I smiled as I looked over at my husband, fast asleep with our newest child curled up against his barrel. They were both fast asleep and little Applejack was scuffling her hooves against the floor as though running in her dreams. Even though she was our second child, the sense of wonder that we had somehow made this little bit of fluff and mischief.
I turned back to the paper on my desk, picking up the pencil again.
My dearest Applejack,
I write this letter as I look at you nestled against your father. You are barely past your second birthday, and I feel it is time to set down on paper what is going to be a…well, I’m not sure what it will be.
You are my daughter, and from the start I wish to apologize. I’m going to make mistakes, I’m going to not know the answers that you’re going to look for as you grow up. Even though you have an older brother, I’m still learning. I’m always going to be learning. I hope that I do right by you.
Things have not been easy for your father and I, from the very first day we met. We were from two very different families, so most of our relationship was done in secret to keep our parents from finding out. We actually didn’t come out until after we were married, and for the help of that I have to give so many thanks to Mayor Mare and Chiffon Swirl (though you may get to know her as Mrs. Cake now) for their help in that little task.
I have trouble thinking on how my father acted that day, and I hope that when you open this you have been able to meet him. You deserve to know both of your grandparents. I love him, and I know deep down inside he still loves me. But I had to choose, and Bright Mac was the pony I loved and I couldn’t leave him.
I don’t know how to explain why your grandparents fought all the time, and even after getting married I never got to the bottom of it. We may never know.
But, for all of this, know that I love you, my little blossom. I will go to the moon and back for you and your brother, and so will your father.
I write this so that we can look back on this when you’re older and laugh at my silly little worries. Be laughing at the mistakes I made and maybe relive a few happy little moments. Hopefully there will be more of the second than the first.
Love,
Mom.
I folded the letter and tucked it away in an envelope and set it to the side when Applejack stirred and yawned.
“Ah dun wanna eat the roots, Macintosh,” she slurred. “They get stuck in my teeth.”
I smiled, her sleepy murmurs slacking off as she scooted closer to her father. I stood and went to join them on the bed, laying nose to nose with my Bright Mac and feeling the gentle breathing of my little girl.
“Ah know they’re up here somewhere, Apple Bloom,” I called back down as I nudged a few boxes around in the attic as I stepped to the side of the ladder. “ Granny said she remembered seeing them near the Hearth’s Warming decorations.”
As my sister and I poked around boxes to find the photo albums in preparation of the upcoming Family Reunion, I saw a lot of things that brought memories to the mind. I even found the dress I had worn during that mess over Trenderhoof. I found the albums just underneath, resting on top of a cedar chest filled with old quilts.
“Hey, AJ?” Apple Bloom called. “There’s a letter here for you.”
I frowned and turned to see my little sister holding a faded and yellowed envelope. “For me?” I asked as I went over. “Has to be an old one if it’s up here.”
“It isn’t open,” she said, holding it out.
I took it and sat down, tearing the envelope flap slowly. As I unfolded the letter within and read the first few lines, I felt tears well up in my eyes.
“It’s from Mom,” I whispered.
“What?” AB asked, coming around to read the letter over my shoulder.
“Where’d you find this?” I asked, looking around while blinking a tear away.
When she indicated the box she had moved, I opened it and dug through, finding two more envelopes addressed to both Mac and Apple Bloom in the same script.
“What’s takin’ you youngins so long?” Granny called out from below. “It don’t take long to find a book.”
I picked up the letters and tucked them inside the front cover of the top album and headed back downstairs. Granny wandered back over and took the albums from us, then saw the letters sticking out.
“What are these?” she asked before seeing the names written on them, and her eyes widened.
“Land’s sake,” she whispered. “Ah forgot about these.”
“Why’d Mom write us letters when we were foals anyway?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Ah did the same with your pa,” the elderly mare said. “Wrote him so that even if Ah weren’t around he’d be able to know how Ah felt and how worried Ah was when he was born.” She ran her hoof over the yellowed paper. “Ah guess she thought the same way. Having foals is a scary prospect, and it changes your life forever.”
She looked at me with a glint in her bleary eyes. “Something you might find out soon if you and that Pegasus ever settle on a date.”
I felt heat rush over my cheeks as she made the suggestion. I had barely even made it official that Dash and I were an item. Rarity was likely still squealing in joy from when we told the rest of the girls.
“Ah don’t know if that’s in the cards right now, Granny,” I said, trying to force the blush off my face.
“It happens when it happens, Applejack,” she said as she laid the photo album on the table and opened it up. “And usually when you least expect it.”
