//------------------------------//
// Chapter 74 - Firewood 
// Story: My Family and Other Equestrians 
// by Blade Star 
//------------------------------//

    Monday had rolled around yet again, and with it, the beginning of a new week. Summer was quickly nearing and soon, once again, we’d be out in the fields, working as hard as we could in the burning midday sun. On the other hand, the increasingly clearer skies would improve my opportunities to stargaze, even if the nights themselves were shorter than the norm. Still, to be fair, Luna and the night had had their share of time, all things had to be balanced. 

In a few more months, and we would be celebrating an entire year since our arrival in Equestria. Even now it seems so long ago, every day Earth becomes a more and more distant and inconsequential memory. I still wonder if I’m right to feel that way, if I ought to attempt to hang on to the memories of my old world that I will never see again. Might it not be better to accept the reality of the present, rather than romanticise or demonise the past? 

The start of another week was not a time for deep introspection however. There were far more urgent matters to attend to on the farm. In a couple of weeks, the Apples’ would be having their annual family reunion, where members of the Apple clan from all over Equestria and beyond would descend on the small, little farm where it all began so long ago, when Granny Smith was just a filly.

Personally, neither I, nor any of my family here, have any experience with such events. Most of my family consisted of cousins removed a couple of times, and we usually only ever saw them when one of them kicked the bucket. The few grandparents I had when I was little were all gone now too. Birthdays, Christmas, all were small affairs, just me, Lizzie and our parents. So, the idea of having dozens of ponies descend on the farm had me a little ill at ease. 

Putting aside the fact that I prefer smaller, more low key gatherings, there was the matter of my lineage. The reunion is something undertaken by members of the Apple family. Like it or not, I was not family. At least, not by blood. Plus, there was the small matter of the horn protruding from my head. With a household of only five ponies you don’t really notice it. But when you’re the only unicorn at a gathering of dozens of ponies, you can’t help but feel a little alienated. Not that I’d expect any ill feeling from anypony; I’d just fell a little bit of an odd man out. 

I mean, Applejack was very close friends with Twilight and the girls, and whilst they helped get a few things set up and ready, they didn’t attend the festivities. Like me, they were not family. There are some things that, no matter how close you are to somepony, you cannot replace; and one of those is being family. 

So, I wasn’t exactly sure of what I would do with myself, the reunion only lasted for a day or so, but I would probably have to make myself scarce. I decided that I could at least make myself useful. I figured I could stop by Twilight’s during the day and get some work done, maybe have an extra lesson even. But just in case, I decided to ask Applejack if she wanted anything doing whilst she and the rest of the family were relaxing. It turns out it was lucky I did. 

I found Applejack upstairs in her room. She had again been tasked with planning everything out for the reunion. This time of course, she would also have her past experience to draw on, and hopefully wouldn’t try to micromanage everything. When I entered, she was looking through the photo album from last year, evidently reminiscing. 

“Hey, Applejack, ya got a minute?” I asked as I stood in the doorway. She set down the album and moved a few bits of paper around. Evidently she was well into planning things. 

“Sure, Bones, what’s up?” she replied, smiling. Now, due to my own catastrophically low EQ, I had not seen the obvious and come to the wrong conclusion. Over the years I can’t even guess how many times I’ve done that; misinterpreted a situation so badly. One of the benefits to being in Equestria is to have Applejack around to point out these moments.

“Ah was just wonderin’ what ya want me to do when the reunion rolls ‘round. Ah’m happy to help of course, but Ah understand it’s an ‘Apple’s only’ party. Anythin’ ya want me to do while Ah’m off the farm?” To this day, I can still see the absolutely baffled look on poor AJ’s face. You could see the cogs in her head turning, trying in vain to understand what I had just said. 

She slowly eased herself off of her bed and walked over to me. For one long moment she looked me dead in the eye, trying to see if I was just messing with her. Eventually, it dawned on her that I was serious. 

“Bones,” she began slowly, still not quite believing her own ears no doubt. “Are ya sayin’ ya don’t want to be at the reunion?” Still toiling in ignorance, I shook my head. 

“No, AJ, no. Ah’m not avoidin’ it at all. Ah’m just respectin’ it as an Apple family tradition. And seein’ as Ah ain’t no Apple, Ah figured Ah best politely bow out.” At this point, Applejack’s mind finally began to find traction.

“Blade Star, you’re tellin’ me ya think ya aren’t welcome at the reunion?” she asked, still perplexed. I dumbly nodded my head, the final straw as it turned out. “What in the name of Celestia herself gave ya that idea?!” she exclaimed, her voice climbing through the decibel levels. She was understandably, a little insulted. 

“Well, Ah’m not an Apple am I, AJ? None of the girls come by either. Ah just figured it weren’t my place.” Finally seeing my fantastically flawed logic, Applejack facehoofed. 

“Bones, listen to me, and listen very carefully,” she said, with a hint of sternness. “Do any of my other friends live here?”

“No,” I replied.

“Have you been livin’ under the same roof as me for nearly a year?”

“Yes.”

“Has anypony ever done anythin’ to suggest ya ain’t a part of this family?”

“No.” Then came the clincher.

“Are ya my coltfriend?”

“Yes.”

“So why in the wide, wide realm of Equestria would Ah not consider ya family?!” she exclaimed, hammering the point home.

And with that, what should have been as clear and obvious as a sonic rainboom in an open sky, came to light in my emotionally incompetent mind. Everything I had been thinking about at once seemed wonderfully stupid. She was right; I mean, she and I were as close as anypony can get, at times, I acted as something of a father figure to Apple Bloom, and Big Mac was willing to let me spend a night out alone with his little sister. The only way I could be any more family to the Apples, was if I asked for AJ’s hoof and made everything official. 

My response to this sudden realisation, was to burst out laughing. This of course, only served to confuse AJ further. Eventually though, I got it under control enough to speak.

“Damn, AJ. Ah don’t know how Ah managed to come up with that one,” I said, still laughing. She too began to snigger somewhat. “So what am Ah doin’ in this reunion then?”





Applejack had already sorted out a great deal of issues and problems that needed resolving before the reunion could take place. Last month she and Granny Smith had written the invites out and sent them off to the post office, via Derpy, en masse. Invitations had gone to Baltimare, Manehatten, Fillydelphia, Los Pegasus, San Franciscolt, Canterlot, Appleloosa and even further out beyond the borders of Equestria, to places such as Birdlin and Moscrow in the Griffon Kingdom and even to one or two small settlements of the borders of the Badlands. 

It was amazing how quickly the once small Apple family had spread across the world, and they all could pretty much be traced back to this one little farm in one way or another. Last week, the invitations had started to come back. I really don’t know why they even use invitations at all; no member of the Apple family in their right mind would miss the reunion, not for all the treasures in Canterlot. 

All told there would be the better part of one hundred ponies descending upon Sweet Apple Acres in a week’s time. It wasn’t just the festivities to consider either; to quote the Emperor Napoleon ‘an army marches on its stomach’. Everypony attending would need food and drink to keep them going. They would need places to stow away all their luggage and possessions. And, let’s be blunt, the one bathroom in the house would not be sufficient for nearly one hundred ponies. In the evening we would need a good fire going outside to keep everypony warm until they left, so we needed wood in bulk.

After that, we had to consider the weather. Applejack had a tacit agreement with Rainbow and the Weather Patrol to keep the skies above Sweet Apple Acres clear and cloud free for the duration of the reunion. It wouldn’t do if the reunion clashed with a heavy downpour or high winds.

So, these issues were our first order of business we steadily began to list everything out together. As I’ve said before, I prefer to plan things out before doing them, almost to the same extent as Twilight. As such, I helped out to begin with, by drawing up a timetable to get thing done by. The idea being that by the night before, everything would be set up and ready for action. 

“Right,” I said, as we continued to mull over our options. “If Big Macintosh and Ah get the wood hauled back here, AB and you can help us get it all set out. Ah’ll ask Spike if he can stop by to help us get the fire goin’ next time Ah’m at Twilight’s.” In addition to sending letters, Spike’s natural fire breath did also have the ability to set things alight; we could use some of the stronger cider as an accelerant. 

“Seems easy enough,” Applejack commented. “An’ maybe, whilst you two are out gettin’ the  firewood, Granny can make a start on settin’ things up for cookin’ up the snacks for when they all get here.” 

“Okay then, that just leaves sortin’ out the weather patterns for the day and puttin’ up the stage and whatnot. And we can put that off a little longer.”

Our planning continued for some time, punctuated only by the announcement of dinner and the occasional call of nature. 





Two days later, as planned, Big Mac and I were hauling two large empty carts towards town. Ponyville didn’t possess a lumber yard per se however, the Everfree Forest was right on the other side of town and had plenty to spare. From what I understand based upon my magic lessons, the Everfree, technically should be in a constant state of exponential growth. If left unchecked, Equestria would be somewhat like Earth insofar as nature is concerned. However, the Tree of Harmony, a phenomenon still not completely understood by even the princesses, acts as a sort of restraining device. As long as the tree is there, the forest will not expand any further than it has. A benefit of this is that if you cut down a tree, within a matter of minutes a new one will have grown to replace it. This means that we could quite happily chop down several trees without damaging the forest.

Sunset on the day of the reunion was supposed to be around half past seven, though the temperature would begin to drop a little earlier. Ideally, we wanted to have the fire going strong by five, which was when the festivities would begin to wind down. 

After quickly checking the weather schedule, which was clear skies for this week, we decided we would both fetch the lumber and saw it up into more manageable pieces, and also actually set the bonfire up. Then on the day, all that would be needed would be one spark form Spike. Obviously, we would also wait to put the hard cider on the wood too. 

And so, the two of us worked our way around the town (it’s not exactly easy to haul to large, ungainly carts through such small streets; like trying to move a HGV up a lane) and headed toward the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. Given his superior strength, particularly his ability to physically buck trees over, Big Mac would be in charge of felling the trees. I meanwhile would use my magic to load the large trunks and branches into the carts. We would cut everything up back at the farm; even on the outskirts, the Everfree was still dangerous, with timberwolves occasionally hunting near the boundary. To be safe, I would also be on lookout while we worked, with my horn ready to scare off anything that threatened to bother us. 

It was going to be a fairly large fire, and we’d need enough fuel to keep it going well into the night as well. In the end, we opted to cut down four of the larger trees that we could see. Trees in the Everfree are actually quite short in terms of overall height, but due to the way they often overlap, they still have an uncanny ability to be menacing. 

We were about a hundred yards or so inside the boundary of the forest, so if worse came to worst, we had a good opportunity to run for it and evade anything that came at us. However, I doubted anything would actually come at us, since we were so close to the edge of the forest. The only creatures that ever really left the place were scavenging timberwolves, and as I’ve said before, a show of force to convince them you’d take too much time to pull down, is usually enough to convince them to be on their way. 

Big Mac began to work steadily on the first tree. It would take some time to completely fell it given the sheer size of the trunk. The apple trees back on the farm were mere sticks compared to these monsters. Nevertheless, with each powerful kick, the tree groaned and shook, with the odd loose branch falling to the ground. Eventually, after about five or six minutes of work, the tree could take no more. I heard the tell-tale splintering sound as the trunk began to give way.

“Timber!” Big Mac bellowed as the tree began to topple. He’d been fairly sensible and ensured that it would fall away from us into the forest. Now we had to load the whole thing into one of the carts. As there were only two of us, we’d take two trees at a time and turn the whole lot into firewood later. The dust settled following the tree’s collapse. 

“Nice job, Mac,” I commented as I tapped into my magic, surrounding the nearest end of the tree. I began to steadily haul it towards us. Even though my ability is somewhat above par, moving a fully grown tree was still quite exhausting. In the end, I needed Big Mac to help me finally get it into the cart. It landed with a dull thud, and the suspension groaned under the suddenly increased weight. Releasing the tree, I took a moment to catch my breath; magic use can be just as physically tiring as doing things with hooves.

“Alright then, Mac. We’ll get one more then head back, get somethin’ to eat.” Big Mac nodded.

“Eeyup.” He then returned to his work. Like me, he was showing a few signs of strain, but was still more than capable of working. Once again, the unnatural silence of the Everfree was broken by the steady dull thud of Big Mac’s hooves connecting with the next tree. 

I took the opportunity to rest up while he worked. As a unicorn, there was no way I could make much in the way of a physical contribution. Whilst I may be able to help out on the farm, as a species, unicorns are the most physically weak of the three tribes, relying on their magical abilities to perform difficult tasks. On the flipside though, there was no way Big Mac, or any other earth pony could lift the felled tree and load it alone. So, swings and roundabouts I guess. 

I was suddenly startled out of my thoughts though, as a sudden loud howling sounded close at hoof. I quickly tensed up and began listening for reciprocating calls. It might be they were just howling at each other, or they might be coordinating themselves to surround us. I called to Big Mac, who was still working away.

“Hey, Mac, hold up a minute will ya; I heard somethin’.” The stallion immediately stopped kicking at the tree and like me, listened. A few moments later, another howl sounded. It was a lone animal, but was quickly acknowledged by several others. There was a pack nearby. 

“Eeyup,” Big Mac declared as the calls stopped again. “Best be careful, Bones. Ah’m nearly done; just keep an ear open in case they start comin’ nearer.” I nodded. At present, they weren’t a threat to us, though I would prefer it if we hustled up. 

Luckily, a few moments later, the second tree gave way and plummeted to the ground. Further out in the forest, I could just about make out the sound of many pairs of feet. Perhaps the sudden shock of the noise had sent the pack scattering. It would give us the time we needed to move away from the forest and closer to town. Timberwolves wouldn’t follow us there. Hay, they never even come on the farm; anywhere where there is a settlement, they tend to avoid. 

The two of us began to load the second log into my own cart and prepared to hitch ourselves up and bug out. We’d have to come back to another spot to get the other two trees to be safe, but otherwise there wouldn’t be any trouble. However, just as we were finishing up and tying everything down, we heard a low growl somewhere behind us. Turning around, we were confronted with three timberwolves, snarling menacingly. 

We held up where we were; to back off now would only encourage them to advance further. It would be better if we could convince them to back away. Instinctually, Big Mac began to snort, toss his head and paw and the ground with a hoof; everything he could to appear threatening. If it came down to it, they would have a hard time pulling him down. However, the beasts stayed put, despite his display. 

“Looks like that ain’t gonna cut it, Mac,” I commented quietly. Well, magic was far more threatening than that, wasn’t it? So I began to charge my horn; just a pyrotechnic spell really, loud and bright. No animal likes such things. 

I let the spell out over the small pack’s heads, hitting a few trees behind them. The experience was something along the lines of a flashbang going off, with the area being briefly lit up and encased in a cacophony of noise. The wolves started for a moment and did indeed retreat a few yards. But once the display was over, they returned fairly quickly. Evidently, they’d seen this trick before. 

“Got any other ideas, Bones?” Big Mac asked, as the wolves continued to stare us down. I nodded.

“Ah’ve got a couple stun spells I can try, Mac,” I responded. “If Ah can knock out the pack leader, the other two should run for it.” I flared my horn again with my usual dark blue aura, this time preparing the stun spell Strong Shield had taught me last year. I’d never had to really use it before, so this was the moment of truth. I levelled my horn at the pack leader. A solid hit would cause him to break apart for a minute or two, until the natural magic holding them together recovered. 

However, just as I was about to let fly, the wolf turned away. It broke eye contact and turned its back to us. Its two comrades quickly followed suit, a few moments later, they had disappeared amongst the trees. They’d had enough. The two of us breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Ya okay there, Mac?” I asked as I continued to look for the wolves, fearing that this was all a trick. Big Mac nodded. After waiting a few minutes longer, and after firing a couple more pyrotechnic spells into the forest, we agreed that the wolves had gone. We hitched ourselves up to our carts and, to quote many a veteran, proceeded to haul ass out of there.  

We hauled the two carts, now very heavy things to pull, and headed back to the farm. We didn’t speak about what had just happened, for me, my heart was still going like a drum for quite a while afterwards. Okay, I may have once ‘met’ the Queen of the Changelings, but that didn’t make me some brave hero. I still sometimes think my actions there have forever tainted me. 

Anyway, we soon made it back to the farm and dropped off the first load. We were planning to then simply head back to the Everfree to fetch a second load, but given our close call, we decided to cut up the timber we had first, and then return to the forest. 

The two felled trees had to be stripped of their branches first. This meant that Big Mac broke out a small hand saw, whilst I turned to a low level fire spell to cut through the wood. We each worked away quietly at our own tree for about half an hour, until eventually, both were like giant logs, with no branches. 

Now we had to cut them up into firewood. This called for two ponies, using a two handled saw. Steadily we cut the lumber up until each chunk was about a foot and a half long. Finally, we flipped them on their side, and then, using wedges and sledge hammers, cut the lot up into firewood. By the time we were finished, what had been two trees was now two cartloads worth of firewood. 

Now we just had to get the second load.