Apple Bloom and the Golden Apples

by Animegx43

Research

It's a shame that nopony else was as excited about apples as Apple Bloom. Mind you, the only one she really cared for were the golden apples, but still, it's nice to see youngins interested in fruit.
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The very next day, still having the taste of golden apple pie in her mouth, as well as having free time, Apple Bloom went to her tree house where her two little friends, who they call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders, were waiting, to try and describe how yummy them apples are, but of course, just like all of the greatest tastes in the world, this is simply not something one can merely describe. It demands experience.

"So... It tastes like gold?" Sweetie Belle the unicorn asked.

"No, no, no! The APPLE is gold." Apple Bloom answered.

"Wait, now the apple is made of gold?" Scootaloo the pegasus asked.

"NO, NO... AAAAGHHH!" Apple Bloom screamed. The poor girl can definitely scratch getting a teaching cutie mark off her list.

"Okay, let me start again. These are magic apples, that have a gold colored skin. They're big too. Bigger than any apple you will ever see. And the taste! Dear Princess Celestia, the taste! Imagine the bliss of a freshly made batch of zap apple jam going straight down your throat! Golden apples make them taste like spinach."

The two fillies were very impressed by Apple Bloom's description, as they too became curious over the taste of them golden apples. Although as fans of zap apple jam, they had a hard time believing her.

"So, where do we find these apples?" Scootaloo asked.

"If I only knew," Apple Bloom said as she let out a sigh. "The only pony who knows is Granny Smith, and she’ll never tell anypony. I heard she would rather sell the farm then reveal the location."

"WHOA!" Scootaloo and Sweetie said together.

"But here's how I see it - if Granny Smith can figure out how to where to get them, I bet we can too!"

"Hmm... Cutie Mark Crusaders... apple pickers?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Oh, forget the cutie marks! I'd rather spend a day harvesting looking for these apples then earning my cutie mark any day! Trust me, they're THAT good!"

Now, these three fillies had been spending much of their time together trying to figure out their special talents and earn their cutie marks, and it means a lot to them too. The idea of Apple Bloom preferring to locate the apples impressed her friends, and they got more interested in seeing what the fuss was about. Now before you roll your eyes at this, I want to say that Apple Bloom was NOT over exaggerating. Every good thing she said was fairly accurate.

"Alright. We're in," Scootaloo said, to which Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement. "So where do we start?"

That was the million bit question. They had no clue as to where the golden apples are hidden, had no clues, and no idea where to start. Fortunately for them, Ponyville had a good place to get such information.

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"I'm always glad to see little fillies coming in to find something to read."

Ponyville's best library, also home of Twilight Sparkle, a close friend of Applejack, was probably the best place to find out whatever you needed to know, even if you weren’t sure of what to look for. If there was a book on it, Twilight was certain that she could find it for you. How unfortunate.

"Golden apples? Can't say I've ever heard of them," Twilight said.

"Well, surely you have a book on something that can help us." Apple Bloom said.

"Well... I think I have some books on the Apple Family history. Maybe you can find something in there."

After a quick search through her shelves, Twilight located the book. It was a large green book with a red apple on the cover. The book itself was much bigger than Twilight expected it to be, so she figured the girls would be able to find something, or at the very least, learn a little more about the Apple Family.

"Alright. Where she we start?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Maybe the table of contents?" Sweetie Belle suggested.

While not overly pleased by the sarcastic answer, there was no denying that it was a pretty good place to start. Much to their surprise, they found a chapter that talked about the different kinds of apples grown by the Apples. The girls quickly flipped through the pages to find the chapter. Unfortunately, all it did was talk about how certain apples we grew were grown, and how each one was different. They didn't find so much as a picture of the golden apple.

"Well, this won't be... Oh wow! There's an apple called a blenheim orange. I better not tell Applejack that."

"Apple Bloom, focus!" Scootaloo said.

"Alright, alright."

As they couldn't find the page with the apple itself, they eventually went through the pages that talked about different apple trees instead. When they did, they got much luckier. They searched the word 'orphan' for orphan tree. The only problem was that there was nothing on it.

"A mysterious, possibly mythical tree." Apple Bloom read. "They are said to grow giant apples, but as these apples have never been seen publicly, no real proof of their existence is verified."

"OH, COME ON!" Sweetie Belle shouted. "Now we're looking for a tree that doesn't exist?"

"That's like trying to find Rainbow Dash losing a race." Scootaloo said.

"Well at least we know Granny Smith didn't... Hey, wait." Apple Bloom said, as she took a closer look at the page. "Page 247 for references."

Turning to the suggested page, little Apple Bloom found a chapter that surprised her, not expecting to be pushed towards the direction. It was something she found completely off-topic, and something she wasn't sure she was suppose to read.

"What does it say?" Scootaloo asked.

"The...Apple Family Slaughter," Apple Bloom replied.

Hearing that last word, Twilight Sparkle used her unicorn magic to quickly take the book away from the little girls. A very smart call.

"You girls may be a little young to read something like that," Twilight said.

"Hey, that book has everything on my family, as well as the information I need. I think I have every right to know what's in it!"

A good argument, although not entirely convinced that the book was safe for little fillies, Twilight hesitantly returned the book to Apple Bloom and her friends. A very bad call.

The Apple Family Slaughter is the most tragic event in the history of the Apple Family. The Apples are known for having a very huge family, but this slaughter could've very wiped us all out. It's really something that only us older Apples remember, as we are the only ones who remember it. Most of us don't teach it to our grandchildren because it's not something we'd ever want to touch upon, even with a twenty-foot pole. I, on the other hoof, didn't share it because it had a connection to the golden apples and the orphan trees. I wouldn't normally share it, but since these events have happened already, not to mention it's mention in another book, I may as well share.

I'll explain these events the best I can.

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Many years ago, back when I was still a young mare, my older brothers were exploring the land with the hopes of expanding our farm, since our apple business had been doing so well. They had an interest in making the mysterious Everfree Forest be not-so mysterious, as they were trying to make a map of the place to know which parts were safe and which parts were filled with the dreaded timberwolves, wooden dog-like creatures that guarded their home well.

One day, my brothers brought a special souvenir from the forest. You guessed it. It was the first known golden apple. The apple was put to good use and each of us had a share of the behemoth of an apple. More were later found in the forest, and more were eaten. The word of the golden apple quickly spread to the entire Apple family, which was scattered across Equestria. To celebrate the discovery, it was decided that the family would have a good old family reunion so that every pony could have a taste. We found more of the orphan trees, got as many of the giant apples as we could, and we prepared the fruits the best we could.

Now, a few days before we made the reunion plans, a tragedy occurred. My two older brothers went missing. We searched the best we could from the outskirts of town, to as far into the Everfree Forest as we could without endangering ourselves. They were never found.

Then came the reunion itself - there must've been one hundred Apples there! Not apples as in the fruit, but one hundred members of the Apple family, of course. Anyway, timberwolves are known for staying in the Everfree Forest, only leaving if somepony is stupid enough to bother them. The day the reunion occurred, a huge pack of them left their home and attacked the Apple Family. There must've been one wolf for each Apple that showed up. It was horrible. At least sixty members of the family, whether they were fully grown stallions, or newborn foals, them wolves did not discriminate. As quickly as they entered though, they left just as fast, and the golden apples were taken away by those same timberwolves.

For decades now, the golden apples were considered cursed, as that was the only known instance that the timberwolves left their home without being disturbed.

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"Whoa..." Apple Bloom said after reading about what happened all those years ago.

"Suddenly, spinach sounds a little more appealing," Scootaloo said.

"Does it say anything else?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Not really. It seems that the timberwolves really like the golden apples too. The book doesn't say anything else about the apples," Apple Bloom said. Then, she turned to Twilight Sparkle. "Twilight, do you have any books on timberwolves?"

"I do, but I've read it before. I'm pretty sure you won't find what you're looking for.”

Once again, the girls had hit a wall. All that they accomplished had them getting even more curious about the golden apples, because they caused such a conundrum, and their friend Twilight didn't have what they needed, which made things even more interesting for them since she normally has all the answers they need.

Fortunately for them, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the book did reveal a clue, which was that the orphan trees were located somewhere in the Everfree Forest, and as luck would have it, Apple Bloom had a good friend living right there in the forest.

Author's Note:

Yeah, guess who will be in the next chapter.

Comments

[Pascal]

This is actually off to a good start. I'm curious to see the rest!

[Animegx43]

2094781

Glad you like it so far. I just hope more will agree.