//------------------------------// // Sometimes... // Story: Missing Branch // by RedRioteer //------------------------------// It was a clear afternoon in the Crystal Providence. Applebloom spent her day off sitting on her soft couch in her living room, relaxing and reading a book. Without any provocation, she lifted her head from the book at looked at the nearby clock on the wall. As a mother, sometimes you’d just sometimes know when something was going to happen, especially when it involves your fouls. She stared at the clock, synchronizing the tapping of her hooves with the clocks ticking hand. She whispered to herself, “Three…Two…One…” As if on cue, the front door behind her swung open as two young fouls screamed out, “We’re hoooome!!” Applebloom turned around on her couch and hung a leg over the back edge, “Hey, kids. How was school?” The colt, a few inches taller than his sister replied, “Meh, same old same old.” He trotted to his room down the nearby hall. A loud thump followed the closing door as the colt carelessly dropped his saddlebag to the floor. The filly ran from the door, dropped her own bags on the living room floor, and jumped up onto the couch next to her mother. She jumped up and down constantly as she nearly yelled, “Oh-oh-oh, Mommy, guess what I did today, guess!” Applebloom had no idea at all, but she put her hoof to her chin and narrowed her brows so as to look as if seriously pondering the most important question ever. She even hummed to herself before making a guess, “Did you make a volcano.” The filly giggled. Everything she said seemed to come with a shout of excitement, “Nope!” “Did you learn about crystal apples?” “Warmer!” “Did you learn about crystal grapes?” The filly shook her head slowly, “Nnnnnope!” “Al’right. I give up. What did you learn today?” “Family trees!” “Family trees?” “Yeah! It was cool because I got awesome family members like you, and daddy, and aunt Applejack, and uncle Mac, all my cousins and um…um…” Her brows narrowed and her vision lost focus on what ever she was looking at. She stared into space, obviously thinking. After a few seconds, she snapped out of it and said, “Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you. Um, mom, who’re my grandparents?” Applebloom put her hoof to her chin, the gesture more legitimate this time. “Well, there’s Granny Smith, no wait, that’s my granny. So yours would be… um…” Who… the hell are my parents?! The idea wasn’t just odd, it was wrong. Everypony had a parent, they simply wouldn’t exist without one; they had to exist. Applebloom racked through her brain, searching for any information what so ever on her parents. Even after several seconds, nothing came. Her family had always been her sister, her brother, and her grandmother, but what about her parents. Worse yet, why am I just now realizing this? Why did this never cross her mind? Not once did she find the absence of parents odd at all any time before in her life. Looking through her youngest memories, it seemed more and more like she’d never seen her parents at all. Applebloom grew up without any parents, thinking it as a normal part of life. It just, never crossed her mind till now. Applebloom dragged herself back to reality and found her filly still sitting on her haunches, waiting patiently for an answer. Applebloom had to say something. “I think they lived in Las Pegasus, so I never visited them.” The filly dropped her ears and lost eye contact, clearly saddened by the disappointing answer. Applebloom pulled her filly in for a light hug. “Hey, don’t worry, I’ll dig up some old records, and we can both learn a thing or two, alright.” Applebloom eased her hug. The filly’s ears erected again. “Alright mommy.” The filly jumped down and ran off to play. Applebloom continued to sit on her couch and ponder the disturbing thought. Why don’t I know who my parents are? *** The train whistled and a conductor called out, “Last Call! All Aboard!!”, signaling that only seconds remain before the train departed from Quarts Train Station. Applebloom sat alone in her seat, already on board, and prepared to leave her home in the crystal empire. The thought of parents swam through her mind for the rest of the week. Now that Saturday morning had finally come around, she was determined to take the time and opportunity to find some answers. Leaving her foals at home the entire weekend with her husband did bring a little worry, but she had faith. That and her friend promised to check up on him and keep and extra eye on the house. It was going to be alright. Worse-case scenario, Applebloom would come back to find a mess and would have to supervise everypony cleaning it up. It was all going to be just fine. Applebloom looked out at the shinning providence, turning her mind from the worries of home back to her task at hoof. The train was leaving for her hope town, Ponyville. It seemed a bit foalish to believe her big brother had all the answers and could solve any problem, but at the moment, she had no other leads. Applebloom and her sister, Applejack, left Sweet Apple Acres to pursue their own dreams outside of Ponyville, but her brother, Macintosh, or Big Mac, had stayed at the farm and continued to buck apple to this day. Before leaving, Applebloom though to herself that maybe it’d be a good idea to stay for the day and help out on the farm, for old times sake. Lost in thought, Applebloom neither heard nor felt any other indication of the departing train until it lurched forward and actually departed. Within a minute, the train had gathered significant speed and forced its way through the giant magical bubble surrounding the city. Instantaneously, Applebloom felt the cold arctic air fill the train cart through the filters. She reached under her seat for the convenient blanket put there for the passengers for just such an occasion. It was cheap, wool blanket, but it was thick and kept her warm. Applebloom snuggled with herself, ready to simply sleep off the next few hours. A few minutes later, a train attendant walked by with a cart, selling hot chocolate. Applebloom welcomed the sigh and reached over for her saddle purse. She traded a few bits for the warm, chocolately beverage and snuggled herself again onto the seat, sipping her beverage and warming up herself form the inside. After finishing her drink, she took that relaxing nap. *** Feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Applebloom awoke to the train’s whistle. Her time was spent dreamless and felt only minutes. In fact, the only evidence around her that time did pass was the position of the sun. It now hung above her, having moved many degrees since last she checked. Applebloom stowed away the blanket, grabbed her saddle purse and left the train onto Ponyville Station. Ponyville was the town Applebloom grew up in. She knew every building and alleyway, every road, main or dirt, and every shortcut. She could find her way from here to the farm she grew up at blindfolded. Applebloom had thought about actually doing it, but the swimming through crowds of ponies would have made that simply impossible. As Applebloom made her way through the crowed, she added to the blurred, ambient background nose with her own exchanges of “excuse me”, “pardon me”, “sorry about that” and so forth. Finally breaking through the crowed, she found herself in the market square. It was a large part of Ponyville and a place Applebloom knew well, but the many slight differences gave her a disturbing aura of unwelcomed change. As she walked through the market, Applebloom turned left and right, remembering were everything used to be and imagining it still here. There, Applejack sold her families apples every week. Over there, a pony would sell many flowers, some local, some exotic, some decorative, and some edible. Over there was an odd pony who had a knack to sell just about anything. All the time, he’d get his hooves on some new plant, and enchanted artifact, or a gismo of sorts. As Applebloom left the interior of town, the crowed stretched thinner and thinner. After a few more minutes, she found herself on the familiar dirt road home. It would be another quarter mile till she found the walkway to her house and the large sign with “Sweet Apple Acres” written on it. It been years since she’d seen her big brother, and Applebloom couldn’t wait to make the surprise visit. *** Applebloom trotted down the familiar dirt road, past the familiar sign to the left and a familiar barn to the right, to a familiar farm house. As she looked around, she noticed not everything was exactly as she left. She didn’t expect her old home to stay exactly the same, but the subtle changes gave her a bad vibe. The barn had a collapsed roof. Its red paint seemed years overdue for replace, as it now faded behind uncontrolled walls of vines. One of the large doors had fallen from its hinges and now simply leaned on the barn. Equipment of all kinds littered the yard. Even Big Mac’s favorite plow just sat there, rusting out in the open. Granny Smith’s garden of flowers was now nothing more than a collection of weeds and overgrown grass. The house was not in much better condition. The paint faded from years without maintenance. Dandelions and other weeds sprouted everywhere in the beaten dirt around and in front of the house. Even one of the second-floor windows, Applebloom’s window, was broken and replaced only with a patchwork of wooden boards and nails. Everything around her was supposed to bring back fond memories from her foalhood, but now it only brought concern and an unusual level of caution for the area around her, her old home. It was supposed to be a happy place, what happened here? Applebloom put her questions aside, confident she was close to the very pony who could tell her. She stepped up to the dying door. She lifted a hoof, but it just shook in the air for a few seconds, hesitant to knock. Why am I hesitating? Here of all places. I shouldn’t even feel the need to knock. Applebloom swallowed her breath and made her presence known, slowly rapping her hooves on the door and waited patiently for some kind, any kind of response. She waited, and waited, but as seconds turned to long minutes, fears turned to reality. “Nopony’s home,” Applebloom whispered to herself, “I guess I’ll just head to town, somepony’s got to know were you went big brother.” She turned around, loosely holding her head and keeping it only inches from the ground. After only a few steps, the sound of old creaking hinges helped Applebloom to pull her head from her pits of sorrow. She turned around to see the door now partially open. An unmistakable red stallion held the door open, “Applebloom, is that you?” Applebloom turned around and rushed to her brother. She wrapped her hooves around his large neck, pushing the door open and nearly tackling him to the floor. “Big Mac, I’ve missed you, how’ve you been?!” Mac returned the hug with a hoof before pulling his sister off him. He was unable to make eye contact with her, ashamed it seemed. “You should’ve told me you were coming over ahead of time.” He nervously rubbed one foreleg with the other, “You kinda caught me off guard.” Applebloom tried to look at her brother in the face, but he seemed eager to hide it. A long, unkempt, and partially graying mane shielded much of his face from her view. “Big Mac, what happened here, the farm, everything? Where’s Granny Smith?” “She’s at a retirement home.” “Big Mac, I thought me and my sister told you not to when we left. You promised you’d take care of her. You promised you’d take care of everything, like you always do.” “Yeah?! Well, things change!!” Applebloom flinched and took a step back from her brother. This was so unusual, he was never this aggressive. Mac sighed before continuing, “I don’t have time to take care of her, at least there somepony will.” “If you needed help, you should’ve called Applejack or even me. Didn’t you get farm hooves to help you out?” “I can’t afford any; the caravans already cost too much just to ship and sell the apples. I’ve already given up on my own dreams so that you and your sister could leave this farm and pursue your owns. I’ll be damned if I ever ask either you to do the same just ‘cuz I can’t move my stubborn flank fast enough.” Applebloom didn’t respond. What could she even say? She looked around the decaying house. I was even worse than the outside. Everything was covered in dust and ruined to some degree. Paint peeled from the walls and even parts of the wall itself had fallen out. The painting and photos along the walls and shelves still portrayed happy families and warm summer, but they all seemed like impossible, paradox ideas against the cold, ruined world around them. Books along the shelves held books left untouched for years, now collecting a large layer of dust. The carpets were torn in various places and stained in others. Mac took her attention from the small wasteland she called her home, “So what is it you’re here for anyway? I don’t think you came all the way from the Crystal Providence just to say ‘Hi’.” “Well… I was wondering… who we’re our parents; I don’t remember them at all.” Big Mac snapped his head forward, finally peaking through his mane and making eye contact with wide and surprised eyes. It only lasted a second before he returned his attention to the floor. “J-just forget about it. You’re too young.” “Big Mac, I have two foals of my own, I’m not a little filly anymore.” Mac finally, but slowly, pulled his head back up and sincerely looked at his sister. He sighed once again before saying, “Sorry, no matter how much time goes by, you’re always that little yellow filly, running around town ‘Crusading’ all the time, remember? Heh, but you’re right, now matter what I think, the fact is you’re not that little filly anymore.” He swung his head back, indicating the kitchen behind him, “C’mon in, you deserve to know everything.” Applebloom closed the door behind her and followed her brother into the kitchen. The kitchen was even worse than the living room. Old dishes pilled onto the sink. Stains of every kind could be found everywhere. They walked past the kitchen and into the dinning room. There, the dinning room table had all manners of cutlery messes and leftovers, molding food here, and dirty dishes there. Mac put himself under the table, and with grunting and an unusual show of effort, he picked the side of the table up, letting gravity pull everything off on onto the floor on the opposite side. After setting the table back down, he picked up a few old chairs from the floor, one for Applebloom and one for himself. They both took their seats. Applebloom felt disgusted, not with her brother or the farmhouse, but with herself. How could she not know this was happening? How could she not help out? She was well aware Big Mac’s stubborn and prideful nature, but this was ridiculous. She should’ve known better than to let one stallion run such a large farm of his own. Mac pulled Applebloom from her runaway thoughts and began, “Before I say anything, I want you to know nothing was your fault. Nothing. Don’t ever, ever blame yourself for what happened, al’right?” “Al’right.” “Promise me, Applebloom.” “What?” Applebloom was a little shocked by the odd request. “Promise me you’ll never, ever think any of this is your fault.” “I…” Applebloom was still taken back a little. How bad was it? What could’ve possibly happened? “I promise.” “Ok…” Mac took one last moment to collect his thoughts….