Money Is Everything

The morning came and went.
The bulky pegasus and I hopped onto a train and went straight to Appleloosa.

The bulky pegasus spoke to me as he looked out the train window, the landscape passing by.

"You know, it turns out that on her father's side, my sister is Granny Smith's third cousin three times removed. Which means she's an official member of the Apple Family."

After a moment of thinking, I finally responded to him. "No, I didn't. I never knew you two didn't have the same father either, but then again that would explain the wings."

The pegasus chuckled and looked at me. "Oh, you think so?"

The sarcasm in his voice spoke enough volumes to let me know it was safe to ease up a little.

"How long have you two known that she's a member of the Apple Family?" I wanted to keep this conversation going, and learn a bit more about their family relations.

"I'd say only a few months. We found out at the same time, two days before I left for 'vacation.'"

I simply nodded as a response.

It was a long, long, train ride to Appaloosa. We had taken turns sleeping alternately for the first day and a half, then upon the second day we waited for the other to fall asleep first. For a good eighteen hours we were up, until we both crashed like a brick thrown into a pond, that is. We didn't wake until the train had jerked upon stopping.

Once we stepped out of the train, with no luggage, we were able to pick up on the fact that it was about mid-afternoon and the sun was directly overhead in the sky.

"Hey, Cross."

The pegasus looked over at me, with that same worrying grin- leaving me completely unsure as to what might come out of his mouth next.

"Beat you there."

Just like two foals on the school playground, we busted into a sprint without a thought for anything but winning.

The ponies walking around in the small town were in the middle of our 'obstacle course,' and we didn't really care. I had slid right under a carriage full of apples being drawn by a pony, just barely missing my head on a back wheel.

The pegasus had practically barraged through a stand of fruits-
Well, barraged is a bit of an exaggeration. He 'vaulted' over the fruit stand, only ruining about half of the produce.
Nonetheless, we still were at a break-neck tie when we reached the end of the line of buildings in the town. Now we just had to go for a good quarter mile to the houses in the distance slightly to our left.

The houses around this town, from what I gathered since my first visit, were just built in one direction from the town. Like a little community or a suburb. Lucky for us, the house we were racing to was the furthest away from the town and the furthest back of the houses currently built.

Being afternoon most of the houses were empty, as ponies were either working or were on lunch break.
This made our race that much easier, as we didn't have to worry about bumping into anypony. So we just put all of our strength and focus into our goal. We made it all the way to the gate around our destination and vaulted over it. The first pony to touch the ground was to be the winner, and lucky for us, we both lost momentum upon vaulting and fell on our sides and stomachs.

We groaned and rolled for a moment before shakily standing up, laughing as we got to our hooves.
At least we were laughing, until the bulky pegasus' stepfather came outside.

"What in Tartarus are you two doin' here!?"
The stepfather looked like he hadn't bathed in two days. His mane was short and mangled, his overalls were stained with sweat, and his eyes were slightly groggy- yet all the same still piercing.

That was when I remembered he had a tendency to get drunk. The bastard stumbled forward, keeping a slight glare on us.

"This is Rose' coltfriend, and I'm your-"
The pegasus was interrupted by the drunkard, who staggered towards us with an angry look in his eye.

"I knows who- who you is. I don' want'cha around. So big and fancy for a vacation that' you left us ta' do the work!"

The pegasus moved and let the drunkard fall over as he advanced, and then we both made our way over and inside the house. The whole place was spotless- all of it. The shelves and counters were dusted, pictures were straightened, furniture was rearranged- it was almost as if a remodeling crew had come in.

We walked through the living room and stepped into the kitchen, hearing running water and the sound of dishes being moved. The moment we turned to face the direction of the noise in the kitchen, I was hit full force with a strong hug and the sound of a plate shattering against the floor, which echoed through the house. Rose was in my arms, where she belonged, and this time it was obvious that she wanted nothing more than to be far from this place.

"Are you okay, he hasn't laid a hoof on you has he?" I began to question without even fully realizing I was consciously doing it.

Rose lifted off of me a little and shook her head up at me with tears in her eyes. "No, but he's not been kind. I'm sure you know that he's been makin' threats.."

The bulky pegasus- Rose' brother, looked like he was growing more angry by the second. "Why don't I just go out there and beat that poor bastard's head in? After all that work to stay sober!?" He was beginning to slightly show veins, he was so angry.

"Because you don't want to go to prison on your first day back from vacation," I reminded him, comforting Rose.
"Besides, won't alcoholism kill him within four years anyways?"

"That's not the point." The pegasus closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.
"You know, you're right. Fuck 'em, I'll let him run his self into the dirt. But for now, let's just focus on getting you out of this shithole."

With that, she broke from my embrace and gathered things together in a bag, not needing to be told twice by her older brother. Once everything was in order, the three of us walked out of the building and got the Sheriff to arrest the drunkard who was still struggling to get up from his fall in the front yard.

The incoherent pony mumbled as he was led off, and the three of us went to the local saloon for a snack and something to drink.

"I'm sure that my brother told ya' about my new found family line while you two met up on the train?"
Rose looked over to me with a glass of water in one hoof, resting it on the bar counter.

I nodded at her with a slight smile, letting my glass of cider sit idle out my hoof while we talked. "Indeed he did, I can't say I'm wholly surprised, but it did make some some things more clear."

She offered me a small smile. "I was hoping we could go to Ponyville so I can meet them properly. I don't want to live around here anymore, either.. So maybe I could move there too- once I get enough money built up."

She sounded so innocent, like a pony who just got their cutie mark and was figuring out how to go about the rest of their life with their new found talent.

I took a glance to my left at her brother, then looked back to her. "I think I can help with that. Ponyville isn't too high on house prices."

Her eyes widened a little in excitement.
"I don't- are, are you sure?" Those eyes suddenly changed to unsureness.

"Sure I am, it sounds like a great place to be, and maybe to start a family one day."
I smiled softly and turned to my drink, downing the glass of apple cider without taking my maw off it.

When I turned to look back at Rose, she turned her head away from me a little with a light blush on her face. "Well.." She seemed to be thinking it over.

"Okay, Ponyville it is." Rose spoke decisively, with a smile on her face.

"Then it's settled." I grinned and payed for my tab, once the bulky pegasus finished up his conversation with the bartender.

"You ready, big guy?" I asked him as if we were truly good friends.

Instead of responding in the same way, he just shrugged and said, "If you're done here, then sure."

So we all got up from the bar counter, and went over to the train station. It was there that we paid for three tickets to Ponyville, and waited until the next afternoon.

When the train arrived the three of us hesitantly got on, prepared for the day and a half long trip, though not exactly looking forward to spending so much time on a train. But hey, what can you do. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow, and accept what you can get.

The train ride began almost as soon as it was loaded. This time since there were three of us, we sat in the section where the seating was more like a cubicle. Rose and I sat side by side, with her brother across from us.

We didn't really talk too much about anything important for the first eight hours, just casual chat about the scenery, mostly.

The next eight brought about more conversation. We had talked about the train cart attendant and the food that was offered, as well as how our family's would cook breakfast or what they'd eat for breakfast- and who might have done it better than the other. But it was once again mostly another uneventful day.
But then the morning came, and I woke up with Rose resting against me.

Her brother was already up and was staring out the window until he saw me stir.

I expected a threat, or a smartflank remark.. An eye roll, maybe.
But instead he just smiled slightly at me and shrugged. I didn't like how suddenly he changed attitude about it- then again it does seem like he acts nicer around Rose, so it kind of made sense.

Glancing down to my right at Rose, I carefully withdrew a hoof and rested it around her. Luckily she just snuggled up more and I smiled. Upon looking out the window, it was apparent that it was roughly noon.

After a few minutes Rose stirred lightly and sat up slightly to look at me, before leaning against me again.
"What time is it..?" She asked with a small yawn.

"Now, it's a few minutes past noon."
I answered her, but continued to watch the scenery pass by.

"Oh. Well that's good, only an hour or two longer."

I could feel her tense up a little bit under my arm.

"Do you think that they'll like me?" She asked in a soft and unsure voice. If I could guess, I'd say the look on her face was concerned, maybe even uneasy.

"They've never even seen you before. I think that they'll be pretty excited to meet you."

She nodded a little bit and eased up some. "But do you think they'll like me..?"

"I think they will. I mean, I like you, so why not."

She sighed and sat up to kiss my cheek.
"Thanks," Rose whispered with a small smile and closed her eyes, resting her head against my neck; I'm not gonna lie, her burgundy mane tickled at first.

An hour later, we were at Ponyville. I gently rubbed my hoof up and down against Rose's shoulder to let her know that we were there.

She got up and looked at me with a sleepy yet joyous smile. Her eyes twinkled with excitement as they quickly took their gaze off of my face, and were focused towards the window. It was beautiful, and I knew that it was going to be a fun day.

So we got off the train after Rose grabbed her luggage, and immediately made our way to Sweet Apple Acres. It was easy to find after we asked somepony in the market, who pointed us in the right direction.

We all made our way there with feelings of excitement, happiness, curiosity, and wonder. When we walked through the gate, a certain orange mare with a stetson called out to her brother, who was back at the barn behind her. "Hey Big Mac, we've got custom-"

She pauses and looks at the luggage, speaking at a normal volume now.

"Ah' mean.. visitors?"