Your parents were excellent photographers, though they were very quirky ones at that. Your father’s photos always have a weird, distorted effect and the way your dad puts it, it’s as though the photos do that themselves rather than anything he did to it. Your mother’s photos, however, were straight, but always focused on mundane stuff like weapons or the way someone poses.
Your parents also travelled everywhere and took you with. This enabled you to see breath-taking places like Paris, London, Ba Sing Se, Zawame… It seemed like each day was a new adventure waiting to happen.
Shame your parents don’t take you on those journeys and instead dump you with some babysitter. Yeah, the babysitters you met were pretty cool guys, some around your age, but you were always bummed out knowing your parents might be on better adventures.
This one was no different, in fact it was worse. You were stuck in a barn while your parents went to go see a freaking princess. That sucks! Your head hit against the hay as you groaned.
“I’m so bored!” You said.
“Tell me about it.” You looked over to your chosen babysitter who was sitting on a crate. A girl around your age with green eyes, blond hair that were tied in twin-tails, and wore an orange shirt, blue overalls, and orange sneakers with no sign of there being socks. You were told that her name was Applejack. “I can’t believe I’m stuck here looking after you.” She then sighed. “Then again, there’s not really much to do.”
You eyed the jar she was holding. It seemed pretty colorful. You got up to look at it.
“Huh?” She asked. She then noticed you eyeing the jar. “Oh, this? It’s Zap Apple Jam…” She then hesitated a bit before twisting it off. “It’s really good. You wanna try?” She asked. You looked at the jar and pondered it. “Hey, I’m not a liar… At least not anymore.” You then nodded as she twisted the jar open.
She took out a spoon and scooped up a bit of the jam. “Now say aaaah.” She said. You just glared at her.
“I’m not a baby.” You said as you grabbed the spoon from Applejack’s hand. You then ate the spoonful of jam and suddenly smiled. “Mmm! It’s good!” You tried to grab another spoonful but Applejack tried to wrestle the spoon from you.
“Hey, let me have some too!” Applejack said. You two struggled for a bit before you two fell off the crate. Thankfully the jam didn’t fall out of Applejack’s hands or shatter. You steadied yourself and tried to get up, but that’s when you saw Applejack on the ground and you were on top of her. “H-hey! Get off of me!” She tried to push you off herself, but you tried to make sure the jam didn’t fall from the jar. So you grabbed it and set it aside.
You felt Applejack’s hands press against your shirt and chest and for some reason, it felt… nice. You could feel her hands reach all around you. And then her left hand touched the bottom of your spine where she felt a very fluffy ball. You know this ball all too well, for it is a part of yourself.
This was your tail.
Your mother wasn’t a normal human like your father was. She was human, yes, but she had very long bunny ears on the top of her brown head. Her genes passed onto you, though instead of getting a rabbit’s ears, you got its tail. But they’re pretty much the same when it comes to sensitivity.
You giggled. You then noticed a sort of coy look in Applejack’s eyes as she smirked.
“Aaaah, found it.” She then proceeded to tickle around the tail all while petting it. You laughed so loud that your body eventually fell onto Applejack’s side, bending her arm to the side as she flopped over. She stopped petting your tail and your laugh stopped.
However, you and Applejack were very close to each other, to the point where you could feel Applejack’s breath through her nose. This was the moment you saw the cute little freckles on her face. For some reason, you began to feel hot. You could see Applejack blush. She then placed the jar in-between you and her.
“Wanna eat from the jar until your folks come back?” She asked. You nodded. Before she got the spoon, she placed the spoon on your nose, the aroma of Zap Apple Jam lulling you into a calm. “But we each have one spoon at a time, got it?” She asked.
“Y-yeah…” You said. She then began to scoop the jam and feed both you and herself. Eventually, the sugars in the jam caused you to feel very drowsy, to the point where you pretty much crashed and fell asleep.
“We’re back!” You knew that beautiful Australian accent anywhere. You slowly woke up, your head nuzzled into Applejack’s shoulders as her arms were wrapped around you. As you heard you mom walk in, she gasped. “Oh… Oh…” You dozily saw your mother frown a bit as your dad came in.
“What is it?” He then saw you and Applejack together. “Ah, well, it was inevitable.” He then twisted the barrel of his twin lensed camera before flicking the switch to take a picture. “Our boy’s growing up.” That’s when Applejack stirred into consciousness.
“Erm… Applejack… My folks are back.” You said. Applejack slowly took her arms off you and turned around.
“Uuuuh… Guess we took a nap after eating all that jam…” Applejack said as she looked at the empty jar bottle in between them. She then got up as she shook off her tiredness. You did the same thing too.
“You ready to head, kid?” Your dad went over to you and patted you on the back.
“Y-yeah…” You looked over to Applejack and smiled. “… Well…” You knew that you will never see her again. You and your family never tend to visit the same place twice, always going to new locations every time. “I guess this is…” You then held Applejack and nuzzled your head into her shoulders once more. “Goodbye!” You tried to restrain yourself from crying. Eventually, you let go of Applejack and walked away, keeping a glance at her as she just blankly stares at you.
You laid down on the couch when you went back home as your mom petted your hair.
“Are you alright, honey?” She asked.
“N-no… I feel weird. And strange.” That’s when your dad walked in. You got up. “Dad… I think I need to see Dr. M again.”
“Don’t worry.” He plopped the photos he took onto the table. You could see the distorted photos of what appeared to be Applejack’s parents, a beautiful woman with flowing hair that contained a mixture of blues, greens, and pinks, and you and Applejack snuggling. “You’re just in love.” He said.
“L-love?” You coughed up a bit. “Now I really need to see Dr. M.”
“N-no. It’s nothing for you to worry about. There’s going to be a time when you have feelings for somebody. Someone who you want to be close friends with. And… maybe…” She then blushed.
“You mean like you and dad?” You asked. You then raised an eyebrow. “Wait, if I do love Applejack, would that mean I get to go on cool adventures with you two?”
“When you’re older, honey.” Your mom chuckled.
“For now, though, let’s see where we go next…” Your father went over and pulled one of the many chains that connected to the house’s main feature: a large backdrop that seems to randomly generate a new picture each time the chains are pulled. This time, the picture that dropped was a picture of three armies, all arranged in the shapes of fruits. One army being an orange, the other being bananas, and the last being a melon.
“Hmm… Seems Kouta needs our help again.” Your mom said.
You sighed. The fruits you saw were intriguing… but there was one fruit that will never leave your mind:
Apples.
