The Apples didn’t only sell zap applesauce, truth be told. Even though the sales did peak at that time, they sold regular sauce year round. Applejack had the idea one winter when times were especially harsh, their cider sales hadn’t come through for them, so there was barely any heat and no comfort. This forced the family to sleep in pairs for body warmth, which always caused a state of grogginess the next morning with remarks like “You were kicking again last night” and “Did you have to get up at three in the morning?” So when Applejack stayed with Granny Smith, the worse roommate by far, she came across an epiphany, shooting straight up in bed.
“Granny, we don’t need them zap apples to make sauce!” she exclaimed. “Why, we could do it the whole year round if we wanted to, it just might be a pinch less colorful.” She hopped out of bed and grabbed a pencil in her mouth to write down the idea.
“Now, we’ll have no more sleeping like pigs in a blanket if we can bring in this extra dough,” she muttered, or tired to, her lips still wrapped around the pencil. The plan was well received by everyone in the family and when spring finally came, she went to work.
Now, it’s important to understand that just as Granny saw the zap apples as her legacy, so did Applejack feel about her own sauce. She spent many months figuring out the perfect balance of cinnamon to mush; how to drain the excess juice wasn’t a problem with zap apples, she figured out how to perfectly scrape off the layer that sometimes formed on the top of a jar. All these things didn’t happen with zap apples because of the magic that they held. So, Applejack figured it out herself, and even though they weren’t the most popular selling item on the farm, she took a fair amount of pride in them. Which was probably why she was getting so very upset by how horrible it tasted this year.
“Sweet Celestia!” She turned her head away and slammed the bowl down on the counter. “It tastes like... nothing.” The kitchen was a disaster zone, cinnamon covering empty apple skins, globs of sauce everywhere and Applejack getting so frustrated that it looked like she could buck a chair in at any moment.
“Why, it hasn’t the least bit of flavor, why isn’t the cinnamon working?” She shook the rest of the spice into her bowl and picked up the spoon, hoping for a better result, but still, nothing. She groaned and flopped back into a chair, lowering her head in defeat.
“I suppose we could make it by with the cider sales this ye-” She was cut off by a loud knock at the door. Applejack’s eyes went wide, she couldn’t let anyone in here, Granny and the family were supposed to be in town all day and the kitchen looked like a natural disaster.
“Uh, comin’!” She desperately tried sweeping some of the dirty skins into the garbage can, and for the first time in her life, wishing for some unicorn magic.
“Applejack?” She heard from outside, it was Rainbow Dash. Well, no point in cleaning up this mess now, she thought, it wouldn’t be like Rainbow to care much about that. She went to the door and found her friend looking through the window into the kitchen.
“Woah, AJ, what happened in there? It looks like a...” She trailed off, noticing Applejack’s slumped and defeated nature. “Are you okay?”
Applejack, smiling a bit at her concern, sighed and explained, “I’m afraid I seem to have lost my talent for making the applesauce, I can barely get it to taste like anything.”
Rainbow Dash landed next to her. “Well, don’t worry about that, everyone gets the zap apple sauce anyway. You’ll be fine.” Rainbow meant no harm to her creation, but to Applejack, it still hurt to have her work bashed.
“I know,” she muttered. “But I really did try my darndest to make it good.” She sighed, loudly, and Dash took the hint. No more insulting her apples.
“Well...” Dash flew in, and landed in the middle of a pile of cinnamon. “Maybe I could help, what’s the problem with your applesauce?”
Applejack gave her an exasperated look, knowing this could only end badly. “Like I said, they have no flavor.” She said, indicating towards the bowl, “I’ve put every kind of spice in there, but nothing seems to fix it.” She offered a spoonful of the goop to Dash which the pegasus gladly accepted. Seconds later, it was spit back in the bowl.
“Ugh, it’s like eating mud!” she exclaimed on impulse. After seeing Applejack’s angry face, her frown switched to a nervous grin. “Well, I mean, I see what you’re saying.”
“Uh huh.” Applejack turned away from her friend, getting a broom to sweep up some of the mess.
Dash, sensing that she had now upset Applejack twice, quickly added, “you... could go looking for something stronger! I’m sure the Everfree Forest has some tasty spices.” She let her wings lift her up and smiled at Applejack. “It’s a great idea!”
“Well...” AJ mulled the idea over. “I suppose that could do the trick, I’m sure Twilight has some kind of books on plants you can and can’t eat.” She grinned, looking back up at Rainbow. “Thank you kindly, Rainbow Dash. Now we should get over to the library.”
“Woah, woah, who said I have to come with you?” Rainbow asked, suddenly defensive. “I have lots going on today.”
“Oh really? What were you coming over here for then? Could it be that you were bored out of your skull and wanted to race, again?” Applejack smirked. Rainbow opened her mouth, ready to shoot off some remark, but then shut it in defeat.
“That’s what I thought.”
Twilight had suggested allspice berries, they were often used as a substitute for cinnamon for those ponies with allergies and were considered much stronger in terms of flavor. She was sure that some grew in the Everfree Forest, but farther in than they had ever gone before. Sensing the danger, Twilight made sure that Applejack had a companion, Rainbow Dash jumped at the opportunity.
“Awesome!” she smiled, after hearing Twilight’s suggestion. “Brand new danger, new excitement!” She jumped off of the ground and into the air. “Don’t worry, Twilight, I’ll be sure to keep watch for any trouble.”
Applejack snorted. “I think I can handle myself just fine, but I’m mighty pleased you’re coming. It should put you in your place when I get there first.” She smirked at the pegasus and lowered her eyebrows.
“As if! I’ll be at home by the time you even get to the berries.” Rainbow flew higher up to the ceiling of the library.
“Girls,” Twilight interrupted dryly. “I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that this is incredibly risky behavior and only the utmost care should be taken when getting the allspice.”
“Course, Twilight. We’ll be fine, don’t you worry,” Applejack answered, sincerely. “I’ll be every kind of careful and keep an eye on Dash to.”
“Hey!” Dash called out from the rafters. Twilight looked at Dash and then back at Applejack with unimpressed stare. The two grinned nervously.
“Alright, but please be careful, I know you two can get...” She paused. “...competitive at times and-”
“We’ll be just fine, I swear to you. You’ve got nothing to worry about,” Applejack, smiling softly. Twilight nodded and levitated a book towards Applejack.
“The diagram for the plant is on page 107.” She put the book into her friend’s saddlebag. “Good luck, girls,” she said, giving both ponies a hug. And with that, Twilight went back upstairs to her potions, which were causing quite a bit of steam to enter the library.
They had been walking for almost an hour and the sun was setting. Rainbow was still flying, high above the trees, yet Applejack was keeping fairly good pace despite that. They had given up on the race idea within the first ten minutes. While Rainbow was sure that she could have lasted longer than that, Applejack knew that it would be best to conserve their energy. Twilight said she didn’t have an exact time for how long the journey would be, but she estimated around a day at the most.
It’ll be worth it, Applejack thought. To make sure we have enough sales to keep through this winter. Can’t survive on flavorless applesauce after all. But even the idea of being away from the farm on such sudden notice made her itch. Apple Bloom was a smart filly, but she could get over anxious at times. Heaven knows what kind of trouble those friends of hers where up to already. Running around, desperately trying anything they could think of to get those gosh forsaken cutie marks. More trouble than they’re worth, she thought, but was interrupted by the sun beaming right across her eyes. It was just starting to slip below the forest trees in the distance, causing a brilliant color to spring forth. Applejack raised a hoof and squinted her eyes trying to see a bit better. The mare looked around her, she was so deep in thought, she hadn’t noticed she had walked into some kind of clearing. It was gorgeous, life bursting from every tree and leaf. Intricate patterns were carved onto the trees making the area look like a spellbook of Twilight or Zecora. The whole area was glowing, despite the sun’s slow disappearance over the horizon.
“Rainbow!” she called, turning her head towards the pegasus, who in turn looked down at her. “Maybe we should stop for a bit, it’s good to eat before the sun goes down.” she didn’t really know if this was entirely true, but she also didn’t want to leave for at least a little bit, to take in this scenery for as long as she could.
Rainbow shot down through the foliage and landed slightly ahead of Applejack at the end of the clearing.
“Wow,” Dash said, staring out at Celestia’s sun. “That looks awesome.” She turned and grinned at the mare behind her. “Great spot to eat!” The mare rushed over to Applejack and grabbed her saddlebag. It’s contents, consisting of a bunch of apples, four sandwiches, the book, and a water bottle, spilled out onto the grass. Rainbow had fixed her own sandwiches of peanut butter and marshmallow fluff, while Applejack had stuck to daisies. For now, however, Dash grabbed an apple and lay backwards, looking up at the first few stars that had appeared. Luna and Celestia were battling over the sky by now, the blue hues were slipping into golden orange making the sky look like a glistening painting, still drying.
“Even if we don’t find any berries, I reckon it’d be worth it just for this,” Applejack said, still in shock from the beauty.
Rainbow was munching away on her apple, grinning wildly. “You’re just as big a dork as Twilight.” She laughed, through her bites, Applejack turned around, rolling her eyes.
“If being a dork gets me a sky like this, I suppose I am one,” she shot back, a smile on her face as well. She took a spot next to Dash, and began on her own apple.
After a moment, Dash turned towards her, “say, AJ, isn’t this all a bit extreme for a bunch of berries.”
Applejack mimicked Dash, turning on her side. “Well, if it helps out the farm, you can bet your feathers I’ll try it,”
“But really,” Dash continued, “here we are in the middle of the forest, all for something that might make your... well, least popular product a little better. Kind of silly...”
Applejack’s smile was wearing off. “Well, I know you get even pay from the weather companies, but sometimes, we don’t get enough from the zap apples and the cider sales. And I reckon I have to be ready for it, it’s my job as the big sister.” Applejack turned away from Dash. “It’s dangerous living when you don’t know what’s gonna happen next.”
Dash picked her head up and looked over at her friend. “Maybe, but what’s the fun in that?” she jumped up and pointed towards the darkening sky. “Look at where we are! This is pretty spur of the moment, and we’re both just fine.” She smiled, but Applejack shook her head.
“You always need some kind of plan or map, call it an Apple family philosophy.” Rainbow rolled her eyes, still refusing the idea. Applejack reached for the book on the Everfree Forest Twilight had given to her.
“Here’s our map, Dash. I know spur-of-the-moment is okay sometimes, but without this.” She indicated to the book. “How could we get anywhere?”
Dash shrugged her shoulders. “We could find our way somehow, we always do. That’s called adventure.”
“We could hope,”
Dash didn’t know what to say to this. She took her spot back next to the earth pony and looked back up at the stars.
“Imagine if there was a new world that you could have adventures in,” Dash said after a few moments of silence. “And there was no plan because there was nothing that you knew.” She smiled. “I’d like to live there, it’d be just like a Daring Do book! An exploration, we would be the heroes and we could live somewhere brand new!” She finished, looking towards Applejack to see her reaction. She stayed in silence for a minute, thinking over what Dash had said.
“Well, I reckon it’d be scary and... strange,” she finally said. “I wouldn’t know what to think, I just can’t picture it.”
Dash shrugged again at this. “One day, I’ll take you there. Show you a whole new kind of world, tear up the plan!” she ripped out a page in the book and tearing it up, making it snow little pieces of shredded diagrams fall on the two.
“Dash! That’s a library book!” Applejack yelled, but she was giggling. She sat up and turned towards Dash. “I swear, Rainbow Dash, one you’ll have to pay for all the damage you’ve done to poor Twilight and her books.”
“Hey! She hasn’t forced me yet, it’s called pushing my luck.”
“And I suppose that’s a mighty fine idea in your so called ‘new world’?” Applejack lowered her eyebrows at Dash,
“You betcha!” Dash grinned widely and Applejack found it hard to resist joining in. The smiling led to laughing pretty quickly and eventually the deep belly laughs of the two could be heard throughout the forest. As they settled down, Applejack turned her head towards Rainbow,
“I reckon I could go there with you one day, iffin you don’t fly ahead without me.”
Dash smirked. “Well, I guess you’ll have to keep up with me.” Applejack groaned and was about to fire back a remark when she felt the ground shake a little.
“Dash, did you feel that?” The pegasus sat up instantly, sensing the urgency in her voice.
“What?”
Applejack looked around, everything seemed to be at peace. “I could’ve sworn I felt a-” She was cut off by a much more obvious rumble that came from beneath.
“Applejack, what is that?” Even though she was trying to hide it, Applejack could hear the fear in her voice.
“I don’t know just, shh!” she whispered, trying to hear the next noise from the earth. And it came, this time without stopping. It started low, lower than the other two before it. But before long it grew to a ringing in the ears and a uneasiness in the gut. The whole forest seemed to be shaking and in the middle of the clearing where they lay, Applejack could see a hole opening in the center. A dark void that looked to have nothing in it at all. The rumbling continued.
“Applejack!” Dash yelled out, seeing it as well, the gap was growing in size now, crawling towards them at an ever increasing pace.
The two locked eyes and a solution was obvious, Dash started to fly and Applejack quickly latched onto her hoof. However, as soon as they lifted off the ground, the grass blades grew longer and seemed to reach for them and pull them back down, sealing the ponies to the earth. The hole was inches away and the whole world was still quaking. The two mares looked at each other for a final moment.
“Dash!”
“Applejack!”
And the edge widened around them, darkness awaited below. Dash felt her wings grow limp and as she lost Applejack’s hoof, fell into the starless void. She was not able to hear the other pony anymore.
The clearing closed again, now empty.
Author's Note
And there you have it. If this get's any sort of response, I'll be happy to continue on! Thanks a lot for reading.
Musical inspiration comes from Edward Sharpe as you can tell from the title.