Five months after I had started at Canterlot High, I was annoyed.
Not at the classes, those were great. Just challenging enough to keep my full attention, but not overly challenging so that I was overwhelmed.
No, it was my classmates. Or rather one classmate in particular who was causing issues with the other classmates.
Now, I'm not exactly what one would call a social butterfly, but I wasn't a wallflower either. Though there was a girl named Wallflower that I always gave a kind hello to that really seemed like she could use it. I had made a few friends, particularly a girl named Applejack, whose family owned the farm a few miles from my family's ranch. The two of us had bonded over their shared experiences, even though I didn't have as much experience when compared to Applejack, having only come out for a few summers and now helping out before and after school and on weekends when I didn't have homework.
The issue was with Sunset. I can't prove it, but the friend groups that had been well established when I had arrived at the school were starting to fracture and I get the distinct feeling that Sunset was somehow responsible, especially with the looks some of the students in our year group were sending the girl.
It was the weekend, and since there weren't too many chores, I asked if I could take my horse, a mare named Reno, and ride down to the Apple family farm to hang out with Applejack. Getting permission, I called ahead to make sure it was okay, and then bundled up and saddled Reno and began a gentle ride to the farm about an hour's gentle riding away.
"Howdy there Niamh! Now that is a pretty mare ya got there." Applejack greeted her at the gate, astride her own horse.
"Same to you AJ. What's her name?" I asked as we rode next to each other up the drive to the corrals.
"Leyte. Granny was the one who named her." Applejack said.
"As in Leyte Gulf?" I asked.
"Yup. Her great uncle was there during the war." Applejack said quietly.
"He didn't make it back did he?" I asked quietly.
Applejack shook her head. "No, he was a sailor on the Johnston." She replied.
I nodded. "I know how it goes, having family in the navy." I said quietly.
Applejack looked at her for a moment. "That what happened to yer Pa?" She asked carefully.
I nodded. "Happened when Mom was about seven months pregnant with me. There was an accident on a mission he went on. Commander Nathaniel Smith. Mom kept her maiden name when they got married." Answering the unasked question. "And there were a few times I saw Mom in the hospital after a mission, Auntie Vestal helping to patch her up. So I get it. Navy life isn't easy, for the sailors or their loved ones."
"No it ain't. But the navy is a damn fine branch as far as I am concerned. Lotta brave men and women." Applejack said with a smile, offering me a thermos of coffee as they rode.
"Damn straight!" I replied proudly before taking a drink of the beverage, my face falling flat at the taste. "AJ, what the hell is this swill?"
Applejack jerked back in offense. "Coffee, what else is it supposed to be?" She said indignantly.
"That is not coffee. That is what coffee would probably taste like if someone had only had the taste described to them." I replied. "Let me make you a real cup of coffee when we get inside."
"Okay, we can see what kinda concoction you come up with. Just don't break the coffee maker. Wouldn't end well for ya." Applejack said as they tied the horses up and unsaddled them.
Once inside and greetings were exchanged with the rest of the Apple family, the two of us made our way to the kitchen.
I eyed the almost empty pot and scowled, grabbing it and dumping it out in the sink.
"Filters? Coffee?" I asked and Applejack provided the requested items.
I replaced the filter and then started adding the ground coffee into the hopper.
"Uh, sugarcube, you think you put enough in there?" Applejack asked nervously.
"With this brand, it probably isn't enough, but we will see." I replied as i filled the reservoir and started it brewing.
Soon enough the house filled with the smell of fresh coffee brewing.
Macintosh, Big Mac to those he was friendly with, strode in at the moment and nodded at the two of us, going to get a mug.
He filled the mug from the now full pot and took a sip.
I, well experienced with introducing new sailors and civilians to proper Navy Coffee, smirked and mentally counted down.
It was subtle, as were all things with the older Apple sibling were. A widening of the eyes, a slight increase in respiration were the only outward indications of it taking effect.
"Huh, I was expecting there to be some shakes." I said sardonically.
"What just happened?" Applejack asked.
At that moment Granny Smith poked her head into the kitchen and sniffed.
"Oh, now that takes me back to when I was in Bremerton." The older woman said, nearly making me choke slightly. "Could always count on a good cup of Navy Coffee to get you through the day."
"Niamh, you alright?" Applejack asked quietly as I got my choking fit under control.
I nodded and leaned in. "One of my Navy Aunts is named Bremerton." I said simply.
Applejack looked at me with a confused look on her face before the slow light of dawning realization spread across her face, along with a blush.
I chuckled as I grabbed a mug and poured myself some.
"Now what's got you so red in the face, Applejack?" Granny Smith asked.
"When you said Bremerton, I thought of my Aunt Bremerton first, and not the navy yard." I explained, causing the old woman to laugh.
"I see, I see. How is old Bremmy doing these days?" She asked.
"Doing good last I heard. Made Lieutenant Commander a couple of months ago." I replied, slightly confused. "Though, how do you know her?"
"Oh, she came into the yard needing to get some work done when I was leaving. Nice girl that one. Tell her Granny Smith says hello next time you talk to her." The older woman said as she left the kitchen.
After she was out of earshot, I looked at AJ and asked quietly, "When did your grandmother work at the Bremerton Navy Yard?"
"Back in the Seventies, why?" AJ replied confused as well.
"Because my Aunt Bremerton is only in her mid thirties." I replied. "And why would she go to a navy yard to 'get some work done'?"
Applejack could only shrug, as confused as I was.
AJ and I hung out for a couple more hours after that, before I headed home.
"Niamh, are you alright hun?" Mom asked me at dinner.
"Hmm?" I replied looking up from my now empty plate.
"She asked if you were alright. Did something happen when you were at the Apple farm?" Inga asked.
"Kinda, but I'm not sure what to make of it." I said before telling my mom and aunt what had happened.
"Hmmm, sounds like an old woman that might have some faulty memories. Happens to the best of us." Inga said, Mom nodding sagely in agreement.
"It probably was. Just struck me as weird, is all." I said.
We did the dishes and I headed to bed, glancing at my little blue cube, and I swore it was starting to glow from the inside again. I closed my eyes and shook my head, and when I opened them again, the cube was the same dull blue it had always been. I lay back and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, just hearing the back door quietly close and footsteps crunching in the snow as I drifted off.
In the stable
"Sis, I think it is getting to the point we need to tell her." Inga said.
"I know, but this whole thing is based upon no one remembering what happened back then. If someone starts talking, it will undo everything and cause a panic." Abitha replied as she paced the floor between the stalls, running her fingers through her hair.
Inga sighed. She understood the necessity of having to hide the true events of the late Thirties and early Forties, but having to lie to her own niece, especially when apparently there was someone they knew that had almost forty year old memories of Bremerton.
"Okay, we'll keep quiet about it for now." Inga replied. "But, I think her wisdom cube is starting to wake up. So we are going to have to tell her at some point."
Abitha turned to face her sister. "What?" She asked simply.
"The cube Sandy gave her at your going away party, remember?" Inga asked.
"I do. It was an inert cube that was used in a fizzle summoning. What about it?" Abitha asked, starting to get annoyed with her sister.
"Sometimes, when I have poked my head in to check on her or get her for dinner, I have seen it trying to start glowing." Inga said seriously, her usual cheerfulness missing from her voice.
Abitha's eyes widened. "Well shit."