A Year In Manehatten

Dashing out of the barn as fast as she could, Apple Bloom chased after Applejack as her life depended on it before her sister made any more horrible mistakes. She didn’t have time to wait for the rest of her family to come too. She needed to be quick. She needed to confront her sister and get her to fix her mistake somehow! Spotting the bouffant-maned pony in the distance with what little light there was left, she rushed down the path to her sister cutting her off so that she would have no choice but to listen.

“Why the hay did you sell the farm?!” Apple Bloom shouted, when she finally caught up to her, her exhaustion suddenly forgotten. “That ain’t your decision to make, y’know!”

Applejack stomped her hoof like a filly, “Great Celestia, give it a rest! I’m sure this family has a lot of money stored somewhere, I know you aren’t THAT poor.”

“We ARE poor, AJ!” Apple Bloom yelled, glad this argument was taking place on the farm and not in Ponyville where everypony would hear them. She sighed, “AJ, you realize that this not only puts us out of business, but it also makes us homeless.”

“Then sell your blasted apples! I don’t care!” Applejack retorted.

Apple Bloom couldn’t believe she was having this argument with Applejack. Heck, she couldn’t believe she was having an argument to begin with! She and Applejack were as close as peanut butter and jelly. She never fought, aside from a few little disagreements now and then… But that was normal sibling stuff, it was guaranteed to come with every family! Apple Bloom was lost, she didn’t know what to do. She knew there had to be a way to get her elder sister to see reason! But how? She’s just so stubborn! Apple Bloom thought. She recalled all of the events of the week. Her early excitement about seeing her sister again, her disappointment when she found that she had changed, the destruction of her clubhouse, the schemes she tried to pull off to bring her back to what was right… Day by day she drifted away from the dream of ever having her sister again, and now, she had no more hope. But wait… She was a cutie mark crusader, she should believe! She had to believe! She and her friends had conquered lots of challenges before, this was just another challenge. A challenge she was going to overcome, a challenge she HAD to overcome. Forget the barn, if they sold it, then so be it. She’d rather be homeless with her sister by her side than homeless and all alone.

As Celestia as her witness, she was going to make Applejack see reason.

Apple Bloom took a breath, gathering all of her courage into hearts she began the hardest conversation she would have to have in her life, “Sis, this ain’t right and you know it!” She began, “This ain’t you, you and ‘ah both know that. I know you went to Manehatten before when you were my age, but you came back because you knew you belonged here, at the Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville! You tell that story all the time! ‘Ah don’t know what happened in Manehatten but ‘ah know for a fact that you would NEVER change the way you are. Never ever, ever! You and ‘ah are Apples, AJ! Right from even the smallest detail.”

She turned her head towards her apple-shaped cutie mark for emphasis. Applejack looked at her now-blank flank with a blank expression.

“‘Ah admit, ah’ can’t say ‘ah like this new style ‘o yours, but if it makes ‘ya happy if dressin’ up all pretty and drinkin’ tea and wine and criticizing ‘common’ ponies are your thing now, then that’s fine. But sellin’ our home is just too far.” She continued, “‘Ah understand that a year is a whole lotta time and all that, but ‘ah still don’t understand why ‘ya… Had to change. ‘Ah just get this feeling that deep inside, the real you is still there, and ‘ah know I should be happy that you found a way of livin’ that makes you happy but…”

Her knees felt weak, and her vision blurred as her eyes filled with tears. She blinked, letting these tears fall.

“‘Ah miss you, Applejack. The real you.” Applejack was taken aback as her sister broke down, closing her eyes as tears spilled from her eyes like how ran slid down the barn’s rooftop on a rainy day, “‘Ya just feel so different now, like a stranger, ‘ah don’t know ‘ya anymore, and it’s HARD! I-I miss even the littlest things ‘ya used to do, like wakin’ me up for school, or checking my room every night before ‘ya go to bed to make sure ‘ah haven’t snuck out again. ‘Ah just… ‘Ah want my sister back!”

She sat on the ground, the dirt brushing against her fur as she sat and sobbed to herself, letting out not her anger, but the feeling she had been hanging onto since she came back. Sadness. Where had her sister gone? Why did she feel this way? Why did she feel like her sister would ever return to her old ways? She was happy now, she should learn to accept that!

But little did young Apple Bloom know… Something wrong was happening. Something very wrong. Applejack, struck with a sudden realization, piercing through her like an arrow, raised a hoof to her mane, undoing her bouffant until her mane fell. Once she did, something amazing happened. Applejack was swallowed by a bright white ball of light, reason and sense flooded back into her as a terrible curse was broken until she was released from those chains that had bound her, and there she stood. Applejack. Ponytail, freckles, and yes, her father’s stetson.

Apple Bloom found herself scooped up in the tightest hug a pony could give. Confused and afraid, Apple Bloom opened her teary eyes, blinking rapidly, feeling as if her eyes were deceiving her. “A-Applejack?”

Applejack smiled wearily, taking off her stetson, “‘Ah’m here, sis.” She said, tears forming in her eyes also, “‘Ah was stupid. ‘Ah let them trick me into givin’ me a new manedo. When they did, ‘ah could see and hear and stuff, but everythin’ ‘ah did was outta ‘ma control.”

Magic. Apple Bloom thought She was… Right all along?

“B-But how? How did ‘ya snap out of it?” Apple Bloom cried as her sister wiped away her tears.

“‘Ah reckon it was all you, AB.” Applejack said, putting her hat back on, “‘Ah guess the power of family and sugary-sweet sentiments was all ‘ya needed to break ‘ma little curse.”

Apple Bloom thought about everything one more time, and yes, now that she did… It all made sense. She knew it from the very beginning! She knew she would never do any of those things, not her Applejack! Apple Bloom smiled, Applejack chuckled, “‘Ah got a lot of problems ‘ah gotta fix… But Apple Bloom… ‘Ya did it. ‘Ya saved me. ‘Ah don’t think ‘ah could ask for a better sister.”

She pulled her into a tight hug, and Apple Bloom was brought back to all the good times they had shared, and suddenly remembered that those times would never stop. Not anymore. She had saved the day, and that was nice and all, but she didn’t care. She had her sister back, that was all that she wanted. She didn’t even care about the clubhouse, nothing mattered anymore. She had Applejack. The Apple Family was now back to the way it should be…

…The farm was still something they needed though. That was something Applejack needed to fix as soon as possible.

“I love you, Applejack.” Apple Bloom said, feeling safe and secure near her sister’s warm fur.

Applejack smiled, trying her hardest not to cry, happy she was free from her year-long prison and with her family again, “‘Ah love you too, sugarcube…”