A Tale of Two Apples

by The Blue EM2

Heading Home

The lights came up on the stage and the audience began to cheer, as Babs Seed, Featherweight, Tender Taps, Silverstream, and Raindrops all stepped forward.

“Hello everybody!” called Babs, eliciting a response cheer of “Hello Crusaders!”

“Nice ta hear yer all in such chipper spirits!” Babs responded in kind. “Tonight, we have a special guest. On our team, from all the way in the Sunshine State, is someone who has travelled a long, long way to be here. She is unmatched in her field, truly one of the greatest ever known, the daughter of the son of a logger!”

The crowd seemed confused, but went along with it anyway.

“May I present, the fastest fingers in the Wild West-Apple Bloom!”

Apple Bloom stepped forward, dressed same as ever and waving, the crowd cheering loudly in response. “This must be what a Rainbooms concert is like,” she said to herself.

“And she’s my cuz’,” Babs answered. “Not to mention the First Crusader!”

She snapped her fingers, and Tender Taps stepped forward.

“Now then, are you ready to rock?”

The crowd roared.

“I can’t here ya!”

“WE ARE READY TO ROCK!!” the crowd boomed.

Apple Bloom brought her fiddle to her shoulder, and prepared to start playing. Tender began to strum.

“I am the entertainer
And I know just where I stand
Another serenader
And another long haired band
Today I am your champion
I may have won your hearts
But I know the game, you'll forget my name
And I won't be here in another year
If I don't stay on the charts

“I am the entertainer
And I've had to pay my price
The things I did not know at first
I learned by doin' twice
Ah, but still they come to haunt me
Still they want their say
So I've learned to dance with a hand in my pants
I let 'em rub my neck and I write 'em a check
And they go their merry way

“I am the entertainer
Been all around the world
I've played all kinds of palaces
And laid all kinds of girls
I can't remember faces
I don't remember names
Ah, but what the hell
You know it's just as well
'Cause after a while and a thousand miles
It all becomes the same

“I am the entertainer
I bring to you my songs
I'd like to spend a day or two
I can't stay that long
No, I've got to meet expenses
I got to stay in line
Gotta get those fees to the agencies
And I'd love to stay but there's bills to pay
So I just don't have the time

“I am the entertainer
I come to do my show
You've heard my latest record
It's been on the radio
Ah, it took me years to write it
They were the best years of my life
It was a beautiful song
But it ran too long
If you're gonna have a hit
You gotta make it fit
So they cut it down to 3:05

“I am the entertainer
The idol of my age
I make all kinds of money
When I go on the stage
Ah, you've seen me in the papers
I've been in the magazines
But if I go cold I won't get sold
I'll get put in the back in the discount rack
Like another can of beans

“I am the entertainer
And I know just where I stand
Another serenader
And another long haired band
Today I am your champion
I may have won your hearts
But I know the game, you'll forget my name
I won't be here in another year
If I don't stay on the charts!”

The crowd cheered, as the band launched into their next number.

“Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
End up like a dog that's been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up

“Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.

“Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man

“Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.

“Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man said "son if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said "son, don't you understand"

“I had a brother at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone

“He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now

“Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go

“Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., I'm a long gone daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., I'm a cool rocking daddy in the U.S.A.”

Babs smiled as the crowd finished cheering. “Now then,” she said, “time for Featherweight here to take centre stage. As although he may be light, he punches well above his weight!”

The cheering continued. “Now then, did ya say the lights on 42^nd Street were havin’ issues?”

Featherweight nodded, and then began to play.

“Seen the lights go out Broadway
I saw the Empire State laid low
And life went on beyond the Palisades
They all bought Cadillacs
And left there long ago

“They held a concert out in Brooklyn
To watch the island bridges blow
They turned our power down
And drove us underground
But we went right on with the show

“I've seen the lights go out on Broadway
I saw the ruins at my feet
You know we almost didn't notice it
We'd seen it all the time on Forty second street

“They burned the churches down in Harlem
Like in that Spanish civil war
The flames were everywhere
But no one really cared
It always burned up there before

“I've seen the lights go out on Broadway
I saw the mighty skyline fall
The boats were waiting at the battery
The union went on strike
They never sailed at all

“They sent a carrier out from Norfolk
And picked the Yankees up for free
They said that Queens could stay
And blew the Bronx away
And sank Manhattan out at sea

“You know those lights were bright on Broadway
That was so many years ago
Before we all lived here in Florida
Before the Mafia took over Mexico
There are not many who remember
They say a handful still survive
To tell the world about
The way the lights went out
And keep the memory alive.”

Raindrops spoke last, to cue the last number. “And now, our friend from the West will show off her skills!”

Somehow, Rockin’ all over the World worked perfectly in that context, and Apple Bloom stunned the crowd with not only the power and precision of her playing, but indeed, the band kept it all together.

The next day, Babs went to see Apple Bloom off at JFK.

“Hey, I’ll miss ya, OK?” Babs said.

“Ah’ll miss ya too,” Apple Bloom replied. “Thanks fer lettin’ me stay with ya.”

“Forgetaboutit! Yer always welcome in the Big Apple, any time ya wanna come, let me know.”

Apple Bloom nodded, and gave her cousin one last hug, before heading into the departure gate, and back home to California.

But as she went to the gate, she got an urgent text.

Sweetie Belle: Scootaloo’s been taken ill!

Author's Note:

Well, here it ends. Hope you enjoyed the trip.

Comments

[The Blue EM2]

9674540
It leads into the next story. Nice you stopped by, this story has been barely looked at.