Found and Lost

At 6:34 in the morning precisely, the sun shone on Equestria, and as usual, Big Macintosh hoisted himself off his bed to get started on the long day ahead of him. Ever since he’d been a young colt, he’d found the silence of the morning inexplicably relaxing, and he’d often sit on the front porch chewing on a stem of Big Bluestem and savoring the sweet morning breeze, and allowing his mind to wander. Ever since his parents had gone, he’d found it hard, unnecessary even, to say much, yet thousands of thoughts passed through his head constantly. Not all of them needed voicing however, so mostly he simply kept them to himself.

His daily morning routine had actually begun shortly after his mother’s death, as he joined his father on the porch every morning, until the day he found himself alone chewing on an unusually salty piece of prairie grass one morning. That day he was joined by his sister at the crack of dawn, both of them teary-eyed, but finding consolation in each other’s company and the brisk morning air. At the crack of dawn, this had become a habit for them, sharing in the silence of the morning, no matter the weather, no matter how tired, it was something much stronger that pulled them out of bed every morning and had them sitting on the front porch watching the scarlet dawn bleed out into a million shades of blue every morning.

That was why that morning, Big Macintosh found it strange that he was by himself gazing out into the open fields. As of late, Applejack had been waking ever so slightly before him, greeting him with a cheery, if somewhat drowsy “Mornin’” every day. This was the reason he sat impatiently tapping his hooves, something might uncharacteristic of him, as he never lost his patience. It wasn’t any bother, if Applejack had slept in and decided not to join him, but she never slept in, and so was out of character herself that morning.

Finally, breaking rank, Big Mac got back up on his hooves and swung the door open to search for his sister. It was simply too unlike her to not be up at this hour; almost seven as it were. Thinking logically, she may simply be in the kitchen preparing some form of breakfast. She usually got up even earlier to do such things for them, seeing as how they were the only two to wake at such an early hour, but today may have been the exception. He entered the kitchen to find it as empty and hollow as his hopes, as not even the kettle had been filled, nor were there any treats baking in the oven.  It was simply too strange, and left him only one option, which he truly hated, yet he still hoped he was right.

The red stallion barreled up the stairs, hoping his speed might lessen the wails of the loose floorboards, but to no avail. He just hopped he hadn’t woken Apple Bloom up; she was still young, and had no need to be up at such hours, not until much later. He walked past the main hall and into the left corner of the ending T-section that led up the Applejack’s room and the spare guestroom. Hesitantly, he stepped silently up to the weathered oak door, and pressed his ear against it. He hated spying on people, especially  family, especially his younger sister, it was simply wrong and against every fiber in his being. But when he was genuinely worried, and those moments were few and far apart, he’d sacrifice his principles and his life for those he cared about in the blink of an eye.

Not a sound could be heard from within the room, but if AJ was sleeping, then it wouldn’t make much difference. She was a light sleeper, and would wake at the slightest of noise, something Big Mac himself had adapted as a habit as a protective measure. T’were many a morning that they’d wake at a strange sound outside their window only to crash into each other, half-asleep in the corridor, and run down outside together to check on the noise. They’d usually laugh about it later on when they found out it was a falling branch or a wild jackrabbit strayed too far from the forest. Still, he cringed as he thought the few times that what they’d found outside had been a real threat, and the countless wounds he’d had to treat, both on Applejack and himself. But there was no noise now, and that left him to do what he’d been hoping to avoid.

Extending a wary hoof, he gently pushed the door to the room open, hoping not to make any noise with the hinges. Fortunately, they’d been recently oiled, probably by AJ herself, and as the door completed its journey, Big Mac was left both speechless and thoughtless.

There, adorning the far side of the room against a tightly-shut window was a perfectly made bed, sheets taut and flat on the soft mattress. The room echoed with what Big Mac soon realized was his own hyperventilating. The only noise came from the only pony in the room, and his brain began to process the possibilities faster than AJ could buck a tree. She never slept over anyplace else unless there was something that prevented her from doing so, and she’d always let him know somehow. But she’d been at the farm last night, it’d been close to nine when she was still cleaning up the kitchen, as was Apple Bloom, who’d been eagerly helping to dry the same dishes, hoping to hurry things along. Now that he thought about it, she’d seemed might excited.

No longer were moral issues or family values bothering him, now hidden beneath a tumultuous maelstrom of worry and doubt, Big Mac charged out of his sister’s room, and barged into Apple Bloom’s bedroom. Also empty. He looked around and his eyes fell upon a few pictures strewn on the floor picturing her and an orange pony, probably AJ, sitting on a hill, everything else painted black with white and yellow dots everywhere, surrounding a large white circle. He recalled hearing something about the stars late last night, just before he turned in. He looked closer at the pictures, and immediately recognized the hill. It was just on the southern edge of the orchard, filled with long-dead apple trees. They’d withered away after the dust storm a few years back, but they hadn’t been able to take some of the larger ones down. Nobody ventured out there for the sheer hazard those trees presented, but it was the farthest spot from the town, away from all the light pollution, and the ideal place for stargazing.

He didn’t bother to leave a note, to tell Granny where he’d be going, or to think about the fact that his sisters had been gone the entire night, and hadn’t come back yet. Heck, if Applejack had gone missing, he was sure she’s turn up eventually, but not Apple Bloom. He raced out the house and whistled loudly, probably waking up half of Ponyville in the process. He was met with enthusiastic barking as Winona cantered out of her own small establishment, to meet Big Mac on the front porch with obvious worry in her face. She began to whine and sniff around, searching for Applejack, only to find a worried stallion hovering over her. It was a big hill, and haste was a necessity, not a luxury.

“Find her.” Mac said hoarsely, and Winona snapped to attention before sniffing around, and heading towards the south. His doubts had been confirmed once again, and both pony and dog set off at breakneck speed towards the area in hopes of finding Applejack and Apple Bloom safe and sound beneath an old apple tree. Still, it was hard to think about it when he had to focus so hard to see clearly with tears in his eyes.

It must have been almost 7:30 in the morning, but it was still early, considering the young filly usually slept in until around nine, school not starting until ten in the morning. She usually woke up to the gently increasing volume of genera noise downstairs. As the sun rose higher, the rest of the family would gradually become more confident and begin clacking pots and pans and chattering at higher volumes, sometimes even putting a record on, immediately waking her up. It was worse on weekends, the few days she could stay up late and sleep in. This time however, she woke abruptly to the sound of quickly increasing barking, and thundering hoofbeats.

Apple Bloom opened her eyes, her dream vanishing immediately, lost in the wake of reality, as the previous night’s events came rushing back to her. She hoped it had all been part of her dream, the only part of her dream she somehow remembered. Looking down, she saw her sister’s legs wrapped around her, not as tight as they once would’ve been, and felt something cold against her back. She shuddered and sprang out of the chilling embrace, all the same grief and regret crashing down upon her once again.

She looked at her sister beneath the thick bough, looking almost peaceful, sleeping perhaps. Her eyes were tightly shut, tear tracks adorning her cheeks, and her mane was tussled by the heartless winds. Apple bloom simply lost it, with no one there to comfort her anymore, and sobbed for all she was worth, her tears soaking her hooves, never taking her eyes off her sleeping sister.

Winona reached Applejack first, immediately freezing before her and whining sadly, nudging the orange cowpony’s hoof, seeking a response she knew she wouldn’t get. There’d be no more running through the park, no more herding livestock or meeting the others at their pet play dates. No more pony’s best friend.

A breathless Macintosh galloped into the scene shortly afterwards, freezing in place immediately as he took in the scene. There, in the grass, beneath an old withered apple tree, lay her young golden-maned sister, pinned to the ground by a branch as thick as his ribcage. Winona prodding her, doing her best to wake her, and a terrified, scarred-for-life Apple Bloom watching in sheer terror as she looked upon her deceased sister

There was no hesitation, no doubt, not a single thing flowed through Big Macintosh’s mind in that moment, where all he could feel was the same thing he’d felt all those years ago when his own mother had passed away. He rushed over to Applejack’s side in silence, and without a single utterance of complaint, placed his hooves on the bough, and pushed with all his might. It was like lifting an entire tree, made heavier by the fact that it had done away with his sister’s life, but he pushed it as hard as he could muster, his muscles screaming in agony, and tossed it a good 20 yards out of pure raw emotion.

He didn’t stop to look at how far it had gone, not to wonder at his own strength, he ignored everything, and sat down on his haunches looking down at his sister. There was no longer any point, was there? If life was this cruel…

With trembling hooves, he gently lifted his sister closer, and cradled her in his hooves. He just stared at her for the longest time; even Apple Bloom had stopped crying, simply staring at her big brother, seeking comfort in him. She’d find none; he was about as emotionally stable as she was. His mind knew what had happened, but his heart simply refused to believe that the pony he cared about the most in all his life, the one he’d sworn to always protect, to always be there for, had gone away just like that. In the blink of an eye. Nothing had happened to cause this, nothing led up to it, she was just gone because of a coincidence in place and time. His heart caught up, and simply collapsed, and Macintosh hugged her sister tightly as he rocked back and forth on his haunches, crying and muttering incomprehensible babble to himself.

Apple Bloom, sniffing, slowly lifted herself off the ground, to join her brother, and say one final goodbye to her sister. As she neared the heart wrenching scene, she could hear Big Mac muttering something about “Not Again…” and something else about a promise. She did her best not to cry as she finally reached her brother, who hadn’t paid her any mind, and she nuzzled into her sister’s mane as her brother’s hoof wrapped around her in a tight hug. She had her own promise to keep. They sat there crying until the morning sun finally awakened them from their daze. But the truth was that they’d live in a daze for as long as their hearts were beating and their sister’s was still.

A/N : Sorry for the delay, but I'm kinda juggling... Um, about five different stories at the same time, so it's not easy for me...

Anyways, I know this story isn't all I originally worked it up to be, but I promise (no pun intended) that I'll rewrite this one day, and make it a thousand times better! Honest!