//------------------------------// // I. The Eastern Orchard // Story: Everypony Comes From Somepony // by Darbihooves //------------------------------// / - / - / - / The sun was shining on Sweet Apple Acres, glistening across the leaves of the apple trees as the vibrant red fruit sat ripening on the branch. Applejack took in the sight before her, letting out a contented sigh. The farm was her life, and she was happy with that. It was certainly a hard life, and while they were profitable, one bad crop could put them in a bind. Despite the danger, she knew that they would always stay together. As she thought back on some of those hard times, she felt a knot form in the pit of her stomach. It'd been so long since...she shook her head when tears threatened to leak out. Best not to think about such things. As she always did when such thoughts arose, she quickly forced them out of her mind, focusing on other things aside from that particular event. She broke from her thoughts when she heard a rumbling sound behind her. Turning around, she saw her brother slowly tromping up the path to the top of the hill, towing a cart behind him. “Hey Big Mac,” she affectionately called out to him as he slowly came to a stop next to her, “You heading out to the south fields for harvestin?” “Nope,” Mac clearly intoned, his gaze turning eastwards. “Ah reckon ah have other things ta see to right now.” Applejack followed his motion, but quickly turned away, closing her eyes. She allowed the warm sunlight to chase away the thoughts that orchard brought to her mind. “Ah sure do love days like this'n,” she sighed out contentedly. Big Mac nodded his head in affirmation, idly chewing a stalk of wheat in his mouth. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at his sister, seeming to scan her for some sort of emotional response. Finding nothing, he merely turned back towards the eastern orchard, standing up to leave. “There's a few trees that need ta be cut down for firewood to sell,” he commented, beginning a trek down the hill. “Ah'll be back before supper, but don't worry if ah'm a little late.” At that note, he turned away, slowly pulling the cart that held, among other things, an ax and a simple bouquet of flowers in the back of it. Applejack nodded her head, her smile fading as she watched him disappear into a thick undergrowth of the eastern orchard. That orchard was, in particular, less harvested than the others for one specific reason that she didn't allow herself to dwell on for very long. Letting out a sigh, she turned back to the house, knowing that there was certainly work to be done up there, and Big Mac wouldn't be back for awhile. When she got back to the barn, she found her sister Apple Bloom casually spreading seed across the pen, feeding the chickens. Granny Smith sat in her rocking chair, as she often did, sleeping the day away. At her feet, Winona also lay, lazily taking a nap in the shade the barn provided. Applejack shook her head, smiling as she did so. Yes, everything would be alright in the end. “Howdy sis,” Apple Bloom said cheerily as she placed the seed bag back in the barn, “Didn't expect ta see ya back from the field so soon.” She trotted over to her sister, affectionately nuzzling up next to her, causing Applejack to stroke her mane with a hoof. “Ah just had some stuff in the house ta take care of,” Applejack replied, telling herself as much as she was telling Apple Bloom. Together, the two of them went off towards the house. “That's great sis,” Apple Bloom replied, perky as ever. “Ah actually wanted ta ask ya a few questions about some stuff fer school.” “Aw shucks, ah ain't good at that sort'a thing.” Applejack replied, shaking her head. “Ya oughta wait for Big Mac to get back from choppin firewood. He's the one ta talk to bout mathematics and the like.” “It ain't nothin like that sis,” Apple Bloom replied, not breaking her trot, “We've gotta write a report about our parents and ah wanted ta ask you bout Ma and Pa.” Apple Bloom kept on going, but quickly stopped when she realized that she was now heading towards the house alone. “Applejack?” she questioned turning around to see why her sister had stopped. To her surprise, she saw Applejack practically frozen in place, the color drained from her face. Applejack froze the moment she heard those words, causing all those negative thoughts to reappear in her mind. She fought to regain control of her emotions, reigning in the sorrow that threatened to overcome her. A few moments later she looked down, half-surprised to see her sister looking up at her, worried. “Oh...uh...sorry there Apple Bloom. Just caught me off guard.” Applejack trotted away from the house, trying to escape the situation. “Tell ya what, you tend to the chickens while ah go see what Rainbow Dash needed me ta do for her this afternoon, and then this evenin I'll try and find somethin to tell ya about...see ya later!” With that, Applejack galloped off, leaving Apple Bloom in the dust. “But...I just...tended the chickens.” she said aloud to the air, not really understanding what had just happened. She knew her parents had been dead since she was a foal, but that was over seven years ago. She knew Applejack never talked about their parents, and Big Macintosh had never really mentioned them either. She was about to follow after her sister when she was tapped gently on the shoulder. She looked up, seeing the smiling face of Granny Smith staring down at her, the sun surrounding her aged face. “Let her be child,” Granny Smith simply said, softly patting her on the shoulder, “Let her be.” / - / - / - / “But ah don't understand why she won't talk about 'em Granny!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. She and her grandmother had gone back to the house, Granny Smith not saying a single word outside of 'Let her be.' The silence was starting to get to Apple Bloom, and she dejectedly sat in the living room in front of the barren fireplace, sulking on the throw rug while Granny Smith fished around underneath a cabinet for something. “Apple Bloom dearie,” her grandmother finally said, “C'ya be a dear and help yer ole Granny Smith with this here book?” Apple Bloom offered her back, and cringed when Granny Smith dropped a rather thick tome across her shoulders, her knees buckling at the sudden added weight. Granny Smith walked over to her chair, her gait a little more forceful than usual Apple Bloom noted, and sat down, letting out an audible groan as her old bones settled into the rocker. She scooted over a bit, and patted the space next to her. “Take that book and sit down next ta me my little pony, it's time ya heard bout yer ma and pa.” Apple Bloom didn't need to be told twice, as she hopped up next to her granny, making sure the book landed gently in between the two of them. She glanced down at the cover, reading the title of “Precious Memories.” “Is that the family album,” she asked, her eyes growing wide at the pictures that she saw as Granny Smith turned the pages. “It sure is dearie,” Granny Smith replied, before she stopped on a page she knew very well. “This ain't yer ma and pa, but it's me and yer grandsire, Jonathan Apple.” Apple Bloom regarded the sepia-tone photo. She could still make out Granny Smith's vibrant green coat, even through the filtered lens of the picture, but she had never seen a picture of the stallion who stood next to her. He was as big as her brother, but a darker shade of red then he was. A simple red apple, split open, lay bare across his flank, almost a spitting image of her brother in that regard. “Yer grandsire was the strong and silent type,” Granny Smith recounted, her eyes misting over with unshed tears at the memories. “But he loved his family dearly. Helped make this farm into what it is today, taint a doubt about that. He loved each and every our foals, colt and filly alike, T'wouldn't be right fer me to try and pick one we loved the most or anything like that, but I think the one we understood the most was yer pa, Cortland.” She turned the page, and Apple Bloom smiled at the sight of her father. She had seen his picture before, seen pictures of both he and her mother, but this was the first time she had heard anyone ever really talk about them. Her father was a simple man, about the same height as Big Mac, but nowhere near the size. A silver pail, filled to the brim with apples, sat upon his yellow coated flank. His brown eyes were bright and vibrant with life, and Apple Bloom certainly recognized the dusty old hat on the top of his head. “Yer father was a dreamer,” Granny Smith continued, “Just like y'all are now. Always talkin bout goin to the big city and all that. But his heart was always here, at Sweet Apple Acres. Ah remember when he did go to Canterlot fer the first time, ah was scared as the dickens he'd never come back. But sure enough he did, although with a friend along for the ride.” Granny Smith turned the page, and Apple Bloom had to sniff back a small tear when she saw the wedding picture of her father and mother. Her mother had a luxurious blonde mane and tail that hung low to the ground. Her green eyes shone in the picture, and she could certainly see the resemblance between her and Applejack. “The ruckus he caused when he came back hitched with yer ma was like nothin ah'd seen fore nor since,” Granny Smith explained, softly but firmly. “Valencia Orange was her name, and the Apple and Orange families had not gotten along fer sometime prior to that. But Celestia be darned, they were gonna be together. The families simmered down after a while o'course. Ah admit, ah didn't take too kindly to yer ma when we first met, but as time went on, ah came to think of her as the most reliable pony ah've ever known, save fer yer sister.” Apple Bloom smiled, absorbing even the smallest detail about her parents that she could. One thing did bother her though, and despite wanting to know more about their lives together, she had to ask the morbid question. “How'd they...ya know...die?” Granny Smith gave her grandfilly a sad smile. “That's a question yer sister or yer brother ought ta answer,” she forlornly replied. / - / - / - / Applejack stopped galloping away a few miles away from the farm, almost into the center of town as she did. She breathed a sigh of relief, removing her hat and wiping the sweat from her brow. She stopped and glanced at the hat she wore, the tears threatening to come back. She shook her head for what seemed like the tenth time in the last hour or so. “Get a hold of yerself girl,” she said aloud to herself, ignoring the ponies passing by around her. “Yer over this now, stop trying to dig it back up.” She nodded her head and carried on with her trip, searching for Rainbow Dash for no apparent reason. Another pony calling her name caused her to look up and smile at her friend Twilight. “Can you help me with this bedframe Applejack?” Twilight asked, motioning towards the floating box hovering just behind her. “I can use my magic, but I'm useless when it comes to putting things together with my hooves.” “Be happy to Twilight,” Applejack replied, smiling as she did. This was just what she needed, something to get her mind off the dark thoughts of the past. Certainly nothing about assembling a bed could bring back those bad memories. “Why d'ya need a new bed for? Isn't the one ya got big enough?” “Oh no, its not for me,” Twilight replied as they both began to trot towards the library. “My parents are coming to stay for a few days, and I wanted them to be comfortable. Applejack's eyes went wide at the mention of “parents”, and felt her trot come to a slow crawl. “Y-yeah, that's great...” Applejack mentally cursed herself and her rotten luck. She couldn't get out of this one certainly, not having already agreed to help her. She sighed and caught up with Twilight, who hadn't noticed her slowdown. Maybe listening to Twilight talk about her parents would prepare her for the inevitability of when she got home and talked with Apple Bloom. She remained silent as she heard Twilight ramble on about her parents. True to her thoughts, Twilight's ramblings caused her to remember a few other things in her mind. The time her father and she first went out camping, and he first placed his hat on her head. The time her mother taught her to make Apple Dumplings, and serving her brother and father out in the fields with a picnic lunch. Her first day of school, and the sadness of being separated from the family....and the joy at the end of the day when she saw them again. These happy thoughts and more swirled around in Applejack's head, and she couldn't help but smile at them. As they walked into the library, Twilight noted the small spot in the corner near the makeshift kitchen where Spike had already cleared out room for a bed. She dropped the box nearby and opened it, starting to remove bits and pieces of the bed. “You've never mentioned your parents Applejack,” Twilight commented, “I assume they work on another family farm?” Shaken from her happy musings, Applejack quietly let out a somber sigh. “N-not exactly,” Applejack replied, trying hard not to think about it. Finally she decided to let some of what she was feelin out. “Ah'm sorry Twilight, ah don't like ta talk bout it. Truth is, well, they've been dead for seven years.” Twilight suddenly stopped and looked at Applejack, mortified. “Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Applejack. I had no idea.” “It's ok sugarcube,” Applejack assured her, “Ah didn't expect you ta know. No pony really knows cause...we don't really talk about it much. T-there was an accident and...well we just don't talk about it.” “That's so sad,” Twilight replied, her eyes tearing up as she walked over and hugged her friend. “If you ever need to talk...” “No,” Applejack said defiantly, though a thought of nagging guilt gnawed at her conscience, “Not right now anyway.” She motioned towards the box. “Let's ferget about this and put that thing together.” Twilight nodded her head, and silently they began to put the pieces in place. / - / - / - / On her way home, Applejack couldn't help but feel depressed from the day. She cherished the happy memories about her parents that she usually repressed given what had happened, but their appearance only brought on a huge bit of guilt. She had those memories...Big Macintosh had those memories...but her little sister didn't. And she was the only pony who could explain to Apple Bloom exactly why she didn't have those memories. Slowly she trudged into the house, taking her hat off and giving it a longing look. She knew what she had to do. She walked into the living room, finding Winona curled up on the throw rug and her sister and Granny Smith in the rocking chair, laughing over the old photo family album. Applejack smiled, but the smile faltered when she saw the beeming face of her sister looking back at her. “Hey sis,” Apple Bloom cheerfully said. “Granny Smith and ah have been going through the ole family album.” “That's nice,” Applejack replied, slowly walking over next to them. “But ah reckon there's another question you have answered, one that Granny Smith wouldn't answer.” Apple Bloom's smile drooped a bit, and they both looked at Granny Smith, who's eyes were somewhat moistened. “Ah told her just like ah told you,” Granny Smith replied, “That's a story ah think you should tell.” “Alright then.” Applejack sat down and let out a deep sigh. “About seven years ago we got a wild storm from the Everfree Forest. Not the kind that comes with the Zap Apples, but the kind of wild weather that even the pegasi can't control. The rains flooded the eastern orchard, which at the time we were using the empty pastures beyond it to graze the sheep. Ma and Pa went out in the rain to fetch the sheep and, after some pleadin, yer brother and ah went out there to. They didn't have too much of a fuss fer Big Mac goin out there on a'count of him bein older than ah was, but they raised a stink bout me goin. Finally they agreed when ah told them they needed all the help they could get.” “Out in the fields,” Applejack continued, her eyes misting over as they closed, remembering the horrible night, “They were muddier than anything I've seen before. We had to herd the sheep across a narrow path to higher ground, before the flood waters rose up. As we got the last sheep up onto the ridge, Pa slipped into the flood water. Ah...ah tried to grab him! Ma and I both did...but ah wasn't strong enough...and ma...” she stopped when she heard the screams of her mother and father come crashing into her mind's eye. “Ma fell in with Pa.” came a strong voice from the doorway, and the three ponies looked up to see a sullen Big Macintosh slowly walk into the room. “We both tried ta save 'em, but we weren't strong enough.” He hung his head in shame to a certain degree, his eyes closed. “It wasn't just that Big Mac!” Applejack shouted, walking up to her brother, grief turning to anger. “They wouldn't have even been down where they could've slipped if they hadn't been helping me up onto the ridge. If ah hadn't been there, we would've...they could've...” Applejack collapsed into her brother's arms. “It's all mah fault,” she cried, finally letting her burden out. “No it ain't,” Big Mac whispered. “If you hadn't been there, we wouldn't have saved the sheep in time and all three of us could've drowned with 'em. You were right to come along.” Applejack continued to cry, but the tears fell a bit fewer and farther between. As the scene from the night played through her head over and over, she did remember the look on her father's face as she quickly and expertly herded the sheep up onto the ridge, helping her mother get them into Big Macintosh and her father's waiting hooves. She almost let out a laugh at the sound of his voice. 'See ma, told ya she was old enough!' She was amazed that it was the first time she had remembered her father's actual voice in a long time. She felt Apple Bloom nuzzle up against her legs, and she placed a hoof around her shoulders. “Is that why you never go to the east orchard?” she inquired. “Yeah,” Applejack replied. “The orchard was....was where we found there bodies the next mornin. We buried them there.” “Ah go with some flowers every now and again,” Big Mac interjected. Apple Bloom nodded and looked at her brother. “Ya think ah could go with you the next time you go.” “Eeyup,” Big Mac replied, a smile crossing his face for the first time that night. “All of y'all are welcome.” “Ah'd like that,” Applejack replied, wiping the tears from her face. “Ah'd like that a lot.”