The Flames of the Phoenix

by FrostTheWolf


3- Sweet Apple Surprises

The Flames of the Phoenix- Sweet Apple Surprises


It was a little before sunrise when Ember woke up from her slumber. The sound of hooves in the early morning being the sound that caused her to rise. From the guest bedroom that Ember was in, she could hear Celestia calmly trotting to the Balcony as the mancer hopped out of her bed and exited her room. She, like any other night, would sleep in her clothes since they were the only ones she had. So she didn’t have to deal with changing clothes, doing her hair or putting on makeup and all the glamour crap like most of the women do back home.

By the time she entered, Celestia was just about done with letting the Sun rise and having it’s light awaken all the sleeping souls in the land. Philomena was the first to notice her human caretaker as she lightly walked into the room, surprised that her leather sandals didn’t make any loud sounds across the floor. ‘Good morning, Ember.’

“Good morning Philomena. Good morning to you too, Princess.”

“Good Morning, Ms. Ember. How did you sleep?” The White Alicorn asked.

“Alright. It felt good to sleep on a bed. It’s been years since I’ve slept on one that felt just as good as the one in the guest room.” The mancer told her. “Hey, Can I ask you something-.”

“Princess!!” One of the guards outside caught the attention of the individuals in the room. “Princess Luna requested me to come get you so she could talk to you about today’s case in Day Court.”

“Just a moment.” Celestia said. “What was it that you wanted to ask me?”

“Can we hold off on meeting the Elements? Luna told me that they had just come back from Our Town and I think they would need some time to recover. Plus, I got somewhere I need to go today.”

Celestia scratched her chin with her hoof, thinking through for the proper answer to tell her. “I’ll be okay with that. Just on one condition though. I do not want any trouble to occur while you’re there. Understand?”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, Stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Celestia just smirked a little. She didn’t think that Ember would know that. But then again, she was just as old as her and Philomena. Give or take a few years. “Very well then. I’ll hold off on our get together until the girls are properly rested. Before you leave though, are you familiar with how to send letters by Dragonfire? It’s a form of communication that I use to stay in contact with Twilight and her assistant, Spike back in Ponyville. It would be helpful for you to know it as well so you can contact me if anything occurs.”

“I don’t exactly know that. But I can talk telepathically with Philomena. If anything happens, I can have her tell you until I learn how to do that spell.”

“That would be a reasonable alternative.” The Alicorn said. With that, she trotted off, following the guards as Ember walked to the balcony.

‘So, what do you plan on doing today?’ Philomena asked out of curiosity.

“Remember when I mentioned that I helped Golden Apple build a barn? I was going to go visit.”

‘But that was a LONG time ago. Wouldn’t the place be abandoned or run down to the ground?’

“Not exactly. Even though Golden has passed on, his daughter still lives there. I just hope that I don’t give her a heart attack. It’s been 50 years since I last saw her.” With that, Ember disappeared in a quick shimmer of flames, leaving Philomena on her perch as she looked over the city below her.


Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville
Seconds after leaving the castle, Ember found herself in the far out fields of the Ponyville Countryside. Surrounded by lots of Apple Trees that were normally attended to on a regular basis. Earth ponies could not perform any magic, but it made them excellent with farm work and work in the fields either with growing crops or just nature in general. However, the one earth pony that Ember was looking for was not in the fields tending to crops. The pony she was looking for was in the barn at the back of the Farmland estate.

Ember remembered when she helped construct the barn. It was a lot smaller than. Now, it was three times as big. It got a new coat of paint that was a bright red and had a new coat of white across the beams and also a newly planted fence that went across the plot of land. She still remembered the day they built it like it was yesterday.


“There we go… All done.”

        “Great job, Ember!! We couldn’t have done it without your help.”

        “Aww thanks, Golden. It was nothing really. I’m glad to help you guys out.”

        “Thank you so much, Emmy!!” Ember hear a young green filly say as she went down to her level to hug the earth pony. “You’re always welcome in our home. Now, all it needs is a name. What do you think we should call it?”

“Hmm… What about-?”


“-Sweet Apple Acres.” Ember said, taking in the sight as she began to walk closer to the property. However, as she got closer, she saw a figure moving through the trees. It looked like a stallion by appearance. But… something about it did not feel right to her. She saw the figure move again and now ember could tell that it was apple bucking the trees that had ripe fruit ready to be picked. But something seemed too… familiar with this figure… It’s mane and tail were short and orange, but it’s fur was… “Red?”

Ember blinked twice, trying to make sure that she wasn’t seeing things. The pony that she knew so long ago was dead. But… why did this one look… so similar? She was going to take a closer look at the stallion…… until he found her first.

“What the-? Hey!”

“Easy there, big guy…” Embers memories of her friend were beginning to return to her as she watched this Stallion. The resemblance was uncanny, but she knew for sure it wasn’t him. After all, the cutie marks weren’t the same.

“Who are you?” It asked.

“My name is Ember… You remind me of a friend of mine…”

“Ah… Do?”

“Yeah. His name was Red Apple. He looked a lot like you actually.”

The Red Stallion looked at the human, stunned and in disbelief. “Y-you knew mah Great Uncle?”

“I knew him, yes. I didn’t know he was your uncle until you told me just now… Come to think of it, what’s your name? I told you mine and it’s only polite if you do the same.” The mancer got the earth pony at that part. He knew that it would be disrespectful to ignore a lady. Even if it’s a weird one like this… individual.

“Big Macintosh, but mah family refer to me as Big Mac.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Big Mac.” Ember replied casually, trying not to laugh since hearing the name reminded her of the McDonald's sandwich. “Can I ask you something real quick? Do you know anypony that lives here that goes by the name of Granny Smith?”

“You know Granny?”

“You can say that. It’s a long story.”

“Ah got time…” Big Mac snorted, not moving anywhere. “Ah’ve been working all day and could use a chance for a break.”

“Not if you need to get those back to the farmstead first.” Ember said, pointing to the cart filled with a dozen baskets of apples of all varieties. “First rule of Applebucking is to bring your take back to the farm so it can be counted and that’s before you get a break. Trust me, I’ve helped pitch in myself back in the day.”

Big Mac was speechless. She was right. “Well, Shoot. You got me there.”

“I can lend you a hand though. Help carry the cart back to the barn for you. Afterwards, may I see Granny?”

The Stallion though, needed a little bit of convincing that Ember had indeed knew about the rules of Applebucking and in the countryside, you needed to prove your claims. “See that tree over there? Get a bucket and buck that tree. If ya prove to me that ya know how things work during the Harvest, then I can be able to trust ya.”

‘Just like Red when I first met him… Just with bucking stones from the mines instead of trees.’ Ember thought to herself. Walking up to the tree, she grabbed a basket and set it down. Calmly, but composed, she slammed the tree with a jab kick using her right leg. Soon, enough apples were beginning to fall to fill not just one basket, but two.

“Impressed?” Ember asked.

“Eeyup.” Was the only reply she heard as the two of them began to go back to the barn. Ember helped Big Macintosh a little bit more by pulling the cart the last leg of the trot back and helped unload the payload of apples.

“Thank ya. Now… To count all of these…”

“Hmm…” Ember thought to herself. “How much do you put in each bucket?”

“Use ta be ten. Now it’s twenty due to the increased population in town.”

The girl now began to make some mental calculations inside her head. A few math problems later and she got the number. “280.”

“I beg ya pardon?”

“There’s around 280 apples here.”

“Ya kidding? We haven’t even counted them and ya assume it’s that many?”

“It wasn’t an assumption. It was a calculated answer.” Ember explained, taking a stick and drawing out the problem in the dirt below them. “There’s fourteen buckets and based on what you said, there’s roughly twenty apples in each basket. Twenty times seven is 140 and what’s that number times two?”

“ …… 280. Wow… How did ya do that?”

“Just simple arithmetic.” Ember said, chuckling a little as she ruffled up Big Mac’s mane. However, before they could bring the buckets inside, a new voice came from the porch as the door opened.

“Big Mac? Yer back a little early-.”

Coming outside was an light green elderly earth pony that looked like a green apple. The elderly pony stepped out from the porch as Ember got down on one of her knees. The Mare’s eyes widened.

“E-emmy? I-is that you?”

All Ember did was silently nod her head as the Elderly mare got closer. She thought that Granny Smith would be angry at her for not being able to be there anytime when she was younger. When the Earth Pony really needed the support and attention. But instead, she received an unexpected hug.

“Y-ya look like ya haven’t aged a day… I missed you so much…”

“I’m sorry, Granny-.”

“What is there to be sorry for?” She told the Mancer. Unknowingly though, Ember still answered. “All that matters is that you’re here now. Besides, I believe there’s something we need to talk about inside. You too, Big Mac. This is important.”

Big Mac and Ember looked at each other with confused expressions. Why did this conversation now involve the both of them? There was no point in asking though because Granny Smith was being persistent about them coming inside since it was an important family conversation.

“Granny, should we wait for AJ an’-?”

“We can tell them once they get home. Right now though, this is important.” The Mare told her. “Ember, do you remember…… Golden Apple? Ya know… Papa?” Ember just nodded her head silently. However, she felt bad now. Given the amount of time that had passed over the years that she had been alive, the brother of Red Apple and the Earth Pony that referred to her as The sister he wish he had must’ve passed away. After all, unless you’re immortal or stuck in the same scenario as her, nopony lives forever.

“Yes. You’re father was very kind and treated me like a sibling.”

“Well, he was always one to show his kindness. However, it did not stop there though. Ya see, on his will, Papa had asked for something to be done for you.”

“For… me?”

The Elder mare nodded, grabbing a series of papers from out of the nearby drawer that had a small lock on it. They looked a lot like… legal documents? Ember tried to understand it, but when it came to writing, trying to understand earth pony writing was like trying to read chicken scratch. Really Illegible and hard to understand unless you were the one writing it.

“He asked for the legal documents here to be verified for you to be his legal sibling. In other words, he wanted to make you an official member of the Apple Family.”

Both Big Mac and Ember were shocked and surprised by what Granny Smith just said and seeing the documents have a big red Approved stamp at the bottom of the page. Even Ember couldn’t quite exactly wrap her head around what just happened. “I-i’m…… what?”

Granny Smith sighed. “Let me make this simple for ya… Big Mac here…… He’s ya nephew. You’re his Great Aunt, Emmy.”

“Wait… I’m… your aunt?” Ember said, turning to face Big Mac.

“Yes, you are, Ember.” The Elderly Earth Pony told her, calling her by her actual name. “Papa felt sorry for ya when ya told him that you were traveling all across Equestria and how you had been taken from your home. So, he wanted ya to feel like this was your home as well since you helped build it all those years ago. In fact, we had a room locked up on the second floor because it was suppose to be your room. He was going to tell you about it the day after you built the farm with us, but by then, you were gone.”

“Wow…… I… don’t know what to say…… Thank you.” Ember said, trying to hold back some emotions. This was the most surprising…… and the most grateful gift she had ever received in a long time. Other than when Phyrron gave her Philomena and her powers. “This… Really means a lot to me.”

“It’s the least that Papa wanted to do.” Granny Smith continued as she set a hoof on Embers shoulder from across the table. “He told me that even though ya might not be able to go back to ya old life… You can start a new one here. With the four of us.”

Ember herself now raised an eyebrow, confused by what the elderly mare just told her. “Wait…… us? What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Along with Mac, ya have two nieces. Both of them younger than him, but just as talented and hard working. They should probably be back by sundown.” Granny Smith now turned towards Big Mac. “In the meantime, how ‘bout Big Mac show you around the Orchard?”

Big Mac nodded his head, followed by a simple gesture that had Ember following the Red Stallion outside. He showed her around the barn, the orchard and where exactly everything was from the carts to the cider making equipment. After some time though, the human noticed the Earth Pony being a little nervous. Curious, Ember tried to play along a little.

“Is something on your mind, Big Mac?” she asked him. At first, he didn’t say anything. But then, he sighed. His silent and stoic self couldn’t really hold in what he wanted to ask her. The Grand Aunt that he recently found out about.

“Ya. Um…… Where are ya from, Aunt Embah?” He asked. “I haven’t seen anypony like ya before. Or at all for that matter.”

“That… is a lot to explain Mac. You’re fine if I call you that right?” She asked. His only response was a nod as she continued to talk.

“Eeyup.”

“Okay. Now, as I was going to explain, my world is a lot different from this one. But one thing remains the same. Both of them have their legends and mysteries that can’t exactly be solved. How I got here is a mystery, but I haven’t let that affect me over the time I’ve been here. In fact, when I came here, I obtained gifts that I would only dream of being able to have.” Ember showed what exactly she meant by creating a small flower of fire in her hands to show him.

Big Macintosh was amazed. The Fire flower looked so… lively. This wasn’t like any magic he had seen before. Almost every time, it was… different. He wasn’t an expert, but he didn’t think it would take on the form of an actual element. “What kind of magic is that-?”

“Magic? Oh boy Mac, you have a lot to learn. What I just did was with my Life Force energy. The energy of all living beings that only the strongest of heart can control. I used the energy of my stamina and soul to create a physical form. One of a few things you pick up from traveling across Equestria for over a thousand years.”

“A-a… thousand… years? H-how?”

“Well, one of the effects of coming here was that I can’t age properly. Even though I look like I’m a young adult, I’m just as old as Philomena.”

“The Princesses pet?” Mac asked, wondering about what the phoenix had to do with his Grand Aunt. “Forgive me Aunt Embah, but how does that relate to you though? I know ya have fire abilities, but I’m still confused on why ya mentioned it.”

“It’s because I raised her since she was a hatchling for the first five years of my new life here and her dying father was the one who gave me my powers.” She sighed a little, now holding one end of the scarf around her neck. “A dying phoenix gave me powers shortly after I arrived because of this. It had only been yesterday that I had reunited with Philomena and now, I feel grateful to meet the descendant of Red Apple. You’re a good pony, Mac. Strong. A brave heart. Willing to help others see right from wrong. Even though we just met, I want to let you know that I’m proud of you.”

Before Ember could say anything else though, she felt a tingling sensation down her spine. It was a disturbance in energy. And it was coming from Canterlot. “I’m sorry for having to do this so abruptly, but I have to go. I’m feeling a disturbance in Canterlot that I need to investigate.”

“Alright…” Big Mac told her. “Ah’ll tell granny that you'll be back by Sundown.”

“Thank you, Mac.”

“Oh, uh… Can ah ask you something before ya go?” The Stallion said as Ember turned around to face him. “Remember when ya said about Life Force and it being used by the strong of heart?”

“Yes?”

“Well… Is it possible if you can teach me how to do it? Ah want to be able to help mah family in times of need and protect them if they’re in danger.” The Earth Pony said, his tone being one of a determined trainee. The encounters that Ponyville had with Lord Tirek taught him that he needed to be ready to assist the family if another Crisis was going to occur.

“It is… But you need to put in as much determination in it as you do with everything else in your life. But that’s only after the Element your Life Force represents accepts you. I promise to explain it tomorrow.” With that, Ember was gone in a small burst of flames that simmered out quickly in the dirt that was in front of Big Mac.


Canterlot

“Wub a dub dub motherbuckers!” Yelled the Unicorn named Vinyl Scratch as she fired another beam of Electronic wubs at the royal guards. “Geez, and here I thought we would of gotten out of here without drawing the guards out.”

“Well, it’s not like blasting Luna and Rainbow Dash in the face with wubs helped us.” Said the human named Erica; who was firing a barrage of sorcery bullets at the last remaining guards. “I think that’s all of them-.”

Before Erica could breath a sigh of relief, she turned to see a hand grab her in the face and ram her into a nearby building. That hand being from the closed eyed Pyromancer that grabbed her. She had felt the shift in Life Force and feeling none from the unconscious guards that were scattered across the Plaza and used her powers to narrow in on the assailant’s location and give them a surprise attack. However, opening her eyes now, she let go of the girl she grabbed hold of and stepped backwards.

She was looking at another human. The last time she saw another one was before she arrived here and that was over a thousand years ago. “Holy sh*t…”

“HEY! HANDS OFF ERICA, JERK!” Vinyl yelled as she fired at Ember. To her sudden surprise though, she blocked the blast with a thick wall of flames.

“Would you care to explain who you are and why you were attacking the guards?” Ember said, looking at the blue haired girl. Noticing Vinyl with her weapon, she turned her head to face her for a moment. “Oh… and may I remind you that I’ve lived long enough to know when ponies such as yourself will try to attack me from my blind spot so I recommend you stay out of this.”

“Ok. One, don’t tell me what to do. I get that a lot from the royal guards when they arrested me from time to time. And second, we were sent to the Canterlot dungeon because Princess Moonbutt sent Erica to jail for no reason.” She said still pointing her gun at Ember.

Ember sighed. “Typical for one to not think first before they act. The city’s tensions are already running high due to what happened in Tartarus and what you two are doing is adding fuel to that fire. If you let me help you, I’ll make sure you don’t receive any time behind bars. But… if you even think about pulling that trigger…” The Mancer picked up a pipe on the ground, using her powers to melt it into a molten pile of hot liquid. “Then your toy will have the same fate as that pipe.”

When it came to situations like these, Ember was firm with her tone and speech. Any sign of weakness would show to them that she wasn’t saying the truth. The Pyromancer was trying to show that she meant business. Soon, Princess Luna was arriving around the corner as she began to screech to a halt.

“I found you fiends-!! Wait… Ember? What are you doing here?”

“I felt a disturbance in Life Force energy and came to investigate. From what I know so far, this seems to be a simple misunderstanding given their stories.”

“But the pony that called the guards said that this girl was taking hostages-!”

“Yes and almost all of the citizens in the city are still in a emotional state of fear after Tirek penetrated through the castle walls. Did you consider that? Also, I don’t feel any negative force from them.”

What Ember meant just now was in relation to Life Force energy. There were both positive and negative types of this energy and it all focused on personality, emotions, and behaviors. After hearing Vinyl’s story, Ember felt both the Unicorn and the girl’s Life Force being positive. Therefore, she could tell that they were telling the truth.

“How should we deal with this then?” The Princess asked. “If what you say is true, then how can they prove it?”

“Did you ask possible witnesses?” Ember asked.

The thought just went across the Princesses mind, remembering the talk she had with two of the Witnesses inside the cafe they were in. Two friends named Lyra and BonBon. “We did… and given Ms. Scratch’s story…… They’re all the same.”

She turned towards the Unicorn as Ember helped Erica get up on her feet, apologizing for her actions that she took against them. “What should they do now, Ember?”

“Well, If Vinyl has a place to stay, then Erica should stay with her.”

“H-hey!! Don’t I get a say in this!?!”

“I think you would prefer the bed in a guest room than a guard's cell.” Ember told the human. “Still though, when you get a bit familiar with your surroundings, come find me at Sweet Apple Acres. I would like to talk to you when you have the opportunity.”

Erica just nodded her head as Ember walked away, disappearing in a shift of flames. Vinyl had only one response to what just happened though.

“Okay, who the buck was that!?!”

“That, my little pony, was Ember Valkyr.” Luna told them. “The Tortured Phoenix.”

“Huh… eh. What eve’s just tell us where the guest room is so I can relax for a bit.”

Luna sighed. “I think when she meant guest room… she meant your friends guest room.”

The only thing that could be heard for miles was the outcry of agony from Vinyl Scratch that could be heard for miles. “NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!”


Back at Sweet Apple Acres…

When Ember returned from Canterlot, she was greeted with a surprise. Big Mac was there with two other mares, who she had found out were his little sisters. Both of them were surprised to find out that the mancer was actually their great Aunt and the filly had a lot of questions for her. Mostly related to if she had a cutie mark. The older one of the two was surprised to know that everything that Ember told them was actually the truth.

The human later found out the names of the two mares. Applejack and Applebloom. She also was surprised to find out that Applejack was one of the Elements of Harmony that Luna and Celestia had explained to her the night before. Quite an accomplishment if she thought so herself.

Later though, as the sun fell and the moon rose, Ember and her newfound family had finished eating dinner and Ember was just stargazing out on the Orchard. She liked to do so in order for her to clear her mind and stay focused. But, to her surprise, she wasn’t alone.

“Heyah Embah.” She rose up from the ground to find Applejack standing right in front of her. “Mind if I join ya?”

Ember nodded, offering her a spot to sit on the grassy hillside. After sitting down though, Applejack began to speak again. “Ya know… I wanted to ask ya something. Something that has been bothering me a little.”

The Mancer raised an eyebrow. “Bothering you?”

“Yeah. Big Mac said that ya knew Great Uncle Red, but ya also knew Granny Smith when she was a filly. Ah don’t know the slightest about Magic, but from what ah know, there’s a severe gap in how far apart those are time wise if ya know what I mean.”

Ember sighed. She never thought anypony would bring that up. “And you want to know how that’s possible?”

“Eeyup.”

“...... It all started with when I met Red and his brother a long time ago. The three of us were forced into a labor camp to mine for gems and coal along with hundreds of others. At one point though, when I refused to kill a buffalo that tried to steal food from the camp, the pony in charge decided to kill Red instead. That made me snap and in a split second, my rage caused the creation of the Badlands. But it didn’t stop there. When the Badlands were formed, something else was created. Something that I honestly never expected was possible. For when I save Golden again, it was over nine hundred years later. As it turns out, when he was trying to seek shelter from a raging dust storm, he entered an enchanted cave called the Tunnel of Time. In there, the flow of time was much faster than in the real world. Twenty four seconds in there was twenty four years out in the real world. He had only spent almost ten minutes in there and when he came out, nine centuries had passed in the blink of an eye. I was lucky enough to find him then and help him block off the entrance to the cave so nopony else could enter it, but after that, I helped him over the next few months in being able to turn his life around and get it back on track. I helped him start a family again, built a home for him and helped him take care of Granny before I moved on. But the one thing I regret the most from this, Applejack, is that I never got the chance to say goodbye to him.”

Applejack was speechless. Despite how crazy this whole thing sounded like, she did not feel anything that would make her think that she was lying. This whole thing was all true. But still, something else didn’t add up. “What about you though? How long have you been around?”

“Over a thousand years. In a way, I can’t age. I don’t know if it’s because of me coming here or if it’s because of the powers I inherited, but I have learned many things over the years that I’ve been here. I’ve helped many ponies like you. Now… I want to do what I can to help you and your family AJ. For my sake… as well as Golden and Reds. I feel like I owe it to them to help your family as much as possible.”

The Element of Honesty did not know what to say. But then, actions always speak louder than words. With that, Applejack surprised Ember by hugging her in a warm embrace. The human was wondering why she was doing it… until she heard Applejack say something to her.

“Thank you……” The Mare told her. “Thank you for helping mah family grow and thrive to what it has become today. Welcome home, Aunt Ember. Welcome to the family.”

Ember didn’t know what to say. Instead, she returned AJ’s hug with one of her own. “You’re welcome, AJ. I’m glad to have found a place that I could call home.”


End Chapter 3