Blood Red Apples

It's a normal day at the Sweet Apple Acres. Applebloom is at school, Big Mac is fixing the barn, Granny Smith is making apple-scented candles for her to sell soon. Sadly, the barns condition hasn't been checked ever since their family reunion. There are some holes and broken pieces of wood that need to be fixed, some paint has chipped off the rich apple tree wood. The roof needs some fixing-up. This all needs to happen before winter.

Applejack is helping too, right now she's buying supplies at the Ponyville market, looking for the same paint she used at the reunion. Sighing in relief, she finds the same paint shop she bought the blood red paint from. She quickly runs toward the stand and throws five bits on its table. "Two buckets of yer best red paint please!"

The market pony replies in a scratchy, loud tone: "The price has gone up by five bits since last year."

"Oh. Well, uhm, how 'bout I give ya eight bits and three nails for two buckets..?", AJ says nervously. "No money, no service", the mare grumbled. Applejack's ears dropped. But then, she said: "You know, I am good friends with Mayor Mare, and I'm pretty sure that extorting is illegal. So I'm sure you don't want any trouble with her, now would you?"

The market mare gulped. "Uhm-"

"So?", AJ replied. "You know what, j-just give me three bits, that will be enough-" Applejack neatly puts three bits on her table, and waits for the Market Mare to give her two buckets of paint.

"Thanks partner!", the orange mare shouted. She turned around and left. Since AJ still had five bits, she bought an ax, to chop down the rotting trees at Sweet Apple Acres. When Applejack got home, she placed the the ax on the table.

Granny Smith was asleep, and Applebloom wasn't at home. No one would mind. Then she trotted upstairs, into her room.

She walked towards her bedside table where her piggy bank was resting. AJ grabbed it with her front hooves and shook it. She sighed. Her family was poor. Very poor. Later on, Applejack trotted back down, took her newly purchased ax and headed for the apple orchard. When she arrived, AJ looked around. Many of her beloved trees are dying.

She sighed again, inhaled the sweet air, swung her ax at of the trees, and started chopping it down. She continued doing so to many other trees, slowly tearing up more and more, until she broke down, crying. Big Mac abruptly stopped working when he heard the sobbing from the orchard. He walked towards the painful gurgles and cries, already suspecting it was Applejack.

And there he saw her, curled up in a ball, next to one of the decaying trees. He knew what the problem was. He sighed. "It's time for them to go, they want to be free, ya know.", Macintosh said. "Who would ever wanna leave the apple family?! Aren't they happy where they are? Isn't it good enough for them! Every reunion they join us, singing dancing– What else do they want?!", Applejack shouted, tears streaming down her orange face.

"Freedom."

"It's not their time to go yet! Especially not Apple Tart–"  AJ stroked the rotten wood.

"Especially him. Do you know how old he'd be by now? He's our great-great-great-great uncle!"

"But it's so unusual for so many to leave all at once! Don't you understand?! Something is going on–"

Big Mac sighed.

"Ya know, trees don't live forever, too. Someday, even they die! I see that you're also concerned about Applebuck Season, I am too, to be honest. But we gotta chop down them rotten ones! What if they have a disease? They might infect the healthy trees, so we gotta get rid of the sick ones as quick as possible. It may sound harsh AJ. But we have to do this if we wanna have a partially successful harvest...! Let's just get this over with, and how 'bout we finish this tomorrow morning. You need some rest." He looked at Applejacks red, puffy cheeks, overflowed with tears.

"F–fine." She got up, putting her left hoof on one of the fallen over, dead trees to give her support. But she slipped, a piece of torn wood digging into her foreleg, giving her it a deep cut.

She screamed, fell over and hit her head on the tree, giving her another injury on her forehead. "Applejack!" Big Mac quickly runs up to her and carefully picks her up. He starts galloping towards their house, with his nearly passed out sister on his back. AJ's wounded leg leaves behind a small pool and trail of blood.

Oh Celestia, please let her be okay... , Big Mac thought as he dropped her on their couch. She made a loud thump. Through it, Granny Smith woke up. "W–what the hay? Is it those loan sharks again? They better not be here–" Granny looked at the mare, slowly dying their couch red with her blood still bleeding from her arm. Granny was shocked. "Oh my–"

Macintosh quickly ran upstairs to get bandages and several other things he didn't even recognize or know that they were medicine. He tripped back downstairs and dropped everything on the coffee table in front of him. His bulky hooves were shaking.

"G–Granny Smith! Do you know what to do?!" Granny replied: "Stallions these days! Don't even know how to properly bandage a mare. Gimme that!" She got up from her rocking chair and literally ripped the bandages out of her grandson's hooves. "Well first of all, ya gotta disinfect the wound." The old mare took a strange looking bottle and cotton swabs from the table and put a few drips on it. Then, she carefully placed it on Applejacks cut, throwing them out after use. After that, she took the bandages and softly wrapped them around AJ's foreleg. To keep them not from falling off, Granny Smith took to metal clips to tie the ends of the long bandage together. "All done!", Granny said in her raspy voice. "Now what's with her head?"