The sky was completely overcast, an endless sea of grey on a white canvas with the occasional blotch of black. The rain was coming down in a medium blanket, not enough to drench everything it touched but enough to coat the ground with enough liquid to turn the ground a different color. Sweet Apple Acres was a completely different color compared to its usual state. The hearty yellow dirt and small stones had turned into a bland and distasteful brown. The sound of rain on the roof could be heard all through the main yard area, which consisted of the house, a barn and a silo. This was the main area but there were a few small buildings nearby just off the house. n the yard separating the three main structures stood two people, two members of the Apple family, who had had run the joint for decades to be precise. AppleJack stood facing away from the barn, wearing her usual hat and a brown leather jacket on top of a red and brown plaid shirt. She also brown boots, turned almost black by the rain and worn out jeans, almost navy blue from saturation.
Standing opposite her on the other side of the yard by the water tower was of course Big Macintosh. His blonde hair was soaked with droplets forming on its edges as the rain fell on it. His black, military style boots were almost unaffected by the depressing rain, they stayed almost completely dry, or so they looked with only the laces noticeably wet. However, across his naked chest was something that didn't seem right for him, it was an ammunition bandolier that stretched from his right shoulder to his left hip and was filled with rifle bullets, either .308 or .32, No one paid too much attention to that. The two stared each other down, almost daring the other to blink. Finally the eerie silence was broken by AppleJack, who sounded somewhat sad and angry, as if unable to determine which to be. "What's wrong with ya Mac? Why are ya doin' this?"
Big Mac almost didn't answer; his eyes simply stared at the .357 revolver at his sisters hip. "It ain't your fault sis', but this must be done, that gold ain't gonna liberate itself."
AppleJack dropped her jaw in disbelief, "Ar ya kiddin' me Mac? What went and hit ya in the side of the head to make ya think there's gold of any sort here! And more importantly why you would need to kill your own sister to get it!"
Big Mac laughed and stepped halfway across the yard, leaving heavy footprints in the dirt like mud as he did. "Who says the gold's here? Oh, and I don't need to kill you to get it, it's just more simple to kill you and get a bigger share, besides; Gaining the gold is more of the problem with you, you see, getting the gold won't be done nice and honestly as I've killed 10 already trying to get it."
Her jaw dropped further before she clenched it tight with anger as a solitary tear rolled down her cheek. "You sound like an absolute monster Mac, to think I once thought you were my brother. Just what gold is worth killing a relative for?"
Mac's grin dropped slightly when he heard the first comment but quickly came back when she asked him that question. "It's simple really, the treasure of Giaralmo (Gee-a-rall-mo) Santino." he said, showing his teeth now in what was slowly turning into an evil, manic smile.
AppleJack simply let another tear roll down her cheek, this time, it was not a tear of anger or sorrow, but a tear of laughter. She let out a laugh that made what Big Macintosh had just said like it was an utter load of rubbish. “THAT treasure? That old tale about some old bandit with enough gold to last a thousand lifetimes! It's just some old gold diggers fantasy made to excite little foals. You have lost it Mac."
Mac slowly moved his hand to the .44 magnum that was on his hip and as he was about to touch the holster he wagged his finger and moved it away, however, at the same time, AppleJack almost drew her pistol out of fear and Mac laughed again and sighed. "You're getting rusty 'Jackie'. Pity Braeburn isn't around to give you some pointers."
"Wha' you talkin' bout' Mac? I saw him a few days ago in Appleloosa! You were there!" This remark caused an involuntary tear to roll down Mac's cheek. "I know." He slowly reached his left hand down to the holster on his left hip, not ideal for a right hander and slowly drew his other .44 by the barrel and threw it over to AppleJack. The gun was slightly covered with something red, most likely blood, that was slowly being washed away by the rain and was slowly sinking into the mud but the worst part, was, to her dismay, there was a single bullet missing from the six chambers.
She stared at the weapon for a second before looking up, her face now drenched and now tears were falling down her face unchecked. Big Mac hadn't waited for long, almost the moment he threw the gun he had swiftly walked over to her and drew the other one. He stepped right in front of her and pressed the gun to her stomach and looked up to the dull, grey sky.
A flashed happened and a fraction of a second later the gunshot rolled through the farm, disrupting the peace and tranquility the rain provided, the rain itself was even overshadowed by the ominous bang, although most would assume it was thunder. AppleJack stared at her brother in disbelief for a second before moving her hands to her stomach and undid the middle button on her shirt. From her point of view the wound was clearly visible, looking down at her own stomach she placed her hands on the bullet wound softly, they swiftly became covered in blood and she moved them away in time to fall to her knees and from there she fell to the ground, her now lifeless face was covered in mud and raindrops falling down it like tears, though these weren't, then, a single, solitary blood red tear emerged from her eye socket and rolled gently down the side of her face. Big Macintosh wiped the remaining tears from his own face and picked up her hat from atop her blonde headed hair, her ponytail mostly covered in mud. He placed the hat on the door mat at the house and knocked on the door and ran away, down the long path to the gate of Sweet Apple Acres.
Applebloom had answered the door and at first had not noticed anything. She was now sixteen and she wore a yellow tank top with fingerless leather gloves and denim shorts, she still had the red bow from when she was a younger girl, though it was now used for holding up her ponytail, similar to her sisters, only she let it grow loose and the bow was up the top near the neck. When she saw the hat she looked confused at first and picked it up, only to see what she did not want to see when she looked around for the reason of it being there. Her jaw slowly dropped and she ran over to her now deceased sister and rolled her over, she held her up and wiped mud from her face, only to reveal the lifeless, pale face of the element of honesty, her eyes had rolled back in her head and the blood tear had left a trail of blood that had remained unaffected by the rain.
She stroked AppleJack's cheek and let out an angered howl. She looked around and lo and behold, lying in the mud, was a .44 magnum revolver. She carefully reached over and picked it up cautiously picked it up. She recognized it immediately; it was obviously one of Big Mac's, he wore a pair of them almost day and night on the farm. She looked a little closer and noticed was she shouldn't have. One of the bullets was missing from the six chambers, although the bullet was not the one that ended her sisters life, the answer was clear, Big Mac had shot his sister. Her own brother had shot another sibling, she was still howling when granny smith hobbled slowly out and saw what Applebloom had seen mere minutes before. The rain had stopped and a single ray of sunlight shone through the clouds and shone down near Ponyville. Applebloom stood up, with the .44 in one hand, and her sister’s hat on the other. Her face was layered with anger, and at the same time, filled to the brim with sadness. She placed her sister’s hat firmly on her hat and removed the holster bet from her sister and put it on. She moved the .357 to the left holster and placed Big Mac's revolver in the right.
"Where's he goin' Granny Smith?" to which she barely replied with a shrug, only to speak with her shriveled old voice. "Look, Bloom, chasin' after your brother will only get you killed. I wouldn't be able to cope losing you both to him, especially since what he's doin'."
"Look," she walked over to her and hugged her," I know that's true, but ah ain't gonna let him get away with it, you may lose bother yer darlin' girls, but maybe he'll see the light."
Granny Smith sighed, he's gone and got that legend of Giaralmo Santino in his head at thinks there's some sort of gold stash somewhere in the desert. If you are so obsessed to find him, try looking at Appleloosa, The Trough, would be a good place to start, it’s a saloon in town, filled with low lives and adventure seekers, if anypony's seen him there, it would be there. Just be careful, the men like their women young and fresh, and you fit the bill perfectly… Take it from somepony with experience." She let out a little chuckle. "Come back alive, little Bloom."
Applebloom groaned aloud. "Come on, you know ah ain't little anymore, I can take care of myself." And with that she left down the muddy road to the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres and out, into the huge, unpredictable world, faced with the task of bringing Big Macintosh to justice and answering for his crime.
