I fell down flat on the table. Ah looked over at Mac who looked like he wasn’t gonna be able to hold down his fritters, but it served him right. Trying to get ahead of me.

“Mac, you feel like you could help me carry her to her bed?” Jessica asked.

Ah saw him nod, and a moment later Ah was in the air, and ma belly felt all bloated and terrible. Mac held me by under ma arms as Jessica carried ma feet and legs. They laid me on a bed that felt like ma old feather bed back home. A moment later Jessica brought in a bottle of something fizzing.

“Drink this in a little bit, and it will help,” she said.

“Thank ya,” Ah whispered.

Ah felt sleep taking me, and Ah let it sweep over me. About an hour later Ah heard something that woke me up. Ah lay in that confounded bed and listened to what was supposed to be ma sister-in-law making little soft moans, saying ma brother’s name over and over, and then there was the sound of that damned bed. Those springs squeaking, the headboard slapping the wall. Finally Ah couldn’t take another minute and Ah walked to his room, and banged on the door.

“Better get some shut eye ‘cause we got a lotta buckin’ ‘morrow, and I expect ta get it all done!” I shouted.

“Kinda busy,” he replied through the door.

“Celestia, please, please just make me deaf for tonight. Ah wanna sleep,” Ah whimpered as I walked back to ma room.

Author's Note

(And that’s where I’m stopping. So, this is the introduction story to Applejack’s introduction into the Vogonverse. I do hope that everypony enjoyed it. Thanks for reading and commenting.

LF)