Author's Note

Hey y'all, so here's my new story, it's gonna be pretty long so bear with me. I actually started writing this over 2 years ago but kept getting side tracked with other shorter stories and well, here we are!

I don't remember where I got this idea for the journal entries but I think it's sorta neat and it's awesome that I don't have to write a bunch of dialogue. I hope you guys like it, I'm gonna try, TRY being the key word, to update at least every two weeks. I've already got two or three other chapters done so now I've just gotta focus on the new chapter I'm starting. Don't quote me on it though.

I'm excited to see where this story goes because I have no idea. I just start stories with no plot in mind and nothing mapped out. Basically I just write shit as it comes along. That's part of the reason I don't like publishing chapters until the story is finished because I'm constantly changing my mind about stuff.

Anyways, hope y'all like it, it's Appledash, so of course you will!

-Dawn

Chapter One

Rainbow Dash sat crisscrossed on the carpeted floor at the foot of Applejack’s bed, while Applejack herself was sleeping peacefully, curled up on her side under an old handmade quilt.

That was all she had done these last few days since she’d been home, sleep.

Rainbow had taken over sitting with her this morning so that Big Mac could get some much needed work done around the farm. Apple Bloom would come home from school later and do her share of the chores too.

The athlete didn’t mind watching her. When her fiancée was unconscious in the hospital, Rainbow didn’t leave her side, only to run to the restroom or down to the cafeteria for food. She didn’t want to miss a moment if she could help it, just in case Applejack’s condition changed.

She picked up the dusty journal she had snagged from Applejack’s nightstand when she was cleaning up. She knew that AJ would be beyond upset if she knew Rainbow was going through her personal belongings, but Rainbow was never good at keeping out of trouble. Besides, Applejack was asleep and there was nothing else to do.

The prismatic girl opened the tattered leather cover and flipped through the first couple of blank pages until she found the first entry. It was dated August 12th 2013. Three short years ago. Applejack had been eighteen.

Monday August 12th, 2013

Dear Journal,

Tomorrow is my last first day of high school. Seniors 2014! I’ve never kept a journal before, but I thought that since this was my last year of school that I’d try to keep track of what happens, for memories and whatnot. I’m not big on all this diary stuff, but Rarity mentioned that it’d be kinda neat to look through this in a few long years and read about all the crazy stuff that went on, so I thought I’d give it a whirl.

Big Mac starts college in a week too. Nothing fancy, just the local community college to take some business classes that might help him run the farm better. I’m real proud of him for signing up. And Apple Bloom’s about to be in eighth grade if you can believe it! Girl is growing up so quick. She’s so smart, too. She told me she wants to take chemistry this year if she can. She’s got a knack for that kinda thing, probably got it from our mama. She loved that sorta stuff.

I still can’t believe this is my last year. Seems like just yesterday I was walking through the door as a freshman. Time sure goes by real quick. I just hope this year goes by smoothly, and that I leave the stage next year surrounded by my best friends and great memories.

I should probably go now, I’ve been watching Big Mac through my window try to lift some lumber that might be too much for him to do without him hurting himself, the big idiot.

-Applejack

Tuesday August 13th, 2013

Dear Journal,

I’m never going back to school. I’ll get my GED and work on the farm for the rest of my days. It’s only the first day back and I’ve already gotten into a fight with some girl with stupid rainbow hair. She roughly shoved past me in Athletics and when I called her out on it, she got in my face and called me a redneck bitch. I wasn’t about to take that, ain’t the way I was raised, so I socked her right in the mouth. I didn’t think she was gonna jump me though. We were rolling around on the track and the coach had to break us up. Took her a good couple minutes since she had underestimated my strength and I had a pretty tight hold on that hussy. She got a couple good licks in but it ain’t nothing compared to what I did to her. Now I’ve got ISS for the next three days and to make it worse, that Skittle look-alike is gonna be in there with me. Not a great way to start my last year.

All that mess aside, school went fine. I like most of my classes, math excluded, and share many of them with my friends. We’ve got senior pictures coming up and Rarity already has plans for prom. I think that it’ll shape up to be a fine senior year if I can move on from this morning.

Gotta go,
Applejack

Friday August 16th, 2013

Dear journal,

Today was my last day of ISS, thankfully. I’ve already had it with that rainbow gal. I had to sit next to her these last three days and she wouldn’t quit bothering me. When the teacher wasn’t looking, she’d pass me notes or flick wet paper wads at me, and it drove me right up the wall. And the notes didn’t even say anything! She just folded up clean sheets of paper and slid them to me, a smirk on her dumb face the whole time.

I hung out with my friends at the library after school and told them about her. Turns out Fluttershy has known her since Kindergarten and they’ve been good friends ever since, keeping in touch after Flutters moved here to Ponyville. Turns out, that girl’s name matches her hair. Rainbow Dash. I can’t believe that Fluttershy is friends with someone like that! She hates bullies and this ‘Rainbow Dash’ is the biggest bully I’ve met so far. Fluttershy told me that she’s gone through a lot and that her tormenting is a defense mechanism, that she‘s actually really nice in private. There ain’t ever an excuse for being mean though. I don’t like her and I sure as sugar don’t trust her.

Mac’s calling me,

Applejack

Tuesday August 20th, 2013

Dear Journal,

It’s only been a week and I’ve already got two tests coming up. So much for this year going by easy. One of them is in Algebra and I’m pretty sure I’m gonna fail the class. I can’t do much more than add and subtract and maybe a bit of multiplication. Math just goes right over my head, no matter how much I study and prepare. Twilight’s a real doll though, she offered to tutor me a couple days a week. It’s real sweet of her to do it. I’ll hafta find some way to repay her… Cider season is coming up, maybe I’ll save her some.

And guess who sits with us at lunch now? That’s right, Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy, bless her heart, invited her to join us because she didn’t have anyone else to sit with. Which was real kind of Fluttershy, but bad for me. I don’t like her. At all. She’s arrogant, loud, and her ego’s so big she can’t see past it. I’m not usually so hateful, but something about that girl just rubs me the wrong way.

Applejack

Friday August 30th, 2013

Dear Journal,

So Pinkie Pie thinks we’re cousins… She found some sort of family tree and at the end of it are some names that sorta look like ‘Pie’, but the paper is old and crinkled and some of the names are smudged so it’s real hard to tell. Big Mac told her he didn’t think so ‘cause we can’t properly see what the names are, so now Pinkie’s on a hunt to find more proof. I don’t rightly care if she if she finds proof or not, we’ve been friends for so long that I already consider her one of the Apple Clan.

And another test tomorrow. I swear these teachers are trying to kill me. Between studying and helping Mac with the farm, I barely have time to eat or sleep! Poor Granny is trying to do her part but she’s got a bad hip and can’t do too much.

And guess what Mac got? A new truck! A huge, red, one ton diesel. And guess who got his old truck? Me! And when I say old, I mean it’s a 2009. So, not that old at all. Just with all of the work and hauling Mac has to do, the V6 wasn’t enough anymore. He had to get something with a lot more power. So now I don’t have to drive that rusty old Ford again, not that it bothered me, I’ve got a lot of good memories of it and we’ll store it ‘till Bloom can drive. But now I’ve got myself a nice black truck, with 4 doors. I’ll be able to have more than one and a half friends in my vehicle at a time which will be nice.

Applejack

Wednesday September 18th, 2013

Dear Journal,

I know it’s been awhile… Apple buck season is here and I ain’t done much else besides go to school and work in the fields. Even with our ranch hands it’s been a doozy. I ain’t seen my friends outside of school for weeks, and I miss them. Usually after we finish the east and south fields, we take a two day break to re-cooperate and such, so I think I’m gonna try to spend some time with them. After I hibernate for a few weeks.

And to add on to all I already have to do, this Friday is the Running of the Leaves. It’s an Athletics thing they do every year to promote good sportsmanship. And there are gonna be prizes for first, second and third place. Not to brag, but I’m one of the fastest girls in class so unless one of the boys beat me, then I know I’m gonna win one. In the locker room yesterday I heard that they gave out water park tickets to the second place winner last year, which ain’t bad at all. I’d love to go to a water park.

Honestly, I think the only girl in class that can beat me is Rainbow Dash. She’s almost as tall as I am, but she’s slimmer, and looks to be built for speed. Probably helps that she’s pretty flat-chested too, but I’ve got more muscle, and more power, so we’re about evenly-matched.

Gotta get to work,

Applejack

Friday September 20th, 2013

Dear Journal,

That cheating, good-for-nothing backbiter, I swear I’m gonna knock all the teeth outta that girl’s face one of these days. So today was the Running of the Leaves and I’ve been waiting for this for a few weeks. I had a real good feeling that I was gonna win. But guess what place I got? Last. All because of Rainbow Dash. She was pushing me and grabbing the back of my t-shirt trying to get ahead of me and at some point she tripped over a rock or something and fell on top of me! By the time we were done fighting and got to the finish line, everyone else had already crossed it!

I talked to the coach about it but she told me that since she didn’t actually see what had happened, she couldn’t do nothing! Biggest load of horseshit if I ever did hear it and I’m so mad I could spit. It ain’t fair she got away with it but she looked pretty mad when she realized that she got last place too. So it seems she got her karma.

I can’t stand that vixen and I’m gonna talk to Fluttershy about making her leave our table at lunch ‘cause I’m done with her and her games. It almost seems like she’s targeting me personally, she’s never as mean with any of the other girls and I wanna know why she’s got it out for me.

I think I’m gonna hit the hay,

Applejack

Wednesday October 23rd, 2013

Dear Journal,

It’s been awhile since I last made an entry, huh? Ain’t much happened, just the same old-same old. School. Work. Friends. Rainbow Dash is still sitting with us at lunch ‘cause Fluttershy refuses to tell her to leave. The little deviant is constantly flipping me off or bumping into me every chance she gets. I wonder if her parents know how she acts. My folks would’a tanned my hide if I ever talked to anyone the way she talks to me.

Speaking of my folks, I’ve been missing them something fierce here lately. It’s already been a year and a half since I lost them, if you believe it. I still cry sometimes after I’ve had a bad day and all I wanna do is talk to mama. She always gave the best advice, and she made the most delicious beef stew you ever tasted. You could come home after having the worst day of your life and she’d fix you up a big bowl of ice cream and take you out on the porch swing to talk about it. Just her smile was enough to make anyone feel better.

And pa was so handy, he could repair anything that needed to be fixed. Just give him a hammer and some nails and he could build you anything you wanted. He was a carpenter on the side and he would let you help him with his projects. He could make all sorts of furniture and cabinets and buildings, he even constructed our barn and horse stalls! Still as sturdy and strong as when they were first built.

I wish they were still here. Sometimes I pray that this was all a bad dream and that when I wake up in the morning, I’ll go downstairs and see mama in the kitchen making pancakes and pa chasing Apple Bloom around the house because she stole his hat.

But, I know they’re watching over me in Heaven and all I can hope is that I’m making them proud.

Applejack

Friday October 25th, 2013

Dear Journal,

So, something odd happened at lunch today. We were talking about some girl that had come out of the closet in one of Rarity’s magazines and Rainbow Dash casually slipped in that she was a lesbian. I’ve never knowingly met a gay person before and it shocked me that she was so open about it. None of our other friends even batted an eyelash! I dunno why the whole gay thing bothers me so much, maybe ‘cause we never really talked about it in my household so it’s something I’m not used to, but I ain’t no homophobe. I don’t rightly care what you put where and with who.

In fact, if I’m being honest, I’ve had a couple of, uh, dreams that involved women instead of men, but boy did I still wake up hotter than a bonfire. I wonder what that means? You can’t really control what you dream about so is it just something my brain is making up or is there more to it? I bet Twilight would know, she’s real knowledgeable about that sort of thing, but I dunno how I’d even approach a subject like that.

I should probably get to bed, tomorrow is Pinkie’s Halloween party and Celestia knows I’m gonna need my strength.

Applejack