A quiet night, peaceful and mysterious, the silence ended by the distant howl of a wolf, that a certain wolf pup who lived on the Sweet Apple Acres farmstead answered with his own.
“The timberwolves are a-howlin’, the timberwolves are a-howlin’!”
And the eldest resident of the farmstead was up at the ungoddessly hour, banging the pot and pan on her back, as her grandchildren were stirred from their dreams, all peering out their bedroom windows.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac confirmed their Granny Smith’s words.
“The zap apples are comin’, the zap apples are comin’!”
“Yay! The zap apples are comin’!” her grandchildren cheered.
“Tha’s wha’d Ah jus’ said,” she remarked.
“Okay, we get it, the zap apples are coming!” Midnight snapped, even though he too was excited for what the morning would bring. “Now how’s’about we all get back to bed so we’re rested for the early morning chores?!”
Growling, he slammed his window shut, Twinken looking out to Granny Smith with an apologetic smile.
“Ornery as he was, Ah have t’ agree,” Applejack concurred. “Back to bed, Apple Bloom. `Night, Big Mac.”
“`Night,” he replied, but watched to make sure Granny Smith came back into the house.
Morning came and everypony rose with it, and after a good breakfast they’d moved to the part of the orchard where they exclusively grew the zap apples. Granny Smith had designated the area herself, and for most of the year the area looked barren and nothing ever grew there. But what was to come would dash away such assumption.
“Hey silly goose!” Granny Smith called from the farmhouse, “Quit yer gawkin’ and move yer caboose!”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied as he pulled a wagonful of baskets into the area, Applejack and Midnight already unloading theirs, wearing a stetson hat and a red bandanna respectively. For the sake of punctuality, Midnight levitated them all and set them beneath every tree.
Back inside, Apple Bloom and Twinken were keeping Granny Smith company, Apple Bloom saying, “Ready, Granny!”
“Ready fer what?” she asked, sitting in her rocking chair.
“T’ make zap apple jam!” Apple Bloom confirmed.
“Darn tootin’! It’s time fer some good ol’ fashioned zap apple jammin’!” Granny Smith agreed.
“So what do we do first, Granny Smith?” Twinken asked.
“Well, sonny, Ah’ve been doin’ this since Ah was a lil’ pony,” Granny Smith said as she slid off her chair and ambled for the kitchen, the two foals following her and watching as she pulled down a plate from a cupboard.
“So be warned, pickle pears, there’s a whole mess o’ steps in this process an’ y’gots t’ get each one o’ them jus’ right. Or no zap apple jam!”
Apple Bloom and Twinken were mortified at the idea, when their grandmother held something out to them, saying, “Now take this!”
“Is this one a’ yer gazillion secret ingredients fer th’ zap apple jam?” Apple Bloom got excited.
“Uh, Bloom? I would hazard a guess this is a broom, and she wants us to sweep up,” Twinken gave her a look.
“Darn tootin’, young colt, so get to it!” Granny Smith ordered. “Ah’m jus’ gonna…”
She trailed as the thought escaped her, mumbling in confusion before giving up, “Oh ponyfeathers, Ah’d ferget mah own mane if’n it weren’t attached to mah head.”
Back outside, Applejack socked Midnight in the shoulder in a goodnatured way, saying, “Well, nicely done, big brother, wer’ making good time!”
“And something tells me that’s a good thing,” Midnight replied as a wind picked up.
Big Macintosh took a whiff of the coming clouds, agreeing, “Eeyup.”
The three farmers watched as the clouds rolled in before they noticed the barren trees’ branches crackled with faint blue electricity, a bolt of lightning coming down and dancing across the many trees’ barren branches until they burst with purple leaves.
“There’s the zap apple leaves!” Applejack said as she and her brothers smiled at each other. “Right on schedule!”
Back in the farmhouse, Twinken had been saddled with sweeping while Apple Bloom was outside with Granny Smith, hopping water cans in bunny suits, singing the ABCs. Nothing against his grandmother, but he honestly didn’t wanna be caught in such attire in broad daylight.
He levitated the dustpan, emptying the contents into the wastebasket when he heard a familiar derisive laugh, followed by an unfamiliar voice because the kitchen window as open.
Peering out the door, he saw none other than Diamond Tiara, accompanied by a middle-aged earth pony stallion, light brown in coat, with an oily-slicked back mane-style, wearing a dress-collar and red tie, and his cutie-mark was three money bags.
“Hello Mrs. Smith,” he said, “did I hear right that there’s a zap apple harvest comin’ in a few days?”
“Four days, t’ be exact,” Granny Smith confirmed, garbed in a purple bunny suit while Apple Bloom’s was a light blue.
“Excellent news!” the pony, Filthy Rich said before asking with a hopeful smile, “And as usual, I get yer first hundred jars?”
“`Course, Filthy,” Granny Smith assured him before hopping away, Filthy Rich following.
“Uh, I prefer Rich?”
Twinken recalled Granny Smith mentioning Mr. Filthy Rich, a long-time business-partner of the Apple Family, as well as Diamond Tiara’s father. Filthy Rich and his father and grandfather had helped Granny Smith sell Zap Apple Jam for many years (with an ample share of the profits, of course), and helped spread the Apple Family reputation across Equestria, for their amazing apple-based products, and everypony in Ponyville looked forward to zap apple jam every year.
But then he noticed Diamond Tiara talking with Apple Bloom. Given the fact his sister wasn’t getting ornery, Diamond Tiara probably wasn’t teasing her, but Apple Bloom did look uncomfortable and kept gazing at Granny Smith as she talked with Filthy Rich.
“Now what is that brazen little hussy egging my sister about now?” Twinken groaned.
After Filthy Rich and Diamond Tiara left, Granny Smith and Apple Bloom came back inside, after having shed their bunny costumes.
“Now tha’s wha’ Ah like t’ see, Sonny!” Granny Smith complimented Twinken as she looked around the kitchen. “A clean kitchen is a happy kitchen, now Apple Bloom? Get your bonnet and saddle-bags dearie, wer’ goin’ out!”
A few minutes later, Twinken saw them out, Apple Bloom wearing a blue bonnet, Granny Smith a purple sunhat, both of them wearing saddlebags.
“Bye, see ya later!”
“Hey Twinken!”
He noticed his older brothers and sister returning, Applejack asking, “Where’re Granny Smith an’ Apple Bloom off to?”
“Granny Smith said they needed to get some things at the market for the zap apple jam,” Twinken explained. “I stayed to finish cleaning the kitchen.”
“Was tha’ Filthy Rich an’ his filly we saw headed down th’ road?” asked Big Mac.
“Uh-huh, Mr. Rich was just asking Granny Smith about getting the first hundred jars of zap apple jam,” Twinken answered. “But I noticed Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom talking, and AB was looking uncomfortable.”
“Probably trying to get under Bloom’s skin again,” Midnight sighed. “Honestly, does that filly have anything better to do than being a brat?”
The next day at school, the class was treated to a talk in financials and stock-marketing by Filthy Rich. As can be expected, it got old pretty much at the get-go, as the colts and fillies became bored to tears or out of their skulls, with only Diamond Tiara listening to her father’s lecture with rapt attention, as Filthy rich wrapped it up.
“…and, by capturing the whole sale market, purchasing in bulk and slashing all prices, we undermine every other gift market in town,” Filthy Rich stated before proudly declaring, “and that’s how Rich’s Barnyard Bargains became the cornerstone of retail in Ponyville.”
His lecture was met with silence broken only by his daughter’s clapping.
“Well thank you, Mr. Filthy-” Cheerilee said but a stink-eye from Filthy Rich made her restate, “I mean, Mr. Rich! What a wonderful day of sharing! And thank you for being a part of Family Appreciation Day!”
She sat back at her desk while Filthy Rich took his graph, and she went over a check-list, “Now let’s see, who will be bringing a family member for next Monday’s Family Appreciation Day. Um… Oh! Apple Bloom!”
“But Miss Cheerilee,” Apple Bloom protested before reminding her teacher, “Next Monday is zap apple harvest day, an’ Applejack, Big Macintosh, an’ Midnight will be too busy to come an’ speak.”
“Well, is there anypony else in your family that could-” Cheerilee asked.
“But Apple Bloom, you could always ask Granny Smith to come speak,” Twinken blurted out. He’d meant to be helpful but the stink-eye Apple Bloom gave him informed him he’d been anything but, Diamond Tiara snickering wickedly.
“A great idea, Twinken,” Cheerilee agreed. “Apple Bloom, you shall bring in Granny Smith on Monday!”
Before Apple Bloom could protest, the school bell rang, and class was over, Cheerilee bidding her students, “Have a great weekend, everypony!”
Twinken caught Diamond Tiara giving him a sneaky look and he realized he really had said the wrong thing, as Apple Bloom started to throttle him, complaining, “Granny Smith fer Fam’ly Appreciation Day?! Ah’ll be th’ laughingstock o’ Ponyville!”