Previous Chapters
Close
Chapter 11,225 words
Chapter 22,878 words
Chapter 32,893 words
Chapter 41,985 words
Chapter 51,692 words
Chapter 62,224 words
Chapter 72,927 words

Chapter 7

It was past lunch in the Apple household. After Applejack, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith got through collecting the plates and putting them in the sink Big Mac set to washing them as it was his turn to do the dishes. Applejack stretched, a satisfied smile on her lips. She glanced over at a now empty chair and her smile vanished. Even the sweetness of Granny Smith's pie couldn't entirely do away with the bitterness warring with her generally kind nature. Her father had left before dessert was served. Something came up, a business meeting he had planned.

Applejack still hadn't gotten used to him visiting. He would try to make time to see them, something that Applejack gave him credit for. He would also try to make small talk with Applejack and she would more often than not grunt or ignore him. She didn't want to. She didn't mean to. She just didn't know what to say to him. As the sound of rushing water clinking onto plates filled the room, Applejack stalked outside. The endless rows of apple trees greeted her. The sky was mostly clear, though grey thunderclouds loomed ominously in the distance. The juicy, red fruit that was her family's livelihood swayed in the warm breeze. The lush, vibrant carpet of emerald grass wrapped around her hooves like an embrace. She closed her eyes as she went to stand over in the shade of a tree. She felt the energy of the land flowing through her hooves, the singing of the bones of her ancestors resting beneath her.

This was her home just as it was Apple Bloom's home and Granny Smith's home and Big Mac's home and once, long ago, it had been Runner's home. Applejack opened her eyes, gazed out at the tree-covered hills rising up before her and set to walking. She trotted through the dense orchard, apple branches rising over her in a wooden arch. Here the branches were so thick that light only rarely entered. Slants of sunlight danced on the patches of grass and fallen apple leaves. Finally, the farm pony stopped at one particular, ancient tree. She reached out a hoof and placed it to the massive, gnarled trunk. Roots ripped up from the earth, so big that she could stand atop them. Successive generations of apple farmers had bucked this tree until, one autumn, it had stopped giving fruit. The tree was dead, but nopony had the heart to cut it down. It was the mother of the entire orchard, the first tree planted on this land. As the tree had once given birth through its seeds to the entirety of the orchard it now sustained mushrooms that jutted out from its bark. It had been long before Applejack was born that it had given its last harvest.

The tree always reminded Applejack of her own mother. Patient. Ancient (to Applejack when she was a filly. Only now, as she approached her late twenties, did she realize how very young her mama had been). A stable presence there to guard and shelter her. When she closed her eyes and tried very hard to remember, she could recall her mama holding her in her lap and singing to her. Applejack hummed the lullaby to herself and suddenly felt two old forelegs wrap around her. Applejack leaned into Granny Smith's embrace.

"What's ailin' ya, Child?"

For a long time Applejack didn't speak, just enjoying the embrace of her grandmother. She was sure Granny Smith had a secondary special talent that involved knowing just when one of her grandchildren needed a hug. Usually Apple Bloom was the recipient, but sometimes her two older grandchildren needed it as well. There was a peal of thunder and the heavens opened up, rain pouring down upon the earth. The rain dripped from the branches. Applejack didn't mind. It was refreshing. She nuzzled Granny Smith and returned the hug. "Granny...if I can't forgive somepony, even after they've apologized, does it make me a bad pony?"

The question was childish. She winced when she realized how childish it sounded, like something Apple Bloom would say. This wasn't like her. The rain continued to fall around them, the droplets tapping on the grass, falling from their manes and tails. It took Granny Smith a while before she responded.

"It's about your pa, ain't it?"

"Yeah."

Granny Smith chewed her lip. "I've been strugglin' with that myself. He hurt us. He hurt us, real bad. But he's tryin'."

"Yeah. He's tryin'." Applejack looked out at the rain-drenched orchards. "What do you think Mama would do?"

Granny Smith snorted. "Before or after she bucked him in the head?"

Applejack chuckled. "Yeah, she did have a temper. Lucky I was almost never on the receiving end of it."

"Oh, she could never get mad at y'all. Disappointed, maybe, but never really mad."

"I remember."

They leaned against each other in companionable silence. Applejack shook her head. "Wish I could talk to her, just one more time."

"So do I, Child."

Then, Applejack remembered something. Something that Rarity had mentioned to her. Maybe there was a way she could speak to her mother from beyond the Veil.

...
It was at midday and Twilight was busy studying. She was at her study desk in the center of the library. She did most of her studying here because that was where she had access to most of her books. The windows were wide open as the storm had passed and sunlight was flooding the room, shining on the hardwood paneling. Twilight was studying the archaeological remains of the ancient Bee Civilization for a paper she was writing. She marked her place in the book and walked over to the door, opening it. Applejack walked inside.

Twilight smiled. "Hi, Applejack. Want some tea?"

"Sure."

They walked into the kitchen. Twilight got a pot out of the counter, filled it with water and set it on the stove. With a shot from her horn she set it to boiling. She retrieved two cups, placing two bags of tea in each one and then pouring boiling water in them. She took the steaming cups in her magic and placed them on the table. Applejack sat down and slowly sipped the tea, trying not to betray the fact that her tongue burned from not waiting for the tea to cool.

Twilight, a more experienced tea drinker, blew on the tea causing wisps of steam to dissipate over the table. She took a slow sip of the black tea.

Applejack placed her tea on the blue table cloth. "So, uh, what were ya working on?"

"The ancient Megan Era Bee Civilization."

"A Bee Civilization? There was a Bee Civilization?"

Twilight raised the cup of tea to her lips. "It flourished around four-thousand years ago and fought a war with the Flutter Ponies. That war actually increased their hostility towards outsiders, though they were already pretty xenophobic."

"So what became of these bees?" Applejack took a sip of the tea, finding that it had cooled. "Don't tell me the Flutter Ponies wiped them out."

Twilight shrugged. "Honestly? Your guess is as as good as mine. They died out sometime before the Great Winter and records of that era are spotty at best."

Applejack placed the tea cup down. "So, uh, Rarity mentioned once that you were an archmage. Got a look at your wallet and saw your membership card."

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I am an archmage."

"She was might impressed because she says archmages have to master every form of magic, includin' necromancy."

Twilight drummed her hoof on the table. "I am a necromancer, yes. Since it works so closely with ancestor magic, their are way more Earth Pony than Unicorn necromancers. It's rare since it works around death. You have to overcome that natural fear. It's also fairly dangerous."

"Why's that?"

"Applejack, is there any particular reason you might need a necromancer?"

"Is it true you reanimate the corpse?"

Twilight quickly shook her head. "That's a banned practice. Profanes the dead. I would only call up the pony's soul and cause it to have a semi-physical vessel made of ectoplasm."

"I see."

Twilight reached across the table, placing a hoof on Applejack's hoof. "Applejack, why do you need a necromancer?"

Applejack sighed. "This thing with my pa is tearin' me up inside. He's my kin and I want to forgive him, but I can't. Granny is havin' the same problem. I'd just like to know what Mama thinks about it. She's the one I always went to for advice."

Twilight nodded. "I understand. Applejack, necromancy can be a wonderful tool. Detectives use it to call up the souls of victims to gain information from them. Historical figures can be called up to learn about the past-although the odd thing about that is that they lie sometimes which is why nopony trusts Commander Hurricane. But necromancy is also dangerous. It can become an addiction, an obsession where you live more in the past. I knew somepony like that. Her name was Star Shine and she became so obsessed with it she started living on the burial mounds. She lost her future to the past and it took intensive rehab before she recovered. I helped her learn about necromancy, even did summonings for her. After that I vowed to never do it again."

Applejack bowed her head. "I understand, then."

"However, I'll make an exception for you."

She looked back up. "Really? You will?" She squeezed Twilight's hoof. "Oh, Sugarcube, you don't know what this means to me."

Twilight nuzzled her. "I'll need some time to prepare. Meet me at the Apple Clan burial mounds at midnight nine days from now."

...
Twilight had fasted for nine days, from sunup to sundown. She felt light, airy, not entirely tethered to the world. She had purified herself at the Temple of the Silver Lady, washing her body in sacred water. She was dressed in her archmage robes, blue for her particular order. The robes were clasped by a pentagram necklace and covered in runes and sigils. They would focus her mind on the coming task and the mystic symbols would ward away unclean spirits. In her hoof she held a staff, a crystal attached to the end of it.

Applejack was waiting for her at the entrance. The full moon shone down upon her golden mane. In the darkness, the mounds rose up. The entrance of the mound looked as if led into an endless darkness.

"Thank you for doin' this for me, Twi."

"Anything for a friend."

Twilight lit up her horn and they walked into the abyss of the burial mounds. Applejack led her to where her mother was interred. Twilight struck the staff upon the ground, drawing a circle. It would keep out any wicked spirits that might try to interrupt her workings. She began to intone the runes in an ancient chant and felt as the veil began to lift. It had been a long time since she'd done this. Her knees felt weak as the sheer weight of spiritual energy in this place nearly crushed her. Spirits were everywhere, pervading the very air.

She breathed, focusing. The spirits were friendly, curious. While she was an outsider, the ancestors of the Apple Clan were no less hospitable than the living Apples.

"Apple Blossom, daughter of Apple Branch and Apple Smith, I call upon you. Return to this world, for we would have your counsel. Apple Blossom, I call you forth. I call you forth. I call you forth!"

She struck the staff three times in rapid succession. Applejack's eyes widened. A warm energy filled the chamber, then a glowing light. From the light emerged a shimmering Earth Pony. Applejack almost fell to her knees. An Earth Pony with a yellow coat and golden mane stood before her.

"Mama?"

The Earth Pony stepped forward, a smile on her face. Her green eyes were the same as her daughters. Applejack stepped forward and threw her hooves around her mother's neck. "Oh, Mama!"

It was real. She could tell it wasn't entirely, her mother's fur felt off, but her mother was there, holding her for the first time in years. Apple Blossom held her as she cried.

Twilight could already feel the struggle to keep the gates between worlds from closing. Apple Blossom wiped away her daughter's tears. "There was a reason you wanted to see me, wasn't there?"

Applejack sniffled. "It's about Pa. I don't know what to do. He's come back and I want to forgive him, but I can't. I just can't! He hurt me so bad."

Apple Blossom wiped away her tears just as she started to cry again. "Not sure why you're asking me. I spent the first five years of my afterlife haunting him."

Applejack laughed.

"But I stopped at some point. I had to let it go so that I could move on to the Otherworld. It's beautiful here, Applejack. I can't even begin to describe what it's like, but I'm happy."

"How'd you let it go?"

"It wasn't easy. Rhiannon helped. She found me haunting his apartment. You know what she told me?"

Advice from a Goddess seemed like it would be useful. "What?"

"She told me that holding onto a grudge is like carrying a heavy stone on your back. It weighs you down. You can't be free. You have to free yourself, Applejack. I'm not going to pretend it'll be easy. It won't be. But I want you to be free." She put a hoof to Applejack's chin, lifted up her face. "Take this heavy stone off your back, Sweetie. It'll be the hardest thing you ever do, but it's worth it."

Applejack nodded. "I can try." She leaned into her mother's warmth. She was already fading. Apple Blossom wrapped her up in her hooves, kissed her forehead. "I love you. And I watch over you and Big Mac and Apple Bloom every day. I'm so proud of every one of you."

She faded away, vanishing back to that place beyond the Dark River which no living mortal can go to. Applejack collapsed and soon found herself in Twilight's embrace. Applejack hugged her. After at least ten minutes of crying and Twilight stroking her mane she calmed down enough to speak. "Th-thank you, Twilight. Thank you so much."

...

Apple Runner sat at his table, eating a hay sandwich. Yesterday, he had had lunch with his children. He looked out the window of his apartment at the high buildings of Canterlot. The ivory, golden trimmed towers were very different from the humble hamlets of Ponyville or the bustle of Manehattan.

There was a knock on the door.

...
Applejack walked up the flight of stairs. Runner had told her where he lived. Apartment 3-B. She noted that it was a plain apartment with its brown, painted walls and occasional sad looking plant on a table. Feeling pity for a sickly looking crocus, she placed her hoof on it and infused some of her magic into its roots. It began to perk up. She passed it and knocked on her father's door.

He opened it, jaw dropping in surprise. "Uh, Applejack! Didn't expect to see you."

"Can I come in?"

He ushered her inside. She looked around the sparsely furnished apartment and sat down on the sofa, the only piece of furniture she could see. He sat down and she scooted away, then returned to where she was. "Pa, one of my unicorn friends is a necromancer. She called up Mama's soul and...and she told me I had to free myself of this grudge. I got to forgive you."

He said nothing, waiting for her to continue.

"It's gonna take some time, but I'm gonna try. I got to let this go. So...I...I forgive you." She sighed, closing her eyes. "No, no I don't. But...I think I can if I really work at it."

He held out a hoof, grasping her own. She didn't pull away even though she wanted to. She slowly grasped his hoof. "Jackie...I...don't know what to say."

"Honestly? I don't either. How about we have lunch and take it from their?"

"I'll make you a hay sandwich."

The two trotted together into the kitchen.

Author's Note:

(Peaks out from behind rock) Hi, guys, it's been a while.
So, um, resolution?

1,217 views

Previous Chapters