Today was just another ordinary day to Applejack. One where she would open up her house's old, creaky front door and welcome the rising sun, taking a minute to bask in it all and sigh a happy sigh before going into the fields to start her work for the day. One where she would find herself already slightly chilled by the lack of heat emanating from above, one where she would half wish she had brought a scarf. According to Rainbow the day before, the day was to be prepped for a pretty mean rain storm, on account of Princess Celestia's arrival for her annual tea time at Sugarcube Corner.

Though she felt a little bad for the Cakes, seeing as how Pinkie Pie was long gone and off somewhere, she had to admire them for working so hard. When the Princess came, she barely ever touched any of the other bakery products that had been baked for her, though Applejack always assumed that it was more out of an interest in keeping her reputation up by not gorging herself like a starved pig during winter season in the middle of the Crystal Empire. Today was a day to be out working, and she would have if her bed didn't oddly beckon to her after waving goodbye to Delirious and his friends. With a yawn and a pat to her sister's side, the mare decided that today was a day to... maybe just say...

...fuck it, to all those apples in their apple trees.

Today was a day to work. But Applejack decided that today was better spent with just a few more minutes under her warm sheets. She wasn't sleeping, no, she couldn't. What if Apple Bloom suddenly caught the kitchen in a... burning blaze of fire, or what if Granny broke her hip, her butt, her nose, and her thyroid going up the staircase again? She had to be awake for that. In both cases, the pony involved wouldn't be able to call out to her, and the other one currently in the house would be too enthralled in watching to not say anything. Granny was old and Apple Bloom was just too stubborn to try asking her sister for help in flinging water over the burning refrigerator.

With the admittedly delicious smell of apple pie lingering through the outer halls, the promise of a good day hanging outside her window, and her always trusty Stetson sitting on the old oak dresser nestled by her bed, Applejack gave a happy snicker into the top of her pillow, wondering just when she would get off her lazy flank and start working. The Harvest may have been over for about a week or so, but apple trees didn't take a day off when they were done with their part, so Applejack might as well be considerate. Considerate.

Considerate, huh?

She gave an annoyed look to the Stetson laying silently in front of her slumber-crusted eyelids.

She really needed to stop hanging around Rarity so much. Her advanced speaking-stuff was beginning to kill her like a hot knife through ripe flesh.

She froze, her eyes now wide.

Okay she really needed to stop hanging around Delirious too.

She laughed again.

Yeah right.

"Okay, this is gettin' a little too real," Applejack suddenly claimed, sitting up in her bed with a look of dreariness across her face. Eyes struggling to remain open and her mouth fixed into a slack, half-conscious frown, the farmpony took one look around her room before rubbing her sights with a tired hoof. Everything was the same as before—the otterman or something that Rarity had given her sat by its delicate, dumb little purple self in the corner of her room, next to her desk piled high with her impressive collection of books ranging from apple cellar origins to the exact differences between oranges and apples, and then from how to properly core an apple to the latest on apple bucking in a magazine that she really wished Rarity hadn't given her that had pictures she really wished Apple Bloom hadn't seen when her back was turned while making dinner last week.

With her left foreleg pressed into her apple-dotted pillow, Applejack raised an eyebrow toward her ceiling, noticing her door's half-open status. She frowned, lightly flinging her bed sheets across the rest of her bed's frame as she hopped onto the red carpet nestled underneath her bunk. Testing the ground for a few seconds to make sure she wasn't drunk the night before (somehow) or high on something Delirious had probably snuck into her drink or her burger that she really didn't want to have, Applejack felt herself wobble. Catching herself, she blamed it on being tired, convinced herself that questioning otherwise was pretty stupid, and stepped back toward her bed, leaning a hoof over to retrieve her Stetson. Placing it onto her head with a well-arced throw, Applejack struck a pose and whinnied to nopony but herself.

Standing on her hindlegs with her fores kicking out in the air, she looked down cheerily to find Apple Bloom walking past her door with a look that silently asked her if she was high on something Delirious had snuck into her drink or if she were drunk on whiskey again.

"That was one time Apple Bloom, don't even start that–"

"What was one time?" Apple Bloom asked, opening her door and ignoring the ear-shattering creak that accompanied it.

Applejack let her forelegs fall to the floor, eliciting a clip and a clop that left her undeterred, her expression matching the one she'd given Rarity when she was about to buck the tree out of Twilight's house all those years ago. She blinked carefully. "Nothin' sis."

Apple Bloom, a hoof holding the door open, gave her sister a run for her bits in the Eyebrow Contest.

"Go clean up yer room–"

"Mah room's clean."

"Okay."

Apple Bloom blinked.

"Ah'm gonna go downstairs now..."

"Don't let me stop you."

The filly did as she said she would.

Applejack, left standing in the middle of her room, spoke Eye Morse Code with her still agape door, deep down hoping that it would understand her and tell her something back. The door remained a door: dead and not alive. Which were the same thing, Applejack realized, only having her thoughts to keep her company until she descended the staircase. These thoughts were not great companions to be left alone with, even though they concerned apples and her family, and so Applejack decided that enough was enough. Taking a step toward her exit, Applejack allowed herself the beginning of one last look inside her room.

She stopped, and a smile slowly formed on her lips.

Turning to her right, Applejack trotted toward the black hat hanger situated adjacently to her door, her green eyes peering through the sunlight gleaming in through her one window behind her, its God rays laying a path down for her as she approached the brown cowboy hat hanging from the hanger. She halted in front of it, bringing a hoof up and placing it inside the crown to lift it to her face. Her smile pressed into her freckled cheeks, and she giggled to herself as she gazed at the hat Delirious had given her. A dark brown color with a stitched black hatband reminiscent of a belt.

Not bad.

She placed it back onto the hanger, deciding that she'd rather wear her pa's hat for the day.

Not bad indeed.

She gave out a loud breath, a cocky grin on her face as she faced her door once more. Okay! Enough muckin' around farmpony, it's time to go! She hesitated for a very brief second of her life, but shook her head to herself and began to trot forward. Fer real now! She pressed her hoof against her door, even though she knew that it was already open and bumping against the worn wood wall that had been victimized enough already. She continued on with her head held high. You've got it! Get to work! No turnin' back!

She turned her head as she stepped a hoof onto the staircase.

Remaining there for some time, she tilted her head, hummed, and then finally fled down the stairs, her hooves connecting with the first floor of her family's beloved house with a duo of loud stomps. Looking to her right at the expected sound of confused stuttering, Applejack chuckled and asked, "Good morning Granny Smith! Fall asleep in yer chair again, didja?"

The old mare narrowed her eyes. "Now just what are you implyin', young mare? Ah'll have ya know that when Ah was a young filly, Ah had ta sit in a chair fer five hours because Ah snuck a ribbon candy from the top of our wagon."

"Ah'm afraid ribbon candy wasn't made by anyone who liked ponies, Granny Smith," Applejack replied with a sly grin, only half-joking.

The elder mare grumbled something, leaning over to fall back asleep under her hoof-made quilt blanket.

Today was gonna be a good day. Stealing a glance to a nearby window, Applejack watched as Pegasi flew through the sky in a hurry, pushing clouds around to make way for Celestia's coming. She didn't really understand why they'd plan a rain storm when the Princess herself was coming, but she remembered something Rainbow Dash had told her a few days or so ago. Something about rainbows and precipitation and a buncha stuff that Rainbow knew Applejack didn't pay a lotta attention to.

She raised a brow however, suddenly able to make out what looked to be a worried expression on one Pegasus' face as she pulled at a pair of clouds, bringing them away from Ponyville in a hurry. Leaning forward and peering through the window, Applejack gave a curious hum as she realized that all the Pegasi were doing the same. Just what were they in such a rush for? Did the Princess cancel or somethin'?

She was roused from her observations as a voice called to her from the kitchen, tainting the otherwise inviting smell of fresh apple pie.

"Hey Applejack! Look what Ah just made!"

She cringed at the sound, having hoped that she could just get a cup of coffee or two in her before she headed out. Having tried the brew out thanks to the recommendation of Delirious and practically all his friends, she had to admit that she liked the feeling of looking forward to a cup of caffeine every morning before heading out. Black coffee had a well-deserved kick to it, but it required lots and lots of creamer before she'd even touch it. Where was she again–

"Applejaaaaaack, c'mon! Ah made you an apple pie before you went to go buck today!"

She smiled. Her little sister always looked out for her.

"Ah mean, Ah know that Delirious just left an' all..."

Excuse me?

"...but Mac is gone, and once you're done and ya feel a little winded out there in the fields..."

"Apple Bloom!" Applejack snapped, a frown on her face as she pointed to her left, "Granny is right there!"

"H-Huh, whazzat Applejack? Somethin' about ripe pears?"

Applejack mouthed a quick wait, her head swiftly turning around to look toward the kitchen as she asked, "Wait. Where'd Big Macintosh run off to?"

Apple Bloom poked her head around the corner, a green apron wrapped around her neck and fussing up her bow. "Ah dunno! Ah think he went ta go to the bank! Said somethin' about gettin' some funds or somethin'." Her face lit up, a large smile crossing her face as she hopped an inch into the air. "You wanna come see my apple pie now?"

The question was starting to become an innuendo. This upset Applejack more than anything, mostly because she wouldn't have taken notice of it if it weren't for Delirious and his friends being around her constantly. Rolling her eyes, Applejack nodded, the young mare excitedly turning tail to head back into the kitchen in wait. Taking a few steps forward to follow Apple Bloom, Applejack suddenly stopped, about jumping into the air at the sound of something heavy smashing into the front door. She groaned, her neck going forward as she gave an annoyed sigh.

She turned around, trotting toward the closed front door as she spoke, "Rainbow Dash! Just what in the hay are you doin'? The door's always closed, ya can't just barge into it expectin' it ta just open." Raising a hoof up to the doorknob, she twisted it and flung the door open, sure enough finding the light blue Pegasus curled up into a ball at her hooves. Applejack frowned, prodding the mare with a hoof. "Yeah. Door kinda hurts, don't it?" She tapped the side of Rainbow's face, and her heart halted at once.

A sniffle escaped from the fetal-positioned mare.

Rainbow, slowly, gazed up at Applejack, tears streaming down her face and her teeth bore tightly.

Applejack raised a brow. "Rainbow Dash? Y'all alright?"

Her already open eyes widened. Her pupils shrank. The Pegasus' hooves were slick with blood that ran through her coat, staining the light blue fur in its wake. They shook violently as Applejack's heart threatened to collapse. The next words that came from Rainbow's mouth were ones she never thought she'd ever have to hear in her entire life, ones she constantly hoped would never have to occur at all, ones she dreaded.

"M-Mac's... h-hurt.."

Author's Notes:

Welcome to Act II everybody. Happy New Year.

I'll try to get these chapters out as quickly and as high-quality as I can. I hope you all are okay if they don't have any set schedule. Writing too much Stroll has made Applejack's thoughts sound super smart.