Equestria, the land of wonderous wonders... a place for pony kind and other creatures around the world to live together in harmony. In this regal place was a small town named pony-ville. A place where everyone could be happy as long as they were nice to one another, except for one pony whose name was Applejack, an orange colt who once in the past lived there with her family.
She worked hard on their farm, never complaining about anything that happened to them or anyone else, because she knew how lucky she was to have everything she did. But sometimes things just got too much even though she tried not to let them get to her. The character of the orange pony lived the farmer life, and as an earth pony, she had to work harder than most ponies would think possible. The statement made abundantly clear as she kicked an apple tree and sent its apples falling down onto the dirt ground below. She picked up each one delicately, making sure no damage was done by dropping them.
Applejack led this like for each of the myriad of trees growing on the property. Her hooves dug deep holes in the soil, while her tail swished back and forth, sending up clouds of dirt. Her joints ached normally as she had been doing this job for many years now, something she somewhat took pride in. It wasn't just any old day she was working; today was harvest season which meant she had to do twice as much work as usual. This day she needed every drop of water from those precious wells so that the crops wouldn't dry out before winter came. As if that weren't enough, there were still some hay fields left over from spring that she needed to tend to as well.
With such a heavy workload, she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed at times.
"The fuckin' harvests I hate most are the ones where none of the family are available to be a second hoof helper, you know?" she said to herself as she walked through the field munching on the occasional apple. Applejack was always a bit grumpy, but right now she seemed extra so. She hadn't felt very good since yesterday morning when she went to check on her cows only to find that two of them were dead. That really put a damper on her mood. Even worse was the fact that neither of them looked like they had died naturally either. In fact both of them had been found lying down without a single mark on them.
They had also appeared to look pale and weak, almost as if someone had poisoned them. It was strange that she had noticed these signs of weakness in the animals considering she usually paid little attention to them." fuckin' cows don't have the brain power to even not stampede that one time... come on!" she thought angrily as she stomped off towards the barn. many moon ago she had agreed to take in all the barn housed animals that Fluttershy found wanting care of one type or another, mostly due to being injured or sickly. While she liked helping others, she hated having to take care of so many different types of animals. However, she figured that she should make the best use of the situation and try to become more skilled at caring for them.
"Hmmph! I'm hungry for mead..." Applejack complained as she trudged along. She had spent the majority of her days tending to the animals lately leaving less time for herself. She had barely gotten a few hours sleep last night after spending the whole evening watching over the livestock. the entire barn now was overpopulated with various barn animals who needed "care". Applejack's head hurt from trying to keep track of everything going on inside the walls of the barn. the fact of the matter was, that the barn was overpopulated, and there was no possible way she could watch every animal in here. Some of them got away whenever they wanted and ran wild making it difficult to catch them again later. On top of that, she had to find food for all of them as well as feed for the cattle. There was simply not enough room for everybody to eat properly. "Dammit Flutters, why you have to go away somewhere when I need ya?" she asked aloud.
Fluttershy had gone away to visit her grandparents near the coast several months earlier. Since then, Applejack had taken it upon herself to babysit Fluttershys animals till she returned
So far, Applejack had managed to hold things together despite the stress. But there were still days when she wondered how she was gonna manage all of this. And then there were days when she saw something that truly affected her deeply. Like when she watched the poor cow stumble before collapsing under the weight of its own body. Or when she saw the poor sheep bleating frantically in pain.
"not a one of these critters deserves to suffer this horribly," she thought to herself. she grabbed a glass bottle from a nearby refrigerator. The brown but defiantly definable liquor inside was the key to relieving her anxiety. She didn't drink often, but she felt that drinking tonight would help ease her mind. she poured a small amount into a cup and drank it slowly savoring the taste.
"fuckin' damnit! what am I gonna do? i can't handle this shit anymore!" she shouted. she poured another shot and downed it quickly. "well next time, ill say, no to Fluttershy and stay home," she muttered before taking another sip. She wished she could tell her sister exactly how she felt about their current arrangement. "I guess maybe I'm just too stubborn to admit defeat yet."
As she stood outside looking out across the fields, taking the entire bottle in her hoof, she began to think about other ways she might be able to solve her problems. The problem was, other ponies in pony-ville did not even know about farming. Most people around town assumed that farmers lived lives filled with hard labor, dirty work, and endless drudgery. Many of them believed that farmers never bathe themselves let alone anyone else. Little did they realize how hard it actually is to live a life as a farmer. Sure, sometimes she worked harder than she ever had back during her youth, but it wasn't because she enjoyed it. Instead, she knew that working hard was necessary to get by in today's world. their view on the farmer life was somewhat true, but not completely accurate. Farming was not easy, but it was definitely rewarding. After all, the produce grown on a farm was sold locally which meant that money came directly into the community instead of going straight to some greedy corporation. This made her feel better knowing that her hard work helped support those living around her.
Applejack continued to stand staring out toward the horizon drinking the boozse. She couldn't believe that she'd been doing this for years; growing crops, raising animals, and keeping up the buildings. She'd done it all without any help from anyone. All she'd known was that she loved to help others, especially those whom society deemed unworthy. Despite everyone telling her that she shouldn't bother, she kept believing that someday she would prove them wrong. Well, perhaps she already has, she thought to herself. Nowadays most of the people around here only went to the market once a week to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. Even though she hadn't expected such an increase in business, she supposed that she should've seen it coming. People were getting more and more tired of eating processed foods. They preferred real food that they could cook themselves. That was good news since the more demand there was for healthy goods the easier it became to sell them. It also gave her hope that if she stayed focused and dedicated to her goal, eventually she would finally be recognized as a legitimate farmer.
For the first time in quite awhile, she stopped thinking about her troubles and started feeling happy. As she walked through the field, she found herself humming to herself. When she reached the barn, she set down her alcohol, took off her hat, and pulled open the door. Inside were more bottles of gin, vodka, rum, whiskey, tequila, brandy, and wine. Her eyes fell on a large barrel full of homemade apple cider. She smiled at the sight of it, remembering how much she used to love brewing batches of it.
The cider was hardened enough to feel buzzed after just a few sips, so she decided to take two cups and walk outside where she sat down in the grass enjoying each sip. Soon, she realized that she needed to stop worrying about everything and start focusing on one thing: enjoying life. Life was too short to spend it chasing your dreams while always worrying about tomorrow. Tomorrow will come whether or not we want it to. So, why not enjoy today? she thought to herself. she looked over horizon where the sun finally was setting.
"Another day has passed" she muttered. "Fuck if I don't feel tired."
She yawned widely, stretched, and got to her feet. She headed towards the house, stopping briefly along the way to pick up her hat. When she entered the kitchen, she saw the picture of Granny smith sitting in the middle of the table, smiling proudly. she missed her grandmother dearly who had died several months ago. Granny Smith had taught her many valuable lessons including how to make delicious pies using nothing but apples from the orchard. Unfortunately, now that granny was gone, Applejack worried that she wouldn't be able to keep things running smoothly. But she still tried to remember the old woman every morning before starting her day. Sometimes she even dreamed of her late grandmother standing beside her helping her carry heavy loads of wood or feed the animals. Those dreams always brought a smile to her face. She sipped more liquor in honor of her dead grandma, then looked again at the picture and back at the bottle and finished it off. "Hey Granny how are ya?" she said grabbing another beer from the fridge. "I uh... lost two more cows today... you wouldn't be pleased... Fluttershy helpin' her parents move has been hard on our supplies considering im babysittin for her. We're really gonna have to cut production soon..."
Applejack sighed heavily, drinking more. "I want to forget granny... why cant I forget? Why is the empty space in this here barn just like it was when my ma died? Its like its callin me back home," she said softly.
Suddenly, something began to stir inside her mind. A memory suddenly flooded her head, causing her to choke on a mouthful of ale. In that moment, she remembered exactly what happened the night her mother died. "That three headed demon..." she whispered angrily. "It killed her!" She stood abruptly, throwing her mug across the room breaking it against the wall. The shattered glass sprayed everywhere creating a huge mess behind her. "it killed both of them!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Then the memories rushed forth filling her with rage.
"ARE YA HAPPY GRANDMA IM LIVIN ALONE NOW?" she shouted, pointing accusingly at the picture hanging in front of her. "I need you granny, I want you, Ma, and Pa back." Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed uncontrollably. Suddenly, she ran forward slamming her fists repeatedly against the painting until it broke into pieces falling to the floor.
"I lost two cows today... They were some pony's Ma and Pa... " she yelled. "Fuck you Grandma for dyeing on me like that, you had no excuse, my Ma and Pa got themselves eating, and you just gave up. You didn't even try. I'm the only one left livin here, and look at me.... I'm drinkin myself stupid cause I can't stand living alone anymore. Fuck you for leaving me alone like this!"
The anger faded quickly replaced by sadness as she felt herself begin to cry. Sobs racked her body as she cried out loud. Finally exhausted, she collapsed onto the ground crying harder than ever, and proceeded to puke all over the place. when she had stopped vomiting the contents of her drink she raised it to the direction of Granny.
"Hail the glorious dead" she stammered as she drank again, and shortly after, she passed out on the floor with the drink in her hand.
