Living Mark of Courage

by Moowell

Apple Family

"Ah swear, Ma," a wide-eyed Raritan whispered as she watched Epona scarf down yet another fritter along with two foals outside. "Way she eats, ya'd think that filly's got more Apple in'er than a pie on Reunion Day, but she won't say who'er folks are. Think she's an impostor?"

"Why don't you take her out to the orchard for a little apple bucking later and find out?" Applejack replied with a slight smile. "If she's got Apple in her, she'll know what to do."

"Ah think that's a fair enough test," said Baldwin, a full grown stallion and brother to Raritan. His fur was red with green speckles, and his mane was a bright green-yellow. "But she ain't much bigger than Crabby, and most families don't work their foals like we do."

"She looks like she's got enough meat on her to handle the smaller trees. Give her a bucket and send her into the dwarf grove."

"Alone, right?" asked Raritan. "Nopony helping?"

Applejack nodded. "It wouldn't be much of a test if anypony showed her how to do it, now would it?"

*****

"So all Ah've gotta do is pick the apples and bring them back to the house? Sounds easy enough." Epona said as she looked up into the tree.

"Yep. Try ta be done by dinner." Raritan pointed to a small wagon and a stack of buckets at the edge of the grove. "Ya'll kin use them ta carry'em back."

"All those buckets for one tree?" asked the confused Epona

Raritan chuckled. "Ah don't think ya'll're gettin' it. We need ya ta pick the whole grove, not jes' one li'l tree."

"The whole grove?!" Epona gaped. "Ya want me to do all this by myself?"

"Sorry, Epona. Me'n Baldwin got the rest o'the orchard ta worry 'bout, an' Crabby an' Alkmene're helpin' us load'n unload. Ma thinks ya'll kin 'andle this bah yerself. It's only twen'y trees."

"Only..." she muttered. "If Miss Applejack thinks Ah can do it, then Ah'll do it."

"Great! See ya at dinner!" Raritan disappeared into the main orchard, leaving Epona alone.

Epona sighed and stared up into the tree. There were a lot of apples. She grabbed one of the buckets and began to pick the ones that she could reach, but most of them were beyond even jumping distance. The tree didn't look like it would support her weight, and there weren't any ladders or step stools nearby either. She could try stacking the buckets, but something in her gut told her that the Apple Family probably didn't do that. They must have had some way of getting the higher apples out of the tree, but how?

She went around the other trees, picking apples as she pondered. She tried shaking one of the trees, but it was too sturdy to move much. She tried tossing a bucket at the branches, but that only succeeded in bruising one of the fruits. An hour passed, and she was only finished picking the low fruit on the 4th tree. Only two buckets were full.

"How am Ah supposed to do this?!" she cried in frustration, beating her head against the tree. A dull thud sounded next to her and startled her. She jumped away and looked at the offending object.

It was an apple.

A slow realization crept over her as she glanced between the fruit and its tree. She walked up to the trunk, turned around, and lightly kicked it.

Another apple fell right next to the first.

She rushed over to grab another bucket, then placed the apples inside and lined up another kick. This time she put all her strength into it, causing a slew of apples fell from the tree and land in a neat pile inside the bucket, along with another pile on the other side. When she looked up into the tree, there wasn't a single fruit remaining.

"Yes!"

*****

"If she were a true Apple, she'dve been done bah now."

"Hold your horses, Raritan. She's still got a few minutes left, and like Baldwin said earlier, the other families don't work as hard as we do."

"Ma's gotta point."

Raritan shook her head. "Ah'm jes' sayin' that even without bulkin' up from yer crazy weight trainin', an apple 'er size should've at least finished the dwarves. She ain't even brought a single bucket!"

"Tani's gotta point."

"The condition was to be back by dinner. That's in a few minutes, so I'm going to give her a few minutes."

"Ma's gotta point."

"Whose side are you on, colt?" Applejack asked, briefly fixing him with a steely, but playful glare. Baldwin chuckled, then returned his gaze to the outside.

A moment later, Epona's nose poked through the gap in the orchard where the path made its way out. A couple moments later, the rest of her sweat-covered head made it through, followed by a harness. Soon the front end of a wagon passed into view, stacked side to side with buckets. Only it wasn't the little wagon that she had been provided.

"By Celestia's beard, that's Belmont's wagon! You two, go help that filly! She must've brought the whole grove with her!" Baldwin and Raritan stopped gaping and rushed out to help, pushing the bucket-laden cart from behind much to Epona's relief. With the three of them working on it, they made their way to the barn's store room.

"Is it dinner time, yet?" the filly gasped breathlessly as soon as the cart was situated where it needed to be. Raritan unhooked her from the wagon.

"Will be in a couple minutes."

Epona smiled, then collapsed where she stood. Baldwin picked her up and put her on his back as she breathed gently. Raritan couldn't help but smile at the pair.

"Tani, take a look at this," Baldwin said, pointing to the cart.

"What 'bout it?"

"Do ya think she could've pulled this wagon with big ol' Belmont's hitch?"

"Now that ya mention it..." Raritan looked at the cart more closely. "This looks like it came from the li'l wagon Ah gave 'er ta use. She even reinforced it ta handle the extra weight."

Baldwin nodded. "Filly's got a little craftspony in her."

"Filly's got Apple in her." The adults turned toward the barn doors to see Applejack standing there. "Her name is Apple Bloom, and she's my little sister." They stared at her.

"Ma, are ya'll goin' senile?" Raritan asked after several moments of silence. "She might be Apple, but she cain't be older'n twelve. Ain't no way she's yer sis, ya batty ol' coot."

"That filly is her," Applejack replied. "I just know it."

"Ma, listen ta yerself. Ya've told the story a thousand times 'bout how yer sis died tryin' ta make sure ya were safe, even ta the point o' comin' back as a ghost ta help ya escape certain doom. If yer sis died a hundred years ago, then how is this li'l filly her?"

"Ah don't know, but that's mah sister. Are ya'll tellin' me Ah don't know mah own kin?"

"Calm down, Ma." The old mare realized she had slipped back into her old accent and fought to recompose herself. When she had calmed a bit, Raritan continued. "Ah ain't sayin' ya don't know yer own kin. Ah'm jes' sayin' that after a hundred years o' bein' dead, it ain't likely that this li'l filly's yer sis."

"Take a look at this picture." Applejack produced the picture from the mantle. "See that girl with the red bow in the center? Now look at filly on Baldwin's back and tell me it isn't the same pony."

"Ma's got a point."

"Ya'll better stay outta this if yer just gonna start wi'that again," Raritan said, glaring at the stallion. She took the picture and compared it to Epona. "Ah'll admit, the resemblance is crazy. Enough ta convince me she's Apple after seein' 'er bring in that wagon. But that girl in that picture'd have ta be almost as old as ya'll are, Ma. Unless she's a ghost're somethin', she ain't yer sis."

"Ah'm not a ghost." The three adults looked at the filly. Epona was still lying down on Baldwin's back, but her unflinching gaze was fixed on Raritan. "Don't ya'll dare call me a ghost. Miss Applejack ain't the only pony who thought..." She looked away and sighed. "Ah know it's stupid, but Ah really thought Ah finally figured out who Ah am. Ya'll are right, though. Ah might be a monster with crazy magic, but Ah sure as shootin' ain't no ghost."

"A monster? Why would you say that? You seem like a charming filly to me." Applejack smiled at her. "Hardly a monster."

"Because Ah-" Epona stopped herself before she said something she may regret. "It don't matter. Ah don't belong here." Epona jumped off Baldwin's back and passed by Applejack through the barn doors.

"Now just a minute, missy. Don't you go walking away just like that!" Applejack called after her, but she didn't stop. "Apple Bloom!"

Epona paused, and her head dipped a little lower toward the ground. "Mah name's Epona," she said softly without looking back. Nopony followed her as she made her way to the gate, leaving a small, dark splotch of mud the dirt every so often. She almost turned her head back when she reached the gate, but instead she just shut the gate behind her and ran.

Through misty eyes, she saw Crabapple and Alkmene staring at her as she ran from the property. They were the only foals that had treated her like a pony since Ivory left. They didn't look at her with disgust or fear, but rather with trust and friendship. She could play with them like all the other foals did at school and be happy. She pinched her eyes shut to clear them of the water that was blurring her vision.

Suddenly, she slammed headfirst into something and bounced backward. "Whoa, there!" exclaimed a deep, resonating voice. She wiped her eyes and looked up to see a large stallion carrying two full sacks. His fur was bright yellow, and his mane was a reddish orange. "That was a mighty powerful crash, little missy. Why are ya runnin' so hard from the Acres all cryin' and makin' a mess o' yourself?" Epona looked away, but she couldn't hide her tears. "Don't be shy. Ya'll can tell ol' Belmont what's troublin' ya."

"Belmont?" Epona wiped her eyes again. "You're Belmont?"

"That's right. Ma hasn't been talkin' bad about me, has she?"

"No..." Epona replied. "Ah borrowed your wagon for a little while. It's in the barn. Ah may have modified it a little bit so Ah could fit the hitch..."

The great stallion raised an eyebrow. "Now what could ya be needin' my big ol' cart for?"

"Miss Raritan said Ah needed to pick and store all the apples in the dwarf grove. When Ah was done, there were too many buckets for the little wagon, so I used yours."

The great stallion raised his other eyebrow. "Ya put all the buckets on the cart at the same time?" When Epona nodded. Belmont laughed heartily. "Ah'm impressed ya could pull it! That cart's made of pure verawood, and there's a lotta apples in the dwarf grove."

"Yea, there are."

"But none o' that has anythin' to do with why you're cryin, does it?" Epona looked up into Belmont's eyes. They were soft and gentle, full of kindness and understanding, without a hint of judgment. Just like the other Apples, except Raritan. She shook her head. "So what's the matter?"

"Ah don't wanna talk about it..." She looked away.

"A'right, Ah won't pry. Ah'm gonna talk to Ma about this, though. Sendin' a filly runnin' all distraught and stuff ain't the Apple way." Belmont picked up his sacks and his torch. "You take care, little miss."

"Belmont, wait!" He paused. Epona took out a small necklace with an apple-shaped pendant in the center and gave it to him.

"Well, this is a fine little treasure! Did your folks give it to ya?"

Epona shook her head again. "It's for Miss Applejack, but Ah forgot to give it to her while I was there. Would ya give that to her for me?"

"Sure thing." Belmont smiled and placed Honesty in a sack, then took out a set of four metal shoes just large enough to fit a filly. "Here, take these."

"What are they?"

"A little somethin' for givin' Ma such a nice gift. Ah figure ya'll either train as hard an Apple or ya do some crazy things in your life to have such powerful legs, so these should be good for ya. Go on, try them on."

Epona put them on and tried lifting her legs, but she could only get them a few inches off the ground. "Wow, these are heavy."

Belmont laughed and nodded. "They're made o' thick steel. Movin' in them will be slow at first, but you wear these boots everyday, and your strength will grow faster than a Zap Apple in season."

"Thank you, Mister Belmont."

"You're very welcome. Is there anything else Ah can help ya with before Ah go?"

"Oh, there is something else. Would ya tell Miss Applejack that Pinkie says hi?"

"I'll do that." Belmont aimed his body toward Sweet Apple Acres. "Now then, Ah've gotta check in with Ma. It was nice meetin' ya, little missy. Have a good night."

"Bye, Mister Belmont!" Epona watched him travel up to the gate. Everypony but Applejack was there waiting for him and looked happy that he was there. She sighed, then trudged toward home in her new boots.

Comments

[rainbowPOOTIS]

3609493 read diries of a madman
your argument is invalid due to good story with 1000k+ words

[DJ-Otakon]

So....what happens to their weight if their unequipped