Apples Are Good For The Soul
Some days are hard.
Pear Butter knew this, going through Ponyville market one morning. It was a sunny day, warm and inviting to get out of the house. Her and Bright Mac had been keeping awful busy with making ends meet after they got married. Sure, they had a little money kept aside for emergencies, and sure, they had neighbors who looked out for them. But some days were still hard. You’d wake up, grumble out of bed and try your best to make a smile for your little ones despite yearning for more sleep and less noise. The sun would shine through the turned blinds and you’d almost - almost - consider cursing it. But no good household throws a curse at a deity’s star, no ma’am.
Today’s quest through the market was one she chose to take on without Bright Mac to accompany her. He didn’t need to come every time; he just always liked getting to spend time with her. Pear had always heard tall tales and whispered gossip how sometimes love could dwindle after a marriage. Bright Mac must’ve never heard those tales, because he just seemed to cherish her even more if possible. Always a smile when she caught his eye, even if he was exhausted from tending to the humble fields near the home. She’d be sitting on the porch or reading to the little ones, and there he’d be, a hoof on her shoulder or on her free hoof to hold it. An ever-persistent reminder of his support for her.
Celestia above, did she love him.
Applejack would’ve been a delight to bring with her, but the little blonde gal was smack dab in the middle of filly school. It’d been a blessing to get approval and a payment plan to work out for AJ to attend classes; whether that was due to mercy from the school board, an unspoken understanding of their tough situation, or just good fortune, Pear Butter was delighted to have the chance to put her daughter in school. AJ was so excited: that big toothed grin of hers made her freckles stand out as she leapt around the living room floor. Some of the shelves bounced a little with her excitement.
The earth pony shook her head, orange curly mane bouncing at the humorous idea of AJ telling her classmates all about the apples back home. Heavens above, could that child go on. When she would learn about apple-bucking and the family trade, she’d make a heck of a farmer hopefully. Who knows? She might inherit a cutie mark like Bright Mac’s, though red might be more her color than green.
Her thoughts came to a stop near one of the stands selling carrots. The stallion standing there, one Big Harvest, gave a polite smile at her as she approached. “Mornin’ there, missy! Come on up. How you been?”
“Could’ve done with a little more sleeping in, but that can’t be helped none on a good day like today. Princess Celestia’s sun sure don’t stop for anything, so I guess I won’t either!” She replied, earning a chuckle from the brown-haired stallion. “We’re needing a few extra carrots for home though, our own bunch are growing alright but they need more time.”
“Now did ya’ll turn the soil like I suggested to Mac?” He questioned while bringing up a bushel of carrots to give to her.
“We did. Three times over, like you said. It took us a day to do it, but I think it’s working. And they get plenty of good light and watering too. Little AJ sometimes overdoes it, but the filly can’t hold the bucket well just yet.”
“Ha! That little Apple of yours. If my kids had half her enthusiasm, I’d be off fishing at the river!” Harvest said. “Here, lemme go get a fresh bunch. I’ve been sellin’ well today.” She nodded and let her eyes wander the inside of the stall. It wasn’t too much to show for it, being just a spot to get carrots from, but it was the little things that showed themselves. Pear noticed, for one thing, some of the wood on the roof was newer than the rest. There’d been some kind of delivery accident with some pegasi a few weeks ago, and a piano plumb fell through the roof and into the ground. Nopony was hurt, but it did make Harvest wear a hat for a good few weeks to keep the sun off his head.
“‘Scuse me.”
A gruff male voice came from her left, making Pear look aside. A yellow-coated stallion was there, no doubt likely also looking to get some carrots. Her eyes moved up to his mane.
Brownish orange hair. A spot of silvery white in the middle of it.
Her heart clenched and she dared a look at the stallion’s face. Green eyes glanced back at her and blinked.
“You ok, miss?”
Pear took a minute to get her bearings. He was awful close looking like him. Almost down to the eyes. “Yes. Sorry, I’m still waking up a bit. Must’ve had a parasprite in my head.” Pear was quick to get out.
“Oh, you’re alright. Hey, Harvest!” The stallion called out to the returning stallion, and Pear took a step to the right to let them talk and to put her focus elsewhere. Anywhere else but him. It wasn't him, but it was close enough to make her spooked worse than last Nightmare Night. He wasn’t a nightmare in the back of her mind, no sir. Just...familiar enough. Just enough.
“Go on now, Briar, leave some for the rest of us! Here you go Pear, I had to dig them up and...Pear? Hun?”
“Huh?” The orange-maned mare whipped her head away from watching the younger, wider, and definitely not a Pear stallion walking away to Harvest. The carrot farmer looked a touch concerned, and she shook her head. “I was miles away, Harvest, I’m sorry. I’ll go on and take what you got there. Lemme see, that’s...eight bits? Nine?”
“Only six needed Pear, really.” He replied, but she felt his look as she tucked the carrots into the worn saddlebag she’d brought with her. It was a hand-me-down, but it still held well enough for the load. “Pear? You sure you ok?”
“Yes, why?”
“You look like you saw a ghost there.”
Pear chanced a glance down the lane, where Briar had vanished amongst the other wandering ponies going here and there and everywhere. Other vendors were calling out to try and get more customers. She just took a slow, deep breath.
“For a minute, maybe I did.”
The walk back home was silent, not unusual for Pear given that their home was a little out of ways from the town proper. The Apples had been welcoming enough to help them put together a good little home for the newlyweds. Granny Smith had offered her own abode that Bright Mac had grown up in himself, but they’d both refused. It wouldn’t be right to make her put up with them, and it was more proper to the newlyweds to have their own space for themselves.
Y’know. For reasons.
It wasn’t too much impressive, but it didn’t need to be. The oak wood home had a little front porch with a swing swaying in the wind as Pear Butter came up the front steps and into the house proper. Hoofsteps tapped on solid wood floors and sank into the square bit of carpet one could call a rug to make it a little more comforting. The carrots were placed on the kitchen counter, and Pear Butter, for a moment, considered leaving them there to sort herself. But that wouldn’t be right of her; Mac was out with, well Little Mac (he can call himself Big when he’s as big as his daddy), and they’d be hungry by the time they’d all make it in. So with a little digging in the cupboards and some quickly strapped on cutlery, Pear set about chopping some of the acquired carrots up.
You’d reckon it wouldn’t take much focus to do carrot cutting, but in some regards it does. You’re cutting for more than just yourself, you’re doing it for a family. Some of them like the big pieces for a bigger portion. Some of them like them small, because all their teeth are still growing and chewing those big ones up is exhausting. So Pear took her time, and trimmed each of the carrots as she needed to. One for her. One for Bright Mac. One for AJ. One for Big Mac. It was a practiced motion, one you can do and let your mind wander.
“You’re choosin’ to be an Apple over a Pear?!”
THUNK
Pear Butter jolted and looked down. The carrot she’d been chopping, one for Big Mac, had rolled out of position and she ended up cutting the whole thing clear down the middle. It was one hefty chop, but she’d always had a strong set of hooves on her. He’d always told her that. He would say it all the time, when she was...chopping pears…
She stopped. The kitchen knife was carefully undone, and set aside by the sink. The freshly cut pieces of vegetable could stay where they were. They didn’t have anywhere to go for now, not till dinner time. Pear’s hooves led her to the couch in the living room, and she sat there. The house was empty. A breeze outside carried just enough heft to make some of the roof creak, and the house leaned with it just a smidge before settling. It was the kind of creak an old-fashioned home would make. It was louder with only her to hear it than with everypony else around.
What would he think, she wondered, if he saw her now? Two children, a home of her own, making ends meet how they can? If it weren’t an Apple, if none of that mattered. Would he approve of her trying to make it work? It’s how he’d done it. He came to Ponyville for the family’s sake, but he’d left it because...because of her.
A wet feeling tickled at the corner of her eye, and Pear Butter looked up to see the small family portrait sitting on top of a nearby shelf. They’d had it made back right after AJ’d been born, still swaddled and in Pear’s hooves while Bright Mac carried little Big Mac on his shoulders. They were a family. An Apple family.
The front door opened so quick, Pear Butter hardly had a second to react as a running blur of orange and blonde burst in. “Yeehaw!” The tiny whoop filled the room and all through the house as Applejack came to a rolling stop, her saddlebag coming off her too small shoulder and falling to the floor as she got up, laughing.
“A-AJ? Honey, you’re home early!” Pear declared.
“I sure am, momma!” the filly replied, “We got out early today on account of Mister Crap-er, I mean Crop forgot to bring our homework today. So we got a free day!”
Pear Butter, still a little dazed from her thoughts, just nodded. “Well sweetie, I’m glad you got an easy day. I’m surprised you came home though, don’t you wanna go visit your friends?”
“Oh I did! But I can play with ‘em later. I made somethin’ in class!” AJ’s words always had a funny way of rolling off a little odd. It came with the territory of growing up, and her and Mac’s countryisms probably didn’t set the best example of dialect like city folk showed. But it did nothing to stop the orange mare from diving for her saddlebag, pulling out some papers and crayons. She laid them on the nearby coffee table, and Pear felt her muzzle curl into a smile as she watched her daughter go.
“See, we had free time today. And a lotta ‘em were drawin’. And they said “AJ you should draw too!’ and I said ‘sure I could!’. But they told me not ta draw a buncha apples like before. What’s wrong with apples? Apples are good for ponies!” She said. “So I said well fine! I like other stuff too! And so I showed ‘em!”
There was a ruffle of papers as AJ tried to grab them all and bring them onto the table. The couple extra crayons that got caught up in the flurry rolled off and to the floor, but Pear was more intent on watching her daughter. AJ had to smooth a couple of them out with her tiny hooves, tongue poking out the corner of her lips in focus as she tried to make it as presentable as possible. When she was done, only then did Pear Butter lean forward to inspect the artistic stylings of her youngest.
“Is this...our home?” She asked the filly.
“Uh-huh!” AJ exclaimed. “See, cuz there’s some of the apple trees,” she gestured at the brownish blocks topped with green circles and red dots mixed into the green, “and there’s the house, and you and daddy are on the po...pou...outside,” her hoof moved to the two larger ponies whose front ends were indeed on the porch and over it. The way AJ drew it, the ponies she guessed were her and Bright Mac were leaping from the porch to the trees in a single bound. The idea made the corners of Pear’s lips curl upwards, “and then here’s me and Mac!”
“Now honey, you know Mac’s bigger than you, right?” Pear teased, making AJ pout.
“I know that! But ah might get as big as him one day! If I keep eating my veggies!”
Pear chuckled and pointed at the next one. “Is this you going to school?”
The picture seemed to show AJ on her way to the schoolhouse, the building a basic square of red with a brown triangle on top of it. There was some faded yellow coloring as a blob on top of the schoolhouse, but Pear could guess it was an attempt at the school bell that rang at the start and end of the day. Several other ponies were dotted along the grass and path leading to the schoolyard; they were all facing the same way and had the same smiles, if different colors to them.
“I tried to get everypony in there but ah ran out of paper.” AJ told her. “See there’s Daddy over here!” She pointed at the bigger pony on the left side of the picture. Pear refrained from snorting; her husband and AJ’s father was the size of the schoolhouse, with the biggest smile she’d seen yet. She could give AJ one credit there: Bright Mac always had the biggest smile when he saw his daughter and her. You could hardly have a rainy day with him being so warm. “Oh! I made one for you too!”
Pear watched as AJ flipped through the other papers: depictions of the sky, more apple trees, a white unicorn with a big shiny stone hovering above her, before she finally stopped and held up her goal in her little hooves for Pear to see. AJ bounced in her spot, but Pear paid it no mind as she took the picture into her own hooves. It was a simple enough picture, one of her and AJ. This time, Pear was the giant pony looking down at AJ, her forelegs extended out as she seemed to hold the little filly. Hearts dotted all around the picture, and the blue eyed mare and the green eyed filly were both smiling wide.
Something in Pear’s heart felt tugged, and it took a minute to find her voice. “W-what’s this, baby?”
“Why that’s you an’ me Mommy!” AJ clambered onto the sofa and wiggled her way under Pear’s foreleg to rest against her side, her forehoof pointing at the picture. “See, there’s me, and that’s mummy an um...an she’s saying ‘I love you Applejack’ because I love you too!”
Pear’s heart swelled and she bit her lip to stifle the small sob that threatened to escape her.
“And lotsa hearts. Cuz lotsa hearts means lotsa love!”
You’re choosin’ to be an Apple over a Pear?! The words were distant, a hissed whisper in the wind of her mind.
“Some ponies said they look like apples. Well, ain’t apples good fer hearts? Daddy says they are. So mommy gets lots of hearts from me!”
Pear let her shaking hoof set the picture down, and embraced the little filly beside her tight with both forelegs. It was easy to pluck up the young child, small as she was, but she cradled her like the most important treasure of her life. She held her tight, and nuzzled the top of her head even as little teardrops fell atop her blonde mane.
“Momma? Why you cryin’ momma?”
“Mommy just loves you so much, honey. Mommy wants you to always know that. No matter what.”
“I love you too, mommy!”
AJ’s return hug wasn’t as strong as Pear’s grip but the orange-maned mare welcomed it all the same. She stayed put like that for several seconds before releasing AJ finally. A sigh of air from the matriarch’s lungs seemed to blow away the weight that had been sitting on her heart. Looking to Applejack, Pear Butter could only smile as AJ looked at her expectantly, smiling that wide toothy grin of hers.
“C’mon AJ. You think you can help momma in the kitchen to get dinner ready for tonight before you go out?”
“Ah sure can, momma!” Her little hooves scampered on the floor as she made for the kitchen, and Pear followed, the smile fixed on her lips as she spared the framed photo of her family on the nearby stand a look.
Yes. She was an Apple. And she’d still choose it every time. For Bright Mac. For little Big Mac.
And for her dearest Applejack.
Author's Note
I wanted to put some good vibes out there. It's nice to have positive thoughts when the world outside might make you feel gloomy, you know? Thank you for reading!
