//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Do Blooms Come From Apples? // by LavendarRegards //------------------------------// Princess Celestia's sun peered over the horizon and into Applejack's bloodshot eyes. She had been crying all night. Last night's revelation was a massive blow to the mare’s ego. She couldn't understand it all, but she did come to one very simple conclusion: Somepony had changed the date on her parents’ grave. This desecration of her parent’s grave to perpetuate a lie was beyond comprehension or forgiveness. No words could describe Applejack's emotional state of mind, other than a seething rage that bore into her heart, and an unequivocal determination to seek justice and to prove the conspirators wrong. She would set the record straight about Apple Bloom’s true parentage and their relationship. Wasting no time, she marched to Ponyville town hall where a lone mare sat in her office. "Applejack," greeted a little surprised Mayor Mare. "What brings you here so early?" "I wish to make a complaint," Applejack quietly said as she was barely able to keep her emotions in check. "Oh," replied Mayor Mare cautiously. "There isn't any pony here who can help at the moment. They are busy making preparations for the Prince's arrival. Maybe I can help?" "I want to know who did it?" Applejack asked. "I'm sorry," Mayor Mare said earnestly. "I didn't quite hear..." "I want to know who did it?" Applejack repeated, her anger beginning to spill over. “Do what, dear?" Mayor Mare asked with a trained calm. “Who changed my parents’ graves?!” Applejack roared. “What?” stammered the confused mayor. “I said: who changed my parent’s grave?” Applejack growled. “Applejack, please calm down,” Mayor Mare pleaded as she raised both forelegs in a defensive position. The mayor remained in that position until Applejack had taken two or three long deep soothing breaths. “Now, slowly tell me what happened,” Mayor Mare instructed as she gave Applejack a reassuring smile. “Some pony changed the dates on my parents’ graves!” Applejack growled before she slammed a hoof into Mayor Mare’s desk. “And, I want justice!” “OK, I’ll get a guard to look into it,” Mayor Mare offered as she tried to remain calm despite Applejack’s fury. “So, let me write the guard a small report,” Mayor Mare explained as she took out some paper and a quill. “Now, what did they write on the grave?” Mayor Mare asked as she carefully dipped the point of the quill into her inkwell. “First, they changed the year on my parent’s graves from 992 ANM to 989 ANM,” Applejack explained as she watched Mayor Mare write down that small bit of information… However, Applejack’s wrathful expression quickly gave way to confusion as she watched Mayor Mare slowly lower her quill, and look at Applejack as if the farm mare had just grown a second head. “I’m sorry, did you say that they changed the date from 992 to 989?” Mayor Mare enunciated with extreme caution. “Yeah. Don’t you recall that Bloom was born in 992?” Applejack huffed. “But, 989 was when they died,” Mayor Mare hesitantly disputed. Carefully the mare kept a cautious eye on Applejack, just in case the angry mare did something she would regret. “I remember because I officiated both their wedding and their funeral,” Mayor Mare slowly responded. “You gotta be wrong,” Applejack insisted. “‘Cause I remember Apple Bloom being born before my parents died!” Applejack added with a slight shudder. “Applejack, are you sure you still want to talk about this? Don’t forget about your headaches,” Mayor Mare cautioned, earning a sour look from Applejack. “Of course I want to talk about it. Give me a copy of Apple Bloom’s birth certificate. I’m not gonna stand here and let you speak nonsense about Apple Bloom,” Applejack demanded. Mayor Mare looked back at Applejack with a look of both sympathy, and concern. “Applejack, are you sure -- really sure -- you want to know the answer to this?” Mayor Mare cautioned. “Dag nabbit, YES!” Applejack growled as she glared at Mayor Mare. Mayor Mare closed her eyes and gave a long defeated sigh. “OK, come with me,” she ordered as she led Applejack to another room. Once there, she sorted through a filing cabinet, until she produced a cream colored piece of paper. Applejack carefully lifted the paper so that she could get a better look at it. “W-what?” Applejack stuttered as she looked at the offending letter like it had been written by Tirek himself in the pits of Tartarus, and contained every form of blasphemy before Faust that had ever been written. “I-is this some kind of joke?” Applejack continued to stutter. She suddenly felt extremely light headed. The world was spinning, and she was having trouble keeping her footing. Her head was pounding like a jackhammer. Applejack hadn’t had a headache this bad since she slammed her head into a tree trunk. “Are you ok?” Mayor Mare said with complete concern as she reached out a foreleg to help steady Applejack. “D-Discord!” Applejack hissed as she mashed the piece of paper back into Mayor Mare’s chest. “T-t-that snake! D-Discord did something! An’ I’m gonna teach him a thing or two!” Applejack growled as she teetered in place, but, after a heroic effort, managed to regain her footing. “That varmints gonna pay for this here prank!” Applejack shouted as she ignored her splitting headache, and she stormed out of the room, town hall, and down the road back to Twilight Sparkle’s library. Twilight Sparkle stared and stared at the offending book. But, no matter how much she looked at it, she still couldn’t believe what she saw. For the fifth time in the last thirty seconds, Twilight Sparkle rubbed her eyes with her hooves. But, no matter what she did, the picture in the yearbook didn’t change. “Twilight! Discord’s at it again!” Applejack screamed as she burst through Twilight’s bedroom door, practically knocking the door off its hinges. “Get the rest of the girls. We gotta reign in that monster!” Applejack demanded with a completely red face. “What did he do?” Twilight groaned as she rubbed her muzzle, and tried not to think too hard about what inappropriate, or childish thing Discord had probably done. “He made everypony think that I gave birth to Apple Bloom. It’s ridiculous. I mean, I think I’d remember if’n I went through the miracle of birth,” Applejack shouted through her red face. “OK, we’re going to need to get Fluttershy in order to talk to him,” Twilight considered with a sagely nod. “That’s gonna be hard. She’s still out of town at that animal cartoon convention in Manehatten,” Applejack admitted. “What? But, you said: Discord did something,” Twilight puzzled with a few blinks of her eyes. “Therefore, he and Fluttershy must have come back from the convention,” Twilight pointed out as she rubbed her muzzle with a hoof. “Then, he came home without her?” Applejack insisted. “Something isn’t adding up,” Twilight pondered as she lit up her horn. The lavender appendage blinked purple a few times but ultimately didn’t do anything. “He’s not even within fifty miles of town,” Twilight considered with a few more blinks of her eyes. “According to the tracking spell, he hasn’t been in town for the last week,” Twilight continued to explain. “B-but that’s impossible. It don’t add up,” Applejack sputtered as her mind struggled to wrap itself around this new information. Her headache was returning now with a vengeance. Applejack reached her hoof down to steady herself, only to slide the St. Wind Whistler’s School For Prestigious Foals yearbook that Twilight had been looking at down the table a little. “S-sorry,” Applejack apologized as she noticed that she’d moved the book. Carefully she slid it back in place, only to notice her hoof sitting next to a specific picture of an orange filly… An orange filly with a blond mane, and green eyes. It was a picture of her. Applejack jumped back and pointed at the page like it was on fire. Applejack’s head was spinning, which only added to her overall discomfort. Still, despite the fact that the world had gone mad, Applejack could still hold to the faint memory she had of Apple Bloom’s first moments in this world. Yes. Her memories were all the proof she needed. So without a moment of hesitation, she drew the memory to herself. This time she chose to focus on it. She needed to remember it as clearly as possible. Every detail she could, she needed it right now. She had to. It was the only way to make the world make sense again. The memory was a fuzzy one, but Applejack could remember some of the details. This part of her memories was always fuzzy, and she never really thought much of it. But this time, she found that she could start to retrieve some substance to it by focusing on some sensations that she could feel. That being said, there wasn’t much she could really see or feel. What she could tell was that she was laying on her back on something soft. Furthermore, whatever she was laying on seemed to be moving. Is this a bed? Applejack considered. With that realization a bit more became clear. Above her head, Applejack could see lights moving backwards, and then be replaced with more backwards moving lights. Furthermore, she was in pain. She felt herself clench her stomach. “Are you scared?” asked a baritone voice. Is that Big Mac? Applejack pondered. Was I sick with something? Applejack fretted as she tried to sort out what pain she was feeling. And with that, Applejack’s focus broke, and the memory ended before it had really begun. Come on, I need the rest, Applejack insisted as she tried to focus on what happened next. Unfortunately, all she could get was the sound of a foal making a very loud noise. Is that a baby crying? Applejack asked herself as she tried to sort out this new memory. But, the harder she tried to remember, the more the flighty memory slipped through her hooves. Applejack shook her head. She didn’t need to worry about this memory, anyway. It wasn’t the one she wanted. It was just fluff. Instead, she tried to focus on the memory she had been looking for from the start. Let’s see: Apple Bloom was just born, Applejack reminded herself as she carefully pulled the desired memory to herself. Applejack could feel Apple Bloom in her warm embrace. “She’s beautiful, ain’t she,” Applejack said as she looked at her proudly. “She sure is,” Granny Smith agreed as the green mare slowly came into focus. “Just like her mother,” Granny Smith finished as she gave Apple Bloom a big smile. “I just wish her dad were here,” Applejack muttered in disappointment as her heart cringed in pain. “Fiddlesticks, Apple Bloom doesn’t need some flippit colt in her life. This here foal only needs a strong mare to look after her. You just need to stay strong.” “Yeah, you’re right granny. I just … got to stay strong,” she repeated. She tried. But, the loss of her parents and everything that had happened this past year… it was just getting too much for her. She fell into a deep state of depression. Her legs began to feel numb whilst her throat was dry. The room began to spin, and she suddenly started to feel very faint. “And don’t you worry, no nothing young’un. Big Mac and I will -,” said Granny Smith reassuringly but stopped when she heard a loud thud behind her - “ Applejack. APPLEJACK!” The voice was loud with worry, but it soon began to soften until it finally faded away into the darkness along with the memory. Applejack shook her head. She could feel a hint of fear building. Even her memories had shifted. She was remembering things that didn’t click with what she remembered remembering. For example, where had Bright Mac been? Why had he missed the birth of his youngest daughter? Something was wrong with the world itself, Applejack decided. Her whole world was spiraling out of control, and out of reason. Applejack found herself struggling to keep from losing the last semblance of reason. All logical explanations were gone, and that left only illogical explanations… Still, Applejack considered herself a closet follower of Fetlock Holmes, and so she allowed herself to pursue the answer, no matter how illogical. “Twilight, maybe… Maybe I’m in the wrong Equestria… Help me get home to my home Twilight,” Applejack tried as she sat on her butt, and looked up at Twilight with pleading eyes, and cupped hooves. “Applejack, maybe you need to lay down?” Twilight offered as she offered a consoling hoof over Applejack’s withers. “I ain’t crazy! I know Apple Bloom is my sister!” Applejack shouted as she jumped to her hooves, broke free from Twilight’s consoling grip, and began to stumble towards the door. Applejack’s eyes were now blinded by tears, and her world seemed to be as shaken as her balance. The world faded away as Applejack’s feet took her somewhere… she didn’t know where. She couldn’t even hear anything in her fear filled haze. She could vaguely hear some kind of shouting, but she wasn’t sure what they were saying… Until, her run was suddenly interrupted as she felt herself run straight into something big, sturdy, warm, and furry. “AJ is that you?” asked the silent plea of a soft voice. Applejack rubbed her aching muzzle and blinked a few times as the world slowly came back into focus. “I’m sorry I bumped into you, mister… I wasn’t looking where I was goin’” Applejack apologized profusely. “It, It is you!” cheered the large white stallion that was kneeled next to Applejack. His white foreleg was reached out in a kind offer to help her stand up. “Oh, I’ve been searching all over Equestria for you,” he continued to cheer as Applejack took his offer, and reached a hoof out so that the stallion could help her up. “Do I know you?” Applejack asked as she rubbed her eyes, and tried to make out more of the stallion’s features. “It’s me, Blue. Don’t you recognize me?” the stallion pleaded as his previously joyous tone gave way to a definite pleading. Applejack’s mind spent a moment or two more as she tried to recognize what unicorn stallion had a white coat, blue eyes, and blond mane. “Prince Blueblood?” Applejack asked as her mind managed to place where she had seen the stallion before. “It’s me AJ,” the stallion confirmed slowly as Applejack slowly got to her feet. “Have you been well? I hope you have. I’m sorry that I didn’t help you before.” Applejack could see years of guilt and regret written on his face. “But, I wanted to help you. I honestly did,” the stallion continued to explain. Applejack was uncertain what he was talking about. But, she could tell that the stallion believed he owed her something. “I… I’m not sure I follow you feller,” Applejack apologized, with a faint hint of regret. “O-oh… Would you like to talk about it somewhere else? M-maybe somewhere less public? I’m terribly sorry if I just put you on the spot… It’s just like me to speak without thinking first!” Blueblood considered as he gave Applejack another apologetic look. “No. I really don’t know what you are talking about,” Applejack explained as she rubbed her head. She wanted off this crazy train, and the sudden appearance of the prince had only added to her confusion. “I see...” the prince mumbled as he looked down in disappointment, and perhaps a look of shame. “So you didn’t get to keep him, or her… If I’d found you sooner, maybe you could have kept our foal?” Blueblood somberly considered as some small tears rolled down his cheek. “AJ, I’m so sorry… I’m sorry for everything,” the normally clueless prince openly wept, causing Applejack’s heart to practically stop. “Foal?! We need to talk,” Applejack sternly commanded. “I’ve spent the last day and a half being told all my memories were lies, and my sister is my foal. And, I’m sick of this nonsense. I just want some answers!” Applejack ordered as she took a moment to collect her bearings. “Something is wrong with your memories?” Blueblood asked with a few blinks of his eyes. The confused look slowly morphed on his face to a look of horror as something occurred to him. “Oh no...” he whispered as his mind got a complete grasp of what was going on. “That way,” Applejack commanded as she pointed in the general direction of Sweet Apple Acres. “We’re going back to Sweet Apple Acres, and we’re gonna have a long talk,” Applejack continued as she motioned for Blueblood to follow her.