Chapter 4: Fate of the Farm

A few hours after Flim left the farm Applejack came out of her room, still angry, but more worried about what Granny had said earlier. When she finally found Granny she was sleeping in her chair, making it seem as though nothing had happened earlier in the day. Knowing that it would be a while before Granny woke up Applejack decided to look around the house for something to do, finding plenty of dishes sitting in the sink from the past two days. Once those were finished Applejack decided to join Granny in the living room for a nap, only for the elderly mare to be awake when she got there.

"Hey Granny" Applejack said as she climbed onto the couch,  laying herself down so she would be comfortable.

"Applejack" Granny said calmly, making Applejack think that Granny was unfazed by the morning's events.

"Granny, what you said earlier, about the farm..." Applejack started to ask, but Granny hushed her.

"It was true" Granny said seriously, "In your parents will it says that they wanted whomever of the three of you that got married first to have it"

"But you're still here, don't you still own the farm?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow towards Granny.

"Nope, my husband, your grandfather, owned the farm" Granny said, looking towards a picture on the wall of an old stallion standing next to her, "When he passed he handed the farm down to your father, and when he..."

"It's okay Granny, you don't have to say it" Applejack said, knowing that the memory of how her father died hurt Granny. Granny was silent for a moment as she looked at the picture of her with her husband, an overwhelming urge to cry growing inside her, but she managed to stay calm.

"I have to follow what you're father put in his will" Granny said with a sigh, "I just wish there was another way..." Applejack watched Granny as she got out of her chair and headed up the stairs to her room, being reminded of her husband and son's passing had taken a toll on her. After a while Applejack had managed to fall asleep on the cough, her own mind plagued with the memory of her parents' passing...

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"Come on sis, dad wants us to go into our rooms right now" Big Mac said as he started to pull Applejack towards her room, which she was currently sharing with their newborn sister, Applebloom.

"But why?" Applejack asked, confused as to why her parents would do that during a storm. Normally when a storm got this bad their parents would take all of them into the living room and they would all play games until it was over. Why would they change it tonight?

"I don't know why, but even Granny wants us to go there, so we're going" Big Mac said seriously, making Applejack feel a little angry. He's never acted that way towards her before, and with everything that was going on it only made Applejack more confused. When he finally got her into her room Applebloom started to cry, making Big Mac stay in the room so he could calm her down. After almost an hour the storm started to clear up, but Big Mac made Applejack stay in the room to watch Applebloom while he and Granny went to find out where their mom and dad were.

"Momma?" Applebloom asked as Applejack lifted her onto her back so they could go down to the living room.

"No Applebloom, I'm not momma" Applejack said as she closed the door to her room, having to walk slowly down the stairs so that Applebloom wouldn't fall off. Once they were downstairs she looked out the window, a giant smoke cloud slowly rising into the sky where the Pegasi were kicking it apart. From the orchard she saw Granny, Big Mac, and some unknown filly running towards the house.

"Applejack, go get the bath started" Big Mac ordered as he came into the house. Applejack quickly complied and ran upstairs to turn on the bath, and once it was ready she ran back downstairs to see Granny crying as Big Mac cleaned up some cuts the filly had on her legs.

"What's going on? Where's mom and dad?" Applejack asked as she looked around the room, not seeing any sign of them. Big Mac coughed so he could talk, but the filly on the couch suddenly spoke up.

"I saw them trying to put out the fire, so I tried to help them, but then..." the filly coughed as tears started to come down her face, "A branch that was on fire came down onto them..." Big Mac started to pat the filly on the shoulder to try and calm her down, but she just kept crying.

"I tried to save them, but all I did was hurt myself..." the filly said as she looked at her forelegs, burns and cuts running up and down them.

"It's okay, now come on, let's get you cleaned up" Big Mac said as he helped the filly to her hooves and then up the stairs into the bath. Applejack decided to sit down on the floor next to Granny, the shock still not setting in yet as she thought about what the filly said. A few minutes later Big Mac and the filly, who Applejack could now tell had a rainbow mane and wings, came down from the bath, with the filly leaning up on Big Mac for support.

"I don't know how I could ever repay you for saving my life back there" the filly said as they sat down on the couch.

"No need to, I couldn't just leave you to die in there" Big Mac said, trying to be humble.

"Hmm..." the filly said as she tapped her chin, a devious smile growing on her face, "What if I became your wife!" Big Mac gave her a confused look, but quickly smiled, thinking it was only a joke. After some time he walked the filly home, coming back with redder cheeks than he usually had.

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"Hey look, she's awake" Rainbow said as Applejack opened her eyes, the evening sun blinding her at first.

"What are you doing here Rainbow?" Applejack asked tiredly as she rubbed her eyes.

"Just came by to see Mac, why?" Rainbow asked, finding it odd that Applejack didn't know she was coming by. Rainbow always came by on a Friday for food, it was when Big Mac went all out and prepared a feast to end the week. As Applejack woke up completely she remembered her dream, and came up with a plan to keep Flim from getting the farm.

"Hey Rainbow, do you remember what you said to Big Mac when you first met?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow as she smiled evilly at Rainbow, making her back away slowly, "You know, about you being his wife?"

"Woah, woah!" Rainbow said quickly, her forelegs coming up defensively, "Just because me and Mac are together doesn't mean I want to marry him right away!"

"You two are together?" Applejack asked, being caught off guard by the news.

"It's a long story..." Rainbow said as she blushed, "Anyways, why are you bringing up something I said as a kid?!"

"Well, I'd rather see the farm go to you two rather than it go to Flim" Applejack said angrily, making Rainbow remember that Mac had told her about what Flim had done that morning. Rainbow sighed loudly and then trotted off to the kitchen to get Mac, wanting him to be included in the conversation given that it involved his future as well. Once the two of them came back and had sat down on the couch Applejack began.

"So, about what Granny had said this morning..."