Birthday Bios: Haralson

I swear, every time I look at this guy, I get a Rascal Flatts song stuck in my head. I don’t even like Rascal Flatts all that much—the singing sounds too whiny in my opinion.

Anyway, this is probably another stallion that those who’ve read The Rock Farmer’s Daughters may recognize. I think people were kind of split with him. But, yeah, I’d be as tired as he looks if I had Cortland and a pair of mischievous twins for kids.

Okay, let’s get on with it.

Haralson was born in Ponyville to the then-younger Granny Smith and her husband. Being one foal in a family of several wasn’t easy, especially since the easy-going Haralson tended to get picked on by his more energetic siblings (both older and younger). His eldest brother, Bright Macintosh, was easily the most mature and gave him the lightest teasing and was protective of him, thus he was the sibling that 'Harry' respected the most.

He grew up in a simple life, being a simple pony. He simply learned the ways of the farm from his Ma and Pa, though as Bright Mac would eventually inherit the farm, Haralson would have go out and start his own. The thought made him a little nervous, but he simply grinned and bore it.

In his free time, he liked to explore around the orchard and swim in the creek, letting his mind wander in whatever fantastic adventure that his imagination created that day. From swinging through the big city to flying through Galloping Gorge, these little stories like to run around his head. He didn’t like telling his siblings about them, since they’d poke fun at him for it.

Of course, he did have a social life. He was a friendly and helpful colt at school, and often used his natural Apple Family strength to help the neighbors in their errands. Most of the time, he and his friends were content on aiming rotten apples at cans with a throw or a buck, or go swimming. But, they weren’t immune to mischief. He once snuck away some jars of Zap Apple Jam to share with some friends—he got a stomachache and a swat on the behind for that.

His cutie mark appeared with little fanfare, with him just doing his chores—he didn’t even notice until his sister Melrose pointed it out to him. His family was proud and they went to town to celebrate with some treats. But, after that, it was business as usual.

Reunions with extended family had him strike up a friendship with a girl named Blossom, who was the granddaughter of one of Granny Smith’s cousins. He was always content to listen to her jabber on about what was going on with her head, and was comfortable enough to tell her his own. As they grew older, he was sheepish about falling for her (and even being kind of assertive in flirting with her), since she was technically kin. After all, his big brother at least had the sense to marry a neighbor (even if he had little sense for marrying a Pear), and his sister married an Orange from Manehattan.

But, upon research, he discovered that they were just distant enough to marry, and so they did. After the wedding, he was to go and start his own orchard. His family trusted that he could do it anywhere.

He and Blossom went to the town of Nickerlite—an old rock farming and mining community about thirty miles away on the southbound train. They built their homestead there, and planted the first trees. The neighbors were curious about the addition of an orchard to their humble town, but hey, apples grown closer to home were nothing to complain about.

It helped that the Apples were friendly and wanted to know everypony in town. It was almost an easy task—the toughest part was visiting the Pie Family, the rock farmers living just a mile away from the train station. They were the toughest ponies that Haralson had ever met, but they at least made themselves approachable when entertaining company, despite being kind of dull and grumpy.

Settling in included preparing for a baby, who came in late October. Haralson was in awe the moment that the tiny Cortland was put in his hooves, and feared breaking the colt. He’d spend the next several months being as gentle as possible when handling his baby son. It even got to the point where Cortland was annoyed with it.

As the orchard grew, more and more farmers came into the area. After all, if a member of the Apple Family deemed Nickerlite a good place for a farm, it must be good and fertile. Haralson was always happy to greet new neighbors, and if he missed any stories, his wife had it covered.

The years went by, and they had their issues. He was concerned with Cortland getting rough as he grew older, and had to drag him away when he caught him picking on the other foals. He hated having to pick up the pieces of whatever Cortland did, and he was often apologizing to the other parents. Cortland even got into fights with his cousin Applejack, Bright Mac’s daughter. Another incident was when parasprites rolled into town and started eating the crops. That particular one was saved by the Pies with… musical instruments. Everypony agreed long ago that the Pies were a strange bunch.

Of course, the worst event of Haralson’s life was when he learned that Bright Mac and his wife 'Buttercup' had died—leaving behind three foals for Granny Smith to look after. He’d be staring at those coffins at the funeral, thinking about how wonderful of a big brother Bright Mac had been. His talkative wife was quiet out of respect, and Cortland was nicer to Applejack and Big Mac, and even played with baby Apple Bloom, if only to comfort them after their parents’ death.

In second place was his wife falling ill after giving birth to twins when Cortland was a teenager. It would be a while before she was back on her hooves, so Haralson and Cortland took care of little Stayman and Idared during that period.

The twins were pretty mischievous themselves as they grew older, and Haralson was run ragged trying to keep all three of his kids in line. At the very least, he hoped Cortland, now a full-grown stallion, had sense to keep himself from causing trouble. So far, nothing major has happened.

But, now that Blossom is up to par and can handle the twins, Haralson can relax a little bit like he used to.