My Little Writing Prompts

by AlicornPriest

A World with Ma and Pa

There were five voices beneath her. They were muffled through the floorboards, but Applejack thought she could hear them laughing. Granny's, Apple Bloom's, and Big Mac's she could identify immediately, but the other two, a mare and a stallion, sounded like strangers. She wondered who could possibly be visiting Sweet Apple Acres so early in the morning. She got up from her bed, brushed her mane, and headed down the stairs to see what was cooking on the stove this morning.

"AJ, precious, how good o' ya ta get up!"

"...Ma? Pa?" It wasn't possible! It couldn't be!

"What's tha matter?" Pa asked her. "Ya look like ya've seen a ghost!"

"Ah have!" She stepped backwards, afraid too look at either of them too long, for fear they would vanish. "Both of ya'll... back when Apple Bloom was born...!"

"Precious, what on Earth are ye talking about?" Ma asked her. "D'ye need to go back to bed?"

"No!" Applejack shouted. "Ah just... don't know what to think!"

"Well, don't think, then!" said Granny Smith. "Just c'mon over here and have breakfast with'n yer family!"

Reluctantly, AJ did as Granny Smith asked. She sat down next to Big Mac and Apple Bloom, who were happily chowing down on what looked to be apple flapjacks. Applejack looked at one, sniffed it. Ma's cooking. Granny burned 'em, and Big Mac didn't step hoof in a kitchen if he didn't have to. AJ had tried to imitate Ma's cooking, but she could never do it. She took one off of the center plate and tried to control her pounding heartbeat. "These look... mighty good, Ma," AJ offered.

"Why, thank ye kindly, precious, but they're just flapjacks," she replied. "Make 'em every mornin', same as always."

"Ah know, but... they're special this mornin'," AJ said. She cut off a tiny corner of one and put it in her mouth. It was like eating pure honeycomb. The blend of buckwheat, butter, and apple pieces melted in Applejack's mouth and brought tears to her eyes.

Just as Applejack started eating, Pa stood up, put his plate on his back, and carried it over to the sink. "Well, Ah'm off to the fields. Ya'll be good now, y'hear?"

"Wait!" Applejack called out. She stood up, dropped her fork with a clatter, and pushed her plate away. "Let me come with you!"

"Don't be silly, precious," Ma said. "Stay and eat. 'Sides, no need for you to go on out when we got two strong stallions to do it."

"Oh, right." With Ma and Pa having gone to the Forever Home, Applejack had been forced to step up and take on the stallion's role outside as well. Reluctantly, she sat back down. She leaned over to Big Mac and said in a whisper, "Does any of this seem strange to you?"

"Eeyup," he replied. Applejack brightened, but he added, "Can't talk now. Wait 'til noon."

"Who else knows?" AJ asked.

"Just you and me, sis," Big Mac said. Then he, too, put away his dishes and headed out to the fields to work.

With the two of them gone, it was oddly quiet in the main room. Granny and Apple Bloom had finished eating and were cleaning up their spots. Granny looked to Applejack and asked, "And what was it you were whisperin' to MacIntosh there, whippersnapper?"

"Uhh... nothin'! Nothin' at all!" AJ squirmed underneath her family's penetrating gaze.

"Well, I know what we're gonna work on today!" said Apple Bloom. "The quilt!"

"The quilt?" AJ asked. "What quilt?"

"The quilt we've been working on for the past couple months?" Ma replied. "You really don't remember?"

"No, I mean... course I do!" AJ said. "I was just thinkin' about... some other quilt, I guess."

"Well, while'n the stallionfolk are out plowin' the fields, we've got the quilt to get finished!" Granny Smith said. She pulled out a huge, fluffy quilt from one of the storage closets and threw it over the table like a tablecloth.

"Precious, won't you come sit over by me?" Ma asked AJ. AJ could hardly respond, her throat was so dry. She simply nodded and nestled close to her mother's side. The warmth and kindness... it was like a dream. All of it was. She looked around at her family: Ma doing her perfect stitching, Granny whistling off-key as she worked, Apple Bloom cheerfully humming and trying her best. Her family, the one she'd always known, had never been so happy. She could never bring them together like Ma and Pa had. She couldn't possibly tell if this would continue on forever, but if she could have let it, she would have.

"So..." Applejack started, "how has school been, Apple Bloom?"

"Fine, I guess." Apple Bloom scowled and returned to her quilting. "I don't see why I have to go, though."

That doesn't sound like the Apple Bloom I know, Applejack thought. "Ya gotta learn yer 3 R's, ya know. 'Sides, isn't it a great time to meet up with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?"

"What about 'em?" Apple Bloom asked. "Ah barely talk to them. Sweetie Belle's a teacher's pet, and Scootaloo can't shut up."

"That's no way to talk about your friends!" AJ replied, aghast.

"They ain't my friends!" Apple Bloom shouted. "I can't stand 'em! They're annoying and mean and, and, who needs 'em!" She sobbed once and returned to her work.

"Look what you did, young filly!" Granny said. "You've gone and riled her up. Apoligize at once, missy!"

"Ah'm sorry," AJ said, "Ah'm just really confused."

"Don't worry 'bout none of that, precious," Ma said. "Ah'm sure little Bloom there knows you were just tryin' to be helpful. Why don't ya help me with this patch here?"

"All right, Ma," Applejack said. Ma was always the peacemaker. Best she'd ever known. But cutting into their conversation wasn't fixing the problem, only letting it fester. Was that something she had learned by herself after all those years? She let that question hang over her head for the rest of the morning until Ma excused herself to start making lunch.

"Ah'm sorry 'bout what I said earlier," said Applejack. "Ah was thinkin' about somethin' else."

"I forgive you," Apple Bloom said. "Though yer not usually so gung-ho 'bout my book-learnin'."

"Like Ah said, it's important. Gotta have a wide v'riety of knowledge to be a good Equestrian citizen."

"But you don't use any of that! You just do housework all day!"

"Ah do not! Ah do the..." Applejack trailed off. In this world, she probably wasn't out at the stand; that was stallion's work as well. She didn't have to do the finances, since Pa and Ma did that together, and rest of the work around the house required no higher learning, just as Apple Bloom claimed. Even in the other world, she'd only needed it when she was with...

"Twilight Sparkle. When was the last time Ah spent time with her?"

"Uhh... four years ago?" Apple Bloom said. "Back when we did the catering for the Summer Sun Celebration and Night Mare Moon showed up and ruined it all?"

"Four years!?" AJ replied, shocked. "But what about the Elements of Harmony?"

"What about them?" Apple Bloom asked. "That Twilight mare went into the forest with Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Carrot Top, and they all found the Elements and stopped Night Mare Moon."

"No..." It was all wrong. It was supposed to be her out there saving the day with Twilight and the others. This couldn't be how things had changed! "Ah'm gonna need to head out for a bit, all," AJ said. "Not too big a deal."

"What, and miss lunch?" Apple Bloom said. "Y'can't go out on an empty stomach!"

"Oh, lunch. Right..." Applejack said. She'd promised to talk to Big Mac anyway.

Speaking of, he and Pa came in just as she thought of him. "Howdy ya'll! How've ya'll been?" said Pa.

"Oh, just fine, young'n," said Granny Smith. "Been workin' on the quilt, same as always."

"Go on and wash up, ya'll!" Ma called out from the oven.

Applejack made sure to wash up last, right behind Big Mac. While he cleaned his hooves, she asked him, "So what's goin' on exactly?"

"Dunno," he replied. "'Fore you said somethin', I was sure I was in a dream. Now? Your guess's is as good as mine."

"I just don't know what to think of this!" Applejack said. "It's so nice to have Ma and Pa back, but what's happened because of it..."

"For want of a nail," Big Mac said simply.

"Right, 'xactly." AJ considered her options. "Ah bet Ah could go talk to Twilight, see what she could tell me."

"And if she says she can send us back?" Big Mac replied.

"...What do you think?" she asked him back.

"It was great havin' Pa out there plowin' with me. But I miss havin' you there with me," he stated.

"Then I think that's what we'll do."

---

Lunch came and went, and Applejack said goodbye to everyone. They treated her as though she would only be gone for a few hours, but only she and Big Mac knew the truth. She gave Ma and Pa one last hug; then, with a tear in her eye, she headed down into Ponyville to find the alicorn of the hour.

Ponyville was pretty much the same as she'd always known it. Twilight's crystal tower still loomed like an ancient sentinel over the horizon. Applejack made her way straight to it. The rest of the townsfolk stopped and stared wherever she passed by. It was awfully uncanny, like she'd been presumed dead or had something nasty caught in her mane. But she shrugged off the odd looks and found herself out in the canyon where the crystal tree stood tall. She rapped her hoof against the door and waited patiently for Twilight to arrive.

When Twilight opened the door, Applejack felt a wave of disappointment. She was... much the same, it seemed, as she was in the other world. Twilight stared at Applejack. "Can... I... help you?" she asked.

"Twilight, Ah need yer help," she said. "Ah need you to figger somethin' out for me."

"Of course... Applejack, right? Come in." Twilight stepped to the side, but as Applejack walked in, she got a faceful of wing. "Oops! Sorry about that," she added. "I can never seem to keep those in control."

"It's fine, Twi."

"So, you were about to tell me what you needed from me?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, Ah have a story to tell you. Ah know it'll sound a mite weird, but Ah promise it's true." Twilight didn't react, so Applejack went on, "So, this mornin', I woke up and found mahself, well, here. Only, Ah'm not here. Usually, I mean. Usually Ah hang out with you 'n Rarity 'n Rainbow Dash 'n the others, 'n mah parents aren't alive, 'cuz they died after Apple Bloom was born, only not here fer some reason. And it's been just plum wonderful to see 'em again, but Ah miss you all, 'n Ah'd rather have that world than this'un, and, well, I just want to know how to get back, or if it's even possible. An' if it ain't, well, maybe we could start over?"

Applejack cringed at how horribly inept that explanation had been. But to her surprise, Twilight smiled. "I believe you. I mean, yeah, it does sound pretty unrealistic, but I've heard of crazier. And whether or not you're telling the truth, the best way to make everything better would be to do whatever I can to make you feel at ease. So what do you actually want me to do?"

"I..." It suddenly came to her that she hadn't planned out this far. "Well, I was sorta hopin' you could figure out what was wrong with me, an' if there was any way to send me back to my world."

"Sure! We can do that. Give you a brain scan, do some magical analysis, test your memory. No sweat. Follow me!" Twilight led Applejack down to the basement of the crystal tower and started peering about. "Now where in Equestria is my multitool?"

"In the backroom? That's where you keep it in my world," Applejack said.

"Oh, right. Duh! Thanks, Applejack," Twilight said. "Go ahead and get under that phrenometer over there. I'll be with you shortly."

Applejack settled underneath the forbidding device. It fit snugly around her head, putting just enough pressure on it to stay on. She took a look around the lab. It was unusually cluttered, like she hadn't been taking care of it properly. Her Twilight would never have let things get like this. She wondered why Spike was letting her get so out of sorts.

"Back!" She waved the multitool around Applejack's head, then clucked her tongue and put it to the side. "Huh. Never had a reading like that before. Let's try this baby!" She flipped a lever, but the machine didn't respond. She tried it a few more times, but nothing. "I don't understand. It was working just this morning!"

"Y'all unplugged it when you walked through here," Applejack reminded her.

"How did I not notice that? Seriously, how do I survive without you?" Twilight joked.

"What are you paying Spike for if'n he can't keep ya stable?" Applejack replied.

"Spike's a baby dragon. He can barely keep track of himself." She activated the phrenometer for real, then stood by as it spat out the incomprehensible wobblings Twilight called data. While she waited, she noted, "The fact that you say that so casually suggests to me that you really do know me, but in a different world." She lost herself in thought for a moment, then asked, "What was it like over there?"

"Ah'm sure it was much like over here. I did what Carrot Top does here. Quiet, homey, unassuming, yet dependable when needed. Though I do have funny stories about the time you, me, 'n Rarity were cooped up in yer library, or the time Rainbow 'n I cheated during the Running of the Leaves."

"Sounds nice. Carrot Top... doesn't have those stories. Hers are more about getting angry and saying something she doesn't mean. B-But she's sweet and dependable, too! Just not quite the same way." Twilight squirmed in her seat, embarrassed. Out of the silence, the machine confirmed the work with a "ding!" "Ah, there we go! Let's see..." Twilight pored over the data, clearly entranced.

"Well?" Applejack asked.

"...Huh." Twilight set the paper down and readjusted her seat. "It's not often I discover I'm a figment in a dream. That's... an existential crisis in the making, to be sure."

"What do ye mean by that, exactly?"

"It means... well, I'm not real. Not really, anyway. I'm apparently some kind of... construct inside your brain? Somepony made a wish that this world would exist, and now it does. But it, and I, are only temporary. You'll wake up back in your world in a couple hours with everything back to normal."

"Ah don't recall making a wish like that. So why can I remember the old world?"

"Honestly, I don't know. In any case, it doesn't matter. You'll be back soon enough, and all of this will just be smoke." Twilight thought for a moment. "You mentioned that in your world, your parents are dead?"

"Yeah?"

Twilight smiled. "Well, I know you wanted to bond with me some more, but you know, you'll have me as much as you want when you go back."

"I get what you mean. Ah'll see ya on th'other side, Twi. Oh, and thank ye kindly for believin' me."

"It was nothing." As Applejack headed upstairs, she added wistfully, "Really."

---
The first sign that the wish-dream was ending was the growing shadows. It started subtly at first, at the edges of Applejack's vision, like a silent predator. They cast the room deeper and deeper into darkness, leaving Applejack blind and confused. The next sign was the blur that appeared around Ma and Pa, obscuring their faces and leaving them half-in and half-out of reality. Finally, in the timespan of the blink of Applejack's eyes, everything returned to normal. Ma and Pa, the quilt, the smell of home cooking, all vanished in an instant. The house returned to its old, quiet self, and everything seemed a little less beautiful. Applejack and Big MacIntosh, who had been standing near each other, gave each other a look, then returned to the main room. Granny Smith and Apple Bloom seemed a bit fazed. "What was Ah... there was somethin' I was doin' just now..." Granny Smith said.

"Ah feel really weird," Apple Bloom said. "All happy and stuff, like I was doin' somethin' nice."

"Everythin's all right now," Applejack said. "It's all back to normal."

"We still don't know how it all happened," Big Mac said.

"Ah think Ah've figgered it out," Applejack told him. She knelt down and looked Apple Bloom in the eye. "Didja make a wish fer somethin' this mornin'?"

"Yeah, I mean... Ah wished I could have known Ma and Pa 'fore they went Home, but nothin' happened, really."

"Apple Bloom..." Applejack felt a heavy weight in her throat. "Ah'm so sorry. Can ye still feel that happy feelin' you mentioned before?"

"Mm-hmm," Apple Bloom said.

"Hold on to that tight, 'cuz it's Ma and Pa tellin' ya that they still love you." She went over to Granny Smith and continued, "Granny, do you remember Ma and Pa, either?"

"'Course I do! They were mah kids, after all." Her eyes darted back and forth. "It's not my fault my memory's goin' soft in my old age..."

"No, it ain't," Applejack said. She felt tears building up at the edge of her vision. "But maybe Big Mac 'n' I should tell you two another story or two about them."

Wordlessly, Apple Bloom jumped up onto the couch, and Granny Smith curled up by the fireplace. Applejack and Big Mac took up spots together in the front of the room, and Applejack set the scene. "Pa was the strongest, smartest stallion I've ever known, and Ma was sweet, kind, and the best cook in all of Equestria. It was about fifteen years ago, when Ah was just a little'un, when the timberwolves made to snap up some of our biggest, brightest apples. Pa wasn't gonna let 'em do that, no sir. So he..."

Comments

[Lost_Marbles]

Wow. This one was mighty different.

Sad? Bittersweet? I don't know, but I enjoyed it.

I really can't think of how to put it to words other than this one tugged at my emotions.