Day 8: Mr. and Mrs. Apple

Those of you who have followed my posts, my story updates, and beyond may recall that when I was “promoting” about the New Timeline I mentioned that I have some trouble getting the origin story for Applejack's parents. I have told you, in hints, of the story. But recently, something has been brewing.

It's time I told you.

Ahem.

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Seville Orange, like his fellow clan of ponies, lived in a world where everything is handed to him. Earning one of the highest honors in his class, Seville graduated early, taking a position in accounting. As he climbed the corporate food chain, he became more of an introvert. Only in family and business parties did he go in company with his parents, Mandarin and Satsuma Orange, and his older sister Tangerine.

One day, he received a telegram requesting his services in Ponyville. Luggage in hand, er hoof, Seville took the next train to Ponyville. First time's the charm when in an unfamiliar land. The Orange felt so loose, having been in an office for so long. He eventually bumps into the Pony who sent the request: a much younger Granny Smith. When they arrived at her home, Seville couldn't believe his eyes. So many trees, several times as many as those in Manehattan's Central Park, stretching as far as they eye can see. With many of them blooming, why would they need his services?

“We're asking for a loan.” Says a sweet voice. It was Mrs. Smith's daughter, Blue Permain Apple (ironically having red fur and yellow-green hair) walking away from today's harvest.

Deep in his shy heart, Seville felt a spark of a fuzzy feeling.

“Anything else I can offer my help while I'm here?” The Orange immediately drew his lips into his mouth. Words don't speak louder than action, but he was in the homeland to a family of Earth Ponies so well known for their honesty that they can tell another's honest integrity.

The next day, Seville returned to the farm wearing work clothes he bought from a thrift store. While Granny signed the papers for the loan, Blue shows him around, getting deeper into the orchard. Corporate skill trades off physical prowess; what would take his “supervisor” one kick to bring down fruit would take Seville one out of every eight kicks. His ankles sprained, his mane ruffled, Seville pants as he feels his clothes sag under so much sweat.

“Why are you wearing clothes in the first place?” Blue asks, tugging at Seville's collar. “We don't wear clothes!”

Force of habit? Maybe. Loading their buckets into the storage bin, the Orange took off his clothes at the same time a breeze opened the doors. Seville could only sigh and smile as he cooled off while taking a shower. Taking the signed documents, he leaves for his home in the east.

This won't be his last. As his bank receives their monthly payments, Seville does get annual requests to check on their investment. The inspection successful, he decides to stay and work out. What would be an annual investigation turns to a monthly one, with two of those months he arrives on vacation. As his apple bucking skills improve, Blue slowly but surely takes a liking to him.

One day would change his life forever. He works in his office, each minute of the day filling his heart with joy as he prepares for another jaunt to Ponyville. His door opens; before him was Blue looking, well, blue. What happened, the Orange wonders as she approaches his table. Granny Smith passed away? Cousin carved up by some mugger? Seville came to her, holding her hoof to his chest.

“Seville, I'm pregnant.”

Now the choice was his, and his to make. Keep to his life goals or move to the farm? He still had a long way to go before he can harvest apples as efficiently as the bearer of his child. He wanted to make his family proud by becoming a manager of a company that lacked an office outside of Manehattan. It's a big move.

That's when he finds more to the Apples than meets the eye. His cover letter signed, sealed, and delivered, Seville landed a position of similar interests at Barnyard Bargains. While in the train ride back to Ponyville, Seville and Blue wedded, the husband changing his maiden name to Apple.

Eleven months pass, and Blue gives birth to a red colt with orange mane and tail. Blue gave him the name Macintosh after her deceased father, but when it is found that the baby is born at thirteen pounds, they gave him the nickname "Big Mac." As all babies go, Mac was a force to be reckoned with. He would wreck his father's office, bust open the fridge, the works. To stop this, Granny Smith placed a yoke around him; it slowed Mac down, but it only made him stronger as he grew. And so on his first birthday, he bucked his first apple tree no sweat.

One year later and the success of their marriage and business encouraged another development between Seville and Blue. Big Mac comes face to face with his first sibling, a filly with orange fur like her father and blonde hair like her mother. While they did consult their son, it is nonetheless tough to handle a toddler colt and his baby sister. One of the first things Applejack teethed was Blue's stetson, a gift she would later receive as a filly.

Two more years pass and Big Mac became at an age to be more responsible. His first year at Kindergarten, AJ’s first year in preschool, Seville and Blue decided to wait before thinking about having another child. Eight years (Ponyverse)/two years (Equestria Girls) pass when they announced their third child at a Family Reunion. The following September, the two siblings were beheld their youngest sibling. The yellow filly with red hair named Apple Bloom was wrapped in a red-pink cloth; when she is brought home, Blue tailored the cloth into a disproportionately massive bow. In the future, this simple accessory would be the most distinguishing feature of one of the founding members of the CMC. But for now, it serves as a secondary pillow.

Two weeks (Ponyverse)/Two Years (Equestria Girls) later, Seville and his recovered wife were requested for help at a sheep drive in Appaloosa. When it is found that they haven’t arrived home when they should, Granny assured her innocent grandchildren that sheep drives are one of the most physically demanding obstacles a farmer would overcome. Unfortunately, this such drive is troublesome for Seville; he became physically exhausted every day's journey. And it only got worse. One stormy night in a floodplain, one desperate attempt to save part of their flock.

When she received the news, the elderly matriarch entered a state of depression. Granny had the funeral be a private one; only Granny Smith’s first cousins and Seville’s immediate family attended while Applejack and Big Mac were in school. Granny Smith told Big Mac first; the weight of the situation took his breath away. Applejack,older and conscientious, notices Big Mac’s silence and asked him the question. They didn’t want to tell their little sister as she got older. Then one day, on her seventh birthday, Apple Bloom spoke the one sentence her siblings and grandmother hoped they’d never hear.

“Is Momma and Poppa coming home?”

The rest is silence.