Life, Death, and Ponies

by thunderclap

A New Home

Applejack’s eyes became as wide as dinner plates as she tasted the apple butter you had just made. You could feel yourself smirk at seeing how much she obviously enjoyed the apple butter.

“This is almost as good as Zap Apple Jam.” Applejack remarked.

“Pony feathers!” Granny Smith exclaimed with a glare directed at you. “Ah’ve been making apple products for done near all my life and Ah’ve never even heard of this apple butter. How good can it be?” Right after she said that you offered her a spoonful of apple butter to show her that it was as good as Applejack claimed it to be. Her eyes almost went as wide as Applejack’s had when she tasted the spread. “Oh my Sonny, I don’t know who you are but that is one of the best darn things Ah’ve ever had.”

“Thanks but it’s nothing really, it’s an old family recipe my dad gave me.” You said, recalling how your father would always make apple butter whenever you were upset.

“Hey, can Ah have some too?” The filly asked with pleading puppy dog eyes.

“Sure,” you said being pulled out of your thoughts. “We can all have it with some lunch.” You quickly set to work and about half an hour later you had made four stacks of pancakes each with a generous amount of apple butter. You sat down and watched as everypony’s face lit up as they took their first bite. You grinned and began eating your own pancakes.

“This is really good, Blackstar!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, virtually attacking her stack of pancakes.

“Apple Bloom, try to show some manners, we’ve got a guest.” Applejack scolded.

“She’s fine, I’m just glad to see somepony enjoy my handiwork.”

“Alright then,” Applejack said with a warm smile on her face. “That bein’ said how’d you get so good at cookin’? These are some of the best pancakes Ah’ve ever had.”

“I cooked a lot for… my family growing up, after a while I got bored and started experimenting with different ingredients.” This technically wasn’t a lie, you had cooked a lot, but it was for foster families not your real family. Applejack gave you a weird look for a moment but it passed as quickly as it came. “Hey, Applejack I think I just got an idea what kind of job I’ll have.” You said with a grin.

“Really, what?” She said with a raised eyebrow.

“I could make this apple butter with Granny Smith here and between the two of us I’m sure we can make something that everypony in Ponyville will go crazy over. Then you can sell it and I’ll take a small percent of the profit.”

“You’re gonna let us sell this?” Applejack asked with excitement in her eyes. “Ah don’ know what to say. Isn’t this a family recipe?”

“My dad gave me this recipe to do with as I saw fit. Besides, I’m sure he’d be happy knowing that it was going to make a lot of ponies happy.”

“What do you think, Granny Smith?”

“Ah think that Ah want to make as much of this apple butter as Ah can.” Granny Smith said with more energy than she normally spoke with.

“That tears it then. Welcome aboard, Blackstar.” Applejack said with a grin. “With all the money we’ll make from this we’ll finally be able to fix yer hip Granny.”

“Don’t treat me like an old barn, you silly filly.”

“Does this mean you’re gonna be livin’ here, Blackstar?” Apple Bloom asked with wide eyes.

“I don’t know you’d have to ask Applejack and Granny Smith.” You said a little hesitantly with the look she was giving you. “I was planning on living by myself. But, if they don’t see a problem with it then I don’t.” Apple Bloom turned her puppy dog eyes towards her family for a moment. Applejack and Granny Smith exchanged glances for a few seconds before they finally responded.

“There’s room for ya if you’re willin’ to stay here.” Applejack said, caving in to her little sister’s will.

“Yay, now it’s like Ah have two brothers!” Apple Bloom cheered, doing a little jig on the floor. “Ah got to show you around town!”

“Slow down there, Kiddo.” You said with a small laugh. “I have a few things I have to do before I can do that.”

“What do ya plan on doin’?” Applejack asked.

“First, I plan on introducing myself to this brother of yours; we don’t want him too surprised at seeing me when he gets better do we?”

“I suppose yer right.” Applejack replied with a nod.

“Then I’m gonna see if I can help him feel better with this.” You said, indicating your horn.

“No, we don’ use shortcuts to do things ‘round here.” Applejack said decisively.

“Fine, fine, then when I’m done introducing myself I’ll set to work on making as much apple butter as possible so I can take a day off tomorrow to explore the town and introduce myself to a few ponies around town.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

“So I can show ya around tomorrow?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Sorry Apple Bloom, but you’ve got school tomorrow.” Applejack said with authority. Apple Bloom responded by pouting but you stepped in with.

“Maybe you can give me your special tour some other time. I may accidentally forget a few of the best places in town and we don’t want that do we?” Apple Bloom nodded her head with renewed vigor and everyone finished eating their meal in peace.

After you had helped clean up after your meal you were led upstairs and into a modest bedroom where a giant red stallion was lying in bed looking like he was a little flushed.

“Hey Big Mac, how are ya?” Applejack asked calmly as she stepped into the room.

“Not too bad.” Was all he said, in an extremely deep voice.

“That’s good, listen. we’d like to introduce you to Blackstar here. He’s gonna be stayin’ with us for a while and is makin’ somethin’ for us to sell.” Applejack said, indicating for you to introduce yourself.

“Hi, Big Macintosh I’m Blackstar and it’s nice to meet you.”

“Eeeyup.”

“Hmm, can I take a look at him for a moment?”

“Ah thought Ah told ya, no magic as a shortcut.” Applejack said, annoyed.

“I know, but I have a little knowledge on traditional medicine. What are his symptoms?”

“He’s been cold, nauseous and has a headache.”

“Give him something to help his digestion, make sure he gets liquids with plenty of electrolytes in them, both in sparing amounts every so often, and wrap him up in a few more blankets. If you do that then he should be fine in a day or two.” You said recounting all of the books on medicine you had ever read.

“Uhhh… okay.” Was all Applejack managed to say before she, Granny Smith, and Apple Bloom trotted out of the room. They returned a few minutes later with, a few blankets, a bowl of soup, and a glass with a cool drink which was a light yellow. “Will this do?” Applejack asked letting you examine the items they had brought.

“That’s perfect I’ll leave you to feed him. Granny Smith, let’s go make some apple butter.” With that Granny Smith and Apple Bloom followed you out of the room and back into the kitchen. You asked where all the remaining cider was and were shown to a cellar. Using your levitation you were able to lift the remaining barrels of cider back into the kitchen. You and Granny Smith set to work and once both of you were working at a steady pace, Apple Bloom started asking you questions.

“Hey Blackstar, what’s yer special talent?”

“Why do you wanna know that, Kiddo?”

“She asks everypony that, Sonny. She’s upset that she doesn’t have her cutie mark yet.” Granny Smith answered, taking a taste of your efforts to test it.

“You shouldn’t be too upset about not having your cutie mark yet, Apple Bloom.” You said with a comforting grin, having taken notes from the princesses.

“But almost everypony in mah class has their cutie marks already. And there are these really mean bullies in mah class that make fun of me because of it.” The word bully struck a nerve with you. Being bullied growing up it only made sense. You stopped working for a moment to offer a comforting pat on the head to Apple Bloom.

“Say, you know when a cutie mark appears, don’t you?”

“A cutie mark appears when you learn what your special talent is, the thing that makes ya different from anypony else.” She said blandly, the words coming out rehearsed and rigid.

“Exactly, you can’t just blindly run out and do a bunch of crazy things hoping a cutie mark will show up.” Apple Bloom winced when you said that, almost as if that was exactly what she was doing. “First you need to ask yourself, who am I, and what makes me happy? If you don’t do that then you’ll never be able to earn your cutie mark. For example, I like learning about how things work and how to use them for others. So my cutie mark is for magic.”

“Ah think Ah understand, but is it really that easy?”

“It’s only as easy as you make it.” You said with a warm smile. “Besides, if those bullies mess with you anymore just tell them your new big brother will turn them into newts.” Apple Bloom cheered up immediately after you said that and hugged you before running out the door.

“That was mighty nice of ya, Sonny.” Granny Smith said with a smile, turning away from working for a moment.

“It was nothing; sorry for saying I was her new big brother by the way.” You said, feeling awkward for saying it.

“After cheering her up like that, Ah think it’s alright.” She said, still smiling. “Now get back over here and help me make this apple butter.” You and Granny Smith worked until almost midnight making jar after jar of apple butter. After you reached about sixty you both decided that it was time to call it quits for the night.

You placed your bag in your new room and tried to get some sleep. For a while you shifted around restlessly, unable to fall asleep. You decided to get some fresh air and maybe do some stargazing to help you relax. You walked out and found a nice hill on the farm to lie down on your back and look up at the endless stretch of sky around you.

‘That was kind of fun.’ You thought to yourself with a slight grin. ‘I met an interesting family that gave me a job and a place to stay. I’ll have to talk to Applejack about rent though; I hate the idea of sponging off of these ponies.’ Then your thoughts shifted toward something else that was nagging at you. ‘Tomorrow I get to take a tour of Ponyville. I wonder what I should see. The only thing I know about this place is that Celestia’s other student, Twilight Sparkle lives here. Should I ask Applejack about her? Probably not, they may not know each other, and even if they do, she’ll want to know how I know her.’

Your train of thought was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming from behind you. You leaned your head back to see Applejack staring down at you.

“Hey Applejack, what are you doing up at this time of night?”

“Ah could ask you the same thing. You’re not gonna make a habit of sleepin’ in the orchard are you.” She said with a small laugh.

“No, I’m not, I was just out because I was having a hard time falling asleep, so I decided to look up at the stars for a bit.” You replied, laughing nervously.

“That’s fine Ah guess, I was just checkin’ up on ya to see how you were doin’, but when Ah didn’t see ya in the room I figured Ah’d come look for ya.”

“I’m doing fine. How’s Big Mac by the way.”

“He said he was doin’ a lot better thanks to that freaky medical knowledge of yours. Thanks for that.”

“It’s the least I could do seeing as you’re letting me stay here.”

“Well, we appreciate the heck out of it.” Applejack said as she lied down next to you. “Even Big Mac told me to say thank you for him.”

“It wasn’t that big a deal, just some basic treatments.” You said, feeling a little nervous at having her that close to you.

“Call it whatever ya want, it was still a nice gesture.” She said smiling. “Not only that but you gave Apple Bloom some real good advice.”

“You heard about that?”

“Granny Smith told me about it right before she went to bed. She said it perked Apple Bloom right up about her whole cutie mark situation.”

“It just felt like the right thing to say.”

“Yer real bad at just taking compliments, ya know that?” Applejack laughed.

“I guess I am.” You said with a slight smile.

“Speakin’ of cutie marks how’d ya get yours?”

“I…” This was something you hadn’t prepared for this. You couldn’t just say you woke up with it. Even though you had, you had to think of something quick or risk being thought of as some kind of freak. “I was bullied a lot growing up. Even though I was a unicorn all the magic I tried would blow up in my face. It made me feel completely useless. I decided that I would pour everything I could into learning all the magic I could. At some point I learned it was my special talent. After that I’ve been using my magic to help anypony I can.”

“That’s a real nice story.” You sighed in relief when she said that. Luckily, lying was something you were good at
.

“What about you, how’d you get your cutie mark?” Applejack told you a story about running away from home to live with relatives in a city called Manehattan only to come back to Ponyville by following a rainbow in the sky.

“…Anyway after that Ah learned that there was no place Ah’d rather be than on the farm.”

“I’m still having a hard time picturing you living in a snooty upper-class place like that.” You said with a chuckle
.

“Are ya sayin’ that Ah don’t have the manners for it?” Applejack replied, glaring at you.

“No, not at all. In my experience people who consider themselves high class live life in fear of scrutiny from others. Everything they do and say is for appearances. To me, you seem to be comfortable with yourself; you don’t seem to care what anypony says or thinks about you.”

“Thank you, that was awful nice of ya to say.” Applejack replied, slowly. “Well, both of us need our sleep, so we better go to bed.” She said hopping to her feet and walking off to the farm home. You continued to stare up at the night sky for a moment before you followed suit.

Comments

[Iambrony]

I WEILD THE SWORD OF FIRST!

[Weavuh]

And I wield Excalibur! img.ponibooru.org/_images/7789285ec8bc830ecc8c0cd47ac19e7b/74735%20-%20episode_30%20Hubble%20huzzah%20luna%20luna_eclipsed%20macro%20season_2.PNG

Awesome story bro! I find it really entertaining! Have some staches!

[IRBRONY]

I HAZ SWARD

[Bookmaster]

256120 you win you got the ultimate sword but I have a minigun

[TheUnknownWarrior]

269617

And I haz AC-130........