Dear Diary,

I probably would’ve written this entry much sooner, but I’ve been busier than a moth in a mitten since COVIB-19 was declared an official pandemic. At first, I thought me and the rest of the Apples would get through it as long as we were together, but now that I’ve been stuck at the farm with them all day every day, with no breaks, for six long days, they’re starting to drive me a little crazy.

You see, we’ve been trying real hard to follow the new health regulations, since we could get shut down if we don’t. Well, at least I’ve been trying to follow them. The others said they were gonna be cautious too, but they haven’t given it even a lick of effort!

It all started with Granny. Everypony was doing their best to social distance, and then on the second day, Granny decided that since she couldn’t go and play bingo with The Golden Horseshoe Gals, like she usually does on Sundays, she was gonna improvise, and do something more pandemic-approved with them. I thought that it was a great idea! That is, until I saw Granny, and all of The Golden Horseshoe Gals swimming in the stream that runs through Sweet Apple Acres. There were no masks or disposable shoes, and there was a heck of a lot less than six feet between them.

“What do you think you’re doing, Granny?! I thought you were doing something pandemic-friendly with the girls!” Granny just looked at me like I was crazier than a chicken in a crib.

“Of course! As if I’d ever put the business in jeopardy! I said I wouldn’t leave the property, and I haven’t. We’re not in public, so we’ll be fine as a frog-hair.” The rest of the group nodded in agreement. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was at a loss for words. My face turned red with frustration.

“But you...! Did you really…? Why in Equestria would you think...?!” I mumbled.

“Sweetheart, are you alright?” Auntie Applesauce asked while doing a sidestroke through the stream.

“Don’t worry about her. She’s just having one of her fits,” Granny answered before I could say anything.

“Granny!” I yelled.

“Fillies,” Granny said as she and the others nodded their heads in understanding. I almost countered, saying that I’m clearly not a filly seeing as I’m eighteen years old, but I didn’t. I could not deal with that load of baloney, so I went to feed the cows, and pretended like I never saw any of that.

Unfortunately, I was forced to acknowledge it just two days later when I caught Applebloom sneaking off to the Crusader’s Clubhouse in the middle of the night. She had a saddlebag, but no mask or disposable shoes. She was almost to the front door when I found her.

"What in the hay are you doing, Apple Bloom?" I whispered in an effort not to wake anypony up. Apple Bloom stared at me defiantly.

“What do you think I’m doing, Big Sis? I’m sneaking out to the clubhouse to see Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo!” she said in a sassy tone. I still can’t believe my own lil’ sister would talk to me like that! The nerve!

“What in Equestria makes you think that you can get out of quarantine, little lady? We all have to do our part in a crisis like this,” I said. Apple Bloom made an overly dramatic pouty face.

“But Granny did! If she can do it, why can’t I? I saw her swimming through the stream with her friends two days ago, and she said that it was fine since it’s private property! The clubhouse is on our property too! I can’t believe you trust Granny more than me! It ain’t fair!” Apple Bloom whined. I wanted to scream.

“That has nothing to do with it, Apple Bloom!” I said.

“Well then why? Why are you doing this to me?!” Apple Bloom yelled at the top of her lungs. Apparently she had no respect for other ponies sleeping. I groaned. How in the hay was I supposed to explain it?

“Look, you are not leaving, you hear? It just ain’t happening.” To reaffirm my statement, I grabbed her saddlebag and held it up where she couldn’t reach it.

“But why?” Apple Bloom moaned.

“Because I said so! Now go to sleep!” I yelled, entirely giving up on trying to be polite.

“Fine!” she yelled back. Then she stomped all the way back to her room.

Ugh. Granny alone was a pain in the ranny to handle. Did Apple Bloom really have to make it even harder? But, even after that, I worked through it. I was determined not to give up.

By this morning, I was finally starting to get used to keeping Granny and Apple Bloom under control. I wasn’t even lashing out at them anymore! It always helped that I had Big Mac there to help me. He might not talk much, but he was a real help to me with our sister and Granny.

The problem was, about an hour ago, I was walking past the patch of trees that Big Mac was supposed to be bucking, and he wasn’t there. I was worried something terrible had happened to him! Ponies had been acting pretty crazy since all this pandemic business had started up, and I couldn’t bear the thought of my big brother getting caught in the middle of it all.

I searched the entire orchard, but he wasn’t there. Then, I checked his room, but he wasn’t there either. Just when I was about to give up, I remembered to check the silo.

I walked up to the door, and was very surprised to hear music and laughter coming from inside. All I could think was ‘What in the hay? Who would trespass on our farm?’ I never expected what I saw when I opened the door.

There were maskless ponies wearing party hats everywhere, and right in the middle, snuggled up to Sugar Belle, was Big Mac. My shocked expression quickly turned into a seething glare, and somepony turned the music off.

“Uh oh,” Big Mac said. He, Sugar Belle, and everypony else looked terrified.

“Big Mac. Out here. Now,” I said. Big Mac slowly and cautiously walked through the doorway and out of the silo with his eyes to the ground, closing the door behind him and leaving all of the party-goers behind.

I took a deep breath in and then let it out, hoping that it would calm me down enough to have a civilized conversation.

“WHAT IN TARNATION DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!” I was so loud that I’m pretty sure ponies as far as The Crystal Empire could hear me.

“Uh…” was all he said, still staring at the ground like an idiot.

“Quit you’re mumbling and explain yourself!” I demanded. He looked up to meet my gaze, his eyes guilty.

“It’s her birthday.” I stared at him, my face blank.

“Oh. Alrighty then. It’s her birthday, huh? I spend five days straight away from my girlfriend, my best friends, my favorite diner, and the entire world. Oh, and the entire time, I’m trying to keep Apple Bloom and Granny Smith under control so that we don’t lose our family business, but it’s totally fine and dandy because it’s YOUR GIRLFRIEND’S BIRTHDAY?!”

That’s all of the conversation that I’m gonna include in this entry because let’s just say the rest of it got a little messy. And by that, I mean that there were a lot of ‘eeyup’ s, ‘nope’ s, and ‘sorry ‘bout that’ s on Big Mac’s end, and a lot of yelling and kicking people out of the silo on my end.

At least I still have my own sanity to rely on… But I reckon I don’t know how much longer that’ll last. Anyhow, I guess that’s everything I needed to say.

Hopefully I won’t have to write in this again anytime soon,

Applejack

Author's Note

Hey guys! This was the only chapter in this story that I didn't really have an initial idea for when I started writing, but I think it turned out just fine. I hope you liked this chapter, and if you did, please make sure to give it a thumbs up, and feel free to comment with your thoughts!