After school, Applejack and her brothers were busy watering the zap apple trees, now fully-leaved, as Apple Bloom had just gotten through begging her to come for Family Appreciation Day.
“Ah’m sorry, Apple Bloom, but Ah already told ya, we cain’t take a break from th’ harvest t’ come t’ yer school.”
“And you know I can’t come,” Midnight added as he fastened himself to the wagon full of empty watering cans. “I already came when Twinken had to bring someone. Besides, you know what’ll happen if we don’t get everything ready in time!”
“Ah know,” Apple Bloom said morosely. “After th’ fifth day, th’ zap apples disappear.”
As if responding to her words, the wind picked up again and they all looked to see the clouds gathering as a murder of crows spread across the sky, cawing and flapping.
“Look! The third sign!”
They looked to see Granny Smith pulling the girls in for an anticipating hug, “Right on time, hot-diggity!”
The zap apple trees crackled with electricity once again, as they were soon coated with gorgeous electric blue blossoms blooming as the sun parted the clouds.
“Wow…!” everypony marveled at the supernatural wonder.
“Alright, you lazy daisies, move yer caboose!” Granny Smith pushed, the boys spreading out to get back to their chores while she ambled along.
As Twinken followed after Midnight, he noticed Applejack trying to assure Apple Bloom but given the filly’s worried look, it wasn’t working.
His suspicious were confirmed when later Apple Bloom called a meeting of the Cutie-mark Crusaders, even insisting the boys be there. It was then he learned why Apple Bloom didn’t want to bring Granny Smith to Family Appreciation Day – Diamond Tiara had made her ashamed of their grandmother.
“Ah’ll be embarrassed,” Apple Bloom ranted, pacing the club/treehouse, the colts n’ fillies following her every move.
“Shamed, disgraced, mortified, humiliate-”
Sweetie Belle had put a hoof on Apple Bloom’s motoring mouth, Scootaloo remarking, “What’re you, a dictionary?”
“I think a more apt word of what she was doing would have been ‘thesaurus’,” Rumble corrected.
“Ignore them,” Sweetie Belle said to Apple Bloom, “We’re gonna help you!”
“That’s right, cuz’ we’re the Cutie-Mark Crusaders!” Button Mash declared proudly, “There’s gotta be a cheat-code to prevent your presentation!”
Twinken facehooved while Apple Bloom worried, “But how? All this worryin’ is makin’ me sick!”
“Sick?” Sweetie Belle echoed, the rest of them musing the word when Scootaloo hopped and bumped her head onto a hanging lamp, somehow turning it on and giving her that kind of effect as she said, “That’s it! Come on!”
Twinken watched them as they dragged off Apple Bloom, sighing as he followed after them back to the farmhouse.
But instead of helping them with whatever hare-brained scheme Scootaloo had thought up, he instead helped Granny Smith collect as many jars as they could find, and set them up in the kitchen. Twinken could certainly understand Apple Bloom finding Granny Smith to be a little embarrassing, but that was family! And having been an orphan for so many years, he’d prayed for one and got it at last when Midnight showed him the document of legal guardianship. He’d not only gotten a brother, he’d gotten a whole family, and wouldn’t have traded them for anything in the world.
Even when it got eyebrow-raising as Granny Smith started talking to the jars like a drill sergeant.
“Ten-hut! Now listen here, troops! Now Ah don’ want no whinin’ r’ cryin’ or crackin’ under pressure! Do Ah make mahself clear?!”
“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” Twinken laughed as he saluted, accidentally hitting a jar, and making it crack. He flinched, afraid Granny Smith would get ornery.
She did, but at the jar, not him, as she screeched, “Court-martialed!” before throwing it away into the nearby garbage can.
“Sorry about the jar, Granny Smith,” Twinken apologized, his ears drooping.
“Oh don’t you fret, sonny,” Granny Smith assured him while ruffling his mane. “Plenty more where tha’ came from!”
“OW!”
“That sounded like Apple Bloom,” Twinken noted, looking towards the stairs.
Granny Smith went over to them, calling up, “Now wha’ in th’ hayseeds is goin' on in thay-er?!”
Twinken watched her head up and just continued making sure the jars were in good condition and lining them up. A few moments later, Granny Smith came down, and he asked, “What was all the ruckus?”
“Oh jus’ them silly fillies and jokin’ colts playin’ sick,” she waved it off. “Now young’un, time t’ start haulin’ in some pink paint!”
“Pink paint?” Twinken echoed.
“What’re ya, a parrot?! Scoot yer caboose!” Granny Smith ordered, making Twinken hurry out.
Because Midnight, Applejack, and Big Mac were all busy finishing watering the zap apple trees and hauling the watering cans back in, Twinken was on his own. He started collecting the paint-cans Granny Smith had bought yesterday, when he noticed something bright shoot across the sky and he marveled as it soon became brightened by streams of shooting stars.
The fourth sign…! he thought in marveled wonder, recalling Granny Smith telling him when the shooting stars came, the blossoms would turn into apples.
He looked to the zap apple trees and sure enough, the blossoms exploded in blue petals, revealing the trees to now be covered in gray apples that would brighten with color once they ripened, and would then be ready to pick and harvest.
At that moment however, he heard some very familiar screams and saw five little ponies fall into the nearby pigpen. Going over, he saw Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Button Mash, Scootaloo, and Rumble hoist themselves out of the muck, Apple Bloom sniping, “Any more bright ideas?!”
“Tried pickin’ `em early, huh?”
They looked to see Twinken, leaning onto the pigpen, a brow raised.
“How’d ya guess?” Button asked.
“Sweetie Belle looks like she had an encounter with one of Rainbow Dash’s clouds,” Twinken noted Sweetie Belle’s slightly singed and frazzled mane and coat, earning him some sheepish smiles from his friends.
The next day, Twinken was bringing a few new paintbrushes for Granny Smith that she’d sent him to go buy. As he neared the farm, he noticed, “Cheerilee?”
She was walking from the farm, looking confused when she saw him.
“Oh hello Twinken, how’s zap apple harvesting time looking?”
“Uh, great,” Twinken replied. “Were you just at Sweet Apple Acres?”
“As a matter of fact, I was,” Cheerilee brought up. “Apple Bloom came to me early today and said Granny Smith needed to talk to me. When I got there, I saw her through the window and she was acting odd, but she said she couldn’t come for Family Appreciation Day. It was the oddest thing, because after I said we could reschedule, she seemed to have forgotten our talk and assured me she’d be able to come on Monday! That, and she seemed to have some ropes tied to her hooves.”
Twinken was almost a hundred-percent sure Granny Smith’s odd behavior attributed to his friends.
“Well… I gotta get these paintbrushes to Granny Smith, see ya then!”
“Okay, bye!” Cheerilee said as he trotted past her.
Twinken delivered the brushes to Granny Smith but sought out Midnight, who was standing outside and they watched as another storm kicked up, and as soon as it cleared to reveal a bright rainbow, the zap apple trees once again crackled with electricity! The gray zap apples streaked with rainbows of color as rainbow beams bridged between each and every tree, delivering the magic to all the zap apples, ripening them all to perfection, creating a rainbow aurora borealis!
“Amazing…!” Midnight awed as he got starry-eyed.
“Um, big brother?”
He turned to see a troubled-looking Twinken.
“Can I talk to you?”
As the boys forged the letter from Uncle Apple Strudel, Apple Bloom watched as Sweetie Belle got Scootaloo dressed to look the part of a telegram deliverer.
“Ah shor hope this works…!”
“Hope what works?”
She gulped and turned to see…
“Midnight! …Wer’ just uh… preparin’ a lay, tha’s right!”
The raised eyebrow on her brother’s face told her he wasn’t buying it as he then gestured her to follow him.
Midnight led Applebloom out to the barn and said, “Apple Bloom, aren’t you ashamed?”
“Y’all could say that,” she admitted.
“Ashamed of having a wonderful grandmother who loves you?” admonished Midnight, looking disappointed, which seemed to get through to Apple Bloom, as she looked down, unable to meet Midnight's eyes.
“Apple Bloom. Twinken figured out you and the others tried to trick Cheerilee, and he’s told me how you’ve been trying to prevent Granny Smith from going to talk at your school. And guess what, he’s hurting.”
“Twinken’s hurtin’? Why?” Apple Bloom was stumped.
“Apple Bloom, don’t you remember that before I became Twinken’s legal guardian, he lived in an orphanage? Well, what he’s hurt and confused about is how you could be ashamed of your own grandmother!”
Apple Bloom felt her heart sink but she still didn’t get it.
“Apple Bloom, Twinken’s lived in the orphanage a long time, and he once told me he’d have given his eyeteeth to have even one pony to call family! When I got legal guardianship of him and brought him to Sweet Apple Acres, he didn’t just get a guardian, he got a whole family! Two brothers, two sisters, and a grandmother! What he can’t wrap his mind around is how you’re embarrassed of Granny Smith when he thanks his lucky stars to even have a grandma.”
Now she got it, and Apple Bloom felt a tear well up in her eye but she blinked it away. But then she felt Midnight’s hoof on her chin as he gently lifted her face to look at him, giving her an understanding look.
“Apple Bloom, no matter how much we might be embarrassed by somepony in our family, we have to remember how lucky we are to have them, how important they are to us and we to them! We should appreciate them for being there for us whenever we need them, and how happy they make us. Just as how I’m happy to call you my little sister.”
Apple Bloom smiled and hugged her big brother, who smiled warmly as he held her close. When they let go, he said, “Now, don’t fret over tomorrow. I have a feeling Granny Smith might surprise you.”
The next morning, Twinken and Apple Bloom helped their brothers and sister as much as they could before they had to go to school. After they left, Midnight, Applejack, and Big Mac slaved away, gathering as many zap apples as they could, knowing if they didn’t hurry they’d be gone just like that.
They’d harvested over three-fourths of the zap apples before they started sparking and soon enough they all zotzed out of existence, but that was okay. They’d gotten so many zap apples they didn’t know what to do with them! But Granny Smith did, and as they brought the zap apples to the farmhouse, Apple Bloom and Twinken were there, eager to get started.
“Alright, who wants t’ help ol’ Granny Smith make zap apple jam?” Granny Smith offered with a knowing smile.
“Me! Me! Me!” the two foals yelled, their brothers and sister smiling at each other knowingly.
They already knew the story, how when Granny Smith was a filly, she and her family had been pilgrims looking for a home when they met Princess Celestia, who directed them to the land just outside the Everfree Forest. Due to food shortage, Granny Smith had dared to enter the woeful wood and discovered what she would later dub zap apples and barely managed to escape the timberwolves by the skin of her teeth. As time went on, she studied zap apples, how to cultivate them, how to make them into zap apple jam, all through trial and error, as well as the signs to look out for that announced when they were coming.
Her family sold the zap apple jam, and Diamond Tiara’s great grandfather, Stinkin’ Rich, had sold some of the jam he’d bought at higher prices, and the jam attracted many ponies from far and wide, causing many to move to the settlement, starting a town, leading to the very founding of Ponyville. In other words, if Granny Smith had never discovered Zap Apples, Ponyville would never have existed to begin with.
With Twinken and Apple Bloom’s help, in no time at all, Granny Smith had made heaps upon heaps of zap apple jam, and the selling began, as the foals brought out all the jars full of the stuff to the stand AJ, Mac, and Midnight had set up. They hadn’t even opened yet and they already had a line of customers stretching all the way to the very heart of Ponyville.
Of course, the Apple Family had kept a fair amount of the jam for themselves to enjoy, and shared it with some of their friends. Apple Bloom and Twinken smiled as their friends and classmates enjoyed toast slathered with zap apple jam, Rumble complimenting, “This has got to be the best zap apple jam yet!”
“Prob’ly because you two had something to do with it,” Sweetie Belle said to AB and Twinken, winking at them.
“You betcha!”
Granny Smith had come out of nowhere, saying, “These two have th’ makin’s a some mighty-fine zap apple jammers!”
“Thanks Granny Smith!” they said, and Applejack came up, asking, “So Ah take it Fam’ly Appreciation Day went well?”
“Did it?!” Apple Bloom smiled, Big Mac and Midnight smiling as they came up. “Our Granny Smith is super-special! Ah jus’ fergot tha’ for a while.”
“Aw, don’ fret, Ah ferget things all th’ time,” Granny Smith waved it off. “Now, Ah get t’, er… uh, sumpin’…”
“Now who wants to help Granny Smith sing to the water?” Midnight invited the foals, all of them hopping happily as they cheered, “We do, we do!”
Second verse, same as the first, as Granny Smith, garbed again her bunny suit, was hopping watering cans, singing the ABCs, the colts and fillies all wearing bunny ears as they joined along.
“Diamond Tiara!”
Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh, Midnight, and Twinken saw Filthy Rich pushing Diamond Tiara forward, with her wearing bunny ears as well, as she whined, “But Da-ad…!”
Filthy Rich would not hear it – His daughter had insulted one of his most important business-partners, he would have her make amends as he forced her to partake in what Diamond Tiara had poisoned Apple Bloom into feeling embarrassed of, while the siblings all took a guilty laugh at Diamond Tiara’s expense.