Her orange pelt was slicked with sweat, her green eyes alight with adrenaline. The lactic acids in her powerful haunches was burning and seizing at her limbs, but she didn't let it stop her. She blew strands of her straw colored mane out of her face and adjusted her signature stetson on her head, shielding her blazing eyes from the setting sun. She tensed her muscles, dug her front hooves into the ground, lifted the lower half of her body and unleashed a mighty buck on the tree behind her.
A rattle went up the thick trunk and apple dropped from the foliage. She swerved underneath them and felt the weight of apples hit her saddlebags. She held strong until they stopped falling and then turned around, trotting back to the farm with her load. Red apples, green apples and the biggest apples you'll ever see weighed the bags on her sides, but she shed the sweat from before off and didn't even break a new sweat with the pounds of apples burdening her.
Big McIntosh watched the mare trot to the door. His green eyes watched her go inside the barn and he chewed on the straw in his mouth. His red coat caught the dying rays of the sun as it set and he clopped over to meet Applejack, his beige hooves making clopping noises as he walked over the hardened dirt. He poked his head inside the hay scented barn before trotting in, the muscles in his legs flexing under his pelt.
Applejack was lying on some hay, one behind her back and one underneath her. Her stetson was pulled over her eyes and a single piece of straw poked from her mouth and it twitched slightly when she chewed on it. Her forelegs were crossed behind her head. A soft hum sounded from her and she pulled her hoof back from behind her head, lifting her stetson. "Howdy Big Mac. Ah just finished apple buckin' and ah thought ah'd rest in the barn."
Big Mac chuckled. "Ah reckon ya've bucked more apples than when ya tried to buck every apple in Apple Buck Season. Ya need to slow down their AJ, before ya get yerself hurt." He said, turning to look at her with his emerald eyes. He saw his reflection in the eyes that were so much like his own, the exact same pair of green eyes put into a mare. He smiled to himself, she was so much like him.
Applejack snorted. "Says the stallion who dun went and broke his ribs before Apple Buck Season. I ain't buckin' half as many trees as ya tried to. Yer just lucky that ah found ya pinned under that big ol' tree before it crushed ya completely." She prodded his chest and he chuckled.
The two Apples sat in the hay, watching the moon rise. It cascaded them both in a shimmering ivory light, dying Applejack's fur bleach white. Applejack looked at her foreleg and giggled slightly. "Ah reckon ah look like Rarity. Dye mah mane purple, curl it and then BAM! Ah'm Rarity." She mused.
McIntosh prodded her with his hoof. "Don't ya dare turn into a Fahionista on me." He tried to act stern, but a loud guffaw made him lose it. He noticed her chest was moving up and down in rythm and he turned to look at her and saw that her eyes were closed and the straw was stuck to her lip, her soft snoring brushed his ear fur. He took his hoof off her chest, slid his foreleg under her sleeping form and pulled her to his chest, embracing her in a hug.
"G'night Applejack." He closed his green eyes and started drifting off to sleep.
"Yer gonna have ta tell 'er at some point."
He opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Granny Smith. He glared at her. "Ah'm not tellin' her anything until ah think she's ready." He retorted, turning his attention back to Applejack, who had draped one foreleg over his chest. "It's not important, she doesn't have to find out at all." He snapped, turning blazing green eyes back at the old mare.
Granny Smith hobbled over and looked at the sleeping mare. "It ain't fair ta her Big Mac and ya know it. Ya tell her or ah'll tell her." She grunted. "AJ deserves ta know the truth."
Big Mac let a tear slide down his face. "Nnope. Ah love her too much Granny, ah can't destroy everything ah've worked to keep hidden, if ah tell her it'll destroy our bond." He begged, his eyes glowing with desperation. "Dun make me tell her."
Granny Smith choked back the tears. She rested her hoof on his orange mane and stroked it soothingly. "Ah promise it'll be ok hun, now go on and tell 'er." She soothed, wiping the tears from his eyes with a frail hoof. She took the same hoof and lightly nudged Applejack. "Wake up Jackie." She whispered.
Applejack stirred under the warm touch and opened her bright eyes. "Wassat? Granny Smith?" Her eyes shot wide open as she woke up and she sat up. "What's goin' on?" She asked in confusion. "Why did ya wake me? Is something wrong?"
Big McIntosh gulped. "C'mere AJ, ah have ta tell ya somethin..." He pulled her back and held her with his forelegs, looking up at the barn's roof. The moonlight danced playfully around his vision as he held the mare in his arms. He looked down at her eyes, the copy of his. She was him, but placed in the body of a mare. He fought back the tidal wave of tears that threatened to spill over his face.
Applejack looked at him in concern. "Big brother? What's wrong?" She asked, flipping herself over so that she didn't have to lean her head back to look into his eyes.
Big brother...
The words tore through his body like the worst possible agony. He grit his teeth for a moment before letting out a breath that sighed in the silent barn. He was aware of Granny Smith sitting down in the corner of his eye, the sensation of Applejack's heart racing against his belly, a tear of fear came from her eye and splashed onto his chest. He closed his eyes before opening them, the green irises full of an intense determination, but an unbearable amount of pain, agony and suffering.
"Ah'm not yer big brother Applejack."
"Ah'm not yer big brother Applejack."
Big McIntosh Apple spoke softly, his voice rough as tears spilled from his emerald eyes. He looked at Applejack, knowing that she couldn't see the tears in the dark. "It's a lie, all a lie. Ah'm not yer big brother Applejack and ah never have been." The words blasted a hole through his heart, but it was true. He wasn't her big brother and the realization that he had just said that smacked him like a tree falling on top of him.
Applejack's whole body froze, her muscles tensed and her jaw gaped. She slid off of Big Mac and stood before him, green eyes wide. "Y-Yer not mah brother? What do ya mean yer not mah brother!?" Her voice got high-pitched and louder in fear and a glow of pain entered her grass eyes. "Big Mac... What's goin' on?" She struggled to control her voice as she looked at him, hidden in the darkness of the night but his eyes glowed with unbelievable agony, pain and sadness. She felt her heart twisting and breaking inside her chest and tears rolled down her face. "Tell me!" She begged.
McIntosh took a deep, shuddering breath. For a moment he vanished into the darkness as his glowing eyes closed, but he opened them again and sighed. "Ah guess yer ready for it... But ah have ta tell ya the whole story, or it won't make sense ta ya whatsoever. Here's the whole story, the good and honest truth. Ah'm tired of all the secrets and lies." Tears started leaking from his eyes as he looked at Applejack. "Ah'm sorry AJ."
Applejack sat back on her haunches and listened, the rivers kept flowing down her face and she didn't make an effort to stop them. "Ah'm ready Big McIntosh." She murmured, her voice taught with pain and husky like the wind blowing over the rocks. She wiped the tears off her face and fought to control the trembling in her body. Her legs wobbled slightly and she let a shudder ripple up her body.
Big Mac cleared his throat and began,
"Ah've always been older than ah look. Believe it or not, ah'm in mah fourties. Remember when ya went to Manehattan and came back with yer cutie mark? Y'all were just three, an itty bitty filly. Ah was twenty then, but we never told ya. We always told ya that ah was a few years older than ya, but ah'm not. I'm much older than ya.
When ah was sixteen, ah got made fun of. Ah hit puberty late and never finished, that's why ah look so young. But everypony made fun of me, called me a foal and said ah should go back to kindergarten. Ah wanted to end it all, ah hated mah school and everypony hated me.
That is until ah met her.
She was a beauty Applejack. She had a coat the color of honey and a mane that was as black as a bee's stripe, her cutie mark was a honeycomb dripping with golden honey. Her name was Honey Suckle, she was the daughter of the honey seller 'round these parts.
Anyways, she saw me being beaten up by some bullies. She told them to get the hay out of there before she got involved, boy was she a fighter. She helped me up, told me her name and we became friends. After a while, ah developed a crush on her and she felt the same for me. We started dating and we dated for a while, despite what the other ponies said.
We dated for 'bout a year. When ah turned seventeen, we had huge bash here at the barn. Course ah invited her and she came.
But the party got out of control, some stallions snuck booze in and spiked the punch.
Ah'd promised Papa Apple and Granny Smith that ah wouldn't have alcohol at the party, when ah found out ah bucked those stallions out mahself. Ah replaced the punch and the party went back to normal, sept the few ponies who had gotten drunk.
Ah was feelin' a bit dizzy mahself, but ah ignored it. The shame of it Applejack, ah realize now that ah was drunk as a pony with a cider addiction.
Ah guess somepony thought it'd be a funny prank, some idiot who thought it would be some sort of accomplishment to do it, who knows but they did it. Somepony managed to sneak some of the toughest cider around in mah drink. Course ah didn't know until ah'd downed the glass I was do darn thirsty, but sure enough ah got so drunk ah wasn't even aware of mah actions."
Big Mac started crying. The tears were like twin waterfalls as they soaked into his fur. He wiped the tears from his eyes and controlled his shaking body before he found his voice.
"Honey Suckle was drunk too. She had been spiked with alcohol, but she didn't even know. Ponies started leaving because they were tired or too drunk to carry on partying. It was a mess liked ya'd never believe, vomit puddles, blood from fights and spilled drinks. Ah'll never forget it.
It... it was so awful. Honey Suckle was under the influence this was her house and since ah was drunk, ah believed her. We went into mah room and... Applejack ah'm so ashamed. It was the worst thing ah've ever done in mah life, ah wish ah could take it all back. Ah never wanted any of it to happen, but it did.
We continued seein' each other, not paying any attention to what we had done. Ponies started warmin' up to us and we made a whole new group of friends and we just let the events pass us by.
But it was a couple of months later when ah got the word... Honey Suckle was pregnant. She was pregnant with mah foal. MAH foal. I had given her a foal.
It was the worst day of mah life.
Ah was seventeen and ah was gonna have a foal. Ah was and am so ashamed to this day of what ah did. Yer never gonna feel pain like that Applejack. Horror, fear, agony, pain and regret just mix in and it blasts yer heart into a million pieces. Ah'll never forget the look in her eyes, the realization of what we had done.
What AH had done.
We told our parents, it was a day ah'll never forget. Granny Smith stared cryin', Pa started cryin' it was the worst moment of mah life. Ah had to tell 'em that ah had made a mare pregnant when ah was seventeen. Imagine the shame AJ, the regret and the sadness. It hurt so bad.
We kept it a secret from our friends. Sure enough, Honey got ridiculed and made fun of for being obese when it became noticeable. We were there to support each other trough it, we were there for each other when we just couldn't bear to go to our parents.
It was the worst nine months ah ever did go through.
But she gave birth. A beautiful little filly, the color of fresh oranges with a straw colored mane. The coat color of pa with Granny Smith's mane, back when it was yellow. She was a fighter, right from the start. Her eyes opened and they were mah eyes, blazing little grass green irises looked around the room. She was the most beautiful foal ah'd ever lay mah eyes on. We celebrated the birth, the birth of Applejack Smith Apple.
We weren't gonna give ya up for adoption, not after what we'd been through. We gave ya to Pa and raised you like mah younger sister, telling you that Ma had passed away, which was true. Mah Ma passed when ah was just a little colt. When y'all were old enough to talk, ah introduced ya to Honey Suckle, we never told ya that she was yer mother.
Pa remarried a few years later to a mare named Key Lime. We told ya when y'all were a wee filly, but since y'all were so little ya just assumed she had given birth to ya.
We let ya believe it.
Apple Bloom is still yer sister. Honey Suckle gave birth to her when y'all were fifteen, but you were on a trip. We told ya that Key Lime gave birth during the trip. Honey Suckle never left her side, ya were confused but ya didn't mind, ya just ignored it. It tore her heart into pieces to see you like that, but she soldiered on.
We were there for yer first steps, there for yer first words. It ripped mah heart in half to hear ya call mah Pa yer Pa. We were there when ya started school, ah picked ya up everyday and ya kept asking why Pa didn't pick ya up. Ya had no idea who ah really was.
We left it that way."
Big Mac stopped telling the story and started sobbing as the memories flooded him.
The first time he met Honey Suckle, the day they started dating her and he told his parents. The pride in their eyes, the warm feeling in his heart. The party rushed over him and he saw the mare laughing, kissing, pulling him closer. The dizziness of being drunk and the agony that took over him that night. The shame washed over him, the tears in Granny and Pa's eyes. Then seeing Applejack for the first time, seeing her wave her hooves and open her eyes, those beautiful green eyes. He saw her grow up in his mind's eye, saw Apple Bloom's birth.
He saw it all.
He looked back up at Applejack. The sight of her scared him. Her eyes were wide, her jaw gaped and the tears flowed down her face. His eyes drooped and he collapsed, crying. "Ah'm so sorry AJ..." He sniffled. "Ya must hate me now... ah understand. Ah lied to ya for twenty years and ah wish ah hadn't." He got back to his hooves and looked at her, trying hard to fight a fresh wave of tears.
"Ah'm yer Pa Applejack."
Applejack stood stock still. Tears were soaking the hay below her, puddling around her hooves and soaking her orange fur. She looked at him, she looked at Big McIntosh as he sobbed. The words he said snapped her out of it. Her hooves flashed forwards and she charged into him, shoving her head under his chin and wrapping her forelegs around his neck. "Shut up Big Mac!" She snapped, hugging him tighter. "Ah kin never hate ya, ever. Yer mah Pa and ah love ya!" Her sobs filled the quiet air.
Mcintosh rested his chin on her head. "There there Jackie. Ah love ya too." He whispered, brishing her back with a giant beige hoof. Tears leaked from his eyes, but these were tears of joy.
Granny Smith had hobbled out of the barn to leave them. She felt a smile grace her face and a few small tears drip onto her frail hooves. She got up and limped away, deciding to leave them alone for the night.
~~~
The sun rose, shedding light into the barn. Applejack and Big McIntosh were curled up on a pile of hay, fast asleep.
Applejack was curled up in his forelegs, pressed against his belly. Big McIntosh opened his eyes and looked at his precious daughter, letting a few tears slip down his face as he smiled at her. The mare in his arms opened her eyes and loked up at him, the look he gave her mirrored on her features. She snuggled closer to him and hummed a soft tune. Big Mac hugged her closer, letting more tears fall.
He finally had his daughter back.
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."
