"All off for Ponyville!"
Front Strike jerked awake at the shout of the conductor. Rubbing his eyes he looked out the window, and was surprised at what he saw 'This is where she set up shop?' he thought. The town looked mostly deserted, not at all what he expected for where his goal would be.
"Sir, are you getting off? You told me to remind you when we got here."
Quickly turning away from the window, Front found the conductor looking at him. Shaking his head of the cobwebs from his sleep from Canterlot, he nodded to the conductor and pushed past him, making his way towards the exit of the train
"A 'thank you' would've been nice!" the conductor shouted as Front left the train.
'Yeah, well I'm on a time limit. One day, Front, five failed stories and just one day left...' he bitterly thought about his situation as he walked out of the station.
"Huh." He said. It seemed he had been somewhat mistaken about Ponyville, as while some of the houses had been boarded up, entering the town itself had proved that at least half or less of the original population was still around. The unicorn noticed he was getting some strange looks so he quickly picked up the pace and found himself in the town market, or at least was he guessed it was. Looking around though, he saw no sign that any of the very little amount of stalls had what could help him find his destination. Deciding that wandering aimlessly throughout the near empty town wouldn't help him at all he made his way over to a bored mare who was selling carrots.
"Excuse me, Miss" he said "Could you tell me where I could find Sweet Ap-"
"-ple Acres?" the mare said. "Sure. It's a little bit outside the town. Just make a left at the library and follow the dirt road." The mare then looked at Front curiously " Why do you wanna go there, though? You don't look like an Apple."
Front sighed "Let's just say I've got a lot riding on a visit there. And I really hope it works."
Front Strike was speechless.
He really, really was.
After all, with a name like 'Sweet Apple Acres', he had always expected some sort of farm or rural building of some kind, not a combination of that and a processing factory. But after all the sacrifices that Equestria had made to support the cause, he really shouldn't try to question things like that.
"Right then, just have to find the manager, get the story, go back to Canterlot, write it up, and hope the boss likes it, or I'm screwed." Front frowned, and then snorted "No pressure then."
Making his way under the gate, he saw a blonde-maned mare loading up barrels into a wagon. Noticing that she was the only person in the current vicinity, he decided that he could get some answers from her.
"Excuse me, miss but could you tell me where the manager to this..err.. place is?"
"Yer looking at her." the mare quickly responded "So, what can I do for ya?"
Front was taken slightly off guard by the mare's bluntness, but quickly regained his composure "Well, miss, I'm a journalist from E-"
"Git off mah property."
If Front thought she had been blunt before, he had been very mistaken. "Listen, I only want a short interview-"
"No" The mare said " What all y'all hoity-toity, distrustful, yella bellied, low class, bottom feeding, scoundrels want is some 'big story' to boost yourself in the ranks and not caring about what happens to anypony in the process." she then grinned "Am I right?"
Front was speechless. Not at what she had said (even though he did want a big story, just not what for she thought), but due to the fact that during her small rant her accent had switch from a country accent to a Manehatten one. In fact switch her current outfit out for a dress, fix up her hair...
"MADAM APPLEJACK!?!" Front shouted. What the hell was one of Equestria's most prominent business mares doing working at some factory in the middle of a dying town? "What are you doing here?"
"Wha- How did?!" Applejack stuttered "I-I mean, what are ya talking about?"
Front gave her a flat look "Ms. Applejack, it wasn't hard after you slipped into the Manehatten accent."
Applejack frowned "Well, that's the accent I'm use to usin' when dealin' with ponies like yerself back in Manhatten" she snarled "Now, I said it before and I'll say it again; Git off of mah property, or I'll make you"
Front gulped 'Right then, Front, pull yourself together. You just have a really angry mare in front of you... that's threatening you with bodily harm... well, buck.' Front coughed into his hoof and put on a face braver then he actually felt "Listen, Ms Applejack, I really don't care if your here, I just want a clean interview, nothing ground breaking, that's all."
Applejack raised an eyebrow "Just a 'clean interview'?" she said "Ah know that's a straight up lie. I lived in Manehatten, remember? What Do ya really want?"
Front sighed "Alright, look, I do have another reason, but it has nothing to do with you or your farm-factory. I just need a nice, clean interview, and that's it."
Applejack looked him over "Hmmmm." she said "Alright, I'll give ya one..."
'Yes, Sweet Celestia, YES!'
"...But I git to choose what to answer, and decide when the interview is over." she then started to make her way towards a house that was on the farm " And if you ask me somethin' wrong, let's just say ah know ponies who owe me."
"...And now she's threatening me with her connections.' Front Strike thought as he let out a ecsousted sigh 'This is gonna one hell of a interview,' he thought as he made his way towards the house. Closing the door behind him as he entered, Front look around at the homely-feeling house.
"Are ya commin' in for the Interview, or not?" he heard Applejack say from the home's living room.
Deciding that keeping the already agitated mare waiting was not the brightest idea he should do, he made his way into the house's living room.
It looked quite nice, and really didn't fit with factory-farm outside. the walls were lined with pictures of who he presumed to be Applejacks family.
"So" the said mare in question spoke up "Are you gonna start off the interview, or what?"
"Wha- Oh, right!" Front levitated out his trusty pen and notepad "Okay, first off, can you tell me... your...name." He trailed off, immediately realizing the stupidity of said question. Noticing Applejack was giving him a 'what, are you stupid?' face, he started to blush in embarrassment. "Sorry, force of habit and all, that's normally how I start these things."
"Un-huh" Applejack said "well then you might wanna move on. I was in the middle of a job when y'all innterupted me."
"Alright, second question" Front said figuring he couldn't screw up twice " do you mind telling me what you're doing here?" He then notice Applejack's eyes narrowing "I-I mean what do you do here. What you do you do here. That's what I meant."
Applejack, while still tense, let out a small breath of air. "Fine. That's somethin' we can start with...."
"....and then Big Mac threw me the wrench, an' I sealed it before it got any worse." Applejack finished. "So, is that all you got fer me, city-colt?"
Front laughed. It had been a few tense first minutes, but Applejack had warmed up to him after she had answered a few question that Front though he could ask without losing any teeth. "Well, almost. I think only a few more should be enough." 'I hope' he thought, since his last tries had also turn out similar
Applejack grinned "Well then, shoot me with 'em"
"It's about the cans'"
"The cans'?"
"Yeah" Front said "I noticed that the pony on the cans' is in some of these pictures" he gestured around the room "Considering that this place mass produces the majority of the army's rations and to refugee camps, I think it would be interesting to know who she is."
Applejacks face shifted from what had been a friendly face to a dark and gloomy one in about ten second, with the room's tempeture following just as fast. Realizing he had just asked a question that was going to probably leave a mark tomorrow, he was debating on if he could make it out the door before the inevitable, when he heard a slow sigh.
"Ya know, I can't really think of anypony really askin' that questiuon before." Applejack said sounding weary "But...I'll answer it." She then looked right in Front Strike eye's "An' it'll be the final question though, got it?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Front replied
Applejack slowly reached out to the table next to her and held up a picture "Tell me, Mr. Journalist, who's missing from this here picture?"
Front was taken by surprise. "Uuuuhh..." He had no clue how to answer the question. The photo said 'Apple Family Reunion', and it was just a simple family group shot in front of a barn from a year ago. And considering what family she was talking about, it would be hard to figure out who he was suppose to find. He didn't even know any of their names! "....your uncle?" he guessed
"No"
"Your aunt?"
"No"
"Your sister?"
"No, she's in the front"
"Your-"
Applejack rolled her eyes "I thought you said you were 'prize winnin' material'. If you can't figure this out than you should-"
"You"
"Huh?"
"You. You're not there." Front look up "You're not in the photo. In fact..." he glanced around the room and saw similar photos from all different years, but they all had one thing in common. "You're not in any of these!"
Applejack sighed "I know. Worst decisions I've ever made."
Front looked at her "What do you mean?"
"What I mean" Applejack continued "is that every year I ,got invited. An' every year somethin' always popped up, or I made some excuse, Until one day, outta nowhere, I got a letter. Straight from the farm tellin' me they wanted me to visit." She took in a breath of air "So I did."
Front was confused now "But if you didn't before... why then?"
"Because this was too random" Applejack said "It just caught me off guard, so I went." She let out a laugh "Looked really outta place to, everypony starin' at me in mah fancy dress. But I just ignore it, like a lotta other thing there. So I made mah way to the farm, and ,well..."
Front, now in full journalist mode, was paying rapport attention "Well, what?" He said, not to forcefully, but enough to get Applejack to continue.
"Reality smacked me like a angry timberwolf." A sorrowful look crossed Applejacks face "Granny Smith, who had raised me before I left for Manehatten after... another bad incident that had happen, was sick. An' not the ones you recover from."
Front's pen stop scribbling "oh, um, I'm... sorry?" he said, unsure if he should apologize for something that had happened a while back
"It's fine." she said "She had a long life. Told me she was proud... Ah don't feel that way, considerin' I turned down seeing her at every chance I had"
"Couldn't you've just, I dunno, come over as a surprise?" Front said
Applejack snickered "Maybe. Not now though..." she trailed off. "Anyway, when the war started, and the cause started up, I decided to give at least somethin' back for those years I missed."
Front Strike looked over his notes 'I Think thats enough for a story' "Well Applejack, Thanks for your time and... I think Granny would appreciated the 'gift'"
Applejack had a sad smile on "Ya know... now I think she would" turning to Front, grinned "have a nice ride back home city-colt."
"Thanks" Front grinned back "I'll try."
"All to Canterlot!"
As Front Strike walked on to the train, he reflected on what had just happened. After five bad strokes of luck, he had come across somepony with a good story that he hoped his boss would let him publish. And if he didn't, Front still had the satisfaction of knowing that he had not just gotten one, but help another pony get one of her chest that she had been holding onto for a long time. Because everypony had some story, and even the one who don't get published, are still heard