19th Zenith 1002
Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville
Dear brother,
This is the first letter I'm writing to you since you left. I've been able to get Mrs. Cherilee to correct it, although she didn't exactly have the brightest expression when skimming over it. Can't really blame me, had to get farming quite young, not to mention that trip to Manehattan which gnawed off quite a few months from filly school. I've thought about the trip I made quite a few times now, and wish I could go back there. It's pretty impossible now, but Manehattan is so pretty at night...
How is it going there? I haven't heard from you since they sent you off there to your unit last week. You looked pretty proud in your uniform on the parade ground at Canterlot, and I hope you stay as proud there in the Big Orange. Tell your friends to behave a bit there too, you're showing them what real earth ponies from Ponyville are!
Work here at the farm has gotten a bit harder since you left. Granny can't do much, so I have to do most of the job. With the bits we make, I'm hoping we can buy one of those machines they're selling and ease up the load. In the meantime, I'm getting some of the folk not drafted yet to help me out. They don't go to the front, and I get a few extra hooves worth of working power for almost nothing. Win-win by me.
I'm sending you a few jars of zap apple jam granny made at home, so you don't forget what you're there for. She's getting more and more worried about you, but I'll get her to calm down. Hopefully, you'll be home before Heart's Warming Eve, and we can have a nice feast all three of us by then. Don't get yourself injured, and write back soon!
Love, your sister Applejack.
30th Frostfall 1002
Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville
Dear Big Mac,
Sorry for the few letters I've written in the past weeks. Winter is coming fast at the farm, and we have to stock up on apples and wood before it all freezes up. I'm still handling most of the harvesting as usual. It's a hard work, but I'm feeling happy each night when I go to sleep and know those apples are going to you and our friends for the good cause. Keep on the fight and don't give up!
Work has been harder since a while. The remaining few helpers I had were drafted up last week, and I'm all alone on the farm again. They wanted to stay on the farm and I wanted them there too, but they changed the law on mandatory service, and included older and younger ponies. It's hard without them now, but I know that where they're headed they'll help us much more than on a farm. You'll see, we're going to push Sombra back into the Crystal Empire soon. Victories on our western front are all that's covering the newspapers now.
As the weather got worse, so did Granny. She has been coughing for a while now, and pretty hard. I think she's having some fever, although I'm not sure. She says she's fine, but I'm really worrying myself over her health. Am I worrying too much? I don't know. We barely have enough bits and apples left for ourselves, much less for a doctor to come give her medication. I'm sure she'll pull through it, with lots of rest and blankets.
Has anything happened on your side? I've yet to hear anything about the Eastern side, they aren't talking about it much on the newspapers. We haven't had anyone back from there yet either. Ponyville feels a bit lonely now. You've only got some old ponies and some mares with their foals going around the town, nothing compared to before. I can't wait for it to all end, so the town can find its joy oce again.
Merry Hearth's Warming Eve in advance, in case this letter doesn't make it for the 12th. You never know, mail is very slow these days. All the railroads are clogged by supplies.
Your sister, Applejack.
27th of Flowering, 1003
Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville
Dear Big Mac,
It's been the hardest winter we've ever had, but we've made it through! Granny kept coughing harder and harder, but she's on her way to recovery now, and the doctor says she's going to make it! I really can't express my joy simply in this letter, but she made it, and that's what matters.
The problem at home isn't winter anymore, it's food. You'd think things would get easier once spring came in, but they didn't. They brought in a new rationing system. Basically, we can't get anything close to what we had before in food supplies. Working ponies get a certain quantity of food, the old and foals get less, those not working get nothing. We're handling ourselves for now, but there's no way I can keep working like this once our stockpiles are empty.
I guess the wish about you coming home for Hearth's Warming couldn't come true either. It's such a shame we had to spend without you back at the farm. I was able to cheer Granny up a bit, but she hasn't been the same since you left. Come back quickly, would you? We're both dead worried about you, especially since we've had no news of you. I know you're busy, but spare some time to write us back if you can, okay?
Your worried sister, Applejack.
11th of Zenith, 1003
You know where.
Dear Big Mac,
Matters have gone from bad to worse here in the farm. They're taking more and more of our crops for the cause, while making rationing even more severe. I've been giving about half my rations so Granny can recover, but even then she's pretty weak each day. She's been staying in her bed for the past few weeks. Maybe her fever is coming back? I don't know, I'm no doctor, and we can't afford one.
I've heard the front isn't going too well either. Every pony that came back is acting real strange. They're just staying in their houses, doors shut, rarely going outside. Those who do look awful. Their coat is almost directly over their bones, and their nervous behavior isn't helping. I've tried talking to them, but most of them won't even speak to me or notice I'm here. Those who do tell me they never heard of you on the front.
Are you like them now? If you are, I'm telling you not to be afraid. You're fighting for the good cause, and the good cause always win, no matter the struggle. We'll beat them, you'll see, and we'll feast and drink when you come home from this.
