Chapter Text
Once upon a time, Applejack was a happy little filly, living with her lovely family at Sweet Apple Acres. And recently, she got a new baby sister! She spent her days wide-eyed, eager, and naive, as children are wont to do, and all was well and good.
Until, the Event happened.
She never saw it with her own eyes. The last she’d seen of her mother and father was on a sunny morning, as they bid the family farewells, promising to return within the next two days.
They never did.
Applejack didn’t remember Granny Smith’s initial panic when the parents failed to return. She didn’t remember how she screamed at the search team to find her son and daughter-in-law at all costs. She didn’t remember how she wept at the bad news. But Applejack did remember the pain she felt of missing her mother, of her father. It felt as if she would never see them again.
So when Granny sat the siblings down and told them the news, it was as if Applejack’s entire world had collapsed on itself. Gone were the days of frolicking about the orchards as they worked. Gone were the bedtime stories and goodnight kisses. Gone was the comforting voice of her mother’s singing, her father’s horseback rides and stories.
Applejack was no longer the innocent filly whose days were filled with play and joy. It was time to grow up.
And yet, working at the farm was the hardest task she had ever harbored, even with Big Mac and Granny Smith’s help. How was she supposed to walk these same orchards that were once filled with the joy and comfort of a happy and complete family? The same orchards that her own parents had walked on, breathed in? Her parents who were now six feet under, never to be seen or heard from again? It was impossible.
So when Granny Smith presented the opportunity to live with their semi-close relatives, the Oranges, Applejack took it up in a heartbeat. Maybe a change of scenery would help her deal with the loss. Maybe she just needed to start over fresh, somewhere far away from the grief. Somewhere like the uppity city of Manehattan, where all your dreams could come true. And applejack had one dream at the time: to be happy again.
And so Applejack moved in with the Oranges, the latter gladly taking her in and quickly accustoming her to the elite lifestyle. Hair done up, perfect posture, formal speech. All work, no play. And this was all she gathered from just her first day with the Oranges.
So, the next morning, she yearned as she looked out the window, already homesick and questioning if this life was for her at all. This was supposed to make her feel better, right? What was wrong? Why did it feel like something was missing? This was what she wanted, right?
Yes, it was what she wanted. To be away from… That. From grief. From death. All these things such a small filly could barely even begin to wrap her head around. And this? This would help.
And so Applejack turned away, mere moments before that fateful Rainboom flashed through the sky, with new resolve. She could do this. She could stick out another day. And so she went on to get ready for a brand new day, with the Oranges, in Manehattan.