//------------------------------// // Apples and Stars // Story: Life, Death, and Ponies // by thunderclap //------------------------------// Applejack paced back and forth in her room frantically racking her brain tirelessly over a very important subject. ‘What the hay am Ah supposed t’do fer mah fake date with Blackstar? No matter what Ah try, Ah can’t think of anythin’ better than the others. Maybe its fer the best, Ah don’t think Ah’d be a good fit fer ‘im. He’d probably be better with Twilight. They’ve got a lot more in common. Ah should let the others know that Ah’m givin’ up on Blackstar.’ Just as Applejack was about to leave, something inside her made her stop. ‘What in the name of Celestia do you think you’re doing?’ ‘Not you again,’ Applejack groaned inwardly. ‘Look, Ah’ve made up mah mind, Ah’m not gonna listen t’ya.’ ‘Fine, give up. This is your life. You can screw it up however you want.’ ‘Ah just don’t want t’be competin’ with mah friends anymore.’ ‘That’s a bullshit excuse and you know it!’ ‘What are ya gettin’ at?’ ‘I’m saying you’re just denying the real reason you want to give up, you’re scared.’ ‘What do Ah have t’be scared of?’ ‘You’re scared of letting Blackstar get too close. For the longest time it’s just been you and your family. Sure, you’ve got your friends, but this is different isn’t it? Falling in love means allowing somepony into your life more than any normal friend would ever get. And now that there’s somepony special to you so close to that, you’re terrified. You just want to throw it all away so that you don’t have to deal with the change. But do you really think giving up and just staying friends is going to make your feelings for Blackstar go away? I think you and I both know that, that isn’t very likely.’ ‘Yer right.’ Applejack admitted. ‘Ah am scared of what could happen if Ah let Blackstar get too close. But, Ah really do like ‘im, maybe even… love ‘im. What do ya think Ah should do?’ ‘First, don’t give up. You need to do your fake date with Blackstar, and then, well, let’s just take this one step at a time.’ ‘Okay, do ya have any ideas fer that?’ ‘Sorry, I can’t help you with that one. Talk to one of your friends and see if they can help.’ And with that, the voice was gone again. Applejack let out a sigh of relief and started to think which one of her friends she should ask. Rainbow Dash was out; she was with the Wonderbolts for the day. Rarity was good with romance, but she’d probably recommend some sort of makeover. Then, Applejack thought back to the other times she’d had problems involving Blackstar. Twilight had been the one to help her with some pretty good advice. That pretty much settled it. Applejack made her way out the door and set out for the library. A few minutes later she was at Twilight’s doorstep. Applejack took a deep breath and slowly knocked on the front door. “Hello, how may I help… Oh, Applejack, I wasn’t expecting to see you.” Twilight said. “Hi Twilight, Ah was hopin’ Ah could talk t’ya fer a while… in private.” “Not a problem,” Twilight said, letting Applejack in, “Spike went out and said that he was going to hang out with Blackstar. He said something about needing guy time.” “That makes sense; both of ‘em probably need it.” “So why did you want to talk to me alone?” Twilight asked, cutting to the chase. “It’s about Blackstar. Ah can’t think of anythin’ fer the fake date.” “I’m happy to help, but don’t you think Rarity would be better to ask for this sort of thing?” “Ah considered it, but she’d concoct somethin’ too complicated fer mah tastes. And you’ve given me good advice before.” “You make a good point. Hmm, maybe I should go see if there’s a book on this somewhere.” “Twilight,” Applejack said, firmly placing a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, “Ah asked you, not some book. How’d ya come up with yer date with Blackstar?” Twilight nodded in understanding and started to think for a few minutes. “Try taking him somewhere important to you. That’s what I did.” “Yeah, but all of the places that are important to me are here in Ponyville. That’s nowhere near as impressive as Canterlot.” “So, Blackstar won’t care. As long the two of you have fun where you are won’t matter. Ooh, also try showing off something that you’re really good at. I’ve read somewhere that helps a lot!” “Thanks Twilight that really does help me.” “So do you have an idea now?” “Ah think Ah might have somethin’.” Applejack thanked Twilight and hurried back to the farm, smiling all the way. She gathered everything she would possibly need and spent the next few hours preparing for her date. Spike had found you while you were looking for something to do and asked if you had wanted to hang out. You accepted. You could use some time away from the girls for a change. They were great and all, but sometimes you just needed guy time. The two of you spent a good bit of time looking around the market for anything cool. Eventually the two of you got it in your heads to start pulling some pranks. It didn’t take much to convince you to do this. You had never pulled pranks before coming to Ponyville. The two of you talked it over for a while and headed into the joke shop and picked up the equipment you would need. You both bought: sneezing powder, various fake objects that could squirt various liquids and a lot more. Once you had everything you needed you spent the next few hours pulling pranks on anypony you and Spike happened to come across. It was a lot of fun. When you were done, the two of you sat down in the park, still grinning ear to ear. “I haven’t had that much fun in a long time.” Spike stated. “I like Twilight and all, but sometimes I just need some time away from her.” “Same here; by the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a long time. How did you and Twilight get to be so close? I mean, it’s not exactly common for dragons and ponies to live together.” For a moment Spike seemed to be confused by your question. Then he started to chuckle as he shook his head. “Oh yeah, I guess you wouldn’t know this story. Sometimes I forget that we’ve only known each other for a few months. Anyway, it all started about eleven years ago. Twilight was trying to get into Celestia’s school for gifted Unicorns, and in order to get in she had to hatch a special egg. After trying and failing for a while, she was startled by a loud, prismatic, explosion which caused her magic to go out of control. And as a result I hatched of that egg. That’s how Twilight became Celestia’s personal student, and she thought it was best that she kept me, and we’ve been together ever since.” “How did those teachers get their hooves on a dragon egg?” You wondered aloud. “I don’t know, when we asked they just told us that they found my egg along one of Equestria’s borders. They never found any evidence about where my family went. I don’t know anything about them. I don’t know what my parents look like, if I have any brothers or sisters, or even if they miss me. I don’t even know who I really am.” Spike did his best not to cry. In the end he hid his face behind his claws so you wouldn’t see the tears. You couldn’t stand to see Spike like this. You walked up to him and placed a hoof on his shoulder.” “What are you talking about? You’re Spike: baby dragon, number one assistant to Twilight Sparkle, and if it means anything my friend.” “Thanks Blackstar.” Spike said, wiping his eye with the back of a claw. “Don’t mention it. If you ever need to talk about this just come find me, I’ll always be ready to listen.” “I’ll keep that in mind. Listen, I gotta get going we should do this again soon, Blackstar.” “Alright, I should head back too. If I get back to the farm too late Applejack will start to think I’m off doing something stupid again.” “Sheesh she has you seriously whipped dude.” Spike laughed. “Watch it scale for brains, it’s not wise to insult a powerful unicorn.” You said with a mocking serious tone. “Can’t you take a joke?” Spike asked with a shrug and started to head back to the library. You ignored him and walked back to Sweet Apple Acres. You felt good about the little moment you had just with Spike. You really could relate to him given your own past. You quickly dropped that thought though and walked into the Apple family home. As soon as you did you saw Applejack sitting in the living room reading a book. You decided that you didn’t want to interrupt and started to creep up the stairs. Unfortunately, one of the steps made a long creaking noise when you placed one of your hooves on it. The noise caused Applejack to turn her head. When her eyes met yours a smile spread across her face and she closed her book. “Well howdy there Blackstar. Ah was wonderin’ when you’d be comin’ home.” “Hey Applejack, sorry if I interrupted anything.” “Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t that important. Actually, Ah have somethin’ Ah wanna show ya.” “Oh really, what is it?” You asked. “You’ve gotta follow me if ya wanna find out.” She answered, striding right out the door. “Do you really have to make this so difficult?” You replied with feigned exasperation, clearly enjoying Applejack’s playful attitude. You quickly followed after Applejack as she led you silently through the orchard towards your destination. Eventually Applejack stopped at a surprisingly clear part of the orchard at the top of a hill that had a blanket with a sheet draped over it. Applejack calmly walked over to the sheet and pulled it away to reveal a picnic basket and two plates set up for the two of you. “What’s up with all of this?” “Its mah way of thankin’ ya fer everythin’ you’ve done for me and the rest of us here.” “Really, you’re rewarding me after all the crap I’ve pulled? Most other employers would’ve fired me.” You asked with a cheeky smirk. “Just shut up and eat the food Blackstar.” Applejack stated in a no nonsense tone. You still had the smirk on your face as you found a comfortable spot on the blanket. Applejack followed suit and started to take a multitude of food out of the basket and divided it between the two of you. For a while the two of you shared a companionable silence only broken when you gave the occasional bit of praise to Applejack’s cooking skills. Eventually though, Applejack started up the conversation. “Hard t’believe it’s only been a few months since ya moved here.” She said looking meaningfully into the distance. “Things around here have really picked up since ya came around. Ah never would’ve expected ya t’be such an important part of the farm when I first found ya in the orchard. When Ah first saw ya there Ah pretty much wrote ya off as some useless weirdo that somehow wandered onto mah property. “ “But when ya offered t’help me with mah apple-buckin’ Ah was really surprised. Sure, at first ya could barely make a few apples fall but ya stuck with it. And ever since then you’ve proven that yer a great pony and an even better friend.” “I think you’re giving me way more credit than I deserve.” You said, blushing awkwardly at the lavish praise you were receiving. “Ah’m the element of honesty, Ah’m just sayin’ what Ah really think. Things haven’t been this great around the farm in a long time. Apple Bloom finally has her cutie mark, Granny Smith thinks the world of ya, and even Big Mac seems t’have come out of his shell a little. It’s like you’ve helped us all deal with what happened to Ma and Pa, at least a little bit.” All of a sudden Applejack’s cheery mood disappeared. She did her best to hide her face from you and seemed to be on the verge of tears. You cursed yourself for never noticing this. In all the time you had lived with the Apple family you had never seen a trace of her parents. Even in a world that always seemed so bright and cheery, tragedies could still happen. “What happened to them?” You asked with as much tact as you could muster. Applejack took a deep breath and did her best to recount the story. “It happened about six years ago. Mah Pa was a rodeo pony and was pretty famous in those circles. Mah Ma would always go with him to the competitions, and sometimes Big Mac and Ah would get to go with them. Anyway, they were on their way back home from one of the competitions one late night when a storm blew in from the Everfree Forest. They both got caught up in it. Somepony found them the next morning.” As soon as she finished the story the floodgates opened and you could hear her openly sobbing. Unthinkingly, you walked up to Applejack and wrapped your fore-hooves around her. “It’s okay Applejack. I know what you’re going through.” You whispered softly. “What do you mean?” Applejack asked, looking up at you, confused. “My mom died when I was seven, and my dad died a few years later.” You said, trying to keep your own composure. “She was diagnosed with a heart disease and needed a dangerous surgery. Needless to say she didn’t make it.” “What about yer dad?” “He… we had an accident in our apartment and he died. After that, I was shipped around to a bunch of different foster homes. So, if you ever need to talk about this, I’m here for you.” “Thank ya.” You kept holding Applejack for a while longer, and offering the occasional comforting word. Eventually the sun started to set, and the two of you went back to the farmhouse in silence.