Atmosphere:
One summer evening, after a day like most any other on Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack and Applebloom found themselves tired and beat from a long afternoon's worth of chores and hard labor. Applejack had spent several hours plowing the field, planting seeds for the next harvest, and Applebloom kept busy all day doing little things around the farm.
It was just one of those days where all they did was work. Applebloom used to hate those days, but as time went on she learned to cherish them. The feeling she got at the end of the day after completing all of her hard work was unmatched by anything else. She took great pride in a job well done, just like her older sister.
The two sisters sat on the porch of their home, sheltered from the gentle downpour of rain that showered outside, sitting on a small wooden bench that sat in the far corner.
Applebloom sat down on the bench next to her sister and yelped slightly in pain. "Ow, I sat on a splinter!" She exclaimed, pulling it out of her flank before carefully sitting down again.
Applejack smiled. Every little interaction with her sister felt like a picture in a scrapbook to her. She had watched and played a part in raising her in the way she best thought how, along with Big Macintosh and Granny Smith.
"Hey sis," said Applebloom, "who made this bench anyways? It's real old."
Applejack thought for a moment and then replied. "Dad did."
"Oh." Applebloom looked down for a couple moments, then back up at her sister. "We should repaint it."
Applejack smiled once more. "That sounds like a great idea. How 'bout tomorrow though? I'm beat from all the work we did today."
"Yeah, me too," Applebloom replied, wiping off the sweat from her forehead.
Applejack looked down to her sister and noticed that something seemed off. They didn't ever talk much about their parents. There was a sort of silent vow that nopony ever brought it up unless it was absolutely necessary. It brought up too many painful memories otherwise. But Applejack broke that vow.
"Applebloom," said Applejack, "have I ever told you about the day mom and pop left?"
Applebloom shifted uncomfortably. "Well yeah, of course. Mom and pop left to deliver some pies, and when they didn't come back..."
"Not that," Applejack interrupted. "I mean what I did. My story on that day."
"I don't think so," Applebloom replied.
"Well, I'll tell you then," Applejack continued. Applebloom shifted closer to her sister and she put a hoof around her. "It was on a hot summer day just like today. You were just a little filly, but me and Big Macintosh were about your age. When mom and pop left to deliver the pies, I remember I was out playing in the fields in the early morning. Dad had the wagon all loaded up with pies and they both had their saddlebags packed full to the brim with supplies. It was only supposed to be about a day's worth of travel, there and back, and they told your brother and I that they'd be back by sunset."
Applejack sighed deeply for a couple moments before continuing. "Well, you know what happened. When the news broke that their wagon had taken a tumble down a cliff, neither your brother or I knew how to react. Granny Smith broke the news to us the morning after, actually. She stayed up all night waiting for them to return, but Big Mac and I fell asleep. I ain't never again seen the face she made that morning when she told us."
"I do remember that," Applebloom said grimly. "So why are you tellin' me all this?"
"Well," said Applejack, "there's more to the story. Somethin' that Granny Smith never told us that day. When they were cleaning up the wreckage, they noticed that one of the wheels on the wagon hadn't been tightened all the way. It must have come loose after using that old thing for years and nopony ever thought to fix 'er up."
Applebloom looked up at her sister.
Applejack continued after another deep sigh. "If somepony would have tightened it up, nothin' bad would've happened." She lowered the brim of her hat down over her eyes.
Suddenly, a lot about Applejack made much more sense. She'd always been such a hard-working pony, often to the point of annoyance. She never allowed any chore to go un-done, or any job to go unfinished. Every knot had to be tied, and every loose-end had to be cut.
"Sis..." trailed Applebloom.
"...it was all my fault," said Applejack. "If I would've just spent some time fixing--"
Applebloom stopped her. She was getting old enough to know when interrupting her sister was the right thing to do. "Applejack, it wasn't your fault. There's no way anypony could have seen somethin' like that coming."
"Maybe not," replied Applejack, "but we could have been prepared. I spent that day doin' nothin 'cept playin' in the fields and look what happened."
Applejack pulled the brim of her hat further down over her eyes.
"That's not how I remember that day," said Applebloom.
"You were too young to remember."
"No I wasn't," she replied. "I remember a lot actually. You were playing in the field with me that day. I remember that. I lost something out there at some point, and I remember you trying to help me look for it."
"Your doll."
"Yeah."
"You remember that? You were barely old enough to trot."
"Of course I do. That was the first time you let me ride on your back. You trotted around and we looked for it in the tall grass."
Applejack seemed surprised by how much Applebloom remembered. "I guess that's right. Huh, funny how you forget stuff like that when bigger things happen in the same day."
Applejack smiled and pulled her sister in closer as they sat together on the porch listening to the sounds of rainfall pitter-pattering on the roof above them, falling down like small streams onto the ground below. The sun had fallen below the horizon, leaving a faint glow of orange in the far off distance past the rolling green hills of Sweet Apple Acres. It had been one summer day just like any other, but tonight they both went asleep having learned something about each other.
