"Do you understand, stallion?"
Golden Delicious nee Honey glanced up from where he'd been studying the dusty road below them, giving a faint nod. They had been walking for at least an hour, trekking in from the farthest edge of the Ponyville countryside. Golden Delicious' questions had been met with stony silence, so he could only assume that it was done in order to make it look like they'd traveled here by hoof, instead of dragging Golden Delicious from the dungeons of Celestia's castle in Canterlot.
When he did not elaborate, the mare spoke again, her voice sharper this time. "We will hear it in your words, stallion."
Golden Delicious' ears flicked back against his skull, but he was too exhausted to put up a fight, so he simply repeated their story back to them, his voice low and tired. "My name is Golden Delicious, I'm from an apple farm on the far side of Equestria. Celestia found me and arranged for me to come here and become Red Delicious' mate, and I'm very excited to be here and get back to the business of apples."
The pair of mares eyed him closely, and when he fell silent, they prompted him. "And…?"
"And I recently fell off of my ladder, so I've sustained a bit of memory loss. Pretty please help me out if I forget some of the everyday business of – augh!" He jerked sharply back where one of the unicorn mares kicked his side, her delicate hoof surprisingly sharp against his brown hide. "What the fuck!"
"We will have none of your snide attitude, stallion. The Princess will not tolerate it." She spoke in her usual calm, quiet voice, but Golden Delicious would have to be deaf to miss the barely-restrained anger there. "You will also not use your – sailor talk." She added, her voice darkening with revulsion. "These are good apple folk, and the Princess will not have you besmirch their good natures with your foul mouth."
"Right, right, got it." He grunted, struggling to bite back the groan of pain. Between the occasional kick and the coppery taste in his mouth, Golden Delicious wasn't feeling so great. The seemingly-endless hike wasn't helping things, either. The only upside was that the constant burning pain in his hip was lessened by comparison, with all the other pains to distract him.
While he had started out the hike hating the idea of his new prison, by the time they finally reached the Crappy Happy Apple Farm (or whatever those hick ponies named it), he had to bite back a sob of joy. The farm came into view as they crested a long, rolling hill, the last hundred yards seeming endless as they made their slow descent towards the respectably sized homestead.
That's odd, Golden Delicious wondered to himself, his ears flicking forward a little weakly. They had all kinds of banners up; had he missed some kind of birthday party? But where were the ponies?
As the trio stepped past the large front gate of the farm, the place seemed to burst with life, starting with a little yellow face pressed to a window for a split-second before vanishing. As if on cue, the doors to the main house opened as four ponies trotted out. Well, Golden reasoned, three ponies and one giant.
But they were all smiling, at least, which was more than Golden Delicious could say for his guards, and he found himself unconsciously returning it. It may be a prison, but it was miles better than the hellhole Celestia had kept him in.
"Howdy, y'all!" Chirped the second-to-smallest pony, the oldest-looking mare in the group. Which wasn't saying much, since the youngest one was just a filly with a bow bigger than her face. "Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres! You must be Golden Delicious!" She drawled, tipping her hat to him, her eyes alight with curiosity.
Abruptly, Golden became keenly aware of six pairs of eyes on him – four of the apple-hick clan, and two of the pointy-horns clan. A little nervously, Golden Delicious cleared his throat, looking at no one in particular as he recited his little story. "Hello, I'm Golden Delicious, from a farm on the far side of Equestria. Celestia found me and had me brought here to find my destined mate and – and I can't wait to get back to work in the apple business." He stumbled only momentarily, managing to hide the flinch that he felt rise unconsciously within him. "I recently fell off of my ladder, so if I have some memory lapses, please be patient with me."
"Fell off your ladder, poor sugarcube!" Chirped the orange mare, accepting his story as wholeheartedly as he would expect of the poor, dim hick. But then, he thought a little guiltily, she didn't know any better; in her world, Celestia was a kind goddess-figure who wanted nothing more than to help her followers. "Well, don't you worry! We'll take good care of ya! I'm Applejack, and this is my brother, Big McIntosh! This is little cousin Apple Bloom, and our Granny Smith's inside – her rheumatism bothers her on cold days like this, you'll hafta excuse her."
Oh, thank the goddess. For a minute there he'd been terrified that the big one was Red Delicious. His eyes skimmed over the group, nodding gently to each in turn, before his eyes found the last pony to be introduced. So this must be—
"And this is Red Delicious, my cousin!" Applejack finished with a little flourish, smiling at her yellow-coated companion as he stepped from behind Big Mac.
Golden Delicious took him in with a distrusting studiousness he tried to disguise. Yellow coat, a surprisingly bright color, with cerulean mane and tail cut in the traditional choppy stallion style. His eyes were like a clear patch of surf, bright and clear, and he realized with mild surprise that the stallion was sizing him up, too. And why shouldn't he? This kid was stuck with him as much as he was stuck here, on this hick farm a hundred miles from anyone he might know.
"Hello. It's nice to meet you." Red Delicious offered softly, overly formal.
"It's nice to meet you, too." Golden Delicious murmured back to him, clearing his throat a little nervously as he became aware of just how closely the other ponies were watching them. What, was he supposed to fuck him right now, or something? What the hell were they waiting for?
"Well, now that y'all are here, we can start our party!" Applejack interjected after a moment of awkward silence, grinning to the newcomers at large. "C'mon inside, we spent all mornin' cookin' up some treats for y'all!"
"We must decline with greatest regret, Apple clan." One of the horned mares spoke regally, and Golden was pretty damn sure she wasn't sorry at all. "We have pressing business in the capital. Enjoy your party."
"Oh! Well … all right then! Have a safe trip home, y'all!" Applejack chirped, watching the pair trot off for a minute before her eyes returned to Golden Delicious, sizing him up behind her wide smile. "Well, sugarcube, time ta meet the rest of the family!"
Wait. There were more?
As Golden Delicious would soon find out, there were in fact many, many more. Before very long, the party had become nothing more than a dizzying swirl of faces and names, accompanied by various apple-flavored party treats that kept getting shoved under his nose for sampling. Apple Dumpling, Apple Fritter, Apple – good goddess, did they have no other names! What was so wrong with pears!
Golden Delicious managed to slip away as one of Applejack's cousins (how many did that mare have!) started up a boisterous round of "bobbin' and shootin'," which apparently was some kind of bobbing for apples (of course) game, interspersed with the drinking of the potent moonshine her uncle Applewine brewed on his farm up north – or was it south? Goddess.
He stumbled into the kitchen, the raucous cries of amusement following him as the door slipped shut. His eyes flicked over the large, tidy space for only a moment before a dizzying wave of nausea hit him, and he struggled to stay on his hooves as the entire room seemed to swim before his eyes.
His mother had a kitchen, just like this, back in the Eastern Apple Valley. Large and spacious, with room for all of their family to come inside and warm themselves up after a brisk day of applebucking. She'd always make all kinds of apple-y treats, like tarts, pies, cakes –
No! She didn't have any of those things, none of those things happened, because he wasn't a goddessdamned apple pony! His mother – try to remember! Try to bring her face back, not the imposter's! His mother had a tiny kitchen, he thought intently, legs bowed and eyes squinched tightly shut, breathing harshly through his nose.
His mother had a tiny kitchen, in their tiny loft, in a big town by the sea. They had no big family, only Missus Jangles in the lower room, who watched him after school. There was no applebucking, no apple cakes, no apple pies, no apple—
"Are you okay?"
Golden Delicious' eyes snapped open as he sharply straightened up, wincing away from the pony who had suddenly appeared beside him. Wild eyes danced around the kitchen, flicking past the too-familiar blue and white china that decorated the walls before landing on the yellow stallion who stared at him.
"Is everything all right?" Red Delicious repeated, his voice softening on the repetition of the question, his blue eyes darkening as they tookin Golden's tense, almost shivering form.
"Fine. What business is it of yours?" Golden Delicious spat reflexively, ears flicking back as he scowled at the yellow stallion. But as soon as he said it, he knew it was too harsh, and something in Red Delicious' eyes darkened, and his brows lowered over his once-bright eyes.
"Because you're my mate now." Red stated flatly, a muscle in his jaw tightening. "Mates look out for each other."
"Yeah, well, is that why you came here? To come bug me about – being your mate, or something?" Golden Delicious spat, his anger boiling up inside of him, spilling out of his mouth like some kind of flood that he couldn't dam up. "If you're here to tell me you like to be spanked and want to call me 'Daddy,' this is not the best time."
"You think I like this either?" Red Delicious snapped at him in return, startling Golden Delicious a little. "You think I wanted some stranger to come here to be my mate? I liked my life as it was. So you can just – go buck some apples." He hissed, straightening up to his full height before trotting out of the kitchen, disappearing out the side door.
Golden Delicious stood there for a few minutes in stunned silence before the large main door opened again, and Applejack peered inside. "There ya are, sugarcube! I sent Red in here to get more of that apple wine; guess he got lost. You wanna come play with us?"
Golden Delicious stared after the side door for a moment before replying, trying to brighten his voice into something that resembled a more 'proper' apple-pony tone. "Yeah, sounds good." He murmured, lifting the bottle of apple wine in his teeth. Silently, he followed Applejack and soon disappeared into the swell of bodies, an anchor vanishing in the ocean's depths.