• Published 10th Dec 2013
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My Family and Other Equestrians - Blade Star



A HiE fic with a twist. Our protagonist is not alone. How does one approach being in Equestria, when their family is along for the ride?

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Chapter 69 - Market

As my eyes fluttered open, I was partially dazzled by the light of the rising sun. It was clearly still quite early then. As I came to, I rubbed my eyes with a hoof and blinked a few times to clear out the sleep. Lifting my head from my hooves, I looked around. It was indeed early morning; the sun was just beginning to clear the horizon, moonset couldn’t have been more than a half hour ago. Sweet Apple Acres was bathed in the reddish golden hue of the sunrise and long shadows were cast through the orchards. A typical morning really.

Next to me, was Applejack, who continued to snooze for a few moments longer. Eventually though, like me, she awoke. For a moment she looked more than a little confused, after all, it is a little disorientating to wake up in a strange place that is not your bed. As soon as she looked over and spotted me though, this unease quickly vanished as she remembered why we were both out here. Taking a moment to let off a mighty yawn, Applejack got to her hooves.

“Whew, mornin’ Bones,” she said as she stretched herself. I turned to look at her.

“Mornin’, AJ,” I replied, still sounding a little tired. Her yawn caused me to reciprocate as well, cutting off any further speech. “Uh, what time is it do ya reckon?” Looking toward the rising sun, Applejack thought for a moment.

“Ah’d say it’s getting’ on for about seven, maybe eight,” she replied. I redoubled my efforts to get up and get going. Eight o’clock in the morning was the start of the working day for the Apples’. And today of course, I had to watch the stand in the market again and look after Apple Bloom when she got out of school. And so, the two of us started to walk back towards the farmhouse.

As we walked, I thought about what had happened over the last two days, or rather, the previous night. Having a shared dream like that can be a little disorientating. To me, it felt like we’d spend a whole weekend away from the farm, but in reality, it had just been a single night. It seemed AJ had been thrown by the time differential too, as evident when she greeted her big brother, who was coming up the path to meet us.

“Big Macintosh!” AJ proclaimed, promptly wrapping her brother in a hug, as much as she could given Big Mac’s stature. “Ah missed ya big brother.” Not surprisingly, Big Mac looked a tad confused.

“Erm, AJ, not to burst your bubble or nothin’, but we’ve only been gone a night. Time moves faster in a dream, remember?” Applejack started and blushed a little in embarrassment. From Big Mac’s perspective, it would be a little odd. His sister had spent the night sleeping outside with me, and yet here she was, hugging him as if she hadn’t seen him in days.

“You two had a nice time than Ah take it?” Big Mac asked. I smiled and nodded in agreement. Somehow I doubted that he wanted to know every little detail of what his little sister and her coltfriend had gotten up to.

“How long did we sleep in for, Mac?” I asked him, figuring I would need to get in a quick breakfast and then get to work.

“Don’t ya worry ‘bout that,” he said reassuringly. “Ya got plenty of time before market opens, Bones. C’mon, let’s get y’all some grits in ya.”

It turned out that it was only just reaching eight o’clock when we all returned to the farmhouse. I think Applejack’s mind was still a little confused by the reactions she got from her remaining family members. Nothing more than a usual ‘Mornin’, Applejack’. I guess the feeling was comparable to jet lag, her mind was telling her two days had passed, yet everything else told her it was just a night. Luckily though, Apple Bloom needed to be taken to school, and I expected that would take her mind off it.

“Okay, AB, have fun at school,” I said, again dipping into paternal territory. “Now don’t forget, ya come straight to me at the market after school, okay?” Apple Bloom nodded as she and her sister headed out the door. I too was quickly polishing off my breakfast along with a cup of coffee to really wake me up. I think Luna may have done a number on my head when she put us out, even after a half hour, I still was quite groggy, and that wouldn’t do for paying customers.

“Well, Ah best be headin’ out too, Ah s’pose. Everything still set up and ready to go, Big Mac?” I asked. Big Mac nodded and offered to help me hitch up to the harness. “Ah’ll see ya later, Granny,” I called to Granny Smith who had been good enough to get a decent breakfast in me quickly.


Big Mac and I headed round to the other side of the farmhouse, the barn half to be more precise. I can sort of see why the house was designed this way; you can keep all the important stuff such as carts and wagons, as well as wood and other fuel and foodstuffs close at hand. It also of course, could be used as a great meeting place, and Pinkie often threw her parties in there if the Apples’ were involved. In this case though, we merely went in there to fetch out the wagon that held the various bits of the market stall.

The whole thing sort of popped out when you set it up. It wasn’t overly large, but it held enough to make decent money each day. About the length of a pony, it had two medium sized wheels in the rear, and stands at the front to keep it propped up even when you unhitched yourself. The small covering that kept the produce inside dry extended upward to act as an awning. And on top of this we normally affixed a fairly large apple sign, with a lucky horseshoe motif in the centre. After all, Ponyville market was a competitive place, and our product had to stand out.

This was all set up and ready to go thanks to Big Mac, all I had to do was fetch a few bushels of apples and stick them on the cart, nicely presented. All that remained then was the small metal box that we used to hold the day’s take; there was always a ten bit float in there to provide customers with change.

With everything secured and ready, Big Mac helped me connect my small harness (small compared to the harness he normally used) and I hooked myself up to the wagon. After a couple quick movements to check everything was in order and wasn’t straining or twisted, I began to steadily pull the cart off. I’d head down to Ponyville, set myself up and see how much I could make with the lunchtime rush.


And so, I steadily hauled the wagon out of the farmyard and onto the path towards Ponyville. It was certainly a fair bit heavier than what I typically had to haul during the harvests, but it wasn’t anything that I couldn’t cope with. And to be fair, I probably hauled the lesser weight of the apple carts much further than this one slightly heavier load. So, I put my slight discomfort aside and kept hauling.

The path on which I was travelling lead all the way to the edge of the farm, the house itself is actually a fair way inside the boundary. So, naturally, anypony who needed to get to the house used this road. It was therefore no surprise to me that I saw Derpy flying along the path in the opposite direction.

She had her usual mailmare bag flung over her shoulder and was keeping herself aloft, albeit a little unsteadily, with a few flaps of her wings. As soon as she spotted me with my apple cart, she began waving excitably. Derpy is sort of like Pinkie in that way, though not to the same extreme. Derpy is friendly to ponies she sees, whilst Pinkie of course, knows, and I mean just knows, when somepony new rolls into town and throws them her typical and literal welcome wagon. Whilst she means well, at times it can throw ponies, whereas Derpy just likes to say hello to everypony on her route.

“Morning, Blade Star!” she called as she landed on the road with a surprising amount of grace.

“Mornin’, Derpy,” I replied cheerfully. Seriously, it is not possible to be around Derpy and be sad for more than a few moments, another commonality she shares with the Element of Laughter. “Got anythin’ for me today?” It was rare I got much mail aside from the odd ‘prince’ from Saddle Arabia asking for my bank account details. This time though, it was different.

“Ooh actually yes; this came by the post office this morning; looks kind of important.” Derpy paused to briefly rummage around in her mailbag before hoofing me a scroll. It was similar to the kind that Celestia used, only, more pink. Three guesses who this could be from. Thanking Derpy, I took the scroll from her and opened it on the spot. It read thus:

‘Dear Blade Star,

Hopefully, this letter will find you not too long after you and Applejack get back from your date. I hope you two enjoyed yourselves and that it has brought you closer together. I expect you’re now contemplating what to do next now that you’ve had your first date. It is often a sort of low time with newly formed couples, so don’t worry if things seem to go quiet for a while. Since you two are already co-habiting, the issue of the second date shouldn’t come up for a while. But whilst it may be quiet, don’t allow yourself to distance yourself from Applejack. I will do my best to check in periodically and you can write to me any time if you need some advice.

Sincerely,

Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire.’

Well, that soured my mood a little bit. I did appreciate Cadence’s help in getting over that first hurdle, but I wasn’t some hopeless charity case that needed handholding to do everything. She didn’t need to write a letter to tell me what I already knew. I sighed a little; there was no use in getting mad at her, and she did mean well, and most importantly, she was a good thousand or so miles away from me. And that suited me just fine. Her brand of love was all well and good, but neither Applejack nor I were overly invested in it. With any luck, as our relationship continued, she would ease off. I knew she didn’t give this help to every single new couple in Equestria.

I put the letter in the money tin for safe keeping for the time being and thanked Derpy for giving it to me rather than dropping it off at the house. Sweet Celestia, if AJ had spotted it, the teasing would have been epic in proportions. Following the old saying of ‘one good turn…’ I asked Derpy if she wanted to grab anything from my cart to keep her going through until lunch. She bought herself one of the Jonagold apples that I had towards the front. After that, I said goodbye and the two of us went our separate ways.

About ten minutes later, I found myself in Ponyville and hastened to set up my stall as the many others sprang up around me. It was getting on for ten o’clock and that meant that ponies would soon come for some morning shopping and to grab snacks to tide them over until lunch. Still, at least I didn’t have to worry about business being poached, as the only apple supplier in town, and arguably one of the best, if not the best, in Equestria. Across the way from me, mind, was one the bitterest disputes yet seen. Roseluck and Lily had been engaged in a major pricing war with each other and had been doing their upmost to undercut and discredit each other. The result of this of course, was that everypony simply went to Daisy instead; nopony wants to be around two businessmares who are moments away from scratching each other’s eyes out. Today was no different either, hopefully before long they’d come to their senses, or bankruptcy.

And so, with everything set up, all I now had to do was wait for customers. Like I said, as the only supplier, we don’t need to do over the top advertising. Most of the market was filled with calls imploring shoppers to come and take a look. Personally, I think that over eagerness drives customers away, and since neither Big Mac nor Applejack does anything like that I didn’t feel the need to either. Plus, in a few hours I’d have the ultimate weapon; Apple Bloom.


By the time midday rolled around, business in the market had picked up considerably. Being a weekday though, and a Monday at that, I suppose it is natural though. Ponies on their lunch break want a quick snack, or want to cook up something for dinner. You’d be surprised just how many dishes use apples. And so, I was kept more than busy with a steady stream of customers. Back on Earth, I had used to work in a small village shop. We did everything from groceries, to petrol, even a cyber café. But that place used to have short sharp sessions with a dozen customers and then nothing for hours. With the apple stand, you didn’t end up with ponies queuing like cider or zap apple season, but you normally had only a minute or two between customers. So, for most of the day, I was kept busy. And even when it got quiet, the antics of Roseluck and Lily could keep a pony amused for hours.

After the lunchtime rush, during which I probably made the better part of sixty bits in sales, there was something of a slowdown in the market. Ponies go back to work and such so things do tend to go quiet for a while. The next rush would be around three o’clock when the school let out. Hopefully Apple Bloom would be on hoof before everything hit the fan. While it was nothing I couldn’t handle, it was nice to have an extra set of hooves to help with sales. I was just contentedly sorting out the small change in the tin, when a shadow loomed over me.

“Hello, Blade Star,” Discord said gleefully. “And how is business for you this fine day?” Ever since the zap apple tree shocked him, Discord has been acting like less of a troll towards me. Either the shock knocked some sense into him or he’s simply being more pragmatic since he knows he can’t push my buttons. I’m guessing the latter.

“Business is doin’ just fine, Discord,” I replied contentedly. “Ya here to pick up that bushel of Bramley apples Fluttershy ordered?” My little sister’s housemate had placed a fairly large order on Friday and we’d set aside a few for her over the weekend.

“Yes, yes, you know me, dear boy. Always happy to help out a friend.” I honestly sometimes have no clue if he is being sarcastic or sincere. I began to root around behind the cart for them. Much to my surprise though, the bushel had vanished. Lifting my head back up to tell Discord, I saw the apples, neatly bagged resting in his lion paw.

“Looking for something?” he asked nonchalantly. I merely rolled my eyes at his antics.

“Very funny, Discord. That’ll be three bits if ya please,” I held out my empty hoof. The draconequus deposited three gold pieces in my hoof and began to walk away. It was only by chance that I inspected the coins more closely, and it was a good job I did. Rather than the typical design, which had the sun on one side and the moon on the other, this one had Discord on it. And with each turn of the coin, a new face appeared on each side.

“Hey, Discord!” I called after him. “When Ah said three bits, Ah meant real ones.” The draconequus turned, his ears perking up in surprise. He inquisitively took one of the coins from me and inspected it.

“Oh, I am sorry, Blade Star. I’d even forgotten I had these with me still,” he said, before promptly snapping his talons and replacing them with legal tender. “I always do like to keep some of the old currency on me, just in case.

“What do ya mean ‘old currency’?” I asked.

“Oh, these old things were around when I was still running the show around these parts,” he replied. “Just because I am a creature of chaos doesn’t mean I can ignore the economy.” He then snapped his talons which summoned that famous poster that read ‘It’s the economy, stupid’. “Oh and by the way, how did your little dream date go last night?” he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“It was fine, and it’s really none of your business, Discord,” I replied.

Seeing perhaps that he wasn’t going to get much fun out of me, Discord snapped his talons and disappeared in a flash of light. Just as he did so, the school bell began to ring, signalling the end of the day. A few minutes later, Apple Bloom turned up at the stand to help me out.


The youngest of the Apple family, as ever, was eager to help out. However, as I have said, her sales tactics are a little, well, shall we say aggressive? From watching her I determined the following. If you come within ten feet of the stand, you are buying apples, no ifs or buts. If you already have apples, she will hound you, insisting that you should buy more ‘just in case’. If you already have apples in sufficient quantity, she will begin listing all the recipes she can think of to get rid of them so you can buy more. In short, the filly is the ultimate product of capitalism.

Of course, there were some side effects to these sales tactics. To begin with, we sold a great many apples rapidly. But after about an hour or so, potential customers began to noticeably go out of their way to avoid the ten foot radius circle that marked Apple Bloom’s ‘kill zone’. Whilst it was sort of cute and quite funny, I had to rein her in for the sake of maintaining a market.

“Alright, AB, Ah think you’ve done enough for today. Two hundred bits in two hours ain’t bad Ah must say.” The small tin that held the days take was now full to bursting with loot. Apple Bloom trotted back over to the stand and settled down next to me. She was still quite excitable and eager though.

“Hey, Blade Star, do ya ever think Applejack might let me run the stand on my own one of these days?” she asked hopefully. Whilst she brought in good short term profit, if left to her own devices, Apple Bloom would undoubtedly drive all customers away within a week. She’s just so eager, certainly following the old ABC of always be closing. Hay, at times she could be quite scary.

“Maybe when you’re a bit older, AB,” I replied diplomatically. “Besides, ya have to run the stand all day, and ya have to go school as Ah recall.”

“But look how much Ah managed to make.” She gestured to the bulging tin of bits. “Ah’ve only been here two hours and Ah made three times as much as what you made the entire day.” Thinking quickly, I countered with a long time excuse of my father’s.

“It ain’t just about sellin’ apples here, AB. There’s a whole lot of work to do along with it. Me and Big Macintosh had to set everythin’ up last week, then this mornin’, Ah had to load it and pull it all here, and when we’re finished Ah’ll have to haul it all back and pack it away too.” I paused for a moment, my voice taking on a tone of fatherly patience. “Now Ah know you’re eager to help an’ all, but Ah don’t think ya could do that on your own. And think how much time you’d miss hangin’ out with your friends.” That seemed to tip the scales in my favour.

“Yeah, Ah s’pose,” she said, sounding a little dejected and kicking at the ground. I leaned down and briefly nuzzled her.

“Hey now, don’t get so glum. Ya just be patient. It’s like your cutie mark; good things come to those who wait.”

It was at that moment that Time Turner came ambling up the market towards us. Instantly, Apple Bloom bounded towards him.

“Hey, Mister Time Turner! Do ya want to buy some apples?” The old Timelord’s eyes went wide in absolute terror.

“Oh no, not you again!” he exclaimed as he attempted to backpedal out of the situation. It was quite comical really. Here was a being who had stared down vast armies of monsters intent on conquering the universe, and he was terrified of a three foot tall filly. Still, I was not about to pass up an opportunity to ‘rescue’ the Doctor.

“Oh, c’mon, our prices are really affordable for anypony, and just think how much you make with ‘em,” Apple Bloom continued bouncing up to reach his eye level. The poor fellow was now standing stock still and imagining he was anywhere else.

“Alright, AB,” I called. “Ah think ya made your point. How ‘bout ya ease off a bit and let him get near the stand, huh?” And with that, the filly ceased her verbal assault. Time Turner took a sharp intake of breath and trotted over to me.

“Thanks for that,” he said quietly to me.

“Anytime, doc,” I replied. I then raised my voice to a more audible volume. “Now, what brings ya out this way?” In response, he turned and showed me what had been partially hiding behind him.

“Derpy asked me to keep an eye on Dinky; she’s still got a few more stops to make on her mail route. The little tyke’s been helping me out in the shop, so I thought I might take her to get a bite to eat,” he explained. I turned my attention to the small unicorn filly.

“Hello there, Dinky,” I said kindly.

“Hey, Dinks,” Apple Bloom added. Dinky smiled and waved back at the two of us. The presence of a classmate luckily diverted Apple Bloom’s attention for the time being as she and Dinky chatted to each other. The two seemed to be discussing something scientific related to cutie marks, but the expressions Dinky was using went clear over my head and Apple Bloom’s too. While they busied themselves, I picked out a couple apples for Time Turner.

“Oh, Time Turner, by the way, is it alright if Ah bring in that old clock from the farmhouse in a day or so; the darn thing keeps losin’ time.” The Timelord handed me a couple of bits.

“Sure, I could do with something new to tinker with this week. Bring it by on Thursday and I’ll see what I can do. I might even rope in Dinky if her mother’s busy. She’s an intelligent little thing that filly.” I let the ghost of a smile appear on my face and bid him farewell.

With the departure of the two Timelords, we had pretty much reached closing time. So, with Apple Bloom’s help, I began to pack everything away and lock up the stand, turning it into a cart once again. Hitching myself up to the harness, I turned to Apple Bloom.

“Alright, AB, let’s get you home.” And I began to heave away at the now somewhat lighter load.


When the two of us got back to the farmhouse, Applejack was waiting for us. After covertly checking whether or not Apple Bloom had been too much of a bother for me, she relieved us of the money tin, locking it safely away in the large metal safe that lived in Granny Smith’s bedroom. I told her that I’d arranged to take the clock in the hallway to Time Turner to see if he could fix it up as well, which she seemed pleased with.

After dinner, I treated myself to a spot of stargazing as I often tend to do. This night though, I was joined by both Applejack and Apple Bloom. AJ does it I think simply because she likes being with me, and it is quite beautiful and sort of romantic at times. Apple Bloom on the other hand, seems to have rekindled her interest in astronomy. Whilst the Cutie Mark Crusaders had long abandoned the idea as possible cutie marks, she seemed eager to learn a little bit from me. Hay, sometimes it was like having a pup follow me around.

My thoughts turned to my odd paternal quirks of late. Perhaps she was, imprinting I suppose the right word is, on me. Since the poor filly grew up without a real father to speak of, she would naturally gravitate toward a father figure. I think I’ll take that as a compliment.

Author's Note:

Proofread by Sidetrack.

The snippet with Time Turner was inspired by this:

I think another interlude and then, there will be a small adventure arc.

THIS WILL NOT END THE SLICE-OF-LIFE CHAPTERS, DO NOT ABANDON THE FIC.

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