Down to Earth Family

by Zenaron

Discoveries

Down to Earth Family-Chapter 1

Equestria, a beautiful land where ponies of all shapes and sizes lived in harmony. Some would consider this place to be perfect, but even in a seemingly perfect place like this there are still problems. Even in such a land there is still sickness, there is still pain, and most of all there is still death, and that is where our story begins, in a sweet little town called Ponyville.

A town full of love and happiness, where many families of ponies have come to settle down. A small country town with all the basics, shops of all kinds, street venders selling their wares for all the ponies to buy, a library full of books for all to read.

This town was even home of the Elements of Harmony, so surely there couldn’t be any sadness here of all places. But what about those who have no family? For a young pegasus filly with a sunset colored coat and a lovely purple mane this was all too real for her, surrounded by others but yet still all alone…

“Scootaloo.”

She looked up to see a yellow filly with a pink mane and cute pink bow running toward her, her best friend Applebloom, youngest of the Apple family.

“Hi Applebloom what’s up?” she asked, stopping in her tracks.

“Well ah saw ya walk’n down the street and thought ah’d come see if y’all wanted to hang out?” answered Applebloom, trotting up next to her friend.

“Sure, sounds like fun,” Scootaloo replied with a practiced smile, as they started trotting off toward Sweet Apple Acres, where the best apples in all of Equestria are grown.

The pair of fillies walked through the farm and into to the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse. After they got settled in they started doing anything and everything they could think of to get their cutie marks, coloring, reading, pillow fighting, and wrestling, but eventually the sun started to set and the day was coming to a close.

“Well ah better get goin’ afore Applejack gets to wonderin’ where ah am,” Applebloom said before getting up and trotting out the door.

Scootaloo nodded and said, “Ok I’ll see you later Applebloom,” as she herself started off toward Ponyville.

While walking she couldn’t stop thinking about how Applebloom had a family and how Sweetie Belle, the third crusader, had a family as well. “It’s not fair,” she thought. “Both my friends have families that love and care for them, why don’t I? Am I just not good enough? I don’t try to be a bad pony, and I’m not any worse than Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, and they both have a warm bed to sleep in, a big sister to tell them everything is all right when something bad happens, and Sweetie has a mom to kiss her on the forehead when she tucks her in at night.”

She trotted through Ponyville, towards the outskirts of the city, and down a small hill to the Ponyville Cemetery; it was a dark foreboding place, the air just seemed to change inside the gloomy place, the graves just as dismal as the rest of the cemetery. After she trotted through the maze of graves, she meekly crept up to a pair of graves and plopped down in front of them. She sighed heavily. “Hi mom, hi dad, I came to see you,” she whispered quietly to the graves, a single tear running down her face. “I wanted to tell you about my day. I hung out with Applebloom for a while. She’s a really good friend and I’m glad I met her and Sweetie Belle. I… I really miss you both,” she said as she collapsed sobbing over her parent’s graves.

After a little longer she stopped and said one last goodbye before she started trotting back to Ponyville. She walked down the main street past Sugar Cube Corner, then past a few more shops, turned, then went down an alley between two shops.

She trotted up to a small wooden crate and pulled back the cloth that she had draped over it as a door before going inside. It wasn’t a very spacious place, just big enough for her and her few belongings. Her scooter and wagon were over in a corner, next to them her bag with her schoolbooks. She walked to the center of the crate where a small pillow and her worn blanket lay.

She put her head on the pillow and pulled the blanket over herself. After a few minutes of being curled in her blanket she realized that, like most nights, sleep wasn’t going to come easily. She rolled onto her back and looked through the hole in the top of the box at the night sky full of stars and Luna’s moon. Suddenly, a flash of light shone as a shooting star streaked across the sky. Scootaloo bowed her head and wished for the one thing she always wished for since her parent’s deaths, a family of her own. She then rolled over onto her side, closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

The Next Day

On the outskirts of Ponyville, in a cloud house with beautiful rainbow waterfalls, stirred a cyan pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane that she was named for. With a grumble she rolled over and got out of her cloud bed. She shook her head trying to wake up as she trotted over to her bathroom and took a shower. She walked out, looked at herself in the mirror, and frowned at her reflection; she shook herself of the excess water and flipped her mane, bringing it back to its normal messy appearance. She looked back at the mirror and smiled. “Perfect,” she said to herself as she walked out of the bathroom and went to the kitchen to get some breakfast.

She walked over to the table and grabbed an apple, bringing her thoughts to a certain pony that has been on her mind recently, Applejack. “Why have I been thinking about her so much? I mean yeah she is pretty awesome. Not near as awesome as me, but what is it about her…” Her thoughts starting to form on all the things she loved about Applejack. “Well she has a really cute smile…did I just think that? Not awesome. Her hay blonde mane, that sweet accent of hers, that hard toned flank…” Her wings suddenly became fully extended as her face turned as red as parts of her mane. “Well great, now I’m having those types of thoughts about her, what has gotten into me?”

She sighed then started eating the apple, hoping that if she got rid of it she could get her mind off Applejack. “The sooner I get flying the sooner it’ll be out of my mind,” she thought, finishing the last of the apple and starting her preflight stretches. She walked up to the door and leaped out, spreading her wings as a familiar rush of adrenaline rushed through her. She soared through the air with ease and grace. “Well I guess I should get started clearing the clouds, and then I can take a nap,” she said as she kicked some clouds in her way and blasted through the sky, a rainbow following her flight.

Elsewhere at Sweet Apple Acres

Applejack was hard at work in her daily routine of bucking apples; she spun around and delivered another kick to the nearest tree, and down came a cascade of apples. Applebloom quickly ran up and started picking up the apples and putting them into baskets.

“Applebloom, what’s the hurry? They ain't gonna wither in just a few minutes,” Applejack asked her little sister as she trotted closer to her.

“Well me and the Girls are gonna go try’n get our cutie marks so ah wanted to get my chores out of the way faster,” she answered, putting the last of the apples into the baskets.

“Well all right, y’all can go as soon as you’re done with them apples,” Applejack said as she walked over to the next tree and bucked it.

“Thanks sis,” Applebloom said as she ran to do her next set of chores.

Applejack smiled. “Well ah guess ah better be getting out and sellin’ some apples,” she thought as she walked in the direction of the barn. She went in and started getting the cart filled up. She got into the harness, and started trotting off toward Ponyville. As she walked through town she greeted every pony she saw with a smile and a “howdy,” knowing most of them by name. She ended up at the center of town, where all the shops and venders were set up, and where all the ponies came to get what they needed. Applejack got out of the harness and started setting up shop.

It was about this time that a certain cyan pegasus pony flew overhead. “Hey Applejack, what’s up?” Rainbow Dash asked as she landed in front of the apple stand.

“Oh not much, how bout y’all? The weather sure looks nice, you’re doin’ a humdinger of a good job there Rainbow,” Applejack replied with a smile for her friend.

“Yeah thanks, so I’ve been working on some new moves and I was wondering if you’re free later so that maybe you would like to…I don’t know hang out.”

“Sure thing Sugar Cube, ah’d love to, as soon as ah get done here at the stand, why don’t you meet me on the hill outside the north part of town?”

“Sure, sounds awesome, I’ll see you then AJ,” Rainbow Dash said as she jumped up and flew off.

“Cool, she’s going to come watch me strut my stuff…why do I care so much? I should probably go talk to somepony about this, but who?” Twilight was her first choice, but she quickly dismissed that thought. “She wouldn’t know what to do unless it was in a book somewhere.” Rarity. “Nah that’s no good either, she would probably gossip about it to everypony.” Pinkie Pie? “Wouldn’t be able to understand her, even if she did give me good advice.” That just left Fluttershy. “Perfect!” she yelled out, swiftly changed direction with a twist of her body, and headed straight towards Fluttershy’s place.

Fluttershy’s home was a quaint little house with a grass roof and yellow walls. Nestled just outside of the Everfree forest, it’s always surrounded by the many burrows and nests of all the animals that Fluttershy cared for. Rainbow Dash walked up to the house and lightly knocked on the door. After a few moments of waiting the door opened slightly and a pale blue eye came into view in the crack in the door.

“Oh Rainbow, how are you doing, is there something I can help you with?” Fluttershy asked, opening the door the rest of the way and smiling sweetly.

“Yeah, about that, do you mind if I come in?” Rainbow replied as she slumped her shoulders with a troubled look on her face.

“Of course, come in,” Fluttershy said as she moved out of the way and Rainbow Dash walked into her living room. “Can I get you anything to drink or eat?”

“No thanks I’m good I just…” She sat down on Fluttershy’s couch and let out a pent up sigh. “I just really need to get something off my chest, and you’re the only pony I can turn to.”

“Oh my, is everything ok? Did something happen to you?” Fluttershy blurted out more hurriedly then she usually talked. She quickly sat down next to Rainbow, ready to comfort her.

“Well you see I’ve been, oh how to say this…having different feeling about one of our friends recently,” Rainbow said struggling to find the right words to describe her predicament.

“What type of feelings? Do you not like one of our friends anymore?” Fluttershy asked with a puzzled look on her face.

“No, no actually more of the opposite I guess.”

“What do you mean?” she asked with an even more puzzled look on her face, “And which one of our friends are you talking about?”

Rainbow hesitated, let out one more pent up sigh, and then the dam broke. “It’s Applejack, the past few days I’ve been thinking about her nonstop, and no matter where I go or what I look at something always reminds me of her. Fluttershy, what’s wrong with me?” Rainbow said, almost in tears, with a look of anguish on her face.

Fluttershy squealed happily and quickly dragged Rainbow Dash into a soft, comforting hug. “Oh Rainbow, don’t you see? You’re in love with Applejack.”

Rainbow looked at Fluttershy in disbelief. “Do I love Applejack? That would explain everything…” Rainbow thought to herself.

“Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh! Fluttershy, what do I do now?” Rainbow Dash asked with a worried look on her face.

“Well I suppose you should tell her… if you want to that is, you do want to don’t you?” Fluttershy asked, meekly removing herself from the hug.

“Are you insane? I can’t tell her how I feel, what if she doesn’t feel the same way about me? What if I tell her and she hates me? I…I can’t, I can’t do it Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy just looked at Rainbow Dash with a look of soft compassion. “But what if she feels the same way? Then you can be together, and you can both be happy,” Fluttershy said, smiling warmly and fluttering her wings to emphases her point.

Rainbow Dash sat there for a good five minutes before she finally nodded. “You’re right. I am the Dash, I can do this, I’m going to tell her at the hill as soon as she gets there,” Rainbow Dash said, flaring her wings, her confidence returning in a flash. “Thanks Fluttershy, I’ve gotta dash!” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk, as she jumped through the window and rocketed toward the spot where she’s to meet Applejack.

On The Path to the Hill

Applejack trotted up the path toward the outskirts of Ponyville, admiring the early autumn weather, and the beautiful scenery that comes with it. “Well it sure is might pretty out today,” Applejack thought as she looked up at trees of all different colors.

“Sure am glad Rainbow wanted me to come’n see her out here, haven’t had much time ta spend with her since harvest season started. Ah sure have been missin’ her a whole heap of a lot… That’s strange, why have ah been missin’ Rainbow so much? Ah mean ah see her every other day up in the sky clearin’ the clouds with them majestic strong wings of hers….”

Applejack stopped and shook her head violently. “What the hay, why am ah thinkin’ about Rainbow like that? Ah can’t be doin’ that, my barn door don’t swing that way. Does it?” Applejack pondered this for a second, contemplating in complete silence, when she heard a very familiar scratchy voice.

“Hey Applejack, up here.”

Applejack looked up to where the voice was coming from, and her heart started beating through her chest as she looked and saw Rainbow Dash hovering just above the ground. The sun setting just behind her mixed with her rainbow colored mane gave her an almost angel-like glow. “Wow look at her she’s…dazzlin’,” Applejack thought to herself.

“Well Howdy there Rainbow, how y’all doin’?” Applejack asked, with a hint of excitement in her voice due to seeing the cyan pegasus, “Y’all ready to show me your new moves?”

“Yep, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about first,” Rainbow said, coming to a landing. Rainbow’s heart started racing and she started nervously kicking dirt with her front hoofs.

“Sure thing Sugar Cube, what do yah need to talk with me about?” Applejack asked as she gave Rainbow a kind smile.

Rainbow Dash let out a pent up breath. “Ok here it goes… Applejack, I…”

Through her thudding heart Applejack heard something that clicked somewhere in her mind. “Wait Sugar Cube, do you hear that?” Applejack interrupted, lifting a hoof to silence Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow stopped and listened, and after a few seconds of waiting she heard it; it was faint, but it sounded like somepony was crying. Both ponies looked around and noticed the sound was coming from the nearby graveyard.

The two looked at each other with a look of confusion, but after a moment’s hesitation Rainbow started trotting toward the graveyard. Applejack watched for a moment and then followed after her friend. The pair trotted slowly through the dismal place, through row after row of faded tombstones, each with a name and a cutie mark representing the pony buried beneath. They finally came to the source of the crying, a little orange filly with a purple mane.

“Rainbow, is that Scootaloo?” Applejack asked with a worried look on her face.

“Yeah it is, but what is she doing here, it’s getting late. Why is she not at home?” Rainbow asked, her voice full of concern for the young filly.

“Ah don’t know, but ah’m gonna find out,” Applejack said, walking slowly up to Scootaloo. “Hey there Sugar Cube, what are ya doin’ out here so late?”

Scootaloo looked up and saw Applejack. Scootaloo's ears flattened against her head, and a look of pure horror came over her face.

(Thank you very much NikitaKitten for the help editing.)

Comments

[DbzOrDie]

Other than the fact that it's really fast-paced, it does look promising

[Shadow Night]

Allow me to start things off by saying that this story certainly has potential. I like these Appledash stories, mainly because the two of them just seem to connect, being athletic and competitive as they are. Looking forward to more.

[Night Fire]

WANT MOAR!

[aurorablaze]

.... let me just say something >.< You need to watch some of your grammar, your punctuation and tenses are kinda slipping, and I think I noticed 'your' instead of 'you're' a few times. ^^; If you like, I could try a type of editor thing with you, if you needed an extra nudge =) [sorry to babble, but it really throws me off the story notice these little things </3]
But otherwise, I look forward to seeing what happens next :D the thoughts those two are having are so cute! Will watch, and I hope Scoot is okay =[

[NikitaKitten]

I have to agree with the comment above me. There is some potential here, but the technical aspects of your writing are severely lacking. Your quotation marks were all over the place: sometimes you didn't close a quote that you opened, sometimes you mixed single and double quotation marks, sometimes you just used the wrong punctuation within the quote. Not to mention the number of spelling mistakes that you made where you used the wrong homophone, or the way you used your commas.

I too volunteer as an editor, though I likely will not be continuing to follow this story if the grammar and punctuation stay at the same level.

[Delicious]

I too have to agree with the above comments, it's a concept I've loved for a long time, but the execution is a bit rough. I myself had the most problem with the Dialogue. I'm not very good with punctuation, so I won't make a good editor, but I suggest you take the editing offers. It'll make this story much better in both the long run and the short run.

[PYROontheAIR]

+=

[Jay Cruiz]

I like where this is going... very bueno

[CanterlotGuardian]

I'm curious as to why Scootaloo is in the graveyard crying, much less why she's suddenly scared of Applejack. I think I have an idea of why, but I want to keep reading and find out. So next update soon please.

[asdfabaeradjargasdfasd]

1151481>>1151496

What these two said. This story needs to slllooooooooooowwwwwww down a bit, give the reader time to catch up on what's going on. Try to describe what the characters feel more, and the setting as well.

1168787

It's because her parents died, remember?

[Felix Star]

Very nice story keep on going

[DbzOrDie]

So, I've finally started with reading this again

[Bryan Luna]

Scoots

[Fluttershyisacutegal]

scootsy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!