Every Apple Fades Away

Basking in Celestia's beauty stood a beautiful apple tree; the limbs stemming from its core thick, the leaves an effervescent green, and a lone scarlet apple hanging from the highest branch glimmering in the warm sunlight. A small filly stood at the base of the tree, gazing onward with a watering mouth. A hat rested lightly upon her head, golden hair flowing beneath it. The reflection of the apple flickered in her eyes when she blinked, the forest green eyes never gazing far from the apple. Freckles dotted her face, and her flank was imprinted with a rough triangle of apples.

Her right hoof left the ground, the imprint of where it last was staying in the dirt. The hoof gingerly went forward, gaining height as it made its way towards the apple. It stopped short of the top, not even reaching the lowest branch of the tree. For her, it was so close, but it was just so far away at the same time. Applejack slammed her hoof into the ground in a mild rage, crouching on all four legs and giving a swift jump in another attempt to reach the apple she longed for. Her jump got her just a bit closer to the objective, but she barely skimmed the lowest branch. She glared at the apple as if it was mocking her every attempt to reach its succulent feast of the gods.

Applejack fell back onto her haunches, still glaring at the apple, her eyes filling with a small amount of rage and frustration. She sat there for what seemed like an eternity, the sun blazing against her back, inducing a small bead of sweat on her brow. It started to become uncomfortably hot in the sun, Applejack reaching up slowly with a single hoof and wiping the sweat from her brow, eyes never letting the apple leave her line of sight.

Letting the minor amount of anger trapped in her filly body get the best of her, Applejack turns in a swift motion, letting out a mighty kick, for a small pony, into the trunk of the tree. Her breathing became somewhat heavy from the effort used to put her hooves to work. The thwacking of leaves and branches could be heard from above her, the sign of something falling down and gaining speed as it went along its path. She looked up just in time to see a red blob come crashing down on her directly between her eyes, knocking her off balance and sending her into the dirt.

She groaned as she rubbed the developing bruise on her head with a hoof. Her eyes spun in their sockets, dazed from whatever had impacted her thick skull. In her blurred vision stood a blob of red in the shape of an apple. Shaking her head as if it was an Etch-a-Sketch, Applejack cleared her once blurry vision to see the grandeur of the apple she had admired from so far away. Her eyes watered at the beauty of it, the sweet smell and mouth watering scent finding its way into her nose. She took a heavy breath in through her nose, closing her eyes and enjoying the sweet and delicate smell of the snack that stood in front of her. Releasing the breath she held in her lungs, Applejack opened her eyes, a small smile cracking across her lips.

A hoof extended from below her body, grabbing the apple gingerly in her caring hoof. She wafted the apple under her nose, letting the succulency sink in before latching her teeth into it. It smelled of the sweetest pies but without the cinnamon to numb her nostrils. She cracked her mouth open slowly, bringing the apple close enough to lick it. With a massive bite, Applejack tore into the apple, taking half of it and slowly chewing it. Her tongue rang with sensation, the sweet juices flowing across it and the slight tang nibbling at her taste buds. It was the best apple that she had ever had the ability to sink her teeth into. Swallowing the chewed pieces of apple, she opened her mouth for the train of delicacy to deliver another helping of this godly food unto her taste buds. The flavor never ceased to amaze her, the taste coming back with greater strength every chew. She swallowed the mush of apple, her mouth craving for more. She brought the hoof up to her mouth, expecting there to be another bit of delectable apple resting upon it, but all she received was a mouthful of hoof.

She immediately spat it out, her taste buds cringing at the feel of dry dirt covering the sweetness of the apple she had just devoured. Her eyes gazed upwards at the tree, searching for another one of the perfectly ripened apples. But this tree was empty; not a single apple in sight. It was all green, not a blotch of red to break the continuous flow of leaves.  

Tears began to swell up in her eyes, the best food she had eaten now gone forever, never to come back. The bottom lip began to quiver, sobs about to explode from the young fillies heart. She began to cry, tears dripping from her eyes. Applejack ran towards the farmhouse in which she lived, her golden hair dabbing at the tears on her cheek with every movement. Her hooves raced frantically towards the home in search for the bright red colt whom she proudly called her big brother.

Racing through the front door, tears still dripping from her cheeks, she passed the napping Granny Smith, nearly waking her from the commotion. Every room was searched with no reception, her small orange head peeking through every door in the attempt to find her older brother. The efforts of her tireless searching through the house brought her no fruits of her labor. She hung her head low, tears slowing and one dripping down onto the cold wooden planks beneath her hooves. Everywhere had been searched looking for Big Mac, but he was nowhere to be found inside of the house. Hoof after hoof, she made her way up the stairs, a small knocking coming from each of her steps.

From behind her, the front door creaked open and slammed shut, the heavy footsteps of a pony in suit. The only other pony that could possibly be coming into the house is Big Mac! She thought to herself, turning tail and dashing back towards the front door. Racing into the room, she ran into a bulky red colt, sending them both to the ground in a small tumble.

"Whoa there, lil' sis," Big Mac said as he tumbled to the floor. He noticed the redness of her eyes, a sign that she had been crying in the moments before. "What's wrong?"

"Ah had a really tasty apple, and now its ahll gone!" she told him, her voice teeming with sadness as tears filled her eyes. "It was the best apple in all ah Equestria!"

"Now listen here," Big Mac told her, bringing himself off the floor and dusting himself off, "Ya see all those apples out there in the orchard?" he asked pointing a hoof out the window.

Applejack rose to her feet, and peered out the window. "But those ain't the same, Big Mac! This one was the tastiest –"

"It's not about how this apple tasted, Applejack. There will always be a tastier apple out there, waiting to be eaten. Its just a matter of when you find it," he told her. "The thing is though, no matter how hard you want to remember how good that one apple tastes, you have to remember that they all go away eventually as you find one that tastes better."

"Do ya really mean that Big Mac? Is there really one out there that is better?" she asked, a smile trying to creep its way onto her face.

"Of course I do, sis."

And with that being said, Applejack hurriedly dashed out the door and bolted towards the orchard that rested just beyond the home. Every red apple she could find, she would pick off the tree and bite it, trying to find that one that tasted better than the best one she had eaten before. There was no time to lose for finding that tastier apple, and after all, every apples fades away.