Apple of my Eye

Apple of my Eye.

Note: I do NOT own MLP:FIM

It was a quiet winter evening for you. You got all your homework done and now you were sitting at your desk quietly playing Minecraft. You loved evenings like this, they were tranquil, relaxing, and above all, Minecraft was your favorite thing to do. Actually, you loved pretty much everything in general about the internet. You spent all your free time on there in your small apartment you shared with your mom and your dad. Both of them worked long hours, and so they had to give you lots of responsibilities to do in the house since they weren’t able to do them all on their own. You did them without complaining, but after they were all done, it was right back to the computer. It was like your home-base.

You also were a huge gaming nerd as well. You played games like Pokemon, Prototype, Skyrim, and Batman Arkham City. You didn’t care for military games because 1. You sucked majorly at them and 2. The online players were rude and often questionably young. You were in the later years of high school; You made good grades for the most part and your two strongest subjects were science and history. You were good at math too, but you didn’t like it. You just learned what you needed to in order to pass. Lately though, you haven’t been doing so well in math, and your parents threatened you with a monster grounding if you failed it for the year. You didn’t worry, however. You were naturally smart and so you figured you could just procrastinate then ace the final exam like you always did.

You took a sip of coke you had by your computer desk as the monitor let out a light hum and gave off a gentle glow in the dark room you were in. The snow had blocked out the roads and the clouds that brought the snow blotted out the sun. Despite this, you had your blinds shut and your door shut but not locked. No light came in save for the natural light streaming in from the teeny cracks in the blinds. You were in the middle of building a house out of brick blocks on Minecraft when your dad suddenly came in, having come home from his job about 20 minutes earlier.

“Son, there’s something I have to tell you.” He came in with his arms crossed and a warm smile on his face.

Your father was a tall man with a short, precise haircut that stopped just above his ears. He had gray hair (formerly brown) and scruff on his chin from not shaving in a while. His eyes were blue, unlike yours, which were hazel just like your mother’s. He had a strong, muscular build that you sadly didn’t inherit. You had inherited your dad’s broad shoulders, yes. However, you were not very strong and inherited your mother’s intellect. Your father had a clear skinned face that was slightly tanned, while your mother had fair skin that was heavily freckled. It was much like your own skin, except you didn’t have nearly as many freckles since you barely spent any time outside. Your skin was paler and lightly specked with freckles. You also inherited your mom’s lack of acne, which you found pretty sweet.

Your mom had rich brown hair which you inherited instead of your father’s more light brown hair. She was more of a gentle soul who was less industrious than your father, but she was more meticulous and suited for her job as a wedding planner. She had a sweet stereotypical motherly tone to her voice while your father’s voice was deep and rich. He used to be a great singer until he got offered a job as a financial advisor. He was a country singer, and always had a soft spot for the countryside; a trait you and he did NOT share. He took the job as a financial advisor for the higher pay and worked happily as a financial advisor your whole life. You got along with your parents fine, so long as your grades were satisfactory. They both got very high educations and expect nothing less from you as well.

“What is it?” You respond in your quiet raspy teenage voice.

Your father gives you an even bigger smile and says, “You know that I’ve been a financial advisor for as long as you can remember right?”

“Umm…yeah? What about it?” You turn your chair to him and brush your hair from your eyes, listening intently.

Your father chuckles before answering. “Well, I’ve just been offered a job as being an investment banker! My salary is going to more than triple now!” The excitement is highly apparent in his tone.

“So…what you’re saying is that we’re rich now?” You cock an eyebrow up, very interested in this all the sudden.

“Basically.” Your father responds before tousling your hair.

You can barely contain your excitement! You jump out of your chair and throw your arms around him. “This is so awesome! When do you start this new job! Oh man, oh man mom’s going to be so happy when she hears about this!”

“I’ve already told your mom. She’s just as excited as you are. As for when I start? I’m starting this new job in a week from tomorrow. I’ll probably get my first paycheck in 6 weeks.” He beams.

You can’t help but smile bigger than you ever have for as long as you can remember. Your family is rich! Now they can afford to get you things they couldn’t before, like that expensive Skyrim hoodie, or that electric synthesizer! Maybe even your own TV for your room! Your family was able to afford to live in this house before, but now you can thrive in it! This is easily the best thing to ever happen to you.

When your mom returns home, there’s a family celebration for your dad’s new job. You go out to the fanciest restaurant you’ve ever been to and have the best meal you’ve had in ages. At home, your parents pop out champagne and you celebrate on Facebook with your friends. Life just doesn’t get any better than this.

Months pass, and your dad is doing great with his new job. He even gets to work from home! You see a lot more of him. You don’t mind, seeing as how now you can talk more with him when you’re bored. You have a lot more money to spend now that your family is wealthy, and that wealth grows more and more every month. You got that Skyrim hoodie and that synthesizer you wanted. Life’s pretty great for you. Sure, you still aren’t doing well in math, but still, your parents don’t have to know, right?

Late May arrives and it’s nearly the last day of school. You’ve been busting your ass studying for the final. You’ve failed every six weeks prior and you’ve been doing your best to hide it from your parents. They don’t bother finding out for themselves though, they’re too busy working their jobs. You’ve had a harder time paying attention in math class ever since your father got that new job. It’s just so distracting, thinking what you could do with all that money. Nontheless, you’re determined to ace the final and redeem yourself at the last minute…just like always.

One day, you finished all your homework and exam reviews for the night and you were derping around on tumblr when your dad comes into your room and tells you to meet him in the den. He has another surprise for you; and sounds almost as excited as he did when he first got his new job.

Happy to oblige, you exit out of your tabs and join your family in the den. Once you’re all there, your father speaks up.

“Son, I have an important announcement to make.” He beams. Your mother is beside him, indicating that she’s known about the surprise beforehand and wants to see your reaction.

“Tell me, dad, what’s so newsworthy that it requires I leave my computer?” You add jokingly. Your mom gives a mild chuckle at your joke while your dad smiles politely.

“I’ve just bought a mansion over in the countryside! It’s more than twice as big as our house now and it’s close to a good school district! We are moving in about a month!” Your dad gives you the biggest grin and awaits your happy cheers and praises.

Oh god.

No.

No.

No.

NO!!!

...THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING TO ME!!!!!!

You are a city boy, obviously. Living in a spacious, pollen-filled, all-the-outdoors-you-can-eat countryside mansion is one of the worst things that could happen to you. And what’s worse is that you’re moving in a month! That means that you won’t even get to enjoy your summer here! School ends in three weeks and you’ll have to say goodbye to your friends and everything you’ve ever known. You can’t just say all of this to your dad though, he obviously worked so hard to make this possible for you. Best to pretend to be excited, for now.

“Uhh…that’s great dad! Can’t wait!” You smile politely.

Your dad senses your lack of enthusiasm, but doesn’t think much of it. “Well I’m glad you’re happy. Best start packing, a month isn’t a very long time, you know.” He tousles your hair again.

Ohh boy…

The end of the month rolls around. All your friends are real bummed out that you’re leaving the city. You’ll sure miss having them over and playing video games together. You took all your finals and passed all of them. Unfortunately, you didn’t do well enough on your math final to pass the class overall. Your parents don’t know yet, and you plan to keep it that way for as long as possible. All your belongings are packed as well as your parent’s belongings. Now the only thing left to do is head on out. As your family drives away from the apartment complex you used to live in, you press your face against the window of the car and sigh longingly. A farewell monologue begins to run through your head.

"I’m going to miss you, old room. I don’t regret any of the hours I wasted inside you fapping to porn and playing glorious GLORIOUS online games…I also don’t regret having my friends over and trashing you up then spending the entire next day cleaning up their shit…Lastly, I don’t regret wiping all my boogers on your walls when I was little. Goodbye…goodbye…goodbye…"

6 and a half hours later…

You must’ve fallen asleep sometime during the trip because your mom was waking you up, telling you that they had arrived at the new house. You stretched slowly and arched your back, then rubbed your eyes and swung your legs out of the car. Your eyes fell upon the new mansion you were staying in. By Gandalf’s beard, it was worse than you imagined...

It was red brick with white finishings and stepping stones that led to the front door. Around the side you could see the yard that was bordered by a white picket fence and when you walked towards the fence for a closer look, you saw that the backyard was enormous! Heck, the backyard alone might’ve been bigger than your old house. To anyone else, it was a beautiful and well built home. But to you, it was an end to your whole life that you loved so much. You now regret your dad getting that job in the first place. Why didn’t he get fired? Why not save all that money for something else? But there was nothing you could do at this point; this was your new life. You had to either adapt, or perish. You weren’t sure which one you’d rather do.

The moving people unpack everything in your house to the appropriate rooms. All that you had to do was go to your new room and unpack all your things. You walked up the stairs leading to the front door and walked inside. It was spacious with luxurious tile floors and marble decorations. There was soft cream colored carpet that covered the living room floor and a smooth marble floor covering the kitchen. The counter tops were granite and the dining room table, which was connected to the kitchen, was covered in a scarlet red tablecloth. It looked very pretty; even you had to admit that. Nonetheless, you still resented this house with every bone in your body, and even with some bones not even in your body.

You walked upstairs to see your new room. You walked inside where all your boxes were and found a carpeted room with white walls and your bed and desk already set up. It was okay. You didn’t hate your room since it was much bigger than your previous one, but it lacked character. That was something your room had that you loved more than anything. You figured you should unpack your stuff at least. Perhaps your room would look better that way.

You started with your clothes and filled up your closet with all your various shirts, hoodies, jeans, shorts, and the like. You didn’t have many clothes for hot weather, something that would definitely come to bite you in the ass later this summer. You were going to have to go shopping later with your mom. Next thing you unpacked were your personal belongings such as your pictures, old toys, gaming systems, awesome synthesizer. and finally your beloved computer. You set up the computer and powered it on. The connection was very shitty, not to your surprise. You were in the country for god’s sake. Of course there’s poor reception here. At least it worked, and you were able to surf the web. You started to mess around on tumblr for a little bit before getting back to your unpacking. After a while, you could hear your mother cooking dinner downstairs.

They must’ve finished unpacking the kitchen stuff… you muse to yourself.

After a half hour, you finish unpacking everything. Your new room looks much better now, but it still feels weird being in it. You’re just going to have to get used to it. You go downstairs and see that your mom has fixed chicken stir-fry for dinner, one of your favorite foods. You see that there are still many many boxes that need unpacking in other rooms of the house, but you and your family would get to that tomorrow. For now, it was time to eat.

After an awkward conversation at dinner you regret participating in, you head on off to bed to mope yourself to sleep. You shut the door of your room and look out your window. You see something big and red… upon squinting your eyes you focus in and see a large red barn that’s partially blocked by trees. What kind of trees? You couldn’t tell. Your experience tells you that they’re some kind of fruit tree, but you don’t know which. It’s obviously not one that blooms in summer. You wonder who lives there…probably some weirdo farmers that don’t know what the internet is. You lay your head down on your pillow and slowly drift off into an un-restful slumber…

-*~*-

The Next Day...

You awoke to the smell of bacon. Man, your parents knew you so well! Well...except for the fact that they moved into a place you were not comfortable with. Anyway, you headed downstairs and saw all the rooms that were on either side of the hallway. Your room was at the end of the hallway, and the hallway lead to the stairs. This house was enormous; it had 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, two rooms that could be used as an all purpose room, an office, and a laundry room. At least your washing machines wouldn't bother you while you ate anymore, since at your old house the washer/dryer was next to the table you ate at. The kitchen was huge, it had an island, a bar, and plenty of counter top to place appliances such as blenders and toasters. It had a double-decker oven and a large fridge with an ice maker and everything. If there was one thing that was good about this house; it was the luxury. This was still new to you though, so best not to get too comfortable...

Your mom greeted you with a warm smile as she moved around pieces of bacon on the griddle that crackled and sizzled as they cooked. A hot drop of grease hit your mother's arm, but she barely reacted other than a flinch. She was more used to it than you, you supposed. Last time you got bacon grease on your arm you yelped out in surprise. Your dad teasingly called you a wimp for that. You were less of a man than your dad in every way. You weren't nearly as strong as he was, he was made to work long hours in the heat and you weren't, and he didn't get hurt as easily. He wasn't as 'accident prone' as you were.

Speaking of your father, he just came out from his office ready for work. Of course, when you work at home, 'ready for work' means that you get out of bed and take a quick shower. He sat down next to you as your mother served you both up 3 slices of bacon and eggs sunny side up; just the way you both liked it. She served herself two slices of bacon and a piece of toast, no butter; just the way she liked it. Breakfast was surprisingly quiet, however. Usually it was a cheerful conversation between your mom and dad on what was going on today, and you would quietly mope in the background. Today however, there was a strange silence only broken by the clinking of forks to plates. You were still moping as usual, being a surly teenager in a place where he doesn't belong, but your parents didn't ask you anything like they normally did. Must be the move, you suppose.

The quiet breakfast is interrupted by a ring of the doorbell followed by a polite knock. Everyone stopped eating and looked up at the same time. Your father spoke first.

"...I'll get it..." He said quietly.

You and your mom follow him as he approaches the door. When he opens it, you find yourselves face to face with who you presumed to be your neighbors living on the farm next door. There was a small girl with red hair and a pink bow in it who didn't look to be a day over ten, a big burly man who looked approximately 26 or so with orange hair (dyed perhaps?) and a piece of straw in his mouth. He had a calm face and a relaxed posture but you couldn't help but be slightly intimidated by him.

In the center of the group you saw an old woman probably in her seventies wearing a happy grin and giving you a friendly smile. In her old bony hands she held a loaf of bread of some sort. She reminded you of the stereotypical grandmother in every way.

Lastly, to the right of them all there was a girl who looked to be about your age. She wore an orange top with apples imprinted on it, she had golden blonde hair and her cheeks were riddled with a few freckles. Her body was toned and fit, her eyes, emerald green and vivid. Upon her head rested a brown stetson hat. She had on cowboy boots and jean shorts that were short, but still decent. You respected her for that, since although you were a guy, you did not like it when girls wore slutty clothing. You couldn't help but find this girl rather attractive, however, your guy sense was tingling, telling you that she was waaaaaay out of your league. You silently agreed with your guy sense, and decided to just try and ignore her. ('Try' being the key word here.)

The old lady spoke up. "Welcome to this 'ere part of the country! M'family and I live just over there on Sweet Apple Acres." The small girl gestured towards the farm you were looking at last night. Then the old lady continued. "We're so happy to have some neighbors here and just wanted to give ya a proper Apple Family welcome." She held out the loaf and my mother took it graciously.

Your father spoke next. "Well it's nice to meet you, Apple Family. What should we call you individually?" He raised an eyebrow at the outlandish family.

"You can call me Granny Smith, everyone does ohohoho." She chuckled before pointing to the tall burly man. "That there's Big Mac, he's the major worker round here."

"Eeyup." The man approved in a deep, rich voice that was even deeper than your own fathers'.

"Hi there! I'm Applebloom. I help Granny Smith with up-keeping the house and taking care of the livestock! Only the small ones though...Big Mac says I gotta get older before I can handle the cows and horses..." The small girl piped up.

"Applebloom?" Your mother questioned. "That's a strange name, but it's cute. I think it fits her very well!"

"Thanks ma'am!" Applebloom beamed, giving a super innocent smile. She had a southern accent in her tone, seemed fitting as well.

"And this here is Applejack, but you can call her AJ." Applebloom continued, pointing to her older sister.

"Umm....Howdy?" She spoke in a southern accent so thick you couldn't even cut it with a knife.

"Well it's nice to meet you all. This here is our son, (She says your name)"

"Nice to meet y'all!" Applebloom beams.

"Ahaha, you too. Gee, back in my younger days..." Your dad begins.

Oh boy... here we go again with another one of his reminiscent 'flashbacks'...

"Back then I was a country singer that used to live in a place much like this one. My family and I, we'd take care of our animals and haul out crops to the marketplace to sell. My sister and I would ride on the back of our pickup truck and play guitar, oh those were the days. If you ever need help, I'm sure my son and I would be able to lend a hand. Well, my son definitely can help. I have to work most days of the week." He finished.

You widen your eyes when your dad implies that you probably will have to end up helping this kooky family with their manual labor tasks. You simply were not cut out for that kind of work, and furthermore, your time would be better spent playing video games. You thought of protesting, then thought better of it. It would be rather rude.

"Whelp, I reckon we could always use s'more help on the farm." Big Mac responds in a neutral tone.

"Good to know." Your father looks toward you, and you don't bother looking back out of disgust.

As you were busy not looking at your dad, you noticed AJ was looking at you with those gorgeous green eyes. She saw that you were wearing your Space Invaders T-shirt and cargo shorts. She noticed your pale skin and your very VERY sparse freckles. She could tell that you just moved from the city just by looking at you. Her gaze was judgmental and it was almost as if she was mentally telling you; "I know yer type, city boy. Y'all don't belong here." It made you uneasy to your stomach and the idea of potentially working on that farm didn't help the gut wrenching feeling either. Having to work where a pretty yet cold girl would boss you around? (at least, you assumed that's what she'd be doing) It sounded like the worst possible thing right now.

The Apple family say their goodbyes except for AJ who gives a polite nod and saunters off back to the barn with her family. When they're out of sight, your father shuts the door and says to you:

"Well, now we know what you're doing this summer to make up for that math grade."

Wha...? ...oh no...

"I saw your math grade on my email this morning and I'm not pleased. I'm going to call Big Mac up tonight and tell him to give you a working schedule. Also, you can forget video games since you'll be so busy working the farm that you won't have time." Your father gives you a stern stare that sets you off-balance.

"Aw come on, you can't be serious! You know that I'm not fit for that kind of work..." You whine to him.

"Then you'll learn. And think of it this way, you'll be getting lots of exercise, you'll be fed good food by a very kind family, and they also have a daughter your age..." He winked at the last part for emphasis.

"She's not really my type..." You lie.

"Doesn't change anything. You still have to do this."

You groan and storm off into another direction. This is quite easily the worst thing that's ever happened to you. You are on manual labor duty tomorrow! You don't want to have anything to do with that kooky family, or that farm girl. You just wanted to run away. Of course, that would be a stupid idea since you are new to this territory and you do NOT have the stamina for it. Why was this happening to you?

The answer of course was; "Because you are a lazy bastard."

You sigh in defeat upon realization of this fact. You were lazy, you were overconfident, and this was your punishment. There was no way around it. You were going to have to face the music and live through this ordeal. You were feeling a little better now...

...a little...

Your father talked to Big Macintosh that evening, he set up arrangements for you to work every day from seven AM until 5 PM. Why the long shift? Your dad took grades VERY seriously. Big Mac had no problem, however. But he didn't say much over the phone besides a simple 'Eeyup' or a 'Nope.' Occasionally he'd say a complete sentence, but he was obviously a man of few words. After getting chewed out by your mother some, you barely ate your dinner, leftover stir fry, and headed off to bed. Again, before you fell asleep, you looked out the window at that barn again. It looked so much scarier now that you knew you were going to have to work there. Again, nothing you could do about it. You weren't one to question things, especially if they were decisions your parents made. After quietly cursing yourself for being such a lazy bum, you attempt to drift off to sleep...

1 AM

You're still in bed, wide awake and your thoughts are being filled with possible scenarios of tomorrow. You pictured yourself waking up at an ungodly hour like 6:30 to get ready for the farm work. You pictured Applebloom laughing at you as you toiled away in the fields and not being able to lift a single bale of hay. You pictured Big Mac coaching you to work harder as if he was your slave master, and you also pictured Applejack. You pictured her many different ways. Sometimes, you pictured her calling you a 'yeller-bellied city slicker...' and other times, such as now, you began to picture her differently...

You pictured her long flowing golden blonde hair swaying across her back in counter-motion to the movement of her curvy luscious hips, you pictured her eyes staring into yours seductively, your mind giving her overly-proportioned breasts, you imagine her perhaps getting too hot whilst working and in response she begins to remo...

You mentally slap yourself in the face repeatedly. What the hell are you thinking, man? No way she'd do that! You can't like her like that. It's just...not gonna work out....

The other side of your mind responds with, Eh, you have a point. But I can dream can't I?

The former side chuckles. Fine, might as well enjoy the show...

Eventually, you fall into a deep slumber...