//------------------------------// // Heading Home // Story: A Tale of Two Apples // by The Blue EM2 //------------------------------// The lights came up on the stage and the audience began to cheer, as Babs Seed, Featherweight, Tender Taps, Silverstream, and Raindrops all stepped forward. “Hello everybody!” called Babs, eliciting a response cheer of “Hello Crusaders!” “Nice ta hear yer all in such chipper spirits!” Babs responded in kind. “Tonight, we have a special guest. On our team, from all the way in the Sunshine State, is someone who has travelled a long, long way to be here. She is unmatched in her field, truly one of the greatest ever known, the daughter of the son of a logger!” The crowd seemed confused, but went along with it anyway. “May I present, the fastest fingers in the Wild West-Apple Bloom!” Apple Bloom stepped forward, dressed same as ever and waving, the crowd cheering loudly in response. “This must be what a Rainbooms concert is like,” she said to herself. “And she’s my cuz’,” Babs answered. “Not to mention the First Crusader!” She snapped her fingers, and Tender Taps stepped forward. “Now then, are you ready to rock?” The crowd roared. “I can’t here ya!” “WE ARE READY TO ROCK!!” the crowd boomed. Apple Bloom brought her fiddle to her shoulder, and prepared to start playing. Tender began to strum. “I am the entertainer And I know just where I stand Another serenader And another long haired band Today I am your champion I may have won your hearts But I know the game, you'll forget my name And I won't be here in another year If I don't stay on the charts “I am the entertainer And I've had to pay my price The things I did not know at first I learned by doin' twice Ah, but still they come to haunt me Still they want their say So I've learned to dance with a hand in my pants I let 'em rub my neck and I write 'em a check And they go their merry way “I am the entertainer Been all around the world I've played all kinds of palaces And laid all kinds of girls I can't remember faces I don't remember names Ah, but what the hell You know it's just as well 'Cause after a while and a thousand miles It all becomes the same “I am the entertainer I bring to you my songs I'd like to spend a day or two I can't stay that long No, I've got to meet expenses I got to stay in line Gotta get those fees to the agencies And I'd love to stay but there's bills to pay So I just don't have the time “I am the entertainer I come to do my show You've heard my latest record It's been on the radio Ah, it took me years to write it They were the best years of my life It was a beautiful song But it ran too long If you're gonna have a hit You gotta make it fit So they cut it down to 3:05 “I am the entertainer The idol of my age I make all kinds of money When I go on the stage Ah, you've seen me in the papers I've been in the magazines But if I go cold I won't get sold I'll get put in the back in the discount rack Like another can of beans “I am the entertainer And I know just where I stand Another serenader And another long haired band Today I am your champion I may have won your hearts But I know the game, you'll forget my name I won't be here in another year If I don't stay on the charts!” The crowd cheered, as the band launched into their next number. “Born down in a dead man's town The first kick I took was when I hit the ground End up like a dog that's been beat too much Till you spend half your life just covering up “Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A. I was born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A. “Got in a little hometown jam So they put a rifle in my hand Sent me off to a foreign land To go and kill the yellow man “Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A. “Come back home to the refinery Hiring man said "son if it was up to me" Went down to see my V.A. man He said "son, don't you understand" “I had a brother at Khe Sahn Fighting off the Viet Cong They're still there, he's all gone “He had a woman he loved in Saigon I got a picture of him in her arms now “Down in the shadow of the penitentiary Out by the gas fires of the refinery I'm ten years burning down the road Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go “Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A., I'm a long gone daddy in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A., I'm a cool rocking daddy in the U.S.A.” Babs smiled as the crowd finished cheering. “Now then,” she said, “time for Featherweight here to take centre stage. As although he may be light, he punches well above his weight!” The cheering continued. “Now then, did ya say the lights on 42nd Street were havin’ issues?” Featherweight nodded, and then began to play. “Seen the lights go out Broadway I saw the Empire State laid low And life went on beyond the Palisades They all bought Cadillacs And left there long ago “They held a concert out in Brooklyn To watch the island bridges blow They turned our power down And drove us underground But we went right on with the show “I've seen the lights go out on Broadway I saw the ruins at my feet You know we almost didn't notice it We'd seen it all the time on Forty second street “They burned the churches down in Harlem Like in that Spanish civil war The flames were everywhere But no one really cared It always burned up there before “I've seen the lights go out on Broadway I saw the mighty skyline fall The boats were waiting at the battery The union went on strike They never sailed at all “They sent a carrier out from Norfolk And picked the Yankees up for free They said that Queens could stay And blew the Bronx away And sank Manhattan out at sea “You know those lights were bright on Broadway That was so many years ago Before we all lived here in Florida Before the Mafia took over Mexico There are not many who remember They say a handful still survive To tell the world about The way the lights went out And keep the memory alive.” Raindrops spoke last, to cue the last number. “And now, our friend from the West will show off her skills!” Somehow, Rockin’ all over the World worked perfectly in that context, and Apple Bloom stunned the crowd with not only the power and precision of her playing, but indeed, the band kept it all together. The next day, Babs went to see Apple Bloom off at JFK. “Hey, I’ll miss ya, OK?” Babs said. “Ah’ll miss ya too,” Apple Bloom replied. “Thanks fer lettin’ me stay with ya.” “Forgetaboutit! Yer always welcome in the Big Apple, any time ya wanna come, let me know.” Apple Bloom nodded, and gave her cousin one last hug, before heading into the departure gate, and back home to California. But as she went to the gate, she got an urgent text. Sweetie Belle: Scootaloo’s been taken ill!