Chapter 75 - Apple Family Reunion - Part 1
“Blade Star, can I talk to you for a minute?” I promptly set down the medium sized text I had been reading. Those are words that fill every male, regardless of species, with an ominous sense of dread. Particularly when it comes from a female. It usually means you’re in trouble. I got up from my sitting position at one of the library’s reading tables and turned to the purple alicorn that had addressed me.
“Sure, Twilight,” I replied, trying to sound unconcerned. I put a bookmark where I had been reading and walked over to her. She looked a little uncomfortable about something and didn’t seem all that keen on making eye contact; something was bothering her. I sat myself down in front of her and waited to see what she had to say.
“Blade Star,” she began, but this promptly trailed off. It was if she knew what she wanted to say, but wasn’t quite sure how to say it. Eventually, she started up again. “What’s been happening with your study into dark magic?” I was still a little confused.
“It’s going alright Ah s’pose. Ah’ve learnt a lot from that book by King Sombra, and Ah’ve found a couple other books that are kind of useful. Though to be honest, ever since the whole time travel incident, Ah’ve been easing off on it. Somethin’ just weren’t sitting right with me.” It was true, after I had returned, in addition to finally putting aside my hatred of the entire changeling species, I’d also gone through a bit of self-loathing, mainly focussing on the fact that I’d used dark magic to actually harm someone. Oddly though, this statement brought a smile to my tutor’s face.
“Oh, I see. I was actually going to talk to you about that, you see. I know before I said I didn’t mind you studying dark magic in addition to your regular studies. But ever since then, I’ve been kind of uncomfortable talking about it with you, even academically.” I cottoned on to what she was driving at.
“Because ya had a bad experience when you used it in the Crystal Empire, right?” I offered carefully. It is something of a sensitive topic for her. She nodded, looking away a little.
“It’s just, I’ve seen you use some low level spells every now and again, and I kept remembering the time we actually studied dark magic in our lessons. With the Alicorn Amulet, remember?”
“Ah remember Ah kinda went a little funny on ya until ya got me to see what was happenin’ to me,” I replied, remembering the lesson with some unease.
“Exactly. I don’t want to seem like I’m stopping you from learning, Blade Star. But…” She looked away again. “I can’t help but feel a little frightened of it.” Twilight had a fair point. She had been exposed, by her use of dark magic, to her worst fear. It would not be unexpected for that to have left her deeply distressed. I myself was pretty surprised when she agreed to let me study it on my own time. Now though, I realised the poor thing had been putting on a brave face.
“Look, Twilight,” I said, putting a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “Ah was thinking of droppin’ the whole thing anyway. It’s been getting’ to me too. Ah want to examine other areas of magic; like long range teleportation or maybe alicorn magic. If you want me to, Ah’ll stop and we can just go back to this just bein’ you teaching me.” I removed my hoof before it overstayed its welcome. After a moment Twilight nodded.
“Then I would like you to stop studying dark magic, Blade Star,” she replied, looking directly at me now. Taking me by surprise, she moved in for a quick hug. “Thank you.”
“Alright, Twi. How ‘bout we just get back to what ya wanted to look at today?” I asked, a little uncomfortable being hugged by the alicorn princess.
Luckily, Twilight promptly released me and moved on to the lesson she had planned for later today.
The lesson Twilight went for was actually something that did interest deeply, and was probably good for both of us, reversing dark magic effects. I’d performed similar spells, only against chaos magic, when Discord had messed with some of Twilight’s beloved books, turning them decidedly avian. As a mere unicorn, I couldn’t reverse high level dark magic, just as Shining couldn’t break free of Sombra’s sealing spell. However, there were some lower level spells I could resist and I was capable of performing partial counters to some high levels spells.
I spent most of the lesson attempting to improve my ability to resist hypnosis and mind control spells. Both required mental discipline to defeat. You needed to recognise what was happening to weaken the spell. However, whilst a hypnosis spell requires, to an extent, the participation of the target, a mind control spell is different.
A mind control spell can be, in some ways, likened to a Vulcan mind meld. The pony casting effectively neutralises the will of the target, turning them into a puppet that will do as they order it to. Unlike hypnosis, it is imposed on the target, rather than achieved through partial cooperation. This makes it much harder to resist. It is easy enough to know when it is happening, but it is very difficult to override it without outside help.
I practiced for a good hour or two, with Twilight casting the spell on me (and not doing anything else), and I tried to break free. A couple of times, I know I got very close, but it was just no good. To be fair, I was trying to resist an alicorn though. Eventually, I had to call it a day, as I was beginning to tap into my reserves. I try to avoid doing that unless I have to.
Needless to say, I was a little annoyed with myself that I hadn’t been able to break the spell. But, to be fair, I am not Twilight, I do not excel in all areas of magic. There are some things I simply cannot do. Just like I can’t roll my tongue like my dad does when he wants to be annoying. Twilight did however, commend me for getting very close. Besides, this wasn’t the first spell I found I couldn’t cast. I know for a fact that I cannot do any transformation spells unaided. Tried to, but I just can’t. Unlike my tutor, my cutie mark restricts me to certain kinds of magic. Although as I have said, Twilight believes me to be a little above average.
In any case, I had still learned what Twilight wanted me to learn for the day. So I was soon granted my liberty again to head back to the farm. As I headed out of town, I looked up at the clock; time was getting on. In a few more hours we could expect the vanguard of the Apple family to arrive for the reunion. Breaking into a brisk trot, I began to make my way back home.
Of course, today I was not heading home all alone. No, today I had Spike with me. He’d spent most of the time I was with Twilight sorting books and just generally tidying up the library, he’d also dug up a few books on the Lunar Guard for me. I think he was quite glad that for once Twilight didn’t rope him into either her lectures or one of her experiments. The guy does have his own life outside of the library you know. Despite how things appear, Twilight needs Spike; for one thing, the mare can’t cook for toffee. When I was all set to go, I let the young lad jump up on my back to take him down to the farm. With those small legs, the trip is quite a distance for him.
We’d had a fair bit of help setting up the reunion, particularly from Lizzie, who I’d spotted criss crossing the skies over the farm, doing her best to keep the skies clear for us. Now Spike had a fairly simple job, he would be helping us get the fires going with his species signature ability.
“Ah gotta say, Spike, Ah’m mighty glad ya agreed to lend us a hoof with this,” I said as I made my way back towards the farm. “Sure it’s easy enough to keep a fire goin’, but getting that spark is mighty tricky for earth ponies. And Ah don’t mind usin’ fire spells, but Ah’d still be a mite worried ‘bout startin’ a big ol’ blaze like that.”
“Hey, no worries, Bones,” Spike replied, grinning at the use of my nickname. “Happy to help you guys out. And it is nice just to get to practice without sending messages back and forth.” Ah yes, Spike the Dragon, arguably the world’s first living smartphone. No, that’s too harsh, and like I’d said before, Twilight would be lost without him.
We soon reached the archway with the large apple sign hanging above us; the boundary of the farm. In just a few hours, there’d be ponies from all over Equestria and beyond coming through here.
As we neared the farmhouse, Spike jumped off my back and the two of us walked over to Applejack, who was busily taking care of other final preparations for the reunion. We had plenty of water thanks to Lizzie, food had been provided by both the Apples’ themselves, and by Pinkie and the Cakes, and now we would have fires, both to keep ponies warm later on and to cook with. It looked like we had everything covered.
“Hey ‘Jack!” I called as the two of us strolled up. “Ah got Spike to get the fires goin’. Got that hard cider for me?” Whilst Luna’s moonshine would be a far better accelerant, I would never forgive myself for wasting such fine liquor on the fire, so we would use cider instead. Applejack turned from her work to greet us both.
“Glad you two are back. Howdy there, Spike,” she said kindly. “Big Macintosh has got a barrel of cider hooked up to a hoof pump. So Ah guess if you, Bones, spray the stuff over the firewood, then Spike can get her goin’.” The two of us nodded.
“Right, Applejack,” we said in unison.
We headed a little ways away from the farmhouse to where everything had been set up. Once Mac and I had gotten all the firewood sorted and chopped up, we’d piled them up to make a few fires near the tables and other key areas, both to keep ponies warm later in the evening and to cook a few things as well. And speaking of cooking, to this day the words ‘fold, crimp, slide to the left’ still echo in my head.
Anyway, we had a few hours before the first arrivals were due, so we were going to get all the fires lit and going now, since everypony would be pretty busy chatting with each other and generally having fun for the next few hours of the reunion. So, ideally all the important stuff needed to be set up and ready before then. Water was already done thanks to Lizzie, there was plenty of food to go around, and the various events we’d all been planning were set up and ready to go. So all that was left was the fires.
Spike and I found Mac steadily pumping out cider onto each of the fires with a small water pump that was hooked up to a cider barrel. He was heavily coating all the wood to ensure that the fire properly took hold once it was lit. Even though there was plenty of fuel for the fire, if there wasn’t an accelerant or something to help it, the large logs would be too much, and the flames would simply die out.
Once the fire was going though, it would just be a case of keeping them fuelled with the firewood we had. And of that we had plenty. Two full grown trees should be more than enough for one evening.
“Hey, Mac, ya nearly ready for Spike here to get lightin’ all these up?” I asked as we trotted up to him. The stallion was still steadily pumping away spreading the very flammable cider all over the logs.
“Eeyup,” he replied as he continued to work.
“Need any help finishing up?” I gestured to the pump he was using.
“Nnope. Just two more to go. Ya can get to work on the others if ya like.” I figured Mac would, in the time it took us to light all the other fires, be more than finished when we reached the main bonfire.
“Fair enough,” I said, before turning to Spike. “Okay, Spike; your time to shine. If nothin’ else this’ll be a bit of fun for ya.” Before we headed off though, Big Mac called after Spike.
"Hey, Spike! Ya still want that limited edition Bluejays card Ah got? 'Cos Ah got Thunderlane beggin' me for it." Ah yes, hoofball; never understood it myself. But both Spike and Mac are both into it deeply. Spike was going to stay on a little while into the reunion anyway to spend some time with one of his few 'guy' friends.
"Sure, Big Mac. I'll give you a couple of those Daredevils cards I picked up in Manehatten," Spike replied.
Since Big Mac was still working away on the main fire, we decided to start with some of the smaller fires that were dotted around where the reunion was to take place. Rather than being large fires, these were more like campfires in size. I briefly lay down to allow Spike to jump off my back. The young dragon took a couple moments to practice his innate skill, blowing a couple of small flames. He then turned to the actual fire pit and let out a pretty large jet of light green flames. The cider instantly caught; I even took a step or two back as the fire briefly shot upwards.
“Whoa! Nice job there, Spike,” I commented, still a little taken aback. He’s able to do that as just an infant. Makes you think what he’ll be like when he grows up. Spike merely looked smug as he jumped up onto my back again and we headed off to the next spot.
We repeated this process around all the small fires that were set up, and liberally coated in cider. The little dragon had no trouble getting them to burn. I honestly do now fear a little for Twilight; all those books, all very vulnerable to a small spark. Or a sneeze as the case may be.
By the time we made our way back to Big Mac, he had finished his own part of the work, and was just disconnecting the pump from the now empty cider barrel when we returned. Spike’s ability had impressed me greatly. I’d seen him send and receive letters before, but using his fire breath for its intended purpose was quite amazing to watch.
“Alright, Spike,” I said as we drew up. “Now for the big one. Damn; thing’s gotta be the size of the Olympic flame back on Earth. Reckon ya can get her goin’?”
“Just watch me,” Spike replied confidently.
In a sort of comical fashion, the three foot tall baby dragon walked over to the huge bonfire. It had to be about twice my own height and stretched a few feet in length. It amazed me that, with the right additions, all of this could go up with just one little spark. With the warmth and dryness of the day, I had actually been a little worried about Big Mac, even with everything being done outdoors.
Aiming at the central base of the wood pile, Spike breathed in and…nothing. No fire, no flashes of flame, and certainly no sudden appearance of a huge roaring inferno. He tried a couple more times, again without success. After that, he resorted to a rather odd approach. Like a lighter, he began to repeatedly make a clicking noise, and here and there a few sparks came out, but still no flames.
“Everythin’ okay, Spike?” I asked, a little concerned. He’d been going like this around all the other fires with no trouble, why couldn’t he make fire now? Dragons certainly don’t stop producing fire until they are very close to the end of their life, and for Spike that was a long, long way down the line.
Luckily though, Spike eventually recovered. After a few more attempts, the familiar jet of green flames shot out and, with a great roaring sound, the whole thing caught. Big Mac and I cheered and offered our applause. Spike meanwhile had somehow managed, possibly due to the suddenness of the fire, to singe a few spines here and there. If he had eyebrows, there certainly wouldn’t be anything left of them.
“There ya go, got there in the end,” I said encouragingly. “Ya sure you’re okay now?” It was still an odd occurrence.
“Nah, it’s no biggie,” Spike replied. “I think I just got a little nervous about starting such a big fire. Twilight’s always telling me to be careful with my fire breath.” That seemed to explain the issue away. As long as there’s nothing wrong with him, I was content to leave it be.
With all the fires lit and going strong, Spike’s job was done. I took the youngster back to the library, picking up those books on my way out and hoofing him a couple Commando comics I’d managed to dig up from some of my dad’s stuff. After he'd picked up the hoofball cards he wanted to exchange with Mac, I quickly ferried him back long with my new books. Once this reunion was over, I planned to do a little bit of research, see if I could find out a bit more about this regiment Strong Shield had told me about.
By the time, we got back to the farm, everything was set to go. The family were all gathered outside waiting for the imminent arrival of their relatives. I quickly hurried to join them. Mac promised Spike he'd catch up with him once everypony was welcomed and settled in. He and Spike really do get along, aside from me and his family, Spike is the only one Mac talks to regularly. The level of obsession they have for that sport puts my own extensive knowledge of MLP to shame.
“Hey, everypony, did Ah miss anythin’?” I asked as I cantered over to them. Applejack shook her head as she removed the cooking apron she had previously been wearing.
“No, Bones. But another few seconds and ya might’ve. Take a look.” She gestured to the road that led to and from the town. Moments later, dozens, and I mean dozens of ponies in all forms of transport from carriages and carts, to airships and rudimentary aircraft came storming over the hill. All I could think to say was:
“Sweet Celestia! There’s thousands of them!”
And with that, the Apple family reunion began.
Ordinarily, you’d expect a reunion of this scale to take a day just to get everypony together. But it seems the Apple’s, when the occasion calls for it, are just as organised as our friendly neighbourhood princess. There had to be the better part of at least fifty relatives. It was amazing really; all these ponies, from all over Equestria, and even a few beyond, all coming here to where the family first settled. Like salmon swimming back to their birthplace.
In short order, with Applejack by my side, I was introduced to dozens of different relatives. I did my upmost just to link names and faces, never mind remembering back stories. However, I did come across a few familiar faces. Firstly, there was Braeburn, AJ’s cousin from way out in Appleloosa. His orchard had been going steady for a couple of years now since the treaty with the buffalo tribes. It was nice to see that, in one reality, that whole story had played out to a better outcome. The place has boomed ever since, with the orchards down there almost rivalling Sweet Apple Acres.
Next of course, there was the more local relation. Arguably the male, earth pony answer to Derpy, Caramel was occasionally roped in to help out at times. But given his somewhat, shall we say, clumsy nature, Big Mac preferred me helping out. Still a good, decent pony though, and a great guy to talk to. I imagine if he were human and the two of us had met on Earth, we would have become very close friends.
After those two I met one of the few Apples not to have an overly apple based name – Fiddle Sticks. Like Braeburn, she too was from further down in south-western Equestria. Though she hailed from Dodge Junction, the mare was something of a travelling musician most of the time. A talented violinist in her own right, she had a great ear for music and made up part of the little ad hoc band that played at the reunions.
And then of course, arguably the only other pony that stuck out more than me (remember I was at this point a sole unicorn surrounded by dozens of earth ponies and feeling a bit of an odd man out) Apple Bloom’s favourite cousin, Babs Seed hailing from that vast metropolis they call Manehatten. If anypony else could be more of a stand out in the crowd than me, it was that city slicker. Still, she’s a good kid, and her personality, usually, isn’t representative of most folks from Manehatten.
I could go on and on, but it would take far too long, and I honestly can’t remember everypony from that reunion. It took about three quarters of an hour for everypony to park up, pay their cab fares, tie off their balloons, shut down any running engines and get all their kit stowed away.
First item on the agenda, after AJ had welcomed everypony and officially kicked things off, was to get everypony fed and watered after their journey. We didn’t want to have to go and fetch Nurse Redheart, or worse Horse himself. I never could stand that guy; drug addicted, cynical, egocentric jerk. Reminds me too much of me before I found ponies, only without the crippling leg injury and painkiller addiction. Yet whenever any of the girls dropped by, he was always all smiles. Hay, when I did have to go to pick up Granny Smith’s medication, I’d do my upmost to pass by his office, where he’d be looking at patient files, and yell ‘It’s lupus!’ just to annoy him.
With everypony well hydrated, things quickly began to kick off. The atmosphere was, in a strange way, quite similar to when I went to BUCK in Manchester. Most of these ponies didn’t get much of a chance to see each other outside this reunion, aside from letters and the occasional visit. This was a chance for them all to get together, chat, and have some fun; very much like a convention. Suddenly, I didn’t feel so uncomfortable about all this.
AJ and I stuck together for the most part, working our way around the various areas that had been set up. To start with, we stopped by some of the older ponies, who were all gravitating around Granny Smith. These old dears were still contentedly working on their quilts, chatting idly about all sorts. When the two of us walked up, we quickly became a topic of conversation.
“It’s just so nice to hear that Applejack’s got herself a nice stallion at last. I mean the way she works herself to the bone, poor thing. I was startin’ to worry she’d turn into an old spinster like me,” one of the old dears said in an upper Manehatten accent. Obviously she was of that generation where being unmarried in one’s mid-20’s was considered deeply odd.
“Oh, he is such a nice feller,” Granny Smith replied. “And he helps out on the farm to boot. Why, here’s the young whipper snapper now.” She waved at the two of us. “Howdy there, Bones!”
“Howdy, Granny. How’s the quilt comin’ along?” I asked, touching the rim of my hat. The thing would never be finished, but that wasn’t the point. Plus it pre-empted the other ponies from changing the subject.
“Oh it’s turnin’ out mighty fine, child. Another few reunions and we may actually have somethin’.” The three old dears promptly burst into laughter. “What are you two up to anyhow? Thinkin’ of sneaking off on your own were ya?” Important thing to note; despite her age, at times Granny Smith can be as sharp as a tack. Luckily for me, AJ stepped in to save my hide.
“Now, Granny, where the hay did ya get an idea like that?” she countered jokingly. “Me and Bones here were just gonna go see about startin’ the seven legged race for the young’uns.”
“Now ya have shortened the course this time haven’t ya, Applejack?” Granny replied, resulting in more laughter. AJ had learned her lesson from last year and everything was far less micromanaged. Still, remembering that made her blush a bit. The distance those poor foals ran, they could probably pass SAS selection at this point.
We left the OAPs to their knitting and headed on over to where the seven legged race was set up. It was pretty much the same as its human equivalent, only each pair had one of their front legs bound. If you ask me, as a former biped, that makes it even more difficult.
As ever, Apple Bloom had paired up with Babs Seed for this, and both were keen to try and place first. Anything would be an improvement over last year; I don’t think anypony actually finished all those laps around the trees. Plus, with all those tongue twisters they had to say, very few of them could say anything for a day or two.
The foals were all lined up at the start line, and to include me a little bit more, AJ said I could be the one to drop the flag and start the race. This year, it was a straight shot up to a few trees, ten circuits of those, egg and spoon balancing for the next leg, a little bit of barrel weaving and then finally a full on sprint to the finish. Applejack handed me the green flag. Standing next to the start line, I addressed the eager youngsters.
“Alright everypony! This will be a fair race. No shooting, stabbing, cliff-pushing, rock-throwing, cactus-grinding, neck-lassoing, setting fires, or other acts that causes a team to unfairly lose their way, bleed heavily or black out. On your marks, get set, go!” With that I dropped the green flag and the foals all bolted off, each one falling over at some point before they reached the trees.
Since it was a circuit, the start line was also the finish, so we had the luxury of standing by and watching the foals. The assembled crowd of ponies, most of whom had managed to grab themselves apple fritters on the way over, were cheering like mad for their favourites and I have a sneaking suspicion that bits changed hooves. Still, I have to admit, I was having the time of my life.
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Damn, that was my entire strategy!
That was a very good chapter. Keep it up Bones
and the Apple Family Reunion starts. looking good as of now.
sidetrack you still have the replacing the winners to get all the glory and love for food trick
5848317 That was a hilarious way to announce something though
5848456 We eat emotions. Ever hear of 'liquid courage'?
5848480 I heard of that and liquid pride according to Shining Armor. =p
I like how you included the hoofball thing from the S5 premiere.
(Argueably that is the only thing I missed from the premiere, because I was late for the livestream, but I got it from fancomics.)
I also like how you referenced Spike not being able to cast a fire. Since this takes place before the Equestria Games and all.
5848883 Thanks. At least you only missed the beginning, I had a bloody ad cut off the whole sequence where Fluttershy pretends to turn on the rest of the Mane six. Twenty five seconds of sodding PS4 ads and no skip button.
5848887 The Brony Network had a stream set up on livestream.com, and it doesn't place ads every ten minutes.
http://www.livestream.com/thebronynetwork7
Before then, I was going to Brony State, and whenever the show would go into an ad break I would refresh the page, since that is when that ad would pop up.
5848896 Thanks, I was on Cinemaquestria before, missed half the episode.
Thank god for YouTube, even if the vids get taken down fairly quickly.
5848910 *cough**cough*
http://yp1.yayponies.no/episodes.php
*cough**cough*
5848927 Shhh! Hasbro will hear us!
*looks around fearfully*
5848956
Hope he doesnt get too drunk. Looking up, see all ponies, and go, Where all the Earth wimmin at?
Yes Daisy, there Is a Mungo.
5848956
Netflix is a more... officially sanctioned option. Every episode and EQG movie with the possible exception of the second half of Season 7, and the definite exception of the MLP movie.
8643263 UK Netflix only has as far as Season 5 right now.
Although I think you can also watch newer episodes out of order on Tinypop. I guess they have the contract for those season 6 and 7 episodes.
Oh I thought he was talking about the cha cha slide!!