Apples Can Cry

Sweat dripped down her honey colored face. She noticed the bees inside and lifted a hoof to her raven mane, pulling the net down over her face. She stepped down from her step ladder and grabbed her smoker in her mouth, placed it against the tree and held it firmly in placed with one hoof. She pushed it up the trunk towards the hole in the bark and slid some of it inside before pushing on it as hard as she could, blasting smoke into the nest. The buzzing grew gradually fainter and she reached in with a hoof, pulling out some honeycomb and putting it in her bag.

Her hoof was splattered with honey by the time she was done and she rubbed it on a small towel after she climbed down from the step ladder. She looked at the honeycombs in her saddlebags before closing them.

"I have a lot of work to do today." She sighed, remembering her stand. "I have so many honey orders that I need to give out today, I wish Big Mac wasn't too busy to help me." She shook off a piercing pain in her chest and started trotting away, off to work.

"Honey Suckle?

The mare froze. Tears formed in the corners of her orange eyes and she wiped them away. The voice was so much like her husband's, western with a slight drawl to it. But this voice was lighter and more feminine, she recognized her immediately and turned around, facing her daughter. "Hi Applejack." She greeted her with a bright smile.

All Honey Suckle was aware of next was the sensation of a crying earth pony plastering to her. She hugged Applejack back and rubbed a hoof along her back. "There there dear, its ok. Is anything wrong?" She asked, trying to keep the tears out of her own eyes. Seeing her daughter cry was like the blunt of a hoof hitting her in the face.

Applejack pulled back and looked at Honey Suckle with a look of love in her eyes. "Big McIntosh told me... He told me everything." She said, a smile on her face as the tears of joy flowed. Honey Suckle's returned tearful glance was like throwing a canteen of water to a pony dying of dehydration.

Honey Suckle broke down and hugged her daughter. "Oh my precious little foal, I've waited for this day since the day we gave you to my father in law. I'm so sorry..." She wrapped her forelegs around Applejack's neck and started sobbing uncontrollably. "I love you."

Applejack looked at her mother with her green eyes, feeling the tears drip from the corners. "Ah love ya too... Ma." The words clicked in her head, like to write lyric to a song. Her heart raced faster and she ran an orange hoof through her mother's mane. "Yer mah Ma and ah wouldn't have it any other way."

Honey Suckle felt her heart swelling with pride. She pulled back and sat in front of Applejack. "I remember the first tree you ever bucked... the apple fell on your head and you thought the sky was falling." Tears leaked from her eyes but not as thick as before. "And when you met Rainbow Dash as a filly... You got so mad when she pranked you. Sneaking up on you with that cloud and then hitting your flanks with lighting. You must've chased her across town until you caught her with a lasso and bucked her." She chuckled, the smile plastered on her golden face.

Applejack cracked a grin. "Ah remember that. Remember when ah took mah first steps? Poor Granny Smith never saw me comin'." She started laughing. "Ah crashed right into her and she nearly fell over. Ah was just an infant, it seems so long ago." She sighed wistfully. "And the entire time ah never knew who ya were."

Honey Suckle shook her head. "We thought it was best for you. I remember when you took your first load of apples and fell down a hill. It was also your first out of many sprained hooves. Big Mac had to carry you back and you feel asleep right between his shoulders while he hauled apples back to the house. I'll never forget that look of pride and affection in his eyes." She sighed as she remembered. "You thought you'd broken your leg."

Applejack chuckled. "Ah had just gotten mah cutie mark. Ah remember that, ah thought ah was gonna die before Big Mac came and lifted that cart off of me. Never screamed louder than when ah did there." She flipped her ponytail behind her and her smile grew wider. "Ah also remember when Apple Bloom was born... ya got so mad when ah tried to teach her how to buck. Now ah know why." She wiped the tears from her eyes with her hoof.

Honey Suckle started snickering. "Look at us, gossiping like old mares. Let's get back to the barn honey." She got up and Applejack stood beside her, shaking out her orange pelt. Bright green orbs met orange orbs and Honey Suckle draped her tail over Applejack's shoulders.

"Hello sweetie."

Applejack had never heard her say that before. It sent a tingle of joy down her spine and made her smile wider. She looked back at her mother, the same expression of joy mirrored on the raven maned mare.

"Hello Ma."