The warmth of the sun battled against the cold night as it rose, Winona scampered around barked loudly alerting the orchard it was morning.
"Big sis, wake up!" Applebloom stood outside her sisters room calling.
Her shadow seeped through a gap below the door reaching towards Applejack's bed.
"Run along Applebloom... I'll be down soon." Applejack called back still somewhat asleep as she slowly sat up.
"Ok...but it's not like you to sleep in sis."
The young fillys hooves scuttled off down the hallway.
Applejack opened the curtains and looked out as the sun rose, dew drops and slight touches of frost glistened and subtly shimmered like glitter across the orchard against the warmth of the sun. Winona playfully bounced around the yard as Big Mac greeted her with food.
She turned from the window and checked the date of a calendar in her room.
She looked at an old picture in her room, it was cracked and faded from time.
"I can't believe how fast time has went." She sighed as she tossed her hat into air, landing it on her head.
The farm gal gave a glimpse into the mirror looking at her hat as she left her room.
Granny Smith and Applebloom sat in the kitchen at the table helping themselves to apple and strawberry tarts.
AJ walked in, Granny nodded to Applejack with acknowledgement.
"I'm sure your Crusaders of Cuties will want to do some adventuring today!" She spoke cheerfully to Applebloom.
"Graaaaaanny" Applebloom gave a dragging tone.
"It's the Cutiemark Crusaders!" She smiled and continued.
"Today we're gonna get our cutiemarks for sure!" She said proudly while raising her right hoof as if doing a superhero pose.
Her big sis smiled and sat down.
"So what's the plan for your club today Applebloom?"
"I'm going to try using a scooter, Scootaloo is going to try singing and Sweetie Bell is going to try construction by extending our treehouse."
She rocked back and forth on her stool with excitement.
"WOOOAH!!!!!" Applebloom yelled.
She tipped the stool too far to one side and fell onto the floor with a loud CRASH! Granny Smith and AJ laughed as the clumsy young pony picked her self up.
Big Macintosh came in.
"Her wee crusading filly friends here?" Granny asked Mac.
"Eeeeyup" he walked out again after delivering his message.
Applebloom said her goodbyes and dashed out to the yard to greet her friends and scamper off, leaving AJ and Granny alone in the kitchen.
"It's like she doesn't know granny." AJ sighed with concern.
"She was a little too young to understand, sunshine." Granny spoke sympathetically.
"I know... I'll be back late, I'll pick up my work slack tomorra’."
"Alright, Big Mac will do his bit ‘round the yard while you’re gone, see ya later alligator."
Applejack drank some cold Apple juice and slung a backpack on herself and walked out towards Ponyville.
Business was usual in Ponyville, everypony was happily going about their day, some were chatting at cafés, as Pinkie Pie bounced around offering cupcakes.
"They're delicious!!! Please try one! or five!!!" She sprang around happily offering them to anypony interested.
"Oh hi Applejack!" She spotted her friend and skipped over.
"Heya Pinkie, sorry I can't stay long gotta catch a train."
"That's ok Applejack, take one of my cupcakes with you, they're a new recipe!" She pushed them towards her friend.
"Thanks partner, see ya around." She smiled and helped herself to her friends generous offering and continued her travels.
She made it to the station and stood at the busy platform patiently waiting for the conductor to call out.
"Next train, Apploosa! Please stand back from edge of platform as the train approaches!"
The train chugged itself to a stop with a slight screech and a cough of smoke.
"All aboard for Apploosa !" Called out the conductor.
Various ponies along with Applejack bustled their way into the carriages.
A whistle was blown signalling departure, a hiss of the engine signalling it was ready and began to shift itself back into life as it took off down the line.
Applejack sat down by herself by a small table, she opened her backpack to pull out an old photo album, she brushed it off and opened it to see photos of the many Apple family members, each photo had a small caption beneath them.
Many were silly photos with a humorous story behind them, a photo of a younger Applebloom and Applejack covered in mud smiling, ‘Muddy Mornings’ was the caption, Applejack reminisced of that day, just after the photo was taken Big Mac rose outta the mud scaring his sisters for a brief moment before they all laughed together and splashed in the mud as one.
She saw an older image captioned ‘Young Bucks’ it had Applejack as young as Applebloom and a young Big Mac trying to buck trees with their small hind legs with faces covered in sweat and expressions of determination and exhausting.
She flicked through the album until another image caught her eye, a young filly with an amber body, eyes as green as shining apples and a blonde mane with a bright red streak. A cowboy hat and light red ribbon around her neck as a scarf.
Below the photo, ‘Anna-Apple’, Applejack looked around the page and saw photos of Anna-Apple and young Applejack together a few photos showing Big Mac as a young colt in the background, a particular one captioned ‘Anna’s Apple Pancakes’ shows a messy kitchen covered in pancake batter with a young Applejack and Big Mac covered in pancake batter.
They're proudly presenting a plate of messy and somewhat burnt pancakes to the camera with Anna-Apple smiling behind them with a young Applebloom on top of her cowboy hat.
Applejack placed the book back in her backpack and stared out the window and smiling as the photo had brought back memories.
*****
A flash of the camera revealed all the batter covered ponies in the messy kitchen filled with mixing bowls, wooden spoons and jars of many jams and juices spilled over.
“Alright my little sugar cubes, shall we dig in?” Anna-Apple placed Applebloom in a wooden highchair and tossed all the mixing bowls into the sink with a whip of her tail, Applejack attempted it with a wooden spoon but her small short tail, failed and the spoon hit the ground with a clunk.
Big Mac gave a small chuckle as he placed the pancakes on the table and sat down.
Applejack stared at the spoon with disappointment of being unable to copy her mother, Anna-Apple picked up her young and placed AJ at the now cleared table.
“Don’t worry sugar cube, someday you’ll do it, all ya gotta do is practice, but for now dig in to the Apple pancakes ya’ll made.”
Anna smiled and placed her hat on AJ’s head as she sat down with everyone and ate while giving Applebloom spoonful’s of mushed apple.
“You should keep that hat sugar cube, suit ya well”.
“Thanks mamma, I’ll practice everyday until I can do it!” The young pony smiled with determination.
The next day AJ was out trying to whip stones and random objects with her wild tail.
Anna smiled and approached.
“Alright my little sugarcube, I’ll give ya a little help with that” She took of her ribbon and ripped it into 2 pieces and continued.
“Lets tie your tail loosely with this part of the ribbon, and use the other part on your mane, that should help keep your mane outta the way and help your tail while you’re practicing”. As she finished tying AJ’s hair she stepped back.
“Although... that suits you really well AJ, you should have your mane like that more often! Alright now watch me, we’ll practice with bruised apples so we can do chores and make a game outta it at the same time”. Anna showed Applejack how to whip the apples into the bucket all day with trial and error as AJ practiced.
As days went by from that day, Applejack practiced putting bruised apples into a bucket with a whip of her tail.
*****
Applejack smiled on the train as her mind came out of her reminiscence. She looked in the reflection of the window at her cowboy hat.
Her reflection faded out as she looked out towards her distant surroundings, there was now a desert with an occasional cactus and tumbleweed rolling past the dusty gentle breeze.
The desert started to show life over time with an occasional stream, as the train approached Apploosa, an orchard stood out with gleaming apples battling the dust conditions.
The whistle blew signaling arrival.
Applejack slung the backpack over her back again and stepped out into the warm air and made her way into town.
The streets had stalls of all sorts of items, from jewelry to cherry pies, AJ stopped at one stall that sold flowers, the seller smiled as Applejack approached.
“Well, anything take you’ fancy?” She stood beside our travelling pony “We got Blossoms, Tulips, Daisy’s, Roses you name it, chances are, we got it miss”.
Applejack looked around the stall for a moment as the stall owner watched intently.
“Got any daffodils?” She asked.
The owner thought for a second.
“I believe so! One moment please”. She scrambled around her stall for a moment gathering the flowers and then presented AJ with a bouquet of them.
“Thanks I’ll have those and red tulips as a mixed bunch”. She smiled.
The stall owner gather the tullips and made a vibrant bouquet of yellows and reds and passed them to Applejack.
“No problem, here ya go miss, have a nice day”.
“You too, sugar cube”.
She took her fragrant purchase and made her way to a more desolate side of town while eating Pinkie’s cupcake.
She got to the edge of town, it was much quieter with an occasional warm breeze carrying scarlet dust beneath her hooves, she came to slow stop at huge area with a towering stone wall along its perimeter.
She came to black gate with rust on them and pushed her way through the gate as it screeched.
She got out her bouquet and walked along the aisles of dirt paths passing many stones with loving messages, “Heart as strong as a horse” “Your memory flies high in our hearts” as AJ walked through them she remembered that day.
*****
Rain poured over the ground, bouncing off the young ponies cowboy hat, Big Mac was by her side with a long face struggling to withhold tears. Granny Smith stood by the both of them trying to comfort Big Mac while trying to hold her head high.
The young pony looked around as many were in groups speaking quietly and glancing at her with a bowed head and a sad sympathetic face.
A pony with a black waistcoat spoke up.
“Everypony, we are gather here today for this unfortunate occasion, my dearest condolences and sympathies to family and friends of the cheerful, loving Anna-Apple, she helped plant the orchard here in Apploosa which give life to the baron town, in her memory we have planted this small apple seed, that shall sprout life around her and form into a beautiful tree overtime”.
Everypony bowed their heads in respect and slowly departed overtime leaving Granny Smith and her 3 Apple’s in front of a small stone, with a small apple seed behind it.
“Where’s Mamma, Granny?” Applejack looked up to her with wide eyes of curiosity and confusion.
Granny Smith thought for a moment as she tried to think of how to word it delicately and carefully for the situation.
“My little pony, sometimes…bad things happen, we can’t really explain them or even expect as they can happen anytime… but we try to remember the good times and live by what we have learned from those good times.”
Young AJ nodded and remembered what her mother taught her throughout her years on the farm.
*****
Applejack approached a stone with a huge lively Apple tree behind with apples as green as her mothers eyes, she placed down the bouquet and stared down at the stone, ‘Anna-Apple, she put life into Appaloosa, we shall keep her life with us in memory’.
Applejack thought for a moment and thought of all her memories of Anna.
“Heya mamma, I’m sorry I haven’t been here in so long, been working hard at the farm...” She shook her head trying to cast away negative emotions.
“Been tryin’ to cook apple pancakes recently, can’t get them to taste the made you made ‘em but I’ll keep practicing, really wish I could have shown you when I was able to finally whip the apples with my tail, we could have done our chores together a lot faster…Applebloom is doing well too, shes tryin’a’ earn her cutie mark with a few friends today, I got mine not long after you…”
Applejack bowed her head and took off her hat fighting to find her voice through watering eyes.
“I miss ya mamma… my friends have helped me so much, I would have loved you to meet them, they’re family to me…” She looked up to the Apple tree and smiled through her falling tears.
“You’re with me in memory mamma, I hope you’re proud of us all”.
She placed her hat back on her head and walked out of the cemetery while drying her eyes.
As she closed the gates she heard a familiar voice above her head.
“Hey Applejack! Everyone’s been looking for ya! Pinkie said you were hearing to the station when she saw you, so I thought I figured you’d be in Apploosa, I know you look after the orchard here whenever you can… anyways Twilight needs our help with a few things!”
Applejack looked up and smiled.
“Sorry Rainbow Dash, been busy today, had to do something important, thanks for letting me know, I’ll grab the next train back to Ponyville”.
“Okay, I’ll race back and let everypony know you’re on your way! See ya there!”
Applejack watched her friend take flight towards Ponyville with speed with a rainbow trailing behind her, as the colourful trail faded she looked back through the gates towards the grand apple tree and smiled.
“Bye mamma, I’ll visit again sometime”.
She dashed off with a smile of determination towards the station leaving dusty trail behind her.
