Dear Twilight Sparkle

by Penmore

Too Early

"Applejack! Wait!"

Twilight called out to the farm pony in the hope of her at least slowing down, but it was useless. A.J was in much better shape than she could ever hope to be and she soon lost track of her through the maze of apple trees. Twilight headed back to the house to wait for both A.J and Applebloom to return. As she walked in through the kitchen door, she looked to see Granny Smith and Big Mac turn to meet her gaze.

"Twilight, outside now!" Big Mac said as he pushed past the purple mare.

Granny Smith stopped her as she was about to step outside. She looked at her and motioned her to sit. Granny went outside to talk to Mac and came back minutes later.

"I told him to calm down for a bit. He may run the farm now that I'm old, but there ain't no way I'm giving up on running this family. Now, I think you need an explanation as to what just happened."

"I'm sorry Granny, I didn't mean for any of this to happen… I just wanted to know more about all of you. I wanted to get closer to Applejack…"

Granny sighed and sat down, but not before pouring water for the both of them. "Dear, you have to understand something. Talking about their parents is something they don't want to do because of two main reasons. The first being how young they were when it happened and the second is what we've been holding back on telling Applebloom because of her age."

"You mean… Applebloom doesn't know how they died?"

"Not exactly, she knows that they've passed on that much is true. The things she doesn't know is how Charles and the circumstances of Autumn's death. If she was there listening to what I told you then, she heard for the first time how he died. How he just gave his life for a foal he that had no relation to us whatsoever, and how he could have come back alive."

"But, he died a great and selfless pony. There shouldn't be anything to be sad about that."

"He died never seeing Applebloom; his death robbed her of one of the most crucial ponies a filly needs in life. She has always wanted to know her father and knowing that he had a chance to be here in her life might be causing her some confusion as to why he would throw it away for some random pony."

Twilight was shocked that she could even think the death of a father was something to overlook just because he died a hero. It didn't matter to a child if their parent was Princess or Prince. What mattered was them being a part of their life, being there for the good and bad regardless of what they did.

"I wanted to save this for tomorrow, considering how much I've brought up of the past. Unfortunately, because of this, I might as well let you know.

"Let me know what?"

"How their mother died."

---

"You should be resting!"

"Granny, I'm fine! Somepony needs to oversee the workers we hired. Mac is still a bit young to take over, and A.J is still a filly. I'd let you do it, but you can barely travel as much as I could."

Granny Smith did not like the current situation. Her pregnant daughter-in-law was going around overseeing the day to day operations of the farm ever since Charles passed away. Big Mac had tried to take over, but the older stallion workers only regarded him as a foal in over his head. It took Autumn weeks to get everything running smoothly once again. Filthy dropped by when he had a chance to check up on his best friend's family, but with the coming birth of his daughter, the time between each visit was growing.

If it weren't for the fact that her hip gave out unexpectedly with too much activity, Granny would have taken over instead of the pregnant mare. It was hopeless to think of that now; Autumn was always set in her ways once she had a task. It was like talking to a wall with how she would just keep going pregnant or not.

"Fine then, but at least make sure you lay down when you can. Don't strain yourself and absolutely no physical work. Got it?"

"Yes Granny, I know what I'm doing. If anything happens Mac will be beside me most of the time and I'll make sure to send him for you in case it does. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to oversee the final harvest in the south field before the scheduled storm hits tomorrow."

Autumn took off slowly towards the southern apple field and Big Mac joined her halfway as he finished unloading a cart. Granny Smith couldn't help but worry that she was only doing so much to forget about the pain of losing Charles. She sighed and smiled at how much Autumn and Charles were meant for each other. Both stubborn and unrelenting in their specific ways.

Granny made her way into town and towards the schoolhouse to pick up Applejack as it was getting to be the time they let all those foals and fillies loose on the town. She stopped by to pick up some groceries at the market for dinner and made sure to bring a freshly baked fritter for A.J. It was something she began to do as the filly had changed after Charles' funeral. It was as if all the vim and vigor had just left the poor girl. She had cried herself to sleep for days after and the only thing that could help sooth her, was Autumn's lullaby. However, lately with the constant supervision of the farm Autumn hadn't sung to her in a while. It left A.J tired and feeling lonely every night.

Granny had tried to sing her some of the lullabies she knew as she couldn't even begin to learn the one Autumn sung, but it didn't have the same effect. A.J needed her mother to be there and nothing could substitute her, not even Granny. She waited outside the entrance to the school as the children ran past. She didn't see A.J anywhere in the crowd and couldn't help, but wonder what was taking her.

"Granny Smith?" asked a voice from to her right.

"Oh, yes? Sorry sonny, you spooked me a bit."

"I apologize for that. I'm Preston Prep; you may call me Mr. Prep. I teach the class Applejack is in." he said stepping aside to reveal A.J with a black eye and covered in dirt.

"Applejack! What in tarnation happened to you filly?" Granny screamed in both shock and anger as looking at the scene before her meant only one thing. A.J had gotten into a fight; that was something she wouldn't tolerate regardless of who started it.

"It wasn't my fault! One of them prim and proper types was making fun of the farm!"

"Applejack! That is no excuse for fighting, just wait until your mother hears about this."

"Not like she even pays attention to me anymore…"

"Young filly, you will not talk about your mama that way. Now get your things while I talk to your teacher."

Applejack turned to go back inside and walked slowly to her classroom.

"Now Applejack!"

A.J immediately tucked tail and ran to get her things. "I'm so sorry about that Mr. Prep, what of the other filly/foal?"

"They're a bit bruised, but A.J got the worst of it as that black eye will take some time to heal. Though I have to say off the record, that filly has a rather mighty buck for being so small. Knocked the air right out of me as I stepped in to stop the fight."

"Takes after her Pa with that, he always did have more strength than other foals his age."

"Yes, I remember that as well. Once again, I'm sorry for your loss. He was a great stallion."

"Thank you. So what are you going to do with her?"

"I'm afraid the rules are strict on matters like these, she and the filly she fought will be suspended for two days minimum. I've already given them the work they'll miss so they should have plenty to do during that time."

"I see… well, then I'll be sure to keep track of that. Sorry about all this."

"It's alright Granny Smith, thank you for understanding and I hope to see her again in two days."

As Prep walked off, A.J came up with her saddlebags and helped Granny carry the groceries back to the farm house. The whole walk back she was given one lecture after another by Granny Smith. Once they reached the farm, everything seemed slightly darker, probably because of the clouds coming in for the storm. That was when Big Mac came out of the house just as they were about to enter.

"Granny! It's Ma! She fell into the well!"

"What?!" both Granny Smith and A.J yelled as they heard the news.

"We just got her out, it took a while because we didn't want to jostle the baby, but because of that, she's down with a fever. I sent one of the farmhooves to fetch the doctor so they should be here soon."

"How did this all happen?" Granny sat down at the kitchen table as they walked inside. A.J went running up to Autumn's room only to be stopped by Big Mac.

"Let me go! I want to see Ma!"

"Not now A.J! She's resting right now and you barging in there before the doctor checks her won't do any good. Now sit down until he gets here." Big Mac put her in the chair and kept an eye on her so she wouldn't just leave.

"Right, well, she fell in the well because the stones were in need of replacing. She had leaned on it to get some water and next thing everypony knows a shriek caused us to turn and see her fall inside. Thankfully she didn't get hurt, but as I said she came down with a fever and we have no idea how it affected the baby."

Just then the door burst open and the doctor along with the farmhoof came in. "Where is she?"

Everypony followed Granny Smith as she got up faster than they thought the old mare could move. They reached the room and walked in taking care not to make much noise. Inside Autumn had woken up due to the noise downstairs. Granny and Mac rushed to her side along with the doctor. A.J stood at the doorway with the farmhoof not knowing what to do. The doctor did what he could but his expression turned from neutral to grim as he finished.

"We have to get her to the hospital now! The baby was startled by the fall and is moving around too much. That much movement could cause them to be in an awkward position when being delivered."

"But, the due date isn't until two weeks from now." Granny said as she placed a damp towel on Autumn's forehead.

"The fall has made this into a premature birth; we don't have time as the fever could make the procedure rather fatal for her because of how her body is trying to fight it off."

"Granny, do what he says. We need to get to the hospital before something happens to the baby." Autumn said as she held Granny's hoof tightly.

Big Mac took that as his cue to get things ready; he took the farmhoof with him as Granny and the Doctor tried to help Autumn downstairs. Throughout all of this commotion A.J just kept looking on as everypony ran around her. She didn't know what to do about all of this except just look on. It was terrifying as she heard something might happen to her mother, it was too much.

"A.J! Ask your brother if the cart is ready to take her!" Granny yelled as she tried to keep Autumn from falling over.

As A.J went downstairs, she found her brother carrying bags outside. "Mac, Granny wants to know if the cart is ready."

"Just about, we just need…"

There were several cracks and a loud boom that came from outside. They looked on as the skies became covered in dark clouds. The pegasi had done their jobs ahead of schedule. The storm had come early, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

Author's Note:

I said it would be at least 2,000 words and I kept that promise. Surprised myself at how much I wanted to keep going, but I'm still new to writing such lengthy stories so I'm trying not to put too much on my plate. This time, it might seem a bit cliche to use a storm as a stopping point, but honestly, the title can be for either the storm or the birth. I had fun writing this one, but at the same time, it was hard due to thinking about the next chapter.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read my story. Please leave a comment or critique below as any critique helps me grow. Have a great day!

Comments

[Frankie2]

If I'm thinking this correctly, Twilight sent more time in isolation in that library, than actually having friends. To Twilight if there is a problem that needs to be solved. Unfortunately, no one bothered to teach Twilight about boundaries or how to let something go. And now, this will be a lesson learned the hard way and may cost her (as well as Equestria) dearly.

[p61blkwidow]

what a hard hitting chapter! for having parents twilight is sure in the dark about how they can effect their childs emotions if they are not a part of their lives! and twilight is suppose to be smart! hope fully there is some spark that clicks in her head and she starts learning! great story!!