Starry Skies over the Apple Orchard
Chapter 7
Standing at the top of the stairs, Luna and Big Macintosh stood facing each other. For a few timeless minutes, neither had moved. Suddenly, Big Macintosh blinked rapidly and shook his head. “Uh, sorry, I got lost in thought,” he said with a sheepish smile. “I just need to get something for Granny Smith and then I’ll be right back.” He stepped to the side and started to walk past Luna when he paused mid-step. He sniffed and looked at Luna. “That shampoo smells mighty nice. It suits you.” He smiled and then continued on his mission to get the blanket.
Luna watched as Big Macintosh continued walking down the hallway for a moment, and then slowly turned her head forward. She stopped and paused when she found herself facing Big Mac’s room. A stallion’s room… thought Luna. Hmm, I wonder what they look like now. She started walking towards Big Macintosh’s room and paused at the threshold. She looked down at the floor, and raised a hoof. Should we, or shouldn’t we… Luna quietly smiled and placed her hoof on the floor inside of the door. A quick look can’t hurt. Luna stepped into the room far enough to see, but still being able to have her rear hooves on the hallway floor. Technically, we’re still in the hallway.
Looking around, the first thing that Luna noticed was that the room had a rustic look that reflected life on the Apple farm. The walls were stained wood, instead of being covered up with paint. Luna nodded as she looked at the walls. Too many of the newer homes paint over the woodwork, covering up the natural beauty of the wood grain. A few feet away to her right was a peg in the wall that held a toolbelt. Further into the room sat a desk that faced the wall, and a few feet beyond that at the end of the room was a bed that sat next to an open window. Luna continued looking around the room, and noticed a closet that was a short distance from the bottom of the bed. The closet door was open halfway, and inside of it was a bag. Luna leaned to the side and craned her neck in an attempt to see better into the room. Luna's face had a look of deep concentration as she stretched and balanced in an awkward position.
“Uh, you can look around if you want,” came a voice from behind Luna in the hallway.
Luna shook in surprise and then slowly returned to a normal standing position. She turned her head around to see Big Mac carrying a blanket. Caught with my hoof in the cookie jar, thought Luna. With a sheepish grin, Luna looked at Big Mac. “Eh, heh heh, thank you.” She watched as Big Macintosh smiled and nodded as he continued towards the stairway with the blanket. Turning back to face the room, Luna then proceeded to walk inside. It was much easier to see the decor from inside of the room. Walking closer to the desk, she could see the pictures that were sitting on top of it; some were recent, and a couple of the pictures were older. Luna turned around and her eyes were drawn to the closet once more. The bag inside of the closet was a medium-sized bag, and it was closed with a button. She lifted her front right hoof and scratched the side of her head as she tried to guess the contents. Hmm, there are lumps, so whatever is inside must be solid. Luna lowered her hoof and took two steps forward towards the closet. “What is it about this bag that has me curious? We don’t need to know, yet...we very much want to know.”
“I reckon I could show you, if you can keep a secret.”
Luna nearly jumped when she heard the voice of Big Macintosh behind her. She turned around and looked at him, looked back at the bag, and then looked at Big Mac again. She noticed that Big Mac was no longer carrying a blanket. “Ok, now our curiosity has been doubled. I suppose we could keep this a secret as long as it won’t hurt anypony.”
Big Mac grinned and looked back at the bedroom door. He saw that nopony was in the hallway, and he could hear that the rest of the family was downstairs. Big Mac slowly walked over the the closet and then pulled the bag out into the room. He looked up at Luna, chuckled, and then opened the bag.
“Wax...fruit?” said Luna as she looked into the bag. “Why would this need to be kept secret?”
Big Macintosh scratched the side of his face with a hoof. “You may have noticed a certain theme for the farmhouse decoration... one that involves apples.”
Luna nodded. “Yes, ‘tis true that there are many apples decorating the Apple family farmhouse.”
“Every now and then,” Big Mac said, and then quickly looked at the bedroom doorway before looking back at Luna. He leaned closer to Luna and said, “I put some other fruit around the house...oranges, strawberries, bananas, grapes, grapefruit...”
“I don’t see any problems with that,” said Luna.
“It irritates Applejack somethin’ fierce.”
“Then why...” Luna started to ask, and then with a twinkle in her eye she grinned. “Nevermind...you are siblings. I think I understand... my sister and I also play jokes on each other from time to time.”
“Eeyup.”
Luna could hear the sound of hoofsteps as somepony started to walk up the stairs. She watched as Big Macintosh quickly closed the bag and put it back into the closet, and then closed the closet door as quickly and quietly as possible. She almost had to take a step back to avoid another collision when Big Macintosh spun around to face away from the closet.
Big Macintosh started looking around the room and whistling nervously as Applejack walked into view in the hallway. Applejack stopped and looked into the bedroom, and raised her eyebrow. “Ok, now what’s goin’ on here?” she asked.
“Nothin’,” said Big Macintosh as he continued looking around the room.
“Yes, nothing is going on,” said Luna as she turned around to look at Applejack. “We were just talking.”
Applejack tilted her head. “Yeah, I’ll bet nothin’ is goin’ on. I’ve got my eye on you.” She raised her front right hoof and pointed to her eyes, and then pointed to Luna. She then continued her journey down the hallway. I don’t know what it is, Applejack thought to herself, but Starry Skies is not being honest with us...I don’t know what it is, but somethin’ is not right.
*-*-*-*
Granny Smith leaned back into her chair. She had been leaning over to the side of the chair and stretching in order to get a better position for hearing what was being said upstairs. She closed her eyes, shook her head, and sighed. She opened her eyes after a moment and then looked over at Apple Bloom. “Apple Bloom, could you come here a moment?” Granny Smith watched as Apple Bloom stood up and walked across the room to sit beside her rocking chair. “Did you see Applejack today while you were out with your friends?” she asked.
Apple Bloom nodded her head. “Yeah, she was out in the east field gathering apples.”
Granny Smith leaned forward and waved her hoof in a motion asking Apple Bloom to come closer. When Apple Bloom was close enough, Granny Smith whispered into her ear. “I have a mission for you and your friends…”
*-*-*-*
Later that night, Luna sat in her temporary bedroom. She was not yet ready for sleep; she was used to being awake late into the night. Tia handled this evening’s transition into night very well, Luna thought to herself. It was kind of her to take care of the rising and setting of the moon. 'Twas nice that we did not need to prepare excuses for if somepony were to see us performing our nightly duties.
Luna scooted over to the edge of the bed and gently stepped onto the floor. Perhaps a quick snack before bed, thought Luna as she walked towards the door. Granny Smith did say that if we were hungry to help ourself. She opened the door and slowly walked down the hallway. Most of the lights were turned off, except for some light coming from under one of the doors she passed. She continued down the hallway and then walked down the stairs, pausing to look at the family photos hanging on the stairway walls. Such warmth exists within this family. She smiled as she looked from one photo to the next. Her gaze lingered on a family group photo, especially the part where Big Macintosh was leaning against one of the trees in the orchard. She leaned closer and noticed that the photo was slightly crooked on the wall. Luna lifted her hoof and gently tilted the photo so that it was level. She nodded and then continued onwards to the kitchen.
Luna quietly walked into the kitchen and stopped in front of the fridge. She carefully opened the door and narrowed her eyes as the light from within the fridge shone brightly. She leaned closer to the shelves and looked around. “Leftover macaroni,” she said as she opened one lid. “Aye, this could work. What else have we in here?” She moved containers around and examined their contents. Corn...no...rhubarb...no...carrots...no, she thought as she searched for chilled treasure. Milk? Yes...now, do we have… she thought as she looked down to the next shelf. She opened another container and grinned. Cheddar! “Huzzah! Tonight there shall be hot mac & cheese!” she said as she pulled ingredients from the fridge and closed the door, leaving her in darkness once again.
“Oh, my, that sounds exciting.”
Luna blinked her eyes as they adjusted to the darkness again. She looked towards the entrance of the kitchen and saw Granny Smith walking in through the doorway. “Good evening, Granny Smith,” Luna said as she walked over to the counter.
“Howdy, young’en. Are you settling in ok?”
Luna nodded. “Yes, thank you. My duties normally keep me up later into the night...I was not quite ready for sleep yet and thought that a quick snack might be helpful.” She walked over to the counter and set the ingredients down. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“No, dearie, I was just finishing up some work on a project. I thought I would get a drink of water before heading to bed,” said Granny Smith.
Luna looked over her shoulder to look at Granny Smith. "Where do you keep your glasses?”
Granny Smith lifted a hoof and pointed at one of the cupboards. “Over there in the cupboard.” She watched as Luna opened the door and levitated a glass to the sink and turned the faucet lever. Granny Smith sat down at the table as Luna levitated the glass over in front of her on the table. “Thank you kindly,” she said and then lifted the glass to take a sip.
“‘Tis our pleasure,” said Luna. “Think nothing of it.” Luna took the cassarole dish that was air-drying at the side of the sink and placed it on the counter in front of her. She poured the pasta and milk into the dish, and then sprinkled cheese on top of the pasta. After looking back and forth, Luna spotted the spice rack and walked over to it and selected a few bottles. She levitated the bottles over top of the cassarole dish and then sprinkled them one by one onto the pasta. Holding the cassarole dish in the air with her levitation, Luna carefully opened the oven and placed the dish into it. She lifted a hoof and turned the temperature knob of the oven and then returned the spice bottles to the spice rack. Once the spices were returned, she put the other ingredients back into the fridge.
Luna walked over to the table and sat down by Granny Smith. “If you don’t mind me saying, your family seems very close.” Luna smiled and continued, “It warms our heart to see a close-knit family with a lot of warmth in the home.”
Granny Smith smiled and took another sip of water. There’s always room for one more… thought Granny Smith.
*-*-*-*
Luna returned to her room, and closed the door behind her. The mac and cheese had been delicious, and both Granny Smith and she had enjoyed a pleasant conversation while they snacked upon it. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The dream realm was pleasantly calm tonight, so Luna cast an alert spell to notify her of any nightmares and then drifted off to sleep listening to the sounds of wind rustling through the leaves of the apple trees.