Once Upon A Time In Equestria

by L Pondera

Apple Seeds

Author's Note:

The first story made, and the last chronologically in the series. Future stories will have an actual chronology to them as best I can make. This is just a starter piece. All stories will be reference to the future main story, and vice versa. The main fic needs something of an overhaul thanks to new events in the show. Some of which has come dangerously close to my fannon, and made certain plot points seem like a rip off of the show. Having delayed publishing it for so many years I'm now stuck with this problem of catching up to the shows cannon while trying to rework some of my ideas into a more original story.

Shadow Play in particular has narrowly nailed a story I was working on years ago as an attempt to explain the elements and the story that drove Vera to Equestria. This old "Legend" has it's own story and fic, and is vital to Vera's plot. Hopefully I can get it going and finished so we can get to Vera's story in full.

Theme for this chapter: Alone In This World - Moby

Some stories will have a theme song I add to them, just cause. Enjoy the song, or don't, it's just a directors cut extra.

Once Upon A Time In Sweet Apple Acres...

She was walking down the well worn road to Sweet Apple Acres, PonyVille's premier, and only, apple farm. It was an average day in Equestia; warm, sunny, clear skies, friendly ponies going about their lives. Like a dream world of Zen and peace had been birthed each morning, or very late the previous night. It was perpetual-

"Boredom." She thought with a sigh.

She knew the wild and crazy things that could, were and had been happening in Equestria, yet she seemed to miss out on them. During those periods of intrigue, she was often elsewhere, either on her own adventure, or doing side jobs for bits. Her quest didn't fund itself too often, that and, it required long waits for contacts and information to pass around. She certainly wasn't operating the most... approved search in foreign lands. Most ponies back home had no idea she was even here, and that's how she wanted to keep it.

So, with a heart full of furious boredom, where of she was commander
With a flat broke spear and pony of air er... flight
To the wilderness she wandered.
Seeking side quest to fill her time and pocket!

Her soft gray tail and mane with it's perplexing curl and white strip, gently flowed in the breeze. Her dark gray coat, in contrast to her hair, seemed to absorb the light that hit it. Her prominent bat like ears were dwarfed by her actual prominent size. A match for Celestia certainly. It made her stand out perhaps more than fangs, ears and occasional slit of her pupils. Her wings were covered in feathers, so it had the affect of separating her from the nocturnes of Luna's night guard. Her nose twitched at the sweet scents all around her, as if being assaulted by a massive army. Her camo saddlebags stood out all over Equestia, filled with all sorts of secrets, and tools of course.

She was here to assist Granny Smith with jarring preserves and jams, a simple gig that paid very little. It was simply a distraction from recent events, a rather large dead end she had hit. Not to mention it would remind her of home for a bit. The orchards and farmland had been a large part of the villa she was from, tending to them was a family pastime. How she dreaded the thought of having to go back there empty hoofed. The promises she would have to break if that were the case gave her a lump in her chest.

She reached the front door to the apple family home, took a short breath, and knocked. She waited a few seconds, nothing, then knocked again.

"Hold on to yer britches." Came Granny Smith's somewhat shaky voice.

She plastered on her best grin and patiently waited, the old pony would certainly take her well deserved time. She could hear her hoof steps as she neared the door.

"Ah, It's you, come on in." Granny opened the door, then smiled, stepped aside and gestured her in.

"Yep, it's me. I hope you're doing well Ms. Smith." Vera replied, her fangs emerging from her lips as her grin broadened a little.

She stepped inside, trying to resist the urge to stoop, the regular pony sized home feeling only just a little claustrophobic.

"I'm doing well, you know you can just call me Granny, everyone does." Ms. Smith replied, a little annoyed with Vera's constant formality.

"Can't help it, sorry." Vera grinned back.

"Now don't go apologizing on me, start doing that again." Ms. Smith shook her head, not wanting to go through that again.

Vera had taken odd jobs at the Acres before, usually to maintain large equipment or clear any disease from the orchards and crops. Sometimes just to help harvest. While being a farmhoof wasn't glamorous, it was normal, which made it fun for her. Just not something she wanted to do full time. She did enjoy her excitement and danger. Though it seemed she was doing these odd jobs more and more.

"Shall we get to it Ms. Smith? Or did you want to visit first." Vera asked, knowing the answer.

"Work first, fun later as my pappy always used to say. Besides, we can do both really." Ms. Smith softly cackled.

With a simple nod, Vera followed Granny back to the kitchen. Inside the sparsely decorated kitchen were numerous pots filled to the brim with jams, sauces and preserves all quietly cooking. There were also ingredients for more batches laying nearby.

"As you can probably see, I've been kinda busy." Ms. Smith dryly chuckled.

"Indeed. Let's get started shall we." Vera responded with a nod as she walked over to the large stack of jars and grabbed a funnel.

"I just need yer help lifting the pots, if I tried to ladle all this stuff, it'd be too cool to seal the jars, then I'd have ter warm it and bleh..." Ms. Smith stuck her tongue out. "Work smart, not hard, right?"

Vera simply nodded and got to work, giving the first pot a check before getting the jars for filling, setting the funnel next to the stove. While she did Granny got to work checking all the other pots and turning off the burners. It was going to be a long afternoon of this, so best to just dive right in.

Once the first batch was jarred, it was time to start the second batch. Vera, having done this before, knew what to do, but ever respectful of apple family tradition, double checked the recipe with Granny first.

"Yeah, that's right, though for this batch we add just a bit of cinnamon though." Ms. Smith nodded then walked away, happy to take a seat for a bit.

While Vera poured in the ingredients and kept with the cooking, Granny took the time to jaw.

"Usually I'd have Big Mac do the lifting and AJ do the cooking, but Big Mac is out with his marefriend right now. And Apple Jack is probably off saving Equestria or something, again." Ms. Smith stared off out the window.

"I'd have Apple Bloom screwing the lids on those jars, teaching her the recipe while she watches Apple Jack cook. But, she's off doing her own thing now. Helping ponies with their cutie marks and what have you." Ms. Smith slowly spoke, seeming to trail off.

"I bet you're so very proud of them." Vera said from the stove with a smile, sensing the old mares troubles.

"Darn tooting! Best family in all of Equestria right here!" Ms. Smith shouted with a slap of her knee, which she quickly rubbed after.

"AJ has helped save Equestria from disaster more times than any old princess has, being the element of Honesty and all." Ms. Smith nodded, too old to care about sacrilege.

Vera smiled back at Granny quickly while stirring the pots before her.

"Apple Bloom used to be such terror, always getting into trouble over getting her darned cutie mark. Always told her it would happen when it happened. Never saw a pony my age without one." Ms. Smith shook her head. "Now, her and her 'Crusader' friends are helping other ponies get their cutie marks. And other ponies remember what it was that got them their cutie marks in the first place. She's a real good k- young mare." Ms. Smith caught herself, acknowledging how much Apple Bloom had grown.

"Then you got Big Mac, used to be such an up tight chatterbox, then he learned what fer. Then there was that whole potion thing, I was worried it had ruined the poor boy, until I heard about this marefriend of his that is. Now I know he'll be alright." Ms. Smith laughed.

"They're so lucky to have you, must mean the world to them to know how much pride you feel." Vera remarked from the stove.

"I sure hope it does. Hope they know how much their parents would be proud." Ms. Smith grew silent.

"I've got no doubt." Vera announced, feeling a pang of her own loss.

"Look at me cackling like an old hen while you do all the work. I really should-" Ms. Smith started to get up, but sat back down with a gesture from Vera.

"You hired me to do this, so I insist you sit down. I've got this covered." Vera said.

Granny smiled a bittersweet smile.

"Even with all the Apple's out there, I still need to hire help sometimes." Ms. Smith commented.

"All that family, but they're either too far away or too busy. I know how that goes, makes you feel a little abandoned." Vera agreed while lining up jars for the second batch.

Granny nodded, seeing her feelings reach a knowing pony.

"I'm glad they've got their own lives, and that they're doing fine. I just feel a little forgotten sometimes. Maybe they are just punishing me. All those years I wasted, not talking about their parents. I feel so ashamed." Ms. Smith sniffled a bit.

"I wouldn't blame them." She continued. "It was just so hard."

"It's done though, can't change that. There's a song I know, goes on to say that 'There's Nothing I Can Do About It Now'. All you can do is move forward." Vera said while carefully pouring the contents of the first pot into the funnel and into each jar.

The hot pot wedged between her mitted hoof and pot holder covered shoulder.

"I know that's fer sure. Still doesn't ease my guilt. Once you get old, you tend to feel a lot more of that. Try to make up for things as much as possible before you go." Ms. Smith mournfully replied.

"For the record, I don't think they'd punish you. It's just too easy to get caught up in your own life. I know they'll remember you, not that they've forgotten." Vera slowly said, setting down the first pot just to pick up a second and continue pouring.

"I know, it just feels that way. Maybe I'm just going senile, like old Uncle Mulch, lost his wits and went around digging pot holes in all the roads. Like a weird super gopher." Ms. Smith recalled with a shake of her head and raised brow.

Vera paused a second to picture it in her mind without laughing.

After awhile, with the third and final batch of jam and preserves being sealed away in their jars, Vera breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for your help, I know it wasn't much fun with me getting all sentimental on you." Ms. Smith rubbed the back of her head.

"Oh, it wasn't any trouble. I enjoyed our chat. I know it can get lonely out here when you're alone. It's alright Ms. Smith." Vera responded with an awkward grin.

"Call me Granny, please. After all you've done, you're certainly no stranger. So, don't act like one." Ms. Smith chastised.

She nodded, but part of her just couldn't do it. She knew how much Granny Smith needed to hear it, so why couldn't she just say it?

"I really wish I could just, say it. But, it's a bit hard. My grandmare on my father's side, she passed before I could meet her. So I only really got to know my grandmare on my mom's side. She Lived on Corona Island, out in the Bonifate sea, not too far south of the villa. We'd fly out and visit her every other weekend. She kind of didn't like my father, so he stayed behind." Vera recalled, her eyes looking into space as she pictured her grandmare. "She had this white coat and blue mane, always kept it styled and regal. Rarity sort of reminds me of her, just a lot younger. Even in her coffin, she looked like she had just gotten her mane done."

"I see, well I understand there young'in. It's alright." Granny Smith patted Vera's hoof.

"Thank you..." She struggled a bit. "Granny." Vera stammered a bit.

Granny smith cut a smile and nodded knowingly.

"Well, I suppose you'll be wanting to get paid now, and head off on your way. Know how busy you can be. Just like my AJ, always going off and helping somepony who needs it." Granny Smith broke the sudden silence.

"Don't worry about it." Vera pleaded.

"No, no, I insist now." Granny sternly shook her head while she looked for her purse.

"Well, I know I can't refuse you, wouldn't allow me to. But how about I just take a jar of some of that zap apple jam, and we call it square?" Vera said with a roll of her eyes, knowing stubborn ponies.

"You've got yerself a deal." Granny laughed. "Since I can't seem to find my purse anyhow."

With a wave goodbye, and a jar of jam in her camo saddlebags, she set off. Lighter, and heavier of step. Glad to have kept Granny Smith company and help her, sad to have remembered home and the past. Left with a bittersweet taste in her mouth, she kept moving forward. Equestria had this awful habit of making her feel this way. And it was only getting worse. The closer she got to these ponies, the worse she felt. She needed to help her homeland, to give them a brighter future.

Once she got to her little hill house near the Everfree, she'd mail off the jar back home, let her siblings taste the impressive jam for themselves. That would certainly lighten her mood some. Now if only she could send an answer back, a solution to all the strife.

"You're such a pretty mare Vera, you'll make a wonderful wife for someone some day. Just don't end up like your mother or me, marry for true love. Promise me, okay? You're too special for just anyone, let no one tell you otherwise. You deserve the best." Nightshade, her grandmare, had told Vera from her deathbed.

The memory made her stop. She stood there at the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, a few tears dripping down her cheeks.