Double Life | MLP: Equestria Girls

Chapter 1: Applejack

Applejack, sometimes nicknamed AJ, had always been a country girl. She was born in Appleloosa and lived her childhood days on a farm called Sunshine Valley. This was one of the most popular farms in Appleloosa as it provided necessary goods. It was run by her father, Bright Macintosh, and her mother, Pear Butter. They resided in a shabby yet warm house on that same farm. Applejack was a middle child with an older brother named Big Macintosh and a younger sister named Apple Bloom. They all loved contributing to their family business in which they planted, harvested and sold apples for a fairly low price on the market. Applejack herself was a very hardworking and honest person. Like the rest of her family, she wore a stetson and clothes of typical country style. Like her two siblings, she attended a country school. They even owned horses and a family sheepdog called Winona.

In addition to co-leading their apple business, Pear Butter was also a country singer. She lived in hope that at least one of her children had inherited her musical talent. Big Mac refused to sing - he was an introverted teenager who liked to work by himself on the farm - and Apple Bloom simply couldn't. She always claimed that her singing voice sounded like a mix between a walrus giving birth and a dying chicken with a broken voice box. (A/N: no offence to Apple Bloom and all Apple Bloom lovers XD) However, Applejack possessed a beautiful singing voice that even birds were charmed by. When she turned seven years old, Pear Butter signed her up for lessons as a birthday present.

Bright Mac liked to show off about his three kids to his friends. He told them about how Apple Bloom was an amazing horse rider, how Big Mac was the best dog trainer than he'd ever seen and how musically talented Applejack was. Despite all of this, they were ordinary teenagers, except Applejack had something extraordinary about her. Whenever she sang, a magical orange glow surrounded her, causing her to grow pony ears and a pony tail. This had happened to her for as long as she could remember. . .since the first time she sang. When Pear Butter found out, she was more anxious than anything else. In fact, she tried everything that she could to 'cure' her daughter. Applejack was unhappy because she wanted to fit in and she knew that it wasn't a normal thing. She was convinced that if her classmates found out, they would bully her. As for the singing classes, Pear Butter quickly took Applejack out and told her to conceal her ability by not singing at all. Applejack agreed that she would never sing in public, but as she loved music and truly possessed talent for it, she did not promise to not do it at home. Not knowing any other person with the same ability, she decided to create a name for it herself. So from them on, it was unofficially known as 'ponying up'. She still had no idea why it happened - but later in her life, she would find out. . .

In all eleven years of her life, Applejack hadn't even known what the city was like. Her parents received their food delivered in packages from the supermarket in town. Once in a while, Pear Butter went shopping for clothes, but Applejack never joined, simply because she had never been interested in fashion. This made it easy for her to keep the secret under wraps. Her life was as sweet as the apples that grew on the farm. However, her beautiful life came to an abrupt halt when her father, after overworking himself for many years, died from a heart attack.

The Apple Family grieved for years after that. Their market products reflected their sadness, as they stopped giving the same love to their apples that they had before, and their sales plummeted rapidly. Pear Butter fell into depression, which ultimately led to suicide. At this time, Applejack was only fourteen years old.

Now orphaned, Applejack and her two siblings were placed under their grandmother's care - but without Pear Butter and Bright Mac, they could no longer take care of Sunshine Valley. Granny Smith was too old to maintain such a large farm and the children were too young. Much to Applejack's dismay, they sold their childhood home and moved to Canterlot where Granny Smith lived on her own farm. It was known as 'Sweet Apple Acres'. It was much easier to look after since it was smaller. She also signed them all up for Canterlot High School.