Something was amiss at Sweet Apple Acres.
It wasn’t as if the orchard on the western outskirts of Ponyville wasn’t always filled with the sound of leaves rustling and hooves clopping against the hard, unforgiving bark of the apple trees. Today, however, was different. Today, the shaking of the apple trees and the stomping of hooves did not come from the typical applebucking that the Apple family was so well known for.
No, instead, these sounds came from the stallion Big Macintosh, who was charging through Sweet Apple Acres so fast it was clear his life didn’t depend on it; someone else’s did. Sweat coursed through his bright red coat and slicked his dirty blonde mane against his forehead. Fatigue was showing in Big Mac’s eyes and movements; he had not slept last night, and the exhaustion left his eyes baggy and blackened and his breathing strained and full of more effort than usual.
Despite this, pure and simple rage drove the stallion’s hooves forward. Big Mac was determined to seek revenge on the stallion that had left the countless red marks of tightly held ropes and the shallow, not yet scabbed over cuts that adorned some parts of his body. Running through Sweet Apple Acres had given him plenty of time to think. And what he thought about was simply this:
How could he do this?
Big Mac’s troubled mind flashed back to what had only been a few days ago, when he had been gathered along with his little sisters Applebloom and Applejack by their Granny Smith in the dining room.
“What’s this all about, Granny Smith? I was on a hot sreak buckin’ them apple trees!” Applejack said, rather irritated, despite her usual patience with other ponies.
“Pipe down, young’n, ahma gettin’ to it.” Granny Smith retorted, laying back in her rocking chair.
“Tell us then!” Applebloom said, the bright yellow filly just as impatient as her big sister.
Granny Smith took a moment to clear her throat, and then looked around at her grandchildren. “Yer Uncle Jacknife is stoppin’ by Ponyville fer a few days, and ah though y’all’d like t’ know.”
Applejack and Applebloom were confused, but Big Mac appeared to be unexpectedly excited at these events, which was rather out of character for the usually reserved stallion.
“Uncle Jacknife!?” Big Mac said in his deep, gruff voice. “He ain’t been around these parts since Applejack was born.”
“I know, I know, it has been quite a while, sonny.” Granny Smith said.
“Wait wait wait, who is Jacknife and why have I never heard of him until now?” Applejack asked, a little irked that she had been left out of the loop.
Granny Smith adjusted her glasses and turned to look Applejack directly in the eyes.
“Well, this ain’t an easy story to tell, Applejack. You better be ready to hear quite a bit. Many years ago, back when you were very first born, there was a great civil war among the three pony tribes, just like there was so many more years ago, like y’all talked about in that fancy-schmancy theater show’a yers. Now, what with yer maw and paw bein’ simple Earth Ponies, they ended up bein’ assigned to the frontlines. I couldn’t go, what with mah already bein’ so old. It was a hard, bloody war, and many ponies were injured, yer paw included. Was fightin’ a pegasus who just picked him up and dropped him right outta the sky. Broke his hooves in all the wrong places.
“That… That’s awful…” Applejack said, her eyes filling with tears.
“’Twas around the same time yer mother died, AJ…” Granny Smith said, her head bowing towards the floor sadly.
The Apples sat in silence for a while, all (except Applebloom) remembering what little they could of Applejack’s mother. Eventually, Granny Smith heaved a heavy sigh and continued.
“In the hospital yer paw ended up in, he was operated on by one of the best unicorn doctors there, Jackknife. Good ol’ Jackknife was always better and straighter with a scalpel than any other pony I’ve yet to meet. His cutie mark was even a scalpel and a needle and thread. Given the delicacy of the procedure, yer paw came to be pretty close friends with Jackknife. By the time everything was back in place, yer paw considered Uncle Jackknife the brother he’d never had.
“Whatever happened to Paw?” Applejack asked, already slightly sure of the answer.
Granny Smith looked at Applejack, and then to Big Mac, and then to Applebloom. She heaved a heavy sigh.
“Well, after that, yer paw went back… He was in a different regiment, and that was where he met Applebloom’s mother. She ended up pregnant with little Applebloom, and was discharged. Our armies needed soldiers too badly to let yer paw go, and so he let her go, promising her he’d be back soon to help take care of Applebloom…
“And he… he didn’t make it?” Applejack asked, tears now flowing freely down her cheeks, along with her sisters and her brother’s.
“’Fraid not, Applejack…” Granny Smith said, a tear slipping down her cheek, as well.
“What about my momma?” Applebloom said, her eyes already stinging with saline and the fur on her face mussed and flattened by streaks of tears.
“Well… She… She didn’t make it when she gave birth to ya…” Granny Smith said slowly.
Applebloom looked to her older brother and sister, now sobbing.
“Y’ALL KNEW ABOUT THIS AND Y’ALL NEVER TOLD ME?” she demanded of her startled brother and sister. Before they could breathe a word, she was outside of the room, running up the stairs, slamming the door, and finally locking it; her heavy sobs still shaking the foundations of the house and the hearts of her family.
Applejack turned to Granny Smith, her eyes red and fur mussed in the same fashion as everyone elses.
“What happened after that? What about the war, Granny?” Applejack nearly demanded, not knowing this was why she had lost her mother and father, a fact she had never come to terms with as a filly nor as a full-grown mare.
“Eventually, after realizing none could best the other, the three tribes agreed to peace. But not before there was more bloodshed. The pegasi were always known fer their brute, warrior-like tactics. As such, yer friends Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash also lost their parents, and later on, Scootaloo as well. Even yer friend Pinkie Pie… Her family was killed in an unfortunate case of civilian crossfire. That’s why she lives with the Cakes now.”
Applejack was shocked. She had no idea that such a horrible reality was why she had never met her three friend’s parents.
“But what about Twi and Rarity? Their parents are still around.”
“Unicorns are almost never on the frontlines, dearie; much better at healing and the like. A lot more of them survived and moved away from Ponyville.” Granny Smith said almost plainly.
There was nothing left to say, so the Apples simply sat in silence for a long time, thinking about their relatives and war and poor little Applebloom, crying herself hoarse upstairs. None of the them got much sleep that night, Granny Smith included.
The next day, it was a sunny afternoon, around 1:00. Applejack and Big Mac were sitting at the kitchen table, expecting Uncle Jackknife, and glanced out the window every few minutes, waiting to see a silhouetted figure walking towards the farm. However, what they eventually saw approaching the barn was not one silhouette, but two. All they could do is sit in surprise as the figures came closer.