//------------------------------// // Meeting the Apple Family // Story: Continuing the Dream // by Blue Breeze //------------------------------// The next day. I wake up and stretch myself out a bit before I get out of bed. That sure was one hard night's rest. I had a lot of trouble sleeping with the bandages on my back. I make my way down the stairs and see that Fluttershy is already up and making breakfast. "Good morning, Blue." she says. "Did you sleep well?" "Not really, Fluttershy. The bandages made sleeping a little difficult." I reply with a bit of grogginess in my voice. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." "Don’t worry about it, Shy. It's not your fault." I decide to try and change the subject to get her mind off of it. "So, what's on the menu today?" She brings over a plate and places it in front of me on the table. "I made some toast. I hope you don't mind." "You kidding? Toast is my favorite!" I say happily. "That's good to hear. So, are you going to be going to Applejack's today?" "Yeah. I think I'll stop by Twilight's and return the book I borrowed from her first, though." "Oh, what kind of book?" she asks curiously. "A book on the Everfree Forest. I finished reading it and don't need it anymore, so I'm going to return it." "I hope you don't plan on going back there anytime soon." the concern is obvious in her expression. "Don't worry, Shy. I'm not stupid enough to go back in there while I've got an injury." I reassure her. "Okay, but before you go, I'd like to change your bandages. If you don't mind that is." she looks down sheepishly towards the end of her sentence. "Nah, I don't mind. You know more about medical stuff than me, so it'd probably be best to listen to you." I finish my breakfast and go back upstairs to get my things. Once I'm back down stairs, I let Fluttershy change my bandages. When that's done, I head out the door and make my way to the library. I stop for a second and eyeball the forest. 'You're down two to zero so far. You're gonna have to try harder to beat me.' I think smugly. After about ten minutes of walking(trying to take it easy after last night), I arrive at the library. I knock my hoof on the door for it to be answered by Spike. "Hey, Blue." he says. He stops and notices my bruise and bandages. "Woah. What happened to you?" "Oh, uh..." I nervously start rubbing the back of my neck, trying to come up with an excuse. I got it! "I got in a flying accident." "A flying accident?" he raises an eyebrow at me. "Yeah, I wasn't looking where I was going, so I faceplanted into a mountain and hit some trees on the way down. I'll be fine in a couple of days." I reassure him. He stands there for a moment, but buys it. "Okay, well, what did you come here for?" "I just came to return the book I borrowed." I pull out the book and give it to him. He takes it and smiles. "Okay. Thanks for returning it." "No problem. I gotta go now, so I'll see you later. Tell Twilight I said hi." with my return done, I start walking off. "Alright, bye!" he says, waving me off. I start making my way towards Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack had told me it was on the opposite of Ponyville from the Everfree Forest, so finding it should be pretty easy. I get over to the farm to see Applejack hard at working harvesting apples. "Howdy, Blue." she says, bucking a nearby tree. "I see you found yer way over here." "Hey, AJ. Sure did. You said you wanted me to come down here and meet your family?" "Sure do. Just follow me and I'll show ya to 'em." she says, motioning me to follow. "Sounds good." I begin following her. We walk towards the barn together as I notice an elderly looking mare with a green coat standing in front of it, sorting out apples. "Hey, Granny. This here's mah new friend. He just moved here from Cloudsdale." Applejack says. She stops her work as she looks at me. "Well, howdy there, young feller. Ah'm Granny Smith, Applejack's grandmother and the owner of Sweet Apple Acres." says the elderly mare. She notices my bandages around my waist and torso. "What in Equestria happened to ya?" "Oh, that? Just a flying accident. I'll be fine in a few days." I say as if it's no big deal. "Alrighty then. If you say so." "Anyways, nice to meet you, ma'am. I'm Blue Breeze." I extend a hoof to her and she shakes it in return. "Nice to meet ya. So, do you have any interests in mah granddaughter?" she teases. "Granny!" Applejack shouts, embarrassed and slightly blushing. "Haha, no I don't, ma'am." I wave it off like as if it were a common question. "I've actually got my eye on somepony else." "Who?" questions Applejack. "Not telling." I say with a grin on my face. "Fine." she says dejectedly. "Follow me and ah'll take you to meet mah brother." "Alright. It was nice meeting you, Granny Smith." "It was nice meeting you too, sonny." she says. I follow Applejack out into the apple orchard to find a large, red stallion harvesting apples. Dang is this guy big. "Hey there, Big Macintosh. This here's Blue Breeze. He just recently moved to Ponyville." says Applejack. "Howdy, Blue Breeze. I'm Big Macintosh, Applejack's older brother." says the large stallion. He sticks his hoof out for me to shake. I just hope this guy doesn't break my foreleg. If I didn't make it clear, this guy is HUGE, even compared to me, and I'm a little big when it comes to pegasi. "Nice to meet you, Big Mac." I extend my hoof to his and we shake with no problems. Lucky for me, huh? "So, what's the bandages on your back?" he questions just as the others have done. "You look like you've been in a fight and lost." Close. "Just some injuries from a flying accident. Don't worry about it." Before anyone can say anything else, a loud scream is heard from the distance. "CUTIE MARK CRUSDADERS! YAY!" Call me crazy, but I can already tell this is going to be trouble.