Based off the Garth Brooke song “The Thunder Rolled”
The rain pattered against the window as Applejack watched as lightning filled the skies with a blinding white light; the rumbling thunder that followed after made it seem that the sky itself exploded, and the wind threatened to bulldoze the very house she was in. But that was not on her mind, all she could think about was her brother, Big Macintosh, who went out into the storm to make sure that the farm animals were safe.
She turned around to see her little sister, Applebloom, sleeping on the couch, her chest slowly rising and falling, making this moment almost peaceful. She smiled, remembering how Applebloom boasted that she would stay up till Big Mac came back, but fell asleep from the exhaustion of working around the house and farm to keep it safe. Applejack grabbed a blanket and covered her sister, giving her a peck on the forehead, and went back to the window, where her smile disappeared; her thoughts went back to her brother.
Upstairs, Granny Smith was keeping her mind off the storm by looking at her photo album, smiling as she looked at the pictures of when she was young, to when her son was born, then to the birth of her grandkids. Her smile broke when she saw the last picture of her son, he was quite young in it, and Applebloom was just born, but it didn’t bring back good memories, but the bad. For after this picture was taken, a powerful storm came,her son went out into it, to get the farm animals to safety. She wiped a tear away as what happened next caused Applejack and Big Mac to stay in their rooms for over a week, just as he was 10 feet away from the house, lightning struck.
Applebloom shifted on her makeshift bed, as the flash of lightning brightened the room, and caused her to stiffen, giving out a small whimper, and causing her to cry some. She wanted a somepony to hug her, tell her that it was okay, and sing her a lullaby. But she did not have one, her mother left to live with her brother, and when she asked her brother, sister, and Granny Smith why their dad wasn't with them, all she got was a two word answer, lightning struck.
Big Mac battled against the wind as his yellow raincoat flapped, threatening to come off him entirely, but he had something more important to do, he was boarding up the barns windows, and checking to make sure the all the animals were accounted for. He saw that many of them took refuge in places that has not become wet from the rain soaking through the wooden ceiling. He looked up at the black clouds, watched as lightning flashed and heard the thunder roar, rain pelting him harder than he could imagine. His thoughts going to the day his dad went out to do the same thing. The day when lightning struck.
Applejack jumped as a fork of lightning came dangerously close to the apple orchard, her heart skipped a beat from the sheer force of it, and the thundering boom that came after that. She heard a whimper as she turned around and saw her little sister shivering and crying. She walked up to her and sat down next to the filly, she petted her mane, noticing that the crying filly was still shedding tears, but the shivering has stopped, looked at her with sad eyes, not knowing what else to do. She was not her father, she was also not her mother, she wiped away her own tear as she remembered that night, the night lighting struck.
Beside the couch, the apple family dog Winona was trying her best to get under the couch. The booming of thunder was torture to her ears, and she wanted to get away from it. But at the same time, she wanted to keep her friends/masters Applebloom and Applejack safe. She also wanted to be there when Big Mac came back.
Granny Smith slowly got downstairs, to see her eldest granddaughter, sitting next to her youngest granddaughter, trying to comfort her. She walked to the couch, her eyes telling Applejack that she would look after Applebloom.
Applejack nodded, getting off the couch to let Granny Smith take over. The old mare patted the filly, then began to hum a lullaby; Applejack instantly recognized the lullaby as the same one that her mother sang to her, whenever she couldn’t sleep. She went to the window and saw that the storm has gotten worse; no doubt that the Pegasi couldn't control it any more and was forced to let the storm take its course. She hoped that her brother was doing alright, that he would not share their father’s fate.
Big Mac struggled as he walked through the storm, he finished with the barn, but now he had to get back to his family, who were most likely worried sick. A couple feet away, a fork of lightning struck an apple tree, the force causing it to split, and threw Big Mac back. He got up to hear the deafening roar of thunder, and saw that the tree has become nothing more than a blackened, charred stump. But he could not stay there any longer, he had to get home, to his family.
Granny Smith calmed down Applebloom, who was now sleeping without any disturbance. Knowing that her job was done, she looked at her eldest granddaughter, who clenched her eyes and jaw whenever lightning cracked close to the farm. She wanted to go up to her, to comfort her, but she knew that Applejack could handle herself, she always had. With that, she quietly carried the sleeping Applebloom to her room.
Big Mac walked out of the tree line, smiling knowing that he was closer to home, but he was no longer safe from the onslaught of lightning, but now he had to continue, the wind and rain pelting him even harder, for there was nothing to stop it from battering him. He slipped on the wet grass, and sometimes sank into the puddles that almost became sinkholes,but he continued on, smiling knowing that he could see his home in the distance.
In Applebloom’s bedroom, Granny Smith managed to put her youngest granddaughter in her bed and tuck her in. The still sleeping form of Applebloom reminded her how that this was the same thing that happened when her son was killed. The green aged pony walked to a chair and took out a book to read, to get her mind off the storm.
Applejack was mesmerized by the amount of rain that was pelting the window, not even believing that so much rain could exist, to her it seemed like the whole world was now flooding over. In the distance, she swore that she saw a red figure with a yellow raincoat on, squinting her eyes she realized that the figure was no other than Big Mac, she beamed as she grabbed her raincoat and ran outside to see her brother. She was just a few feet away, and she could see a smile on his face. But then, as if fate itself decided, lightning struck.
The crash of lightning was so loud, it caused Applebloom to wake up with a start, and caused Granny Smith’s heart to stop for a bit. Just as the thunder rolled, they heard a scream from Applejack, that seemed to rival the thunder itself. The green mare dropped her book, fear plastered on her face, trying her best to convince herself that what she was thinking didn’t happen. But her hope was destroyed when Applejack came rushing in, sobbing.
Granny Smith walked up to her granddaughter and hugged her gently, herself crying from the news that would be told tomorrow. she stared outside and silently cursed the storm.
Applebloom stared at the two confused; she wanted to know what was going on. But little did she know that the next day, she will be told that the storm took another apple away from the tree.