Ghost of the Everfree

by David Silver

10 - Breaking Bread

As he stepped inside the farm house, the scents of dinner were upon him. Apple was the central theme, to no specific surprise. But there were many hints of spices and variations. That an apple could become so many different things, Dry had not known, but he had learned, just by being there and absorbing that scent.

"G'on." Applejack was behind him, gently nudging him forward. "Don't be shy. Granny! We got a guest!"

"Do we now?" As he came around the corner, he found the source of the voice, an elder of the apple tribe, seated at the end of the table in the dominant position. "There he is. Hm." She was studying him. Judging him. "Wha's his name?"

"Dry Whisper," he offered himself. "Nice to meet you... ma'am." He dipped his front forward and down before scooting out of the way of traffic, looking uncertain.

Apple Bloom found him. "You can sit next to me, here." She pointed at a chair. "Don't be scared. Everypony here's friendly, and ya did help out."

Granny's eyes were on him. But Apple Bloom insisted, and he hopped up into place, sitting down on the wide chair designed for a pony to be able to sink to their haunches on it. "It smells lovely."

"Ayup."

Applejack chuckled softly as she sank onto her own place, across from the little ones. "If ya think it smells nice, wait 'till ya get yer teeth in it. We're all here?" Her eyes darted along the table, counting. "All present."

Apple Bloom raised a hoof. "Except two."

Applejack pulled her hat down over her chest. "Not much we can do fer those two, but good thinkin'. A moment of quiet."

And things got quiet, to Dry's confusion. What for? The magical silence broke. Granny was reaching for food, and others followed suit, as if nothing had happened.

Apple Bloom pointed things out, reciting what each one. "And if'n yer a bit appled out, don't worry none. We got--" And on she went, naming several dishes that didn't have any apples in them. "Granny's an amazin' chef."

"Aw." Granny was still watching, even as she ate. "Ya gonna tell me about that colt ya brought home?"

Apple Bloom waved a hoof in a wobble at Dry. "This here's Dry, like he said. He's from another world! Everglow, remember that place?"

Granny cocked a brow at that. "You were talkin' 'bout that place." She was looking to Applejack.

Applejack shook her head quickly. "Not missin' it any! That place's dangerous."

"Yes," agreed Dry without hesitation. "Most places are... Apple Bloom has kindly protected me. She is so brave." He offered a bright smile at her. "I am very glad I met her. She's why I am here, instead of the forest."

Applejack reached across the table to pat the colt on the head. "Yer safe here. We Apples don't let no trouble come to ours."

Granny pressed hoof to hoof. "But is he ours?" She was watching him, that hadn't paused. "Ya like Apple Bloom?"

"Very much," he innocently affirmed, nodding at Apple Bloom. "She has many talents, and she's brave, and strong. She does look a little funny, but--"

Apple Bloom skewed an ear. "Pardon?"

It only clicked in hindsight that he maybe shouldn't have brought that up. "Um. I must look funny to you, don't I?"

Apple Bloom looked Dry up and down. He was not a pony. Not an Equestrian one anyway. His lines were different. Ornate? He had more of them. "Ya don't say somepony looks funny though." She shoved at his shoulder with a girlish laugh. "'Sides, yer not 'funny'. Ya do look interestin' though."

"Interesting!" he cried as if clinging to the word for safety. "That is a much better word. She is very interesting."

"Ya don't say." Granny's gaze had not wavered. "And Apple Bloom, ya like him?"

Apple Bloom looked up, food occupying her mouth a moment before she could chomp it up properly and get it down. "Huh? Sure, he's a good colt. Oh, he's stayin' here." She pointed off through a wall. "In the clubhouse."

Granny leaned forward a little. "Ya don't say..." And she stopped staring. Her eyes went to her food, which she began to eat properly, as if she had found whatever it was she had been searching for.

Dry had no idea what she had been looking for, but that she found it had to be good news, right? "I am not very good at apple bucking, but I got one. Tomorrow I will do better." It struck him and he raised a hoof to his chin. "I will also get the photo maker and take pictures. You all look amazing as you work. It should be captured, on paper. If you could see it yourself, I am certain you would like it."

Applejack inclined her head. "Huh."

Big Mac just chuckled a little, no words coming.

Apple Bloom threw a hoof over his shoulders, hugging him with one arm. "Ya heard that? He's an applebucker! Still new at it, but we all were once, right?"

Applejack nodded with far more confidence than she had a moment prior. "Congratulations. The first apple's a special one. Now that ya done that, the rest'll follow in no time." Her eyes fell over him, taking him in. "Yer a bit... slight fer an applebucker." He did not have the robust lines of an earth pony. He was more of a deer-like wisp. "But ya did it anywho, which just makes it all the better."

Apple Bloom noticed he had eaten, and stopped. "Ya full?"

Dry bobbed his head. "It was great." But he was not a creature that needed that much food. "Thank you." He dipped his head at each pony present, adult or child.

Apple Bloom sprang to the floor. "Ah'll walk ya back to the clubhouse." And the two were gone in a flash.

Granny looked, not to them, but to her older grandchildren.

"What?" Applejack was not one to sit quiet. "Somethin' on yer mind?"

"Our little Apple Bloom done came home with a colt friend and 'what's' all ya got?" A little smirk on her face, Granny chuckled softly. "Ah thought ya two were brighter."

Big Mac darkened faintly. "Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh'." Granny rolled her eyes. "were ya even lookin'? She done took a shine to him, and he's ready to learn applebuckin' if it'll make her happy." She applied hoof to hoof. "And he ain't built fer that, ya just said so, but there he is, doin' it anyway."

Big Mac rubbed the side of his head with a broad hoof. "Uh..."

"What he means is--" Applejack leaned over the table a little. "They ain't datin' or nothin'. They're just little foals! Doubt either of 'em even understands what yer talkin' 'bout."

Granny hiked a brow. "Apple Bloom's been chased before, yer forgettin'. That cat. 'Least this one's a pony, and more polite anywho from what ya told me."

"He seems nice enough." It was her turn to rub a hoof against a cheek. "But ah ain't sure he's lookin' at her that way. He was more like a, well... a colt, a little one. Happy to find a friend." Her smile returned, gentle and growing in confidence. "Which is what they are. Just cause he's a he and she's a she don't mean it has to be that."

"It don't have to..." Granny ran a hoof along the table between the plates that occupied it. "But it could be. Our little Bloom's reachin' the age where she starts havin' those thoughts. Ah can't rightly place the age of that colt."

Applejack colored at the idea being put forward. "Granny!"

"Just speakin' the truth." She nodded firmly as she pushed her plate back, apparently satisfied. "Ain't so bad. He's a cute little thin', odd as he may be. And he knows how to do a day's work. She coulda done worse."

Applejack quietly chewed a moment. "Ah'll keep an eye on 'em."

"Ayup."

It could be nothing, but the Apple family would keep watch over the new development."

---

Apple Bloom was pulling the blanket back out where it had started the day. "Ya did good. Took me most of a day to get mah first apple too." She giggled at the memory. "Ah was so proud!"

"Like me?" He reached out, helping getting things in position with nudging hooves and pulling teeth. "I will do better tomorrow. We are not done, right? I saw many more apples."

"Plenty more," she agreed with a happy sigh. "Which is good! We sell those apples to keep the farm, and feed ponies."

"Farming is very different where I come from." Dry nodded softly. "Very different... You have sun here, to start."

Apple Bloom blinked softly. "The sun's a... pretty big difference... Ah don't know what ya could grow without one of those."

"I wish I could show you." His face brightened. "Tomorrow I will get the mirror image taker. I will take photos, so I can show people things."

Apple Bloom inclined her head at the thought. "What did you want to show me s' bad?"

"Our food." He bounced in place. "Our farms. Our trees. They're not the same, but I can't show them. I wish I could..."

Apple Bloom set a hoof on his shoulder. "Maybe some day ah'll see 'em. Eventually ya'll be able to go back to there, right? I'll tag along, get a peek at these no-sun trees." A brow went up. "However that works."

"Very well." Dry bobbed his head. "If I could show you... Tomorrow." He dived for the blanket, snuggling right up under it and curling in a ball. "Good night."

Apple Bloom smiled at her new friend, so comfortable there under the blanket of protection. "Who said that? Huh, Dry musta already went to sleep." She departed, just barely stifling her giggle as she closed the door gently, leaving the ghost colt to get his sleep.

---

The next day, Dry was up first and burst free of the clubhouse. He didn't take the protective blanket with him, however tempting that was. It belonged in the clubhouse, and he would not steal from the girls. The very idea sent a shiver down his spine. They were wonderful ponies who protected him! Returning the favor with betrayal? No!

The sun was shining brightly down on him. The ponies were just waking up. Some of them even waved. "Hello!" he called back at them. There was no time for fear, though he'd remember later. It was time for one of his favorite grown ponies. He knocked gently on the cottage door.

"Who is it?" She wasn't asleep, good! The door cracked open to reveal Fluttershy's face. "Oh! Dry." The door opened the rest of the way. "Good morning. What brings you by?"

He pointed past her, to the shelf that held the artifact. "I wish to create more mirror images today. May I? I will be careful."

Fluttershy looked over her shoulder a moment before the rest of her followed. "Oh, yes. I'm glad to see you've found an interest in it." She brought her wings in, picking the camera up into the air. "Now, remember, when you've used up all the paper inside, it will stop letting you press the button. That's perfectly normal. It just means--"

"--It's hungry!" However scared he was, he wasn't slow, already understanding the camera needed to be fed the special paper. "Is it fed and full?"

"Completely." She set the camera down across him, the loop snagging around the back of his neck to let it dangle there against him. "I look forward to any pictures you take of any adorable animals." She paused. "Or not adorable ones. Scary animals are worth looking at too, even if one may wish to avoid them."

Dry bounced into the air, hooves cycling in his excitement. "I have to get back before Apple Bloom gets there. We're going to harvest apples."

Fluttershy blinked at that. Not the activity she expected. "Oh, that's very nice of you. Ah! If you see any fruit bats, do get a picture of them. So long as they aren't in a swarm, Applejack shouldn't be upset, but I'd like a picture of that, if you can."

"Bat, got it." He bobbed his head quickly. "Thank you!" He dashed off back towards the clubhouse, hoping to be there before the girls got there.

Author's Note:

Fruit bats? They get seeds and pulp everywhere, and that ends up creating typos, sigh... We can hope they don't show up.

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Comments

[howard035]

I knew Granny would be excited about a colt over for dinner!