Applejack stood there as everything blew past her. The wind, the roaring monster, her friends, her family; everything went by like a hurricane, yet everything was standing still. This was one of the first times in her life that she didn't leap into action. It was like being in a cocoon, but still being able to see out of it.

The squelches of organs popping, the guttural sound of air being forced out of crushed throats, bones cracking and piercing through the skin to meet fresh air; all seared into her brain as if it were branded by a hot iron. Those were ponies she called neighbors, friends, customers; ponies that she saw every day, souls she worked to feed.

Granny Smith was getting old. Hell, she had always been old to Applejack, but never once did she think she would outlive her, or at the very least, it was a fleeting thought that was never fully considered or expanded upon. Her granny was the strongest pony in the world, always living, always getting things done, always around. Immortal in her mind.

The only mother that AJ ever really had, or at least what was left of her, was wrapped up in a snug, warm cloth, a blanket from her youth. A banged-up old toy that you could see the decades of wear in, was placed on top of her. Granny Smith was lowered into the ground. Nothing was said. None of the ponies could cobble together any of their vague emotions and form their feelings into coherent words or sentences. They all stood in silence as the dirt was piled. Applejack was numb, as she stared on.

Somber days trudged along. Applejack stood at the foot of her bedroom window, staring out with static in her mind. The trees swayed emptily, and the wind was hollow. A grimy morning. The house felt empty, like an ancient tomb, or a skeleton that was left to rest for hundreds of years. She felt heavy of heart, and of body. Complicated feelings always weighed more than simple ones. It was easier to blame Twilight, and viciously cut her out of her life; many Ponyville residents had already resorted to that. Such a hastily made, simple decision, meant less weight to hold. Less to consider.

A branch snapped off one of Applejack's trees, and the force of it hitting the ground shook her enough to snap her out of the stupor. Realizing she was wasting time, she pulled herself out into the field, dragging large wooden buckets behind her. Another day to get through. Despite the tragedy, things had more or less morphed back into a relative state of normalcy. Normal for her, at least. Ponies were still hungry, maybe hungrier than ever before.

She let the buckets hit the dirt. Her head shifted down, and with her back to the tree, her muscles tightened. Her back legs flew into the trunk, striking it with titanic force. The tree groaned deeply, then the leaves above rustled, and apples fell from every branch, landing in the buckets below. A lifelong routine, done without a great amount of thought. Though, it was more than just business. Work was always there, even on the worst days, she could come out and do what she needed to do. So, she went to the next tree, and the one after that, slamming her back legs into each of them, the same as she always did.

Many trees, and many buckets of apples later, she sat on her front porch, looking out at all of the baskets strewn about the field. Sweat had been broken, but as time passed, her breathing slowed, and she found rest. She looked up with a scrunched face and squinted eyes. The sun was reaching its peak. It was better than the dreary morning that came before, though just as they did the day before, certain thoughts crept into her mind. Maybe this would be a good day to visit Twilight.

Now why would she think that? An attempt was made to wave off the stupid idea. But, who would see her, if not her?

"Definitely not Rarity," Applejack said with a scoff, "and maybe that's for the best."

Ponyville, its citizens and the physical town itself, was struggling to recover. A few homes and shops were still in ruins. She hated to see the closed, empty businesses which once thrived, especially the ones run by those she knew and worked with. If one looked closely, they would see that blood lingered on some stray blades of grass.

As Applejack walked through the town, pushing her mobile shop along, she passed many ponies with down expressions. Their eyes were firmly locked on the ground below them, as they walked. Some of the ponies she passed had gotten fatter, some much skinnier. Some wandered as though they were in a stupor, with empty eyes, and limp legs which were aimlessly reaching, automatically finding ground. Ponyville was nearly unrecognizable.

"-and don't even get me started on that 'sweetheart' of a princess. What a joke. 'Do not worry my little ponies, we shall recover from this terrible tragedy, we shall live on, like we always do,' kiss my flank. What are you gonna recover from? An overdose of the most expensive sweets?" the mare said, with a scowl.

Applejack often picked up bitter conversations. It was rare to hear positive small talk, unfortunately. On some days, she heard conversations that made her skin crawl, words that made her question whether or not it was right to continue feeding them. Some days, she would even question if she were right for not harboring hatred, as those two mares, and many others blatantly did.

"At least she got the royal guard to clean up the mess. Did you see that thing? Err, what was left of it? It looked like one of those aliens we drew as fillies. I'm honestly shocked they got all of the pieces up, what with it spilling all over the place—" the other mare responded.

"And the stink," she gagged, "I'll never get that out of my head. What do you even do with something like that?"

"I don't know. Bury it?"

"And if it wakes up and goes on another rampage? I hope Celestia sends it to the moon, or something. That would be a good start. While she's at it, she should throw her precious Twilight up there too; give us all some peace of mind, for once."

Applejack shook her head. A while after the voices faded away, she forced her cart to come to a halt. Once it settled in the dirt, she inspected its sturdiness, and once it seemed fit, she set the basket of apples atop the wood counter. She tapped the small sign at the front of the cart, and it fell to face away from her. It told the price, one bit for each apple, five for a pie, those of which she had stored in the base of the cart. As midday approached, she tried her damnedest to put a smile on her face, as she waited for the customers to come.

For a long while, AJ's station was largely ignored. Through this excruciating period of time, she watched lonely islands of ponies slowly move along. Part of her thought about giving up, but a smarter part knew better. With ponies needing to eat, and a few businesses being closed for the time being, it was only a matter of time before at least one of them came to her. Lo and behold, eventually, one did.

She saw him approaching from far off in the distance. If he were in a crowd, he would be hard not to spot. The stallion was shaky, disheveled, and a bit uncertain in his movements. His eyes were darting in all sorts of directions. AJ was almost unsettled when they landed on her stand. He walked up to the shop, and when he settled a few inches from it, he began rhythmically tapping his hoof.

"Howdy there, sir, what can I get for ya?" AJ asked.

"Err—I don't know, maybe three—no, five. Six? Five," the stallion said.

"Five what?"

"Oh, app—uhh, yeah, apples, sorry."

"That'll be five—" before Applejack could finish speaking, the stallion had thrown the coins on to the counter. She swiftly responded by laying out five shiny, red apples, in a line.

"There ya go," she said.

As soon as she said that, the stallion threw his hoof out, grabbing all of the apples in one swoop. He then proceeded to nonchalantly choke them all down. One by one, he swallowed them whole. With each apple came their individual challenges. The first one, for instance, produced an awful hiss, a loud gag from deep within his throat. Once his maw was thoroughly covered in saliva, and AJ was thoroughly shocked and disgusted, he moved to the next apple, and then the next. The third apple conjured up an involuntary gulp, the sound of which was a sudden, deep "guh".

"Could ya please take that mess away from my stand," Applejack said, with a half-lidded stare, and a simultaneously angry and unemotional expression. In response, the stallion, who was just in the middle of devouring another apple, let out some kind of indecipherable, raspy gurgle, which AJ interpreted as an apology, seeing as he left shortly after.

A few minutes later, a mare came to the shop. She walked with a dreary weight to her steps. From her face alone, she looked like she had been in a war. Her eyes seemed deep, and her stare was fixed inward, more than out. Dark bags sagged below the eyes.

"What'll ya have?" AJ asked.

"Just an apple," the mare said, with her eyes locked to the ground. She quietly set a bit on the counter, and pushed it forward an inch. AJ grabbed the apple, and put it on the counter, but she felt a pull in her heart, leaving her unable to let it go.

"Listen, I know it seems like the world just ended, but we'll be okay. We'll be alright, just give it time," AJ said, letting go of the apple.

The mare looked up at her, and locked on intensely. Her stare had a snarl to it. "Horse shit. Did you even see what happened?" She paused long enough for a response to be thought of and dealt out, but AJ didn't speak. "Don't give me that glass half full crap," she said, before snatching the apple and stomping off.

Applejack felt a tinge of guilt hit her in the chest. "I did see it," she whispered.

At the end of a long day, AJ packed up her shop. The day had been successful, in regards to payment. She had amassed more bits than she had the day before, and the pay then was better than the last, which she appreciated greatly. Applejack always did try to end the evening with a positive thought.

She dragged her shop back through the town, letting her gaze lock onto the front gates of the hospital. It was the familiar and ever-worrying sight. Another protest, with larger numbers than the last, angrier than ever. She knew what they were there for, who they were always there for. A part of her never failed to entertain the thought that this might be the day that Celestia's guards fail to keep them back, leaving Twilight at the mercy of the mob. She didn't know why that didn't sit well with her.

Applejack stepped into her lonely home and took in the smell of dust as she looked into its dull halls. She let her weight fall onto her bed. It was better to let the evening melt away, and start again tomorrow. As her eyes closed she began to think of what she would do if a riot were to break out at the hospital. Would it be right to save Twilight?

Author's Note

I've elected to separate this second chapter into multiple parts. This decision was made in part due to guilt from not updating or writing for this story in a while. The way I see it, the story will be easier to finish if uploaded in smaller chunks, piece by piece. This may affect the pacing of the story and its overall quality, but really, I have no idea what it will do.

Frankly, I'm relatively new to writing. I tend to look at everything I've done previously, things I'm not working on currently, with regret. I don't know where this story is going, either, as I haven't planned anything. It's definitely an experiment, but I'm hoping it will work out.