Immovable

by Purplescales42

Meet the Family

A week later, Applejack was leading Iron Ore down the path to Sweet Apple Acres. He had never seen so many apples before. The two stopped on a hill overlooking the farm.

“This is the place?” asked Iron. Applejack nodded.

“Yep. Home sweet home.” She started heading for the house. “C’mon, the family’s anxious to meet ya.” Iron followed the mare to the farm. As they approached, a small yellow filly with a bow in her mane and a brown dog ran out of the house and up to the two.

“Hey, Sis!” greeted the filly enthusiastically. She looked at Iron almost straining her neck to get a look at his face. “Is this the pony you were talkin’ about?”

“This is him,” confirmed Applejack. “His name’s Iron Ore.”

“Howdy, Iron Ore! I’m Apple Bloom!” greeted the filly. “And this here is Winona.” The dog barked a greeting. Iron smiled a little and nodded.

“Pleasure to meet you, Miss Apple Bloom,” he greeted. Apple Bloom giggled at being called ‘Miss.’ Iron patted Winona on the head.

"That's a cool patch ya have there, Iron," observed Apple Bloom. "Are ya'll a pirate or somethin'?"

"Not exactly," said Iron with a chuckle. "I don't do well in boats. I get seasick."

"Well, if yer not a pirate then why's yer eye all-"

“Alright, Missy," interrupted Applejack, "leave the poor stallion be. Ain’t there something you need to be doin’?” The filly gasped as she recalled something.

“Oh, yer right!” she shouted. “I’m late for a Crusaders meeting! Bye!” She ran off with Winona leaving the two adults.

“Crusaders?” asked Iron.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Applejack. "Sorry about her. She gets a little nosey sometimes. She don't mean no harm though."

"It's fine," Iron assured her. I'd be more surprised if she didn't ask really. Kids are always asking me about it." Applejack nodded in understanding.Finally, the two reached the house.

“Come on in," said Applejack as the two entered. Iron looked around at the humble abode. It was simplistic but somehow charming at the same time. "Granny, we're home," announced Applejack. "Granny?"

“Ima comin’, Missy, hold on,” came a voice from the kitchen. It was followed by an old green mare walking into the living room. She stopped in front of Iron and looked him over. “So, you must be Iron Ore then?”

“Yes, Ma'am," said Iron politely. "I appreciate your family helping me like this."

“Think nothin' of it young feller,” she said with a warm smile. “Why don’t ya get yerself settled in? Applejack can show ya up t’ yer room.”

“Thank you, Ma’am.” Iron and Applejack started to head to the stairs when Granny noticed Iron’s torn cloak.

I can fix that nice cloak of yers later if you like,” she offered. Iron looked at his cloak.

“Um. . .perhaps later,” he said . Granny nodded and went back into the kitchen. Applejack took Iron upstairs to a spare bedroom. There was a bed, closet, dresser drawers, and a window.

“This is where you’ll be stayin,’” said Applejack. “Ya’ll start work tomorrow. Fer now, just get settled in. Iron walked into the room and tossed his bag by the drawers. “Will this do?” Iron looked back at her and nodded.

“It will. Thank you,” he said with a small smile. Applejack smiled back at him.

“Well, get yer stuff arranged,” she told him. “I’ll come get ya when dinner’s ready.”

“Mhm,” grunted Iron as he took his cloak off letting the mare finally see his Cutie Mark: a snowcapped mountain. She caught herself staring and left.

“See ya in a bit,” she shouted back to him. Iron didn't answer as he hung his cloak up in the closet. He started to consider letting Granny Smith repair it, but it didn't seem right to let the people he owed do anything more for him than was required. He decided to crash on the bed and get a little rest. The bed was comfy but a little small forcing him to curl his legs up some so he would fit. In a few moments, he had drifted off into a comfortable sleep.

***

Two hours later, Iron was still asleep. It was getting close to dinner and Applejack decided to go wake him up. As she approached his room, she could hear the sound of snoring through his door. “As if Big Mac weren't bad enough,” she muttered under her breath. She opened the door and saw Iron laying on the bed with his back facing her. “Iron.”

No response.

“Iron!” she said a little louder.

He shifted a bit but didn’t wake up.

“IRON ORE!” shouted Applejack.

“Ah!” shouted Iron as he sat up and looked around the room. He saw Applejack standing in the doorway giving him an annoyed stare.

“Y’all sure are a sound sleeper,” she told him

“Sorry,” Iron apologized as he got out of bed and stretched. “That’s probably the best sleep I’ve had in a while. Guess I was more tired than I thought. How long was I out?”

“Couple hours,” said Applejack. “Ah’d have left ya there but dinner’s all ready. If’n ya want to sleep a little more that’s fine.” Iron’s stomach growled.

“Actually, dinner sounds pretty good,” he admitted. The two headed downstairs and into the living room where Iron saw Apple Bloom, Winona, Granny Smith and a large crimson colored stallion.

"Hey, Iron," greeted Apple Bloom happily.

"Evening," Iron replied.

"Iron, Ah don't think you've met by brother yet," said Applejack gesturing a hoof to the stallion. The crimson stallion got up from his seat on the couch and stood in front of him as the two sized each other up. Applejack was finally able to get a side-by-side comparison of the two and was surprised to find out Iron was bigger than Big Mac. Actually, Iron at least half a foot taller and a little bulkier too. This didn't seem to faze Big Mac in the slightest though as he and Iron looked each other over with hard glares.

“. . .”

“. . .”

“Applejack’s brother, huh?”

“Eeyup.”

“Big Macintosh, right?”

“Eeyup. Yer the new farm hand?”

“Mhm.”

“Iron Ore was it?”

“Mhm.”

“. . .”

“. . .”

“. . .”

“Well, good chat,” said Iron happily. Big Mac smiled and nodded.

“Eeyup. Pleasure meetin' ya.” The two stallions headed into the kitchen.

“What just happened?” asked Apple Bloom confused.

“Who knows, Sis,” said Applejack with a shrug. “Boys are weird.”

***

Dinner was a little awkward. Iron barely spoke outside of what his duties would be around the farm. Apple Bloom and Granny Smith both asked about where he came from but Iron only deflected with brief vague answers. Finally, he excused himself from the table leaving the Apples to themselves. He went outside to wander around the orchard to try and get familiar with it. The sun was starting to set as he found a hill that had a nice view of the property. He sat down and decided to watch the sunset.

“Woof!” barked Winona as she walked up to him.

“Come to keep me company?” asked Iron as he scratched the dog’s ears.

“Actually, we came to make sure ya didn’t get yerself lost,” answered a voice to his left. Iron jumped a bit and saw Applejack approach. “Ah’m sorry. Ah didn’t mean to startle ya. Forgot yer blind in that eye.”

“It’s fine,” Iron assured her. “I'm just looking around. Is that alright?”

“Sure,” said Applejack as she came around and sat to his right. “Picked a good spot here," she told him. "Ah used to watch the sunset out here with my folks sometimes.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, where are your parents? Do they not live with you?” Applejack’s face went solemn as she looked at the ground.

“They, um, aren’t around anymore,” she explained.

“Oh,” said Iron feeling like an idiot. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right,” said Applejack looking up and becoming cheery again. “So what do you think of the farm.”

“You have a beautiful piece of land,” said Iron. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many types of apples before.” Applejack chuckled. “Your family is really nice too. If the rest of the Ponyville’s citizens are as nice, I might actually think about staying.”

“That’s mighty kind of ya to say.” It was quiet for a moment as Applejack thought of how to ask her next question. “So, when ya say ya might stay in Ponyville. Are ya imlpyin’ you ain’t got a home?” Iron’s brows furrowed.

“More or less,” he said. Applejack nodded not knowing what to say next. “I know I’m keeping a lot of secrets,” Iron began, “but I’m not hiding anything that’ll hurt your family, I promise. I’ve just got a lot of personal baggage that I’m just trying to get rid of.”

“Fair enough. I wasn’t suspicious of ya or anythin.’ It’s just my family are very open with folk. Not too used to a feller keepin’ a lot of secrets. But we won’t pry or nothin’ if’n you want to keep it to yerself.”

“I appreciate that, Applejack. “And don’t worry. My personal issues won’t affect my work.”

“I’ll hold ya to that.” She stood up and stretched her legs. “Now come on. It’s gonna get late soon and we like to get an early start on chores.” Iron nodded and stood up. He took one last look at the sunset before following Applejack back to the house. In his heart he hoped that the memories that burdened him would finally go away, but his head told him he knew better.

Life was never going to be that easy.

Author's Note:

So, here's chapter two. I hope you all liked it and thanks for reading it. Again, feel free to leave and tips, criticisms, or mistakes you noticed. I really appreciate getting feedback from my readers.