Author's Note

This chapter relies heavily on "Bruised Apples" by Schorl Tourmaline as it stands as of 5/25/15. If at any point you are confused, check it out.

Regrets

Big Macintosh watched Applebloom pick apples with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle under Cheerilee's watchful eyes. Unlike most female Equestrians, the three young mares wore garments that Granny Smith had fashioned from discarded latex suits. Legally, he could not cover them, but even the exposing bondage gear was wore modest than outright nudity. Big Mac knew that the other stallions thought that his actions were unorthodox, to say the least, but the red stallion ignored them. Two months earlier, he had bought the three of them from the bar where they had been dishwashers. No longer would he permit them to suffer, he resolved. He closed his eyes as the cool breeze blew through the west orchard. Leaves rustled as the air twirled in invisible vortices, and the scent of rich sod wafted into his nostrils. His erect ears told him that his slaves work hard at work in the fields and vinyards. He turned around and open his eyes, ready to face the harsh world again.

He strode confidently into the barn, where Applejack was repairing the old cider fermentor. Her legs and pelvis protruded from the bottom of the machine. Big Mac felt his member harden, but forced himself to check the barrels within which the cider was aged. He began to shift them, loading the ones that had reached the proper brix. Abruptly, he stopped. Scorched upon one's lid was a date from which he could not avert his gaze. There was a soft shuffle of fur as Applejack rose and hugged him. Her ample, oil covered breasts pressed against his arm. Silently, she reminisced, her tears watering at the sweet memories. She closed her eyes.

That autumn, the Apples had organized a massive harvest feast in Ponyville following their most successful harvest in recent memory. Foals and fillies ran, laughing and yelling as they played their innocent games, and were entertained by Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy while Rainbow Dash got a head start on the cider. Twilight and Rarity had been placing silverware, chatting about some new textile machine. Celestia and Luna had joined them as well. There had been laughter and a sweet innocence had permeated the air, mixing with the scents of the myriad of dishes so that even the warm breeze seemed to be alive with joy "We may never have another like it," she murmured into her brother's ear. They stood in silence for several moments before he slid it into the cellar.

He smiled warmly at the memory as he lifted it onto a rack. "No. We won't." He checked to ensure that it was still sealed and to a faucet, removing his shirt. "Those days are long gone," he muttered as he saturated the cotton and wrought it. "We need to keep on making the best of what we've got." He scrubbed at the machine oil that matted the fur on her tits.

"We're Apples to the core," Applejack continued as she scratched her neck beneath the red collar, "and we Apples ain't quitters."

"We won't have harvests like those ever again," the large stallion agreed as he finished cleaning his sister, "we'll simply have new ones. They won't be grand and "

If only, he thought to himself as he strode out to check the slaves in the field, I knew when. He looked back at his sister, the element of honesty, and silently pondered.

That night, Braeburn made a surprise visit with Granny Smith. The slave girls were asleep in their barracks, so the Apples smiled quietly at jokes and warm tales. "I hear that you gave Big Mac here a solid hoof the other day," he turned to the stallion and rested his hooves on Big Mac's thigh, "mind if I take a look?" Big Mac could only roll his eyes.

"How did that even start?" Cheerilee asked. Big Mac had bought her at the same time as he did Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. "As I recall, yesterday, you did me at the bar." Big Mac nodded. Despite the changes he and the family had made, rumors of him being a mare sympathizer persisted. As a result, he and Cheerilee elected to put on a public display every now and again.

"I dunno. Probably some drunk half witted foal running his mouth."

"Probably. Although, ya'll must admit that it's what she would have done to any other stallion a few years ago. Had we not lost each other to that damned breaking and corruption and all, you and the elements could have made a successful business selling jellied traitor balls."
At Granny Smith's failed attempt at humor, the family fell silent. Pinkie Pie had been driven to near insanity by the assault, Fluttershy and Rarity had been broken almost immediately, Rainbow Dash, being a Black, was regularly put on display in Cloudsdale, and Spike and Twilight... Applejack didn't know is she should loath them for their treason or pity them for the foul corruption that they must have endured. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair as Granny Smith rose and guided the fillies into the barn.

After several moments, Braeburn broke the silence. "That actually brings me to why I came."

Big Mac rose. "Perhaps we should go inside."

In mute agreement, they resettled in the living room where Braeburn resumed their conversation. "Do you recall your friend Rarity?" The well meant rhetorical question stung worse than a barbed whip. What had once been common speech had been corrupted by the occupation.

"Cele-" Applejack stopped short of infringing on the Caribous' taboo, "Bless her. She was one of the finest mares I knew, before the Fall." She let the words hang. As long as the Caribou and that wretched Seductive Heart tainted Equestria, there would be no curing any of her friends from their trauma.

"Well she, according to my... business partners, was-" another pause as he swallowed his discomfort, "-'on display' for a vendor in Stalliongrad."

"She and several Blacks made off with a Tartarus-be-damned oiler and made for Maretania," a coarse, but feminine voice finished from the hallway. Applejack's heart leapt into her throat as the unannounced, hooded speaker walked into the room. "By the way," she said removing her hood, "you left the door open."

"Business partners, you say?" Applejack's eyebrow spocked at as she studied their unexpected visitor.