//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 - A Strange Meeting 
// Story: Magic on Sweet Apple Acres 
// by Blade Star 
//------------------------------//

“There ya go, Cheerilee. Six red delicious, and there’s ya change,” I said, handing both produce and coins over to the schoolteacher.

“Thanks, Bones,” she said kindly, taking the bag in her mouth and putting coins into her saddlebag before heading off.

Today, I was working on the market stall. We all take it in turns doing this. It gives whoever draws the job an effective day off from the farm, since the stall runs all day long until the market shuts at five. I’ve gotten pretty good at it over the last few years. When I first started I was terrible, years of poor mental maths combined with a reliance on computerised tills made things a little awkward at first. Still, most ponies were quite accommodating, and I soon picked things up again. Applejack was quite happy for me to run the stall on my own.

The other issue of course, was haggling. Outside of Bargain Hunt or Antiques Roadshow, your common or garden Brit doesn’t really do much in the way of haggling. Everything costs what it says it does. I can’t begin to tell you how confused I was on a trip to the States. I mean, why put a price on something without adding the VAT? Why is that such a foreign concept to those people? If you put a price on something, it should be that price, not that price plus some mental maths to add on tax.

Anyway, I’m rambling. But haggling was something that took a bit more time to pick up. It was actually Mum who helped me out in that regard. She’d gone on holiday to Egypt before I was born, and had spent quite a while in the many souks. Like Equestria, out and out haggling was the norm there. Trust me when I say, it’s a lot harder than it looks. I had a chance to prove that when Rarity trotted up to my stall.

The Element of Generosity and I are quite good friends. I may not have a knack for fashion, but I can still recognise good work when I see it. I’ve even helped out the unicorn fashionista a couple times, such as when I accompanied her to a black tie reception in Canterlot as part of a fashion show.

That was before she opened Canterlot Boutique. My how time flies.

Anyway, it was always nice to see Rarity. Even if she does occasionally try to convince me to lend a hoof with some project or another. Luckily, asexual as I am, her fluttering eyelids don’t work on me. If only the same could be said of Spike.

“Howdy, Rarity,” I said, touching the brim of my hat in time honoured fashion. “What can Ah get for ya?” The unicorn smiled at me.

“A couple of your best gala’s, if you please, Blade Star,” she replied. “Sweetie Belle and I are heading down to the park, and I think we could both use a bite to eat while we’re there.”

With a nod, I turned around and quickly searched through our produce. Gala apples were always quite popular as a rule. Being nice and sweet make them a good healthy snack. As such we always had a fairly decent stock, although looking at the bushel just now, we were getting a mite low. Activating my magic, I levitated a pair of them out and placed them on the counter. Now for the bargaining. And I assure, you, Rarity is an expert.

“How does six bits sound?” I asked. I always like to open with something a bit above anything reasonable. That way, when you haggle them down to a normal price, they reckon they’ve got a saving.

“Six?” Rarity asked in some surprise. “Come now, darling, that’s a bit steep, don’t you think? How about two?”

Ah, like an experienced haggler, she’d countered my ridiculously high offer, with a very low one. Of course, there was no real rivalry in either of us. Half of haggling is just being sure you’re paying a fair price really, rather than trying to get a cheap one.

“Sorry, Rarity. Can’t do that, Ah’m afraid. How ‘bout five?” You don’t want to give too much ground or they might beat you to the fair middle. Rarity though, broke with convention a little.

“How about four?” she suggested. “That’s as high as I’m willing to go.” She flashed me a smile. Ever generous, she’d skipped a bit of negotiating, and the opportunity to shave off one more bit from the price.

“Done,” I said, levitating the apples into her saddlebags like the gentlecolt I try to be.

Rarity passed me the four gold coins, emblazoned with Celestia and Luna’s cutie marks. And rather generously, a couple gems by way of a tip too. Gems serve as sort of pocket change in Equestria, since there’s no formal currency below the single bit.

“Thank you, darling,” she said as she gathered up her things. “Say hello to Applejack and the others for me.” I nodded and smiled as the unicorn walked away.

“Of course, Rarity,” I replied. “See ya round.”





Rarity was the last customer I had for a while. Business tends to come in the style of famine or feast in Ponyville. You get plenty of business in the morning when you open up, and a fair share at lunchtime, but between those times, business tends to be a bit slow.

It does give me a chance to organise things though. I think I’ve always been a touch aspergers, although I prefer just to be called weird if I’m honest. And there was that one teacher in Year 8 who described me as a High Functioning Sociopath. But that was a misunderstanding really. She asked me why I was so quiet and I, jokingly, replied that you didn’t plan murders out loud.

That got me sent to the headshrinkers.

But anyway, I spent the next twenty minutes or so restocking some of the produce on display and tallying up the profits so far, as well as topping up the cash float. I’d just about finished when what I thought was another customer turned up.

There was a sudden whooshing sound followed by a dull thud of hooves on the ground in front of me. Looking up, I found myself eye to eye with Rainbow Dash. The firebrand pegasus must’ve just landed in front of the stall. That caught me off guard and made me jump, much to her delight. She let out that familiar scratchy laugh of hers.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, featherbrain,” I said, as I straightened my stetson on my head and did my best to stop blushing in embarrassment.. Eventually, RD managed to get her laughter under control.

“Sorry, Bones,” she said. “It was just so funny...your face, it was like.” She then pulled a face similar to ‘The Scream’. I rolled my eyes at her exaggeration.

“Alright, Rainbow. What can Ah get for ya? Some Honeycrisps like last time?” Dash however, shook her head.

“Sorry, Bones, but I’m not buying today. I saw Applejack when I was practicing my new Wonderbolt routine over by the farm. She asked me to tell you to get some firewood from Burnt Oak before you close up the stall and head back to the farm.”

Ah, that made sense. We had been running a bit low. Despite the pleasant temperature we’d been enjoying these past couple of days, the nights were starting to get chillier as we moved towards autumn. Granny Smith in particular felt the cold, particularly as the farmhouse isn’t that well insulated. Maybe Big Mac and me could do something about that? Shoot, maybe I could introduce Equestria to the concept of double glazing.

“Thanks for the heads up, Dash,” I said kindly. I levitated an apple over to her. “Here, for your trouble. On the house.” Dash grinned and quickly took her reward.

“Thanks, Bones,” she said, taking a bite. “Though I don’t see why you can’t just chop down a couple apple trees for firewood instead of buying it.”

“It takes time for new trees to grow, Rainbow,” I explained. “If we cut down apple trees whenever we needed firewood, before long we wouldn’t have a farm. The only firewood we get is when wind blows down a tree or two, or if one contracts disease. Everythin’ else we get from off the farm from ponies like Burnt Oak. He sells us some decent firewood that burns well, and me and Mac chop it up.” Dash digested that in silence.

“Eh, makes sense I guess,” she admitted. “Anyway, gotta go.” She prepared to take off.

“Say hi to Lizzie for me will ya?” I called out as she shot off into the sky.

So, I had myself one more chore to finish up before I headed home this evening.





As evening rolled around, I found myself packing up the store. It’s really just a single wagon at the end of the day. But like those American campervans, it folds out when it’s all set up. Business had been pretty good, I’d made more than bit of money, certainly enough to keep us going. The Apples’ do have savings of course, but farming, as I think I said before, is always a precarious occupation when it comes to finances. Today though, had been a good day. There was hardly anything left to take back to the farm in terms of produce, and plenty of bits held in a small bag, locked away in the wagon’s interior.

Hooking myself into the harness, I prepared to head back home, after stopping by Burnt Oak’s stall of course. I didn’t really know him too well, although AJ and Big Mac were good friends with him. And she’d told me on more than one occasion that I’d probably get on well with him.

According to the latter, Burnt Oak had been a friend of his father’s back when they were colts. The two of them had been like brothers. But whereas Mac’s old man had opted to stay in Ponyville and look after the family business, Burnt Oak had decided to strike out on his own. He’d gone south to the frontier and become, what I suppose humans would call an Indian Fighter. He kept the Buffalo tribes, who were then in conflict with pony settlers, away from the newly sprouting towns and railroads. But as that conflict had drawn to a close, and with his age advancing, he’d returned to his old home town, and set up shop selling firewood.

I soon came upon said shop. The aged stallion was still there. He was a bit like me. His coat was a dark, coal dust grey, with a hint of brown to it. His mane and tail were white, as was his moustache. On his head, rested a slightly crumpled gambler style hat, and there was a checked blue bandana tied around his neck. All in all, he summed up in one pony the image of the frontier. The closest thing Equestria has to an old gunslinger.

“Evenin’, Burnt Oak,” I called out, catching his attention. The older stallion looked up from his own work.

“Howdy, partner,” he replied. “What can Ah do for ya?” His accent was a bit more of the frontier than the Apples’ or my own was, but it was soft too, he was the kind of fella that could talk his way out of a Mexicolt standoff.

“Applejack asked me to pick up some firewood for her,” I explained. “It’s been gettin mighty cold these past few nights.” Burnt Oak nodded.

“It sure has,” he replied. “Applejack should’ve said somethin’ when she and her siblings all came by the other day. Ah could’ve given them a nice discount too.” That surprised me.

“Applejack was here?” I asked. “When?” Burnt Oak explained.

“She came down here with Big Mac and Apple Bloom earlier this week. Wanted to talk with me about her dad.”

That got me to prick up my ears. In the entire time I’ve known Applejack, she’s never once brought up her parents. The whole incident is just something we don’t talk about. The show never really elaborated on it either, aside from hinting quite obviously that they were dead, which had been confirmed in my own experiences. I’ve never asked her about it, or Mac. But every now and again, AJ will get a sad look in her eye, and I know she’s thinking of them. So to come down to Burnt Oak’s shop to talk about them in public seemed like quite an unusual thing to do.

“What did she want to know?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t pushing my luck too much. Burnt Oak seemed glad to talk about it though.

“They wanted to hear how Bright Mac and Pear Butter first met,” he explained.

“Pear Butter?” I asked in confusion. I had done some research on AJ’s parents myself. Her mother had always been referred to as Buttercup.

“That was her name,” Burnt Oak replied. “But Bright Mac always used to call her Buttercup. The pet name sorta stuck over the years. She’s actually from the Pears lineage.”

Woah, time out for a second. Apples and Pears in Equestria are like the blue and the grey; bitter enemies. I never thought that either would end up marrying. Heck, even today, Granny Smith won’t have anything pear related in the house. She also gets on pretty well with Time Turner too as a result. AJ and Mac aren’t like that though, the feud pretty much ended with her generation. For one thing, the Pear family moved away many years ago, certainly before the start of the series. All Apple Bloom knows is that Granny gets mad if you mention pears.

“Bright Mac married a Pear?” I exclaimed. “Ah thought there was a whole feud between the two families.” Burnt Oak nodded.

“There was,” he explained. “Bright Mac had to see his marefriend in secret, without Granny Smith findin’ out. Celestia knows Ah had to cover for him on the farm more than a few times.”

“Ya used to work on Sweet Apple Acres?”

“Sure,” Burnt Oak replied. “When Ah was a colt Ah did it to get a few extra bits. It’s also where Ah got this from.” He indicated his hat. “A gift from Bright Mac.”

“So what happened then? Ah mean, obviously Bright Mac and Pear Butter married. But how?”

“Secret weddin’, partner. Mayor Mare did it all, and me and Mrs. Cake were the witnesses. Granny Smith and Grand Pear, Pear Butter’s father, found out about it. But they had no choice but to respect it. After that, the Pear family left town, And Buttercup, as everypony called her, stayed with the Apples’.”

Burnt Oak certainly seemed to be a fountain of knowledge. I’ve always wondered about AJ’s parents. Who they were, what they were like. I’ve seen photographs of course, but it would have been nice to meet them.

The two of us chatted a little while longer. Burnt Oak spun a few yarns from his youth. He and Bright Mac were apparently quite a pair of troublemakers in their day, and both went on to lead very interesting lives. I considered asking the one remaining obvious question, but in the end decided against it. It wouldn’t be fair to Burnt Oak, and AJ or Mac would tell me when they were ready. I can’t imagine going through what they did, and at such a young age too. Poor Apple Bloom was just a baby, and AJ and Mac were still in their teens. As if life on a farm wasn’t difficult enough. I could see why Applejack had gone to Manehattan.

Putting those thoughts to one side for the time being, I purchased the firewood I needed. It wasn’t much; just a few logs. Burnt Oak himself said that we had plenty of wood to use. To be fair, that is partially true. We certainly have plenty of trees, but as I said to Dash, we like to avoid chopping them down unless we have to.

Paying my dues, I threw the bundle onto the back of the wagon and hooked myself back into the harness. Thanking Burnt Oak for his time, and bidding him a good evening, I set off for home.





The journey back took a little longer than I expected. There was quite a quantity of firewood in the wagon, along with everything else that made up the stall. While for Big Mac, it wouldn’t be too much trouble, for me, it was a pretty heavy load. Normally, once you get a wagon moving, you can get enough speed up so that you don’t need as much effort to keep it moving. Think how hard it is to push a car at first, but how easy it gets once it’s rolling. That was the problem I had, and even throwing all my weight forward, I couldn’t get up much momentum.

So I had to put up with hauling the wagon at something just below walking pace. It turned what should have been a twenty minute journey home into the better part of three quarters of an hour.

And of course, it never rains, but it pours. As well as hauling the heavy wagon, I also had to contend with a spot of bad weather. With autumn coming on in leaps and bounds, the weather was becoming decidedly wetter. I’d seen a couple pegasi from the local crew start putting together a sizeable rain cloud that morning. And now it was dumping its load on Ponyville, as per schedule. That meant wet roads and mud, making my task even harder.

Still, at least I had my hat to keep my head dry.

As I came onto the farm at last, and walked up the main road, surrounded on either side by the apple trees, the storm kicked up a notch. I guess they really needed a big number doing, since the rain soon turned to thunder and lightning. It was strange really. The sky was cloudy, but the sunset was covering everything in hues of reds and golds. It was like a summer shower, only much more intense.

As I continued on, the wind really got up. The trees swayed and bowed in the gale and I pulled my hat down in front of my eyes to try and protect myself. I would certainly be glad to get home, and curl up in front of the fire. I was presently half way through re-reading Seven Pillars.

As I neared the farmhouse though, my luck ran out. I really ought to have tied the wagon up somewhere safe and legged it for the house. But I didn’t want to leave all the kit out to get knackered by the wind and rain.

As I rounded the corner, my ears, in spite of the wind, picked up the tell tale sound of splintering wood close at hoof. I barely had time to look up to see it before it was on me. It wasn’t a whole tree or anything, but the branch was sizeable enough to rap me on the head and knock me down. I felt the heavy branch fall hard on the back of my neck. I saw stars for a moment, lost my footing, and then the whole world went black. I was sparked out.





I came to in...well, I’m not entirely sure where to this day. It resembled the dreamscape, in that it had a sort of astral quality to it. There was no physical floor; I just seemed to be standing on nothingness. I couldn’t really judge distance either. For all i knew this place could stretch on for light years, or just a couple more feet.

I found myself looking around, trying to find...anything really. I wasn’t entirely sure how I’d gotten here. The last thing i remembered was taking a rap on the back of the neck. At the time, I didn’t realise that it had been enough to knock me out.

As I tried to get my bearings, I saw an odd light in front of me. That was when I first started to worry. Seeing a bright light at a time like this is never a good thing. And by Luna I was determined to stay far away from it. I actually began to slowly back away.

But the light followed me, slowly closing the distance between us. Eventually, I found myself just coming to a stop. I could hardly just keep backing away forever, now could I? There seemed to be little else to do than see what happened.

The light stopped perhaps six feet away from me. It was bright enough that I had to put a foreleg up in front of my eyes. It was as bright as the sun. But a few moments later, it began to dim, and before too long, I was able to look again. And what I saw, well, let’s just say it gave me pause.

There were two ponies standing there now; a stallion and a mare. The stallion resembled Apple Bloom in colouration, with that same light yellow coat and bright red mane. On his head rested a light brown stetson that looked almost too small for him. He was a large fellow, perhaps a shade larger than Big Mac, and his cutie mark was a green apple with a star in the centre. The mare on the other hand had a pale gamboge coat, with an orange mane done up in plaid stripes, and her cutie mark was a jar filled with what looked like apple sauce.

I recognised both ponies almost instantly, even if my only point of reference was a few faded sepia tone photographs. They were Bright Mac and Pear Butter. Applejack’s parents. Ponies who I knew to be dead.

Now, I’m not a religious man, no God fearing cretin, but I had to confess, I had absolutely no explanation for what I was seeing, whether by science or magic. Here I was standing in the a void, face to face, with two ponies who had been dead for at least a decade.

“H-hello?” I said, unsteadily. The two ponies smiled at me, as if they knew me.

“Hello, Blade Star,” Pear Butter said. That caught me out. It seemed they did know me.

“How...how do you know my name?” I asked. Bright Mac spoke up now.

“Well,” he said, in an accent a little softer than Braeburn’s that bellied his impressive size. “It makes sense to know a little bit about the stallion our daughter’s taken an interest in.”

Okay, now I know I’m going mad. Pear Butter let out a melodious laugh, not that dissimilar to Applejack’s.

“Oh, don’t scare him, Bright Mac,” she said, elbowing him in the side. “The poor colt has had enough of a shock as it is.”

“How can you be here?” I asked, now quite alarmed. Pear Butter smiled sadly.

“We’re not, and neither are you. At the moment, you’re lying on the ground back on Sweet Apple Acres, unconscious.” She obviously saw my worried expression as she continued. “Don’t worry, you’ll come around in a few minutes. Although I’d get that bump on the head looked at just to be safe.”

“Right now,” Bright Mac went on. “You’re at a sort of halfway point. We saw what was happening and decided to come and talk to you. Buttercup’s been wanting to meet you for ages.” I found myself smiling at the whole situation.

“Ah’m glad we all got to meet too, Ah suppose,” I replied, now sounding a little more relaxed. “Though ah can’t say ah expected it. Ya know, it’s funny, Ah always wondered if y’all would be watchin’, or if any of that stuff about an afterlife was true.”

“In a way, it is,” Pear Butter said, a little cryptically. “I’m just glad we’re able to check in from time to time.” I though back to the various nods to AJ’s parents in the series, particularly that pair of shooting stars.

And so, the three of us got to talking. They already knew a fair bit about me. I was glad I didn’t have to explain anything about the show to them. But they only had brief flashes of their children’s lives, and were eager to learn what they were up to. I got on well with both of them. Pear Butter was just like her daughter, while Bright Mac had the build of his son, and the happy go lucky outlook of his youngest daughter.

It certainly made for a strange take on the traditional ‘meet the parents’ scenario. I was just glad Big Mac had already put the frighteners on me before when AJ and I first started going out. Bright Mac though didn’t seem like the type to do that sort of thing. Although I think it was mainly because he was already quite accepting of me.

Eventually though, our time together, strange as it had been, began to run out. The world shimmered and flickered around us.

“What’s going on?” I asked the two ponies.

“You’re wakin’ up,” Pear Butter explained. “We don’t have much time.”

“Well, will I ever see you again?” I asked, suddenly becoming desperate to get all the information I could. “Is there any way for Big Mac, AJ or Apple Bloom to come here?” The pair shook their heads.

“This place is between life and death, Blade Star,” Pear Butter said. “To come here you need to be badly injured. Stay here too long, and you’ll never leave. You need to go back.” I nodded sadly.

“Do us a favour though,” Bright Mac added. I looked up. “Applejack often comes to our old tree, to talk, she asked us a question. Could you tell her, the answer is, every day.”

I nodded in understanding as they, and the world around them, began to fade from my view. Although I had no idea how I was going to explain any of this to anypony, never mind Applejack. I mean, it’s not every day you have a near death experience and meet your marefriend’s dead parents, now is it?

Eventually, a few moments later, the two of them vanished completely, with a parting wave. As for me, I was once again blinded by that sodding bright light.





My vision swam, I couldn’t see much beyond the occasional blur. My hearing on the other hoof, seemed to be back up to full strength. I could hear the sound of the rain, still as intense, as well as the odd rumble of thunder in the distance. Blinking my eyes a few times, my eyesight slowly came back. It was clear that I was once again back on Sweet Apple Acres. And more to the point, I was still on the ground, with a sizeable tree branch resting on the back of my head.

Trying to get to my hooves, I felt a jolt of pain shoot up my spine and my vision went for a moment. Putting a hoof to the back of my throbbing head, I found that I had a nasty cut to the back of my head, which was still bleeding a little.

Steeling myself, I did my best to push the fallen branch off of me. It took some effort, but I was able to get on my hooves. The wagon was right where I’d left it. In my fall, it had somehow gotten unhooked, but was otherwise none the worse for wear, in spite of the foul weather. I was just about to hook myself back up and try to get home, when I heard voices on the wind.

“Bones!” a voice called. “Bones, are y’all out here?!” I quickly recognised it as Applejack. Not too far ahead, I saw a light moving through the trees. I called back, although my voice was pretty hoarse, if you’ll excuse the pun.

“Over here!” I hollered back. A few moments later, and I was joined by both Applejack and Big Mac. Mac was holding a lantern in his mouth, giving us all some illumination in the dark. It was obviously after dark now, and the storm just made visibility worse.

“Oh, thank Celestia!” Applejack explained, pulling me into a hug that probably did some damage to my ribcage, she sometimes forgets her earth pony strength. “When ya didn’t come back for supper, Mac and me got worried.” I gestured to the battered tree.

“I got whacked on the head by that,” I explained. Applejack saw the bad cut on the back of my head and soon had Mac bandaging it up with some cloth from the wagon. With that done, the two siblings helped me get back to the farmhouse, where an equally worried Granny Smith and Apple Bloom were waiting.





I soon found myself laid up on the couch, in front of the fire. My wound had been redressed with a proper bandage and I had some warm food in my belly. It was pretty late, but AJ insisted on spending the night downstairs with me, and waking me up every other hour to be sure I didn’t have a concussion. She made it very clear that I was going to see Nurse Redheart tomorrow.

I wasn’t sure what to tell her. Had it been real, or was it just a dream brought on by a serious head injury? She’d never really talked about her parents, and it somehow felt like I would be overstepping my bounds if I said anything. Then again, I’d given Bright Mac and Pear Butter my word. I doubt they’d think much of me if I broke my promise to them.

So, I tried to step lightly and bring a pretty much sealed book up to the surface.

“‘Jack?” I said, catching her attention, I think she was starting to doze off herself. “There’s somethin’ Ah gotta tell ya.”

Applejack at once roused herself a little, blinking her eyes a few times in an effort to stave off sleep. She looked at me with those kind green eyes. I did my best to step carefully around this difficult subject,

“What...what do ya think happens when we die?” I asked. Applejack looked at me with some surprise. “Do ya think we end up in some paradise, or is it just darkness waitin for us?” AJ got up and came to sit next to me.

“Sugarcube,” she replied softly. “That may have been a close call, but Ah can assure ya that ya ain’t goin nowhere for a good while yet.” I shook my head.

“It’s not that it’s…” I trailed off. AJ tilted her head to one side.

“What?” I sighed.

“Do ya believe in ghosts, AJ? Spirits, phantoms, echoes?” She shrugged her shoulders.

“Ah don’t know, sugarcube. Never really thought about it.” Her eyes darted away and she scrunched up her snout in that way she does when she’s lying. I let it slide.

“When...when Ah was knocked out tonight,” I said, my voice going quiet. “Ah found myself in this...strange place. And Ah met some ponies...ponies Ah know to be long gone.” I paused as I tried to keep my composure, and braced myself for AJ’s reaction. “Applejack, Ah saw your folks...they came to talk to me.”

I’ve never seen Applejack as angry as she was in that moment. I barely had time to process the look before I felt a sharp stinging sensation on my cheek as she slapped me. And I can tell you she poured her earth pony strength into it too. When I looked back, she was crying, sobbing.

“You shut your mouth, Bones!” she snarled through the tears. I rubbed my cheek with a hoof. That was gonna leave a mark.

“Ah mean it, Applejack,” I shot back. “Why would Ah lie ‘bout somethin’ like this?”

“Ah don’t know and Ah don’t care!” she replied, her voice now almost shouting. I was worried that she’d wake the others up. She got up to leave.

“They told me you asked them a question, at the old tree,” I called after her. She stopped in her tracks, her ears perked up. “They said the answer was ‘every day’.”

Applejack turned around to face me. Until now, I was worried that we were really going to have a fight, or that she’d sic Big Mac on me. I feared that I was going to lose her over this, and that had set me crying too. Now though, all that anger seemed to be gone, replaced solely by grief. She believed me.

“What did you ask them, Applejack?” AJ sniffed and blinked back tears as she walked over and sat down with me again on the couch.

“Ah…” Applejack sobbed again and wiped her eyes with a foreleg. “Ah asked them....do Ah make them proud?”

And with that, the two of us broke down. The both of us tend to keep our emotions under the surface. We don’t let it show too often. Even Pinkie points out that AJ cries on the inside. But at that moment, any self-control we had left, just broke. I found myself holding Applejack as she sobbed deeply onto my shoulder, staining my coat with her tears. I was no better.

We ended up staying like that the rest of the night. Eventually, the two of us got a hold on our emotions and we just hugged each other, glad that our brief fight was over. I think it gave Applejack some closure too. Although if you ask me, I think she’s always known that they were watching over her, proud of her.

The two of us decided to keep the strange incident to ourselves. It was something beyond science or magic, beyond anything we could really hope to understand. So it would be our little secret.

AJ fell asleep before I did, and I found myself looking out of the window, onto the moonlit fields and orchards. Looking up at the sky, I saw two shooting stars pass us by.

And I knew it to be them.