"AppleJack, I've been running some of the numbers, and I think that you could greatly improve profits for Sweet Apple Acres by buying some tractors and other such modern farm equipment." Twilight Sparkle postulated to her friend as AppleJack finished up her daily chores.
"Nope." AJ said stubbornly sounding very much like her older brother.
Twilight raised an eyebrow.
"Ah just don't trust 'em, Twi." She answered the unspoken question.
Twilight tried again. "I've run these numbers five times and if you invest now in some farming equipment, you could triple your profits just on the orchards that you own right now in the first fiscal year alone! Not only that, you could buy that land to the south of you and add another 30% to your income," she offered.
"Ah said No, Twilight." AJ reiterated as she kicked the apples from another tree. "Ain't gonna happen as long as Ah own a share in this here farm."
Moving On
By: Song
Summary: Twilight always knew AJ was a strong pony- she just never realized that her strength was far more than physical.
A/U; Celestia, I made MYSELF tear up a bit while writing this- and I have no heart!
"You're a savvy business pony AJ- you wouldn't have come this far if you weren't. But I don't understand why you don't do this; the fiasco with Flim and Flam last cider season should be incentive enough! You barely kept up with them even with the rest of our help, and you know as well as I do that it was only because they lowered their standards that you didn't lose the farm."
"No, Twilight. And that's final!" She shouted, putting a hoof down.
The purple mare shrank back unsure of how to deal with her friend in a state like this. And worse- it was her fault! Oh, she never should have told AJ how to run her farm... the Apple's had been doing it for generations! Probably longer than Ponyville had existed, maybe even before Equestia had been founded!
AJ looked to the cowering pony then to the dirt at her hooves. "Ah'm sorry, Twi, fer snappin' It's just... hard, yah'know?"
Twilight met the other mare's eyes- surprised to see them brimming with unshed tears. "AJ..?" Twilight questioned, deep concern in her tone.
The farm pony sighed turning away to buck another tree. With a hard kick three pecks fell into awaiting baskets.
"AJ, talk to me... please."
"Twi, ya know us farm folk are about eight times as likely to die on the job as anypony else?" She asked turning towards the unicorn.
"I- um..." Twilight didn't like were this was going. Not one bit. Though she was tantalized by the new morsel of information- Twilight Sparkle was not sure she wanted to hear the story that accompanied it.
Regardless of her trepidation (or perhaps just disregarding it) AJ began, working all the while.
"Years and years ago, when Ah was just a little filly, before Apple Bloom was even born, the Apples were a strong and thrivin' family. Ma was in the last trimester of her pregnancy- 'bout to burst at the seams, so big she was! Little AB was a kickin' 'n makin' a break for freedom. Ma was unable to work, buckin' trees an' what not- Big Mac wasn't so big yet and Granny Smith wasn't as young as she used to be. Ah was barely learnin' to buck, 'n Ah certainly couldn't do a day's work- or even a few hours of it yet. My pa, though a big strappin' stallion, was still just one pony- 'n at that time, those south fields you were talkin' 'bout were filled with big, beautiful, healthy trees." After the apples fell into the baskets she loaded them into a cart before placing them below the next tree. "My pa got an idea- after the filly was born, it was goin' ta be a hard season, three foals and a whole farm. His work was cut out for him. We knew it wasn' gonna be an easy birthin' neither- Ma was gettin' older, not as strong as she used to be. My little brother, Apple Bruiser- died jus' a few hours after he came inta the world. "
Twilight's jaw dropped. AJ had- once had- a little brother?
"We buried him 'tween Apple Turnover- My pa's sister who died a polio not a month after she gained her cutie mark, an' Grandpa Strudel, who got pneumonia." AJ stated bucking another bushel into awaiting baskets.
"Ma was never quite the same after that," she remarks ignoring her friend's astonishment, "'n they knew this was their last chance at the decent sized family they had always wanted. She was gettin' up in her years and it wouldn' be all that' safe to foal again. AB was pushin it comin' when she did. My brother 'n Ah did what we could, but two younglings jus' don' measure up to a fully grown mare or stallion.
"That was the first mistake; thinkin' we could do it on our own. We shoulda just highered a farm hoof- but the Apples are a prideful bunch." The apples were thrown into the cart and the process began anew.
"Pa had an' idea- he was goin' ta invest in some fancy-shmancy farm equipment. Filthy Rich still owed my pa a favor, so he called it in and had Mr. Rich bargain some brand spankin' new equipment for us!
"It was fantastic. He was gettin' all th' work done in half th' time, leaving him to spend time with us and prepare for the new baby. We didn't have much, but that didn't stop pa from making the most of what we had. Yah should have seen it. He had a whole room all fixed up fer her- a hoof carved 'n built crib a'waitin' her arrival 'n everythin'.
"An' things were great- fer a while. It was a sunny day tha' it happened, Pa didn' come in fer supper like he always did. We were havin' split pea soup that' night- his favorite. So when he didn' come, we all knew somethin' was wrong."
"Ma was too with foal to go out an search proper, so it was just Granny Smith, Mac, 'n me. We went around the farm, each of us chekin' different places. Mac 'n Ah took the fields, and Granny the cellars, barns 'n outhouse. Mac took off ta the north 'n east orchards, leavin' me with the south 'n west ones.
"Ah was the one that found him. The tractor flipped an' he was pinned under the cab, halfway out the window like he was a'tryin' ta escape.
"There wasn' no blood or nothin', but yah could tell it was bad. Ah tried ta kick the tractor off o' him, bu' it was a real monster of a machine. Ah don' even think Mac, as strong as he is now coulda turned it over an' saved pa. " By this point in the tale AJ had stopped transferring the produce to the cart, simply staring blankly into her reflection in a particularly shiny red fruit.
"He beckoned me over an' 'Jackie' - tha's what he called me- 'Jackie,' he says real soft so I have to get up close ta hear him, 'Tried an' true, Apple Jack, tha's what Ah love 'bout you.'"
"Pa laughed a bit then. But it wasn't the deep bellied laugh he used ta laugh when I bested Mac in a tousle on the grass. It was weak an' breathy, kinda high too like he was tryin' not ta cry."
"Fer me that was a real eye opener. Ah'd never seen Pa cry a day in my whole life... not even when little Bruiser died.... tha's the first time Ah remember bein' scared. Real scared. Ah mean, Ah knew farm accidents happened, but knowin' an' seein' are two different thin's all together." She threw the apple down a little too hard.
"An' then he says 'Tell your ma Ah'm sorry.'"
"Ah told him Ah was gonna go get the rest o' the family, 'n we were gonna try an' get that tractor off o' him- but he just shook his head."
"Ah was cryin' by then o' course." she added after a brief pause. "Pa was a big ol' softie behind the rough 'n tumble farmer. With his one free arm he motioned fer me ta sit down' next ta him an' then he hugged me an' told me that' 'it was gonna be all right'." Apple Jack looked at the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dirt and watching it settle.
Twilight the ever erudite pony that she was, feared she knew how this story ended.
"Pa smiled then- a big, bright smile like the summer had come again, then his eyes glazed over like he wasn' really seein' me no more." At this point Twilight would have corrected her, but after everything that had happened today she thought better of it. "Ah tried again ta get the tractor offa 'im, but it was too late.
"He was gone." A tear slipped from her eye to the dirt beneath her hooves.
"Ah don't remember much after that. Just ma cryin', 'n Granny Smith keepin' me inside while some o' the townsfolk were rounded up ta remove the-the body." AJ closed her leaf green eyes, inhaling deeply and gathering her wits.
"Ma was devastated." AppleJack began again, starting to move the fruit like she was trying to think about the task at hoof rather than her past. "She just 'bout stopped eatin'- an' what she did eat was only because Granny insisted. Said pa would never forgive her if she let the baby died an' she coulda done somethin' about it. Apple Bloom came inta the world 'bout a week later. T'was a solemn affair, with pa gone and ma... ma got real sick. She suckled AB fer a few days, all the while gettin' sicker. We tried everythin' ta make her better."
"One mornin' she jus'... didn' wake up. She jus' lost the will ta live. She wasn' quite right in the head though, after Bruiser- an' with pa gone... 'tween that an' the infection, Ah don' think she felt she had anythin' left ta live fer. Not even her children."
"Ah think i'twas hardest on Mac-" she continued, changing the subject "here he was, jus' barely a stallion an' suddenly he had a whole family ta care fer. Granny did what she could obviously, an' that helped a lot- kept us afloat through that' year actually. Ah did wha' Ah could, bu' I' wasn' enough. That' ol' lot out there ta the south- the one yah were a talkin' 'bout? It used to be filled with big, beautiful apple trees. After Pa died, we had ta sell. Couldn' afford the' tax on it no more. We barely kept what we have now- an' that' was with takin' out a loan from Filthy Rich. Our savings were used buyin' the machinery that killed 'im. Anythin' that was left was spent on medical quackery a tryin' ta keep ma alive." As AppleJack spoke the volume dwindled to near nothing leaving Twilight straining to hear.
"The followin' spring Ah left fer Manehatten." She admitted finally.
"Oh," was all Twilight could really say. "Oh," she repeated dumbly. "I.... AJ... I never knew. I'd say I'm sorry, but that's just another meaningless platitude... words can't-"
"It's the past," AppleJack interrupted. "Sometimes all yah can do is ta accept it, an' move on."
Fin
