Earlier at the Carrot House

“So.”

Applejack steeples her hooves under her chin. Her elbows rest on the sturdy kitchen table, all their dishes cleared away and surreptitiously being dried by Doug. The rest of the herd has moved on to their jobs or school (or both in Twilight and Celestia’s case), leaving Applebaum and Totem sitting on the long bench on the opposite side of the table. They aren’t quite tall enough to no longer need it, even though the young mare has grown half a hoof since Applejack saw her two weeks ago. Could that be a consequence of her ‘fulfilling’ her cutie mark, or just a growth spurt finally kicking in?

She takes a perverse pleasure in watching her middle filly squirm. It reminds her of when Granny Smith twists the metaphorical screws, always dreading when the answer to the rapid-fire questions is an honest ‘Ee-nope’ instead of the anticipated and desired ‘Eeyup’. It doesn’t work quite as well when either of them try it on Doug; he has a penchant for calmness, a certain surety of his actions and intentions, and never evades or hides his reasoning, which is all-too-often more reasonable than she wants to (at the time) admit.

Applejack turns her focus to Totem, regarding the young stallion with a casual smile, which just makes Applebaum shift back and forth all the worse - she can tell the young mare wants to interject, to cover up something, and won’t let her get off so easily. Not when she can have a little fun with this.

Totem stands perhaps a hoof shorter than she does, which reminds her of a smaller version of Big Mac. Her brother went through a brief gangly phase right after getting his cutie mark before filling out, expanding in all directions into the powerhouse he is today. She remembers that time well, memory made fresher by the stacks of pictures she needs to sift through and sort into albums. That doesn’t bode well for Totem matching her beast of a brother; maybe he’d grow more, but he already has a stocky look to him, a squatness and low center of mass that speaks volumes to his capacity to carry loads and haul wagons. Maybe she’ll put that to the test later on, if he can pass her initial battery of questions.

“Ah don’t think we’ve been introduced proper-like.”

She lets her smile grow a touch too wide, her best imitation of Chrysalis not letting the twinkle touch her eyes. Applebaum’s fidgeting gets more pronounced, her mouth opening a sliver and her ears occasionally folding back.

Whoever raised Totem didn’t raise a colt, they raised a statue. He doesn’t flinch or anything, just stares at her with piercing blue eyes, the same color and brightness of a changeling except he has pupils. His cutie mark reflects those eyes on some upright log that looks lumpy despite being intricately carved.

“Sure.”

The single word throws her off, if briefly: she wasn’t expecting a response, and if she was it would have been an ‘Eeyup’ or an ‘Ee-nope’. Not an ambiguous answer that just as easily could represent the affirmative ‘we should introduce ourselves’ as the neutral ‘you have stated a correct fact’. She leans toward the latter.

To get back on track she throws her drawl into overdrive. “Well, color me brighter n’a pair’a Pink Ladies for failin’ ta do so.” The table is a bit too wide for her to thrust her hoof forward and shake his. She’d rather greet him that way, but it’d be a bit awkward to cross over now, so she just grins and gives a quick bow of her head. “Ah’m Applejack.”

Totem blinks once. “Sure.”

Applejack chuckles, rolling with the unconventional response. “Now, Ah caught your name was Totem, an’ while Ah’m more’n’a mite interested in what led to y’all hikin’ up a mountain, maybe we can start with somethin’ a lil’ easier.”

“Sure.”

Even though Applejack hadn’t meant to leave space for him to answer he still took the opportunity. She likes that. “You’ll have to excuse mah jus’ bein’ a plain ole country gal, but most of us Apples got pretty simple cutie marks. Ah got an apple, Big Mac’s got an apple, Granny’s got an apple pie.”

“Sure.”

She glances at Applebaum’s cutie mark of an exploding apple, then decides not to comment on it. Totem’s eyes never leave her, even as her attention wanders. “Can’t say Ah’ve ever seen a ‘totem’ cutie mark before.”

She trails off, unsurprised by his anodyne, “Sure.”

“Totem,” Applebaum cuts in, exasperated. Applejack finds this a bit telling, though doesn’t react just yet. “Tell her how you got your cutie mark.”

“My sire,” Totem immediately explains, “told me to help him move five and a half dozen crates they excavated from a temple in the Tenochtitlan Basin into their warehouse while he took care of some errands.” Applebaum’s eyes grow wide with awe. “When he came back, I had them all moved, and I had this.”

“Those crates are massive,” Applebaum challenges as he motions backward. She immediately backtracks, fumbling for the words. “N-not that Ah’m doubtin’ ya or anythin’!”

Totem shrugs like it’s nothing. “I got it done. Life of a support, ya know?”

“Sure sounds impressive to me,” Applejack covers. She wonders how those crates compare to their own when filled with apples. As well, that Basin name sounds familiar, but she can’t quite place it; maybe Rainbow Dash or Twilight mentioned it? “Do ya work with yer sire often?”

“Sure.”

“Totem,” Applebaum admonishes.

Applejack finds a certain humor in how quick her filly is to tell Totem what to do. “Now, hold on, lil’ filly.” Applebaum pouts at being called such an endearing term in front of company. “Ah admire a colt who has a certain brevity. Remind ya of anypony?”

Applebaum scowls rather than answer, which is an answer all the same.

“Now,” Applejack says, turning to Totem, “if’n ya don’t mind me sayin’, ya look like a colt who don’t mind gettin’ his muzzle dirty.”

“Sure.”

“An’ Ah hope you’ll forgive a bit of a rant, but Ah appreciate a stallion who don’t mind workin’ an equal share.” Applejack grits her teeth. “Too many wanna mosey on by, lettin’ the mare do the work an’ only helpin’ out once a year, if’n ya catch my drift.”

She’s glad Doug doesn’t fit that category, even if it means that he doesn’t have as much time for her. Him being stallion to such a large herd doesn’t help matters, either, but she makes do.

“...Sure.”

“Dam,” Applebaum tries, only to be immediately hushed.

“Haulin’ crates ain’t exactly glamorous,” Applejack admits with a wry shake of her head. “But, truth be told, neither is harvestin’ apples. Still, we take pride in what we do here at Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Sure,” Totem says, and even the neutral ‘that is a true statement’ has a kernel of respect and admiration in it.

“Most’a the year, it’s long hours of hard, repetitive work.” Applejack finds a sense of joy at just the mention of her labor of love. “Most ponies ain’t up for it.” She lets a sly smile spread across her muzzle. “But you don’t seem like most ponies to me.”

“Sure,” Totem says with a certain cocky swagger.

“Now,” Applejack continues, turning on the pressure. Just because she likes him and thinks he might have a future on the farm doesn’t mean she’ll go easy on him. “There must be a reason she didn’t mention ya in any of her letters home, yet saw fit to go out adventurin’ with ya.”

“Sure,” Totem answers succinctly. Applebaum’s ears fold against her head.

Applejack thinks she can spot a bead of sweat forming on the colt, or maybe it’s just her imagining how she would feel if she was being grilled by Granny Smith. “Ah wonder why that is.”

“Sure.”

“I-it’s not like that,” Applebaum weakly argues. “Nothing happened.”

“Methinks the filly doth protest too much,” Doug quips from the sink, the dishes all dried and returned to the cabinets.

“Now, hold on,” Applejack says to Applebaum. “Ah’ll get your side of things, don’t worry your pretty lil’ head.” She turns to Doug as Applebaum nods, chastened. “An’ Ah don’t need no comments from the peanut gallery, ya hear?”

“Sure,” Doug says with a smirk she doesn’t care for.

Regardless, she turns back to Totem. “It ain’t the kinda action Ah’d expect from just acquaintances.”

She can definitely see the gulp this time. “Sure.”

“Now, ain’t nothin’ wrong with that,” Applejack says, mollifying her tone quite a bit. She gives the two a pleasant smile, with only the slightest hint of a patronizing leer. “Ah just hope ya like apples, an’ don’t mind helpin’ out durin’ harvest.”

“Dam,” Applebaum tries.

“Sure,” Totem says at the same time with a grin of his own.

“Now, Ah ain’t sayin’ Ah’m lookin’ for grandfoals so soon,” Applejack says with an admonishing shake of her head. “Give it a few years, even if y’all are adults. No sense in rushin’ things.”

“Dam!” Applebaum protests, to no avail.

“Sure,” Totem says, his now gleeful grin growing wider.

“With that said,” Applejack continues, ignoring her filly’s protests, “Ah’m sure we could make room for ya here, if’n Canterlot don’t have some special hold on ya.” She winks. “Maybe even refit a barn for ya, outta earshot.”

“Dam!!” Applebaum shouts without raising her voice. “Ah don’t need ya settin’ me up! Not with Totem, not with nopony! Ah’m mah own mare! An’ Ah ain’t comin’ back here jus’ so you can keep an eye on me!”

“Applebaum,” Doug starts with a touch of admonishment in his tone.

Applejack cuts her stallion off with a shake of her head. Her muzzle scrunches up to a hard frown. It hurts deeply for her filly to reject her. “Why would ya think that?”

Applebaum huffs, matching her dam’s frown and looking away. Her words pierce deep, even if they aren’t spoken very loud. “Because Ah heard ya on the train,” she admits. “Ah heard ya say how ya was gonna write an’ have them send me home. How ya didn’t trust me.”

Applejack takes a long, deep breath that turns into a heavy sigh. She stays silent long enough for Applebaum to turn and look back at her as if something might be physically wrong and not just that her words had an emotional impact. She doesn’t want to admit that she was thinking those thoughts and saying those things. She also knows Honesty is the best policy, and how easily a well-intentioned lie can make things worse.

“You’re right,” Applejack finally admits. “Ah’m sorry. Ah said those things, and at the time Ah meant ‘em. Ah thought ya were bein’ wildly irresponsible, goin’ off adventurin’ an’ gallivantin’ across Equestria, doin’ nothin’ but stirrin’ up trouble. Ah was afraid ya’d get hurt. But it was for somethin’ ya believed in, more’n Ah’d like ta admit. An’ if ya get hurt doin’ somethin’ ya believe in? Well, there ain’t no better reason than that.”

“Huh.” At first, Applebaum stares at Applejack, who returns a small, repentant smile. “An’ the keepin’ me here?”

“You’re your own mare.” Applejack’s smile grows a little, becoming more hopeful. “If ya wanna go out there, make your own choices? Just know you’re always welcome back here, no matter what. An’ if ya wanna stay?” She winks, drawing a chuckle from Applebaum.

“Ah saw that goin’ way different in mah head,” Applebaum admits, hopping off the bench so she can playfully ram her head into her dam’s withers. “Thanks.”

“Ah know Ah sure prefer keepin’ things simple-like,” Applejack says, glancing up at Doug as he walks over and fondles one of her ears.

“Sure makes things easier.” Doug bends down to peck her cheek, then releases her with a solemn sigh. “Well, I need to get to work, and so do you.”

“Eeyup.” Applejack watches Doug walk to his office, then gives Totem and Applebaum a firm nod. “Y’all stay safe, ya hear?”

“Eeyup,” Applebaum echoes. She grins at Totem. “Hey, you want a tour of Sweet Apple Acres? We’re missing class anyway, might as well wait for the redeye back to Canterlot.”

“Sure,” Totem answers, following her outside and matching the bounce in her step.

Next Chapter: Ch. 123 - Energy From Within, Part Two Estimated time remaining: 12 Hours, 36 Minutes