Chapter Seven –
Twilight was wondering around the castle trying to think when a loud sound perked her ears up. Trotting down the hallway to the front foyer she grinned when she saw Sweetie Belle pinned to the ground under Applebloom and Scootaloo. She was waving her hoof out from under them franticly as if the two young mares were squeezing the life out of her. Twilight came up to the pile laughing a little bit under her breath.
“Say it!” Scootaloo said pinning slender Unicorn the ground.
Sweetie Belle’s ‘never’ came out squished and pulled out.
“Come on! Two huge topics! You have to admit it!” Scootaloo said again. Then she noticed the purple Alicorn standing above them. She quickly got off of Applebloom who got off of Sweetie Belle.
“So should I already know these huge topics?” Twilight couldn’t help, but to smile at the young mares’ actions. If anypony in Ponyville displayed friendship so easily and without even lifting a hoof, it was these three young mares. Scootaloo a young orange Pegasi mare with a purple mane and tail and the knack for all things extreme. Despite being born unable to fly properly, she never let it hold her back. Applebloom a young peach Earth Pony with a red mane and tail and the knack for engineering, potion making, and inventions. Then Sweetie Belle a young white Unicorn mare with a pink and purple mane and tail and the current holder of the Element of Generosity.
“Well you already know them,” Sweetie Belle said matter-of-factly towards her friends. “You already know I hold the Element of Generosity.”
“And that your sister’s gone mad…” Scootaloo said under her breath. She gave Sweetie Belle a sheepish look when she shot her a glare.
“You still haven’t said the other one!” Applebloom said with a country twang.
Sweetie Belle’s cheeks flushed over. “I’m going out with Spike,” she said so softly that she almost rivaled Fluttershy when Twilight first met her.
“You’re officially dating him?” Twilight said arching an eyebrow.
“Yes,” she said timidly rubbing one of her fore hooves up her leg nervously. “It just seemed right to do after all that has happened. Plus we’re going on that trip soon, so—Ah!” she said as she was once again piled under the two young mares.
“You didn’t tell us that either!” Applebloom said.
“You…were away at…the convention,” her words came out forced.
“I was free, why didn’t you tell me?” Scootaloo said ruffling Sweetie Belle’s mane.
“I did! You’re always off doing some extreme stunt or something!” Sweetie Belle said. “I can’t always tell you guys everything!” The two mares got off of her giving her looks. “Don’t look at me like that, even if I can’t tell you everything I’ll never abandon you,” she smiled meekly at them.
“Ah I can’t stay mad at this face,” Applebloom said hugging her friend.
Twilight smirked. “It’s about lunch time, want to go grab something? I just finished my paperwork for the day.”
“All three of us or just Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo asked looking at Twilight with a raised brow.
“All of you of course,” Twilight said not letting her smile falter.
“Yay!” The three mares sprang up and leapt out the door. Twilight rolled her eyes and followed after the mares closing the door behind her as she went.
“Sir where do you need this?” Spike asked the large Earth Pony stallion who was finishing up building a fence for his sheep. He came up beside the stallion with the heavy wooden wagon strapped to his back. It had to be modified a little to fit over the spines on his back, but eventually it felt comfortable on his back without any problems.
“What’s in there?” The stallion asked craning his neck to look into the wagon. “Oh that must be material for the sheep run-in. Just park the wagon in the garage.”
“Yes sir,” Spike said trotting off towards a slightly leaning plain wooden brown garage. Turning so the back of the wagon was facing the garage he backed in slowly. Once the wagon was in the garage he unhitched himself and tidied up the harness. He jumped a bit when he heard the stallion cough behind him.
“Sorry, still got this cough that refuses to leave me. That was some mighty fine parking there, have you worked a wagon before?” the stallion asked.
“Yes sir,” Spike began, but the stallion cut him off.
“Call be Jeb, sir is reserved for my daughter’s boyfriend,” the stallion said with a country accent.
“Alright Jeb. Yes I have worked a wagon before, I sometimes work on Sweet Apple Acres whenever the Apple family needs help,” Spike said.
“You know the Apple family? I have two Nieces and a Nephew there. I believe Applejack is expecting again,” he said furrowing his brow trying to remember.
“She is, don’t worry she only recently found out. What is your relation to her if I can ask?” Spike said sitting down on his haunches.
Jeb joined him and looked out at the newly built fence. “I’m their uncle on her mother’s side. I originally lived a few hours outside Manehatten before Applejack was born. However as soon as I caught word my sister was ill I moved the family down here the second I could. You see this was a few years after their father died. Her mother was always stubborn and believed she could do everything on her own, up until she got sick she could.”
Spike smirked and quickly explained himself. “I just smirked because I know now where Applejack gets it from. If it wasn’t for her Element of Harmony and her friends she’d probably be trying to run Sweet Apple Acres on her own.”
Jeb grinned. “Heh, Applejack is the spitting image of her mother personality and physically wise. Except she’s a bit more thickly built, but that’s because Johnny Appleseed was a big stallion. Now Big Mac is a spitting image of his father physically wise,” he said before going on with his story. “So After I got settled I took care of Orange Marmalade up until she decided to join our parents up in the sky. She didn’t die until she made Granny Smith and me promise to watch after the kids. After that she passed on,” he said looking up at the sky. “After the kids didn’t need me anymore I moved back here, but I couldn’t bring myself to move back home. So I stayed here. Applejack occasionally visits with the kids and sits awhile. Big Mac comes whenever he can spare a moment, he brought his lovely wife the last time. Applebloom was here yesterday to help me repair the fences.”
Spike was quiet as he listened to the big stallion. He couldn’t imagine his life without Twilight, she was practically his mother. Without her he wouldn’t know where he’d be. “Where are they buried?” Spike asked without thinking.
“On the big hill on Sweet Apple Acres. Where that huge golden apple tree is. That was where Johnny Appleseed proposed to her and where she announced her pregnancies to him. I can’t imagine them being buried anywhere else,” he was still looking to the sky as if he was imagining his sister coming back down to the land of the living.
“Do you ever miss her?” Spike asked gently.
Jeb smirked and grinned. “Marmar would have slapped me across the face if she ever caught wind of me missing her. Now don’t get me wrong, I do miss her, but she wouldn’t have wanted it. She never wanted anypony cryin at her funeral. Heck as little as Applebloom was at the time, she didn’t even cry. Sure she was thinking of it, but not a single tear slipped. We all shared memories, stories, and even weird times we had with Marmar at her funeral. It’s what she wanted, ‘don’t cry because I’m gone, laugh at all the fun times we’ve had’ she said once. I can even remember her sitting with kids one day when she was too weak to get out of bed…”
Several years ago…
“Mama what was papa like?” A tiny Applebloom asked sweetly as she laid curled beside Orange Marmalade. A young tween Big Mac sat beside a child Applejack with her father’s old cowboy hat on her head. All three of the siblings were resting around their mother. They all knew she didn’t have long left, but they never let that get to them.
Orange Marmalade smiled softly, but didn’t speak. She knew one of her older children would speak. “Papa was a giant!” Applejack exclaimed standing up on her hind legs. “He was so big his head knocked the ceiling in the barn.”
“No he wasn’t,” Big Mac argued. “He was a warrior!”
Orange Marmalade laughed softly causing her children to look at her. “Johnny Appleseed was a strong courageous stallion who protected those he loved,” she said softly capturing the attention of her three children. “He met the challenge of raising a family like it was as simple as planting an apple tree. He loved you all so much. He even loved you Applebloom even though he never got the chance to see you,” she said looking at Applebloom. “He would sit for hours on end talking to you in my belly and telling Big Mac and Applejack how strong you’d become.”
“I love daddy,” Applebloom said softly as she rested her head on her mother’s side. “I wish I can talk to him.”
“You can,” Applejack said enthusiastically. “I always talk to papa whenever I can up on the hill.”
“Do you think I can?” Applebloom asked sleepily.
“Yes you can,” Applejack said, “I’ll bring you up there tomorrow.”
“I’ll come with you,” Orange Marmalade said softly.
Back to the present…
“She died later the next evening up on the hill with all three of the kids around her,” a fat tear slipped down Spike’s cheek. Jeb looked over with big watery eyes. “Now don’t you go cryin on me, that’ll only make me cry,” he said weakly with a small smile.
“I want to visit Applejack’s parents,” Spike said wiping away a tear.
“They’d love that,” Jeb said softly looking up at the setting sun sky.
“Mama, papa I know it’s been awhile since I’ve been up here, but I want to tell you the news,” Applejack said laying between two smooth moss covered stones. “You’re going to be grandparents again. I don’t know what the baby will be, but I know you’ll be proud of me. Can…” her voice broke as tears fell down her cheeks. “Can you just tell little Appleseed for me? Tell him he’s going to be a big brother again? I miss him so much…”
She jumped a little bit when she felt two hooves on her shoulders. Looking around she saw Big Mac and Applebloom. “Sorry I’m crying.”
“It’s only natural,” Applebloom said resting beside her older sister. “Although I can practically feel mama giving you a stink eye,” she said grinning.
“Eyep,” Big Mac said smiling at his two little sisters.
Applejack smiled softly. “It’s tough being a mama. I hope I can measure up to our mama.”
“You already have Aj,” Applebloom said. “The twins love you without a fault.”
“Little Cherry will love you too,” Big Mac said.
Applejack sighed looking at her siblings. “Well our foals have four angel ponies looking after them. Mama and papa, Granny Smith, and Appleseed.”
“Eyep,” Big Mac said getting up. He touched his mother’s and father’s headstones lightly with his muzzle. Applejack and Applebloom did the same. This had become a tradition in the family. After every talk with their parents they’d touch their muzzles to the stones as a sign of goodbye. Even Applejack’s hyper twin sons picked up on doing every time they stopped to talk to their grandparents.
“Let’s get back down,” Applejack said.
“Mama!” Applejack heard her twin sons call to her in unison. “Tell grandma and grandpa goodnight for us!”
She smirked and turned back to the headstones. “The twins say goodnight,” she said before she walked down the hill with her two siblings.