1. The Next Generation of Apples
I woke up to Rarity telling me not to go to breakfast, but I got mail. I went downstairs and opened up my letter which read SWEETIE BELLE - CAROUSEL BOUTIQUE - CONTAINS PERSONAL INFORMATION. I opened it and pulled out a piece of paper. The top read Inheritance. I opened it
Dear Sweetie (Apple) Belle, (This rose red flags, Apple was not in my name.)
On the will of the following: Big Macintosh, Applejack and Granny Smith you were given the element of Honesty and the land of Sweet Apple Acres along with Apple Bloom. You are given this and are required to take it and follow these terms: Once sixteen stay on land as much as possible (School is out of question), No having any burden staying on the land (Any non Apple blood family members are strictly forbidden), no adults are to help (You are to become one with the land.) The government will be checking up on you and Apple Bloom's production throughout your lives, inability to follow these terms will end in corporal punishment. This is not optional it is mandatory, you are expected to start the day after/of the receiving of this letter.
From, The Canterlot Administration Office
"What!?" I screamed. I kept it out of Rarity's sight. "Wh-Why did this happen? Rarity, I need to go talk to somepony. I'll hopefully be back." I walked out. She looked at me like she saw a ghost. I ran to Sweet Apple Acres. I saw Apple Bloom crying on the ground. "Apple Bloom!" I yelled as I hugged her and started to cry. "What happened to them?"
"Ah just found them all last night, how did y'all know?" I showed her the note. She moved closer to me. "Y-you? Why?"
"I don't know." I said... "Who's will was I on and why was I there?"
"So where stuck together? That's better than alone Ah guess?"
"Where am I gonna sleep?" I asked Apple Bloom
"Ah will change to Big Mac's old room, you should take Applejack's." I nodded and went inside. I went in Applejack's old room and laid my head on her bed. Her hat was still here. I put it on, I looked in the mirror and decided to keep it.
Apple Bloom didn't even ask me about the hat in the morning, she made breakfast and we got straight to work. It was a Monday but we skipped school. We had to both get Apples nonstop, take care of all of the animals, take care of ourselves, and manage to reach a daily quota. Midway through the day a worried Rarity showed up. We managed to hide from her, surprisingly she didn't hear our heavy breathing. She went inside however and came out with two papers, the inheritance papers. She dropped them and ran out of Sweet Apple Acres, we got back to work.
She came back hours later, we had finished the quota and showered, it was around six at night. She knocked on the door. "Sweetie Belle? Apple Bloom? Are you here?" I went upstairs and Apple Bloom answered.
"Hey!" She said breathing heavily
"Sorry about your loss, where's Sweetie Belle? She ran out so quickly. I read those inheritance papers..." Rarity said.
"Belle! Come 'ere!" I heard Apple Bloom yell. I came downstairs, yawning. Saw Rarity and went to talk.
"Hi Rarity," I said, I was scared on what she would say.
"Do you two want help?" She said?
Before Apple Bloom could speak I pulled out one of the inheritance papers. I showed it to Rarity, I pointed out "No having any burden staying on the land (Any non Apple blood family members are strictly forbidden), no adults are to help (You are to become one with the land.)"
She looked sad as she walked away slowly. I felt bad, but didn't want to learn the meaning of corporal punishment either. Rarity left and a few hours later a pony called Officer Colt came over to check on production. We shook his hoof and went through introductions. He said he will be the one coming regularly. He knew Sweet Apple Acres had a CC Phone System that connected us to other Apple clans. He asked to connect it to his desk in case and we okayed that.
We game him the CC Contact number for us (Which was 1011.) He checked to make sure the quota was reached as Apple Bloom made him a coffee and I cooked a three person dinner and dessert. I found a recipe book and used it to make a great juicy batch of BBQ ribs. I marinated them a little extra to try and add a little Sweetie Touch to it. We sat and ate. The Sweetie Touch worked. Officer Colt was about to leave when the phone rang and I picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Is Applejack there?"
"She passed away along with Big Macintosh and Granny Smith, it's just Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle."
"Sweetie Belle was on the wills? Okay can one of you cover for Braeburn tomorrow so he can get a break?"
I asked Apple Bloom and we decided I will cover for him.
"I'll cover Brae tomorrow, Apple Bloom will run it here."
"Thanks." They hung up and so didn't I. This is going to be a great life. No free time ever? Hopefully we could work something out soon. Maybe vacation time.
As Officer Colt left he said we should definitely get vacation time and will work it all out. We closed the door behind him. We sat on the couch, using each other as pillows. I ached horribly from the day, and tomorrow is going to be two times worse.
I looked through the clothes left behind. Everything from beautiful dresses to the ugliest of bonnets. I asked Apple Bloom if we should try some of it on for fit and we did. While looking through everything we found an item that gave us big memories. Big Macintosh's yolk. Me and Apple Bloom tried it for fit, it seemed to change size depending on which pony wore it. Though heavy, we both remembered how it made it easier for Big Mac to move things around the farm, so we decided to keep it in use whenever we need it. We both ended up with matching boots. Apple Bloom got Applejacks hat, I found another. We both got full clothes, from pants to bandanas on our necks and ponytails we looked completely like Applejack twins. We wanted closer twinning, but my mane and tail getting dyed would happen later.
I headed out to Appleoosa, when I got there I met Braeburn at his house, "Wow, y' changed a lot, y' look beautiful." He said looking at me like he was watching his High School crush.
"Me and Apple Bloom were looking through all the old clothes." I said to him
"Surprised y' didn't come with Big Macintosh's yolk." He joked
"I almost did, just I walked here and the weight was to much." I said.
"He had it sense the day he was born. Anyway, all y' need to do is the exact quota of Sweet Apple Acres, I'll feed y' later." I got straight to work. After 8 hours in the hot sun I finished it and got back to Braeburn.
"For bein' new t' this that was good time. Here, Cherry Jubilee made some Fettaccuni Alfredo and y' can have some. He handed me food and bits. See y' later, Belle. I walked home with my bits and Fettaccuni Alfredo and heated that up for dinner while Apple Bloom made apple crisp for dessert. Apple Bloom was obviously achy and I felt like I was falling apart. We ate and went to bed right after, it was only six at night.
We woke up at the same time, went downstairs and finally made and agreement on breakfast and all else. We take turns cooking breakfast and we'd switch back and forth on dinner and dessert. Today was my day with breakfast and dessert. I cooked pancakes and waffles for breakfast. We ate and got right to work.
It was Wednesday, we had managed to get half of the quota before our school day would start so we went to school, I had to pick stuff up from Rarity. We for some reason went dressed like we just got out of a storm. I had an old shirt and a denim coat with jeans and my boots. Apple Bloom had jeans and just a shirt with boots. I actually had my hat on and people asked why the sudden style change. We said we were both overly lazy this morning and didn't try to look nice.
"We live together and have everything to ourselves," I noted. Cherillee was obviously confused, but thought we were joking, when we left with no adult she stopped us, I gave her the inheritance letter and she let us leave.
We got right back to work, finished in less than an hour, and went to bed early. Four in the afternoon to two in the morning? Good enough!
Apple Bloom decided to pull a prank on me at night and stick Big Macintosh's yolk around my neck. I woke up and tried to take it off but failed as she had put it so tight. I fell down the stairs and it got stuck it the floor. Its now I realized that the hole in the yolk was in was smaller than my actual head, so there was no getting this off anytime soon. I went downstairs after getting unstuck. Apple Bloom realized what happened and tried to help me get it off. The only success was almost breaking my neck. It was so heavy, I could barely stand at times. We went to the barn where we kept the machine used to remove it.
The machine was huge. First ones feet were tied down, than the yolk was tied to chains in three places, than the machine forcefully yanked it off. There was a fifty percent success rate, and if it failed, a second attempt would cause instant breaking of the neck, causing death. It didn't work for me. I was stuck in the yolk.
Trying to sleep wearing it was not happening, how Big Macintosh did it all these years is beyond me. I tried the same two excuses constantly hoping Apple Bloom could cut it off. Its heavy and It hurts. She just shook her head.
"Look, it's not coming off, and Ah'm not cutting it, it's all that's left of his memory and Ah don't want to lose it. He was mentioning you a lot anyway, I bet he wanted you to have it, so when I put it on you as a prank, he probably tightened it." She said
"How could he have tightened it, he's dead!" I snapped at her
"Ghosts do exist. And sooner or later, this house will prove their existence to you." She said to me. "This house is haunted, beyond belief."
I fiddled with the yolk hoping to somehow loosen it, but it was so tight, I barely had any space to breath. Even with that, looks like I'm finished with school, with this on my neck I will not only be the laughing stock of the school, but every unicorn in the world. Even Rarity would laugh, exile me, if Apple Bloom was right about Big Macintosh's ghost tightening it, than he probably did it to seal my fate here at Sweet Apple Acres.
