STORY TIME! GRAB YOUR TISSUES BECAUSE IT'S DEPRESSING! *Evil laughter* READ AND CRY! *Laugher intensities*



"Apple Bloom? Where in tarnation is that girl? AJ? Macintosh? Someone answer me dang it!" Granny whipped off her apron with a frustrated sigh. She looked back at the table. Carrots, cucumbers, beef and cheese casserole. All of it wasted! Again! She pulled out the chair forcibly and sat down with a huff. For an old gal Granny Smith was many things but docile when upset was not one of them. Her frustration however began to leave her. In it's place came a familiar feeling that, like clockwork, struck only on this day every year. Her fists clenched as memories flooded back to her. Twelve years. Twelve years should be enough right? Why was it never enough. She ran her arms across the dinner table with a shout, throwing the food and plates to ground shattering them. Finally after what seemed like an eternity fighting. The Apple Matriarch succumbed to the war she was fighting internally. A single tear fell on to her plate... just as it did twelve years ago. Followed by what can only be described as pain in it's truest form. Or in other words. A grieving mother's scream.



Apple Bloom had heard Granny Call her and her siblings. But she knew Granny only cooked that meal on one day. It was her grief mechanism, or something like that. Big Mac had told her so during one of them. Since then she had left her granny alone to deal with the pain in her own way. Out of all of her family Apple Bloom was perhaps the less affected by the day. She was only one when it happened... And while she knew her mother's and Father's face, she had no memories of them. In a way, she guessed, It was better not to have known them. Lord knows how she would handle the situation if Granny passed suddenly. She shivered at the thought. Even though she had no episodes like her family, She was still affected. She was without mother or father. Sure, Big Mac took care of her like a dad. But It- It just wasn't the same. A girl has to have a father. Apple Bloom sniffed. "It's not fair!" She exclaimed, slamming her small fist into the trunk of the tree she stood next to. She pulled it back and clutched the bleeding hand. The tears that threatened to fall broke away in a torrent of loneliness and despair. She fell back against the tree and curled up her knees to hide her face away from the world. She would stay like that until the next morning when the sun shone over the mountains.



Big Macintosh ran through the same routine everyday and every night. Some who know of him call him a rock. He was a simple farmer, born of the Earth and would someday be buried beneath her. He was known by many as the Man of Few Words, the craftsman, The Gentle Giant, or to a select few The father. Now he wasn't called that because he was religious, Heaven knows what would happen if a Baptist called himself the father. Instead he was called The Father, due to the sad heartbreaking story that happened twelve years ago. Many of the older citizens remember clearly that day he earned that title. Though most will shy away if asked a question about the Apple Family. Macintosh rarely sown emotion. The few times he did are always caused by something involving his family. But unlike his normal rare emotional bursts the town was used to, every year on the same day he had a different routine. One that anyone close to him knew what it meant. Macintosh avoided the town, instead he ventured into the Everfree forest with an axe and rope. Hours later he would return dragging a trunk of a tree that had cut down. He Grunted as the weight forced him to dig his feet into the ground only to move it by a few inches. His usually unreadable expression was masked with pain and anger. Letting out a shout he pulled the tree with enough force for him to continue to go. He angled his body to the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres. As he neared the wood cutting station set up for dead apple trees he pushed himself further to get the log closer. He looked down at the past imprints of logs that sheared in its fate. Each one was closer then the next. With a sigh he dropped the rope grabbed the axe still lodged inside the trunk and yanked it out. He looked to the sky and watched as the dark clouds swirled around the horizon. With a shout only heard by himself he began the long task of chopping the wood. It would be past midnight when he would be finished. But he felt he needed to do this. It was what his father last had told him to do.



Unlike her Brother and sister and granny, Applejack was stubborn. She would put on a fake face and refuse to acknowledge it. if she was pushed she would throw punches... Not the fugitive ones either. She however would head to the archard to kick trees. Not to get the Apples down. but to get rid of her anger, her frustration. Her pain. Applejack grunted as she kicked the tree again. She took a deep breath, It was well past midnight and the only light was her lantern she brought with her. It would be easier if the task wasn't so tasking on her body. Still, she lifted her leg and gave the tree another kick, Harvesting the Apples needed to get done. And If Big Mac was going to hide the ladder and buckets she would do it the hard way. Instead of a solid thump of a tree trunk however her foot missed and she twisted down in a heap next to it. She let out an involuntary sniff only to grab a handful of grass in anger. "Ah' ain't gonna cry. No! Yer' fine AJ. yer, not upset!" Her hat had fallen off her head sometime during her kicking session only the string keeping it from blowing away in the chilling winds. She pushed herself up and tried to kick the tree again. Her steel toed boot left a noticeable indentation. Sweat pooled at her brow and stung her eyes forcing her to close them as she tried again. She missed again. This time however when she lost her balance she fell into something firm. Shocked she opened her eyes to stare into the same emerald ones of her older brother. She tried to shove him off but he held onto her in a vice grip. "let me Go Mac!" she yelled at him. He however didn't and instead took a seat forcing her to sit with him. She used her free hand and started to hit him on his shoulder. "Let Me Go!" She choked out. Her assault on her brother slowed, as each strike started to waver in strength. Her breathing also became erratic as her mind overloaded with emotion. Applejack, locked in an embrace with her brother, her assaults to get free losing whatever strength they had to begin with. Now began to feel her defences falter. Distant repressed memories began to surface. Memories of a terrified little girl, a black dress, and cold stone, after being forgotten, assaulted her without remorse. Finally with a defeated sigh she let out a pain induced choke and let her head fall on her brother's chest. When Applejack heard Macintosh hum the tune that her mother sang when she was little, she finally broke. With a pained cry she began to sob into Macintosh's chest. They stayed like that until the early morning hours. Her crying onto him, He wrapping his arms protectively around her. Then after a few moments of shuddering breaths he made her climb onto his back he then carried her back to the house. Sometimes she would continue shed silent tears as he carried her. Finally after what seemed like an eternity Applejack fell into a deep slumber as Macintosh tucked her in.



Macintosh was a man run by routine. Applejack always needed someone to break her. It wasn't healthy to keep it locked away. And the only person she trusted with her key was him. Every year he did the same thing. After finishing with his chore, he would help AJ, who's own stubborn attitude to do work would usually sprain, twist or in the worst case scenario fracture her ankle due to the pressure she inflicts upon it. After her he would spend some time to clean the dining area. Throwing broken dishes into the trash, cleaning up broken glass from the floor and tossing the same uneaten meal for the 12th time into the compost bin. Then he would search for Apple Bloom. She was the hardest to care for. Sometimes he would find her in the barn with the photo album over her face other times under a random tree. When he found her this time, the sun was starting to break over the distant mountains. He gently picked her up and carried her off to her own bed for her continued sleep. When everything was said and done he would sit in his father's chair and let the day's work take him to sleep.



The end.



What did you think? *Grins evilly*