The sun was shining, the birds chirping and the orchards were glistening. All in all, it was a beautiful day. One such pony to find herself alive on such a day was an orange coated mare with a head of sandy blonde mane upon which perched a brown, weathered stetson. This was Applejack, a hard working mare of the land.
"Hooooo-ee! Feel that sun on ya, don' it feel good?" She asked her brother, a hulking earth stallion with a coat as glossy red as the apples hanging from the trees.
"Eeeyup."
"Days like this make me happy to be an Apple. The dirt under yer hooves, the breeze whistlin' through the trees...Shoot, this is jes perfect. We couldn't ask for a better day to start a harvest."
"Eeeyup."
Applejack took a second to look at her brother with an amused glance. "Why brother, what would poor old granny say iffin she heard yall yammering on like that? She'd be mortified, she would."
"Nnnnnope."
With a laugh and whoop, Applejack gave her brother a playful shove, before rushing out into the main of the orchard. They had already set out all the baskets they had, so all they had to do to start was go out into the lines and start bucking. The bulk of her morning was uneventful, go to a tree, buck, repeat.
It wasn't a complicated job, but it sure was a rewarding one. Applejack cherished these days of work, the combination of excercise with the knowledge she was actually contributing to her familys wellbeing, it certainly was a heady experience.
It was almost noon when Applejack found herself doing something she had done several times already this morning. Loading the apple laden buckets on one of the family carts, she started making her way back to the barn to unload the haul. Connecting two other carts behind the first, Applejack continued on her way.
Humming a jaunty tune to lighten her hooves, she trotted down the apple tree line path with the carts jangling along behind her. Applejack suddenly stopped, a sharp sound invading her ears. Turning to the side, she saw a pony lying underneath one of her apple trees, asleep. The pony gave another body wracking snore, letting Applejack get a closer look at this individual.
Her coat was orange, and her mane a long dusty blonde. Applejack would have even said that she looked similar to herself, if she had been looking in one of 'them fun house mirrors'. Her coat was dirty, but from lack of upkeep, not hard work. Her barrel and face showed signs of gauntness, her eyes sunken within her skull. Her mane hung limp and flacid around her like a sickly fern, furthering the effect.
"Hey." Applejack exclaimed, giving the sleeping pony a poke. She let out another snore, refusing to wake up.
"HEY!" she yelled about five hooves from her ear. The sleeping pony awoke with a start, giving her a frightened glance before letting out a momentous yawn. She looked from Applejack to her carts and back, her gaze a tired, sad thing.
"Hey there, mah name's Applejack. Have yourself a nice nap? I know I sure like to take a good snooze underneathe these trees, aint nothin more peaceful."
"...I am Acedia." The despondant pony muttered, barely bothering to raise her head from the dirt.
"What seems to be eating ya?" Applejack asked, unhinging the cart harness from her midsection.
"Nothing." Acedia responded, giving a low sigh.
"Nothing my left flank, sounds like yall got a problem."
"A problem...that just sounds too tiring. I'd rather just avoid such things."
Applejack took a second to think about the mares response. "But iffin ya jes avoid a problem, it'll never get better. Yall gotta get up, face it head on, ya know?"
Acedia laboriously dragged her eyes open to tiredly look at Applejack. "Wouldn't it just be easier though? If I just lay down and go to sleep, I never have to face the world. I never have to be dissapointed by it, or hurt by it or-" she let out a long yawn, before closing her eyes and settling down once more. "Theres just...no point to it...."
"Sure...there are things in this world what will hurt you...that'll dissapoint ya....All manner a' things, really. But there are far more things that make it all worth it in the end. Things that fill your heart with joy and your legs with vigor. There things that I'd never get up, not for all the sleep in the world. You just need ta' get on out there and see what life has ta' throw at ya." Applejack stated with a satisfied nod.
Applejack looked back towards Acedia, only to realize...she was gone. Not a trace remained, not even an imprint in the dirt where she lay.
"Something the matter, sis?" Came the gruff voice of her brother behind her.
"What? No, nothings wrong, jes met a pony what was sleepin' under one a' the appletrees... Mighty strange filly too, jes went on and on in a really sad manner...She left though, so I musta said somethin' what reached her." Applejack allowed herself a smile, re-attaching herself to the line of apple carts. "C'mon, Bic Mac, we ain't gonna get nothin' done standing here jawing, Let's get back to it!"
