It was a cold stormy night in the small town of Ponyville, the rain was pouring down, the wind was screaming, thunder roared in the distance.
Lightning echoed throughout the night and struck down at a mountain close to the farm known as Sweet Apple acres.
It caused a series of underground tunnels to collapse, killing many of it’s inhabitants, spiders, bunnies, lizards, just about every kind of small animal you would find deep inside a mountain perished that night.
But that was nothing anyone in Ponyville noticed at the time, they were all spending time with their families, riding out the storm together, inside their cosy homes.
They had been ready for the storm, the local weather mare, Rainbow Dash had given everypony a heads up long before the storm would hit, so nopony was in any kind of danger.
The lighting had caused a complete cave in and sealed the entrance to the cave, surely nothing would be able to get out of their, right?
The massive rocks covering the entrance started shaking violently and a massive beast made its way out of the cave, walking on unsteady legs it made its way up a small hill, it looked over the cave with tears streaming down its eyes.
The beast was wounded, the cave in had caught it by surprise and some of it’s legs had gotten damaged in the process.
The beast turned around and walked out into the night, the storm was relentless.
It knew that it had to find some kind of shelter in order to tend to its wounded legs.
As the beast walked down the hill it spotted a red barn, there was nothing else nearby so it decided that the barn was its best choice at the time, it used two of its long appendages to slice the lock in half and open the door, once it was inside it closed the door.
The beast then walked to the center of the barn and laid down in the soft hay.
It was sad and lonely, it had lost many close friends and family members when the cave came crashing down upon them. It closed Its eyes and tried to get some sleep, despite the pain coursing through its legs, and heart.
Applejack was sitting by the fire with her family, Big mac, Applebloom and her old grandmother. They were talking about how to maximise the farms income this year.
Applebloom had suggested that they should try their hooves at making a new kind of apple cider, one that contained less sugar, so the townsponies would be able to drink even more than usual. Despite her young age Applebloom was always thinking about new ways to help her siblings running the farm as efficient as possible.
Granny Smith had complimented her granddaughter and told her that she would consider it.
Applejack rose from the floor and walked into the kitchen to get herself a glass of water.
Lightning struck and Applejack could have sworn she had seen something big approaching the farm. But she ignored it, it was probably just a mirage created by the storm.
She walked back to her family and laid herself down on the floor, Applebloom walked up to her sister and laid down beside her.
Applejack gave her a friendly noogie and a nuzzling.
Time was creeping by as it usually would and not before long the Apple family decided to head to bed.
By that time, Applejack had forgotten all about the thing she supposedly had seen outside.
It was early morning at the Apple Family farm and as usual there was a lot of work to be done.
Granny Smith was walking towards the barn, she was going to milk the cows and have her regular morning chat with them.
But something was amiss, the cows were standing outside the barn munching on the grass without a care in the world.
Granny Smith put her milking bucket on the ground and walked up to the cows.“Morning ladies! Mighty fine weather we have today isn't it?”
The oldest and wisest of the cows stepped forward and greeted, Granny Smith. “Why yes it really is. Much better than last nights storm Mohhohoh, it was awful.”
“Well then Rosemary would you and the rest of the ladies get inside the barn so I can milk you all and get the day started?” She said with a smile on her wrinkly old lips.
Rosemary looked over at the barn and shook her head. “We are sorry Mrs Smith, but we can’t do that.”
Granny smith rose an eyebrow. “What’s wrong, is there something going on in the barn that I don’t know about?”
Rosemary looked over at the barn again and shivered. “I don’t know, but something is wrong and we are not going in there unless one of you ponies take a look inside first,”
Granny Smith knew that it was no use arguing with the cows, they were a smart group and they knew when something was wrong. She walked back to the house and found Applebloom laying on the floor staring at an apple. “Sweetie, what are you up you now?”
Applebloom looked up from the apple and greeted her granny. “Good morning Granny! I was just trying to figure out a way to get the seeds out of the apple without damaging the apple.”
Granny Smith chuckled. “You kids and your crazy ideas. Anyway I need you to look inside the barn. The cows are worried and won’t go inside until one of us give them the sign that everything is clear.
Applebloom rose to her hooves and walked towards the door. “Okay, I’ll take care of it!”
Granny Smith smiled, she then walked upstairs to see if Big Mac was still asleep. There was a lot of stuff work that had to be done today and she wanted to be sure that her big, strong grandson was up to the task.
Applebloom walked up to the barn only to see that the look had been ripped in half by something. She was skeptical, the lock was old but not even last night's storm would have been able to rip it in half, like that.
She carefully opened the barn door and peaked inside, she saw a something big laying in the center of the barn, it was too dark to clearly see what it was.
She pushed the barn door open to let more light in. She light a lantern and walked up to the big lump in the center.
She was bit scared, but she didn't want to bother anyone while they were working. Suddenly a white string of goo latched on to the barn door and slammed it shut, thus causing her to give out a small shriek.
The big lump turned around slowly and gazed upon whatever had brought light into its shelter.
“AHH!!!!!!” Applebloom dropped the lantern and ran out of the barn screaming like an earthworm about the be put on a fishing hook.
She ran up to her sister and hugged her hind leg, panting like never before.
Applejack looked down at her sister and chuckled lightheartedly. “Why good morning Applebloom! What seems to be the problem? You look like you have seen a ghost.”
“There is a big spider in the barn! Get rid of it please, Applejack!” Applebloom said still hugging her sisters leg.
Applejack looked at her sister with a small hint of disappointment on her face. “A spider? really Applebloom, you are a big filly and you should be able to handle a little spider by yourself.”
Applebloom let go of her sisters leg and looked into her eyes. “But it’s a big spider!”
Applejack sighed. “Okay I’ll take care of the big spider, you go and help big macintosh with the cleaning.”
Applebloom took a deep breath to calm herself, she then walked away to find her brother.
Applejack walked inside and grabbed an old newspaper with her mouth. “Gesh, a little spider, sometimes I worry about the future of the farm.” She opened the barn door and walked inside, there was nothing inside and no spider in sight.
“Come out little spider wherever you are, I’ll make this quick for you, but if you're a lil good spider and show yourself I’ll personally escort you out here.” Applejack walked back to the entrance not really expecting the spider to come out, but you never know sometime it’s bound to happen.
From the upper level of the barn a massive spider jumped down right in front of Applejack. It looked at her with its big black eyes.
Applejack drooped the newspaper and swallowed hard. She looked the giant red and purple spider. She had never been afraid of spiders, but she had never seen a spider this big before.
“Well, thanks for coming out, I’ll show you the way out and then we can go on with our lives, okay?” Applejack said, her voice coated with fear. A spider this big could easily rip her to shreds. The spider did not move for a while and she started to sweat.
The spider took a few unstable steps towards her and lowered itself to Applejacks eye level.
“Please forgive me. My home was destroyed along with many of my children. I was only looking for a temporary shelter, so I could tend to my wounded legs.” It’s voice was dark, but filled with emotions.
Applejack was having a hard time comprehending what she had just witnessed, she had never heard about a talking spider before, let alone, a giant talking spider.
She rubbed the back of her neck and swallowed nervously. “Well, Mr Spider. We keep our cows in this barn and we need to milk them, they won’t enter unless you get out.” She prayed quietly to the heavens that she would not end her days as a drained sack of skin and bones.
The spiders emotionless face was hard to read, Applejack had no clue if she made it angry.
“I understand. Sorry for causing trouble. I’ll take my leave. Thanks for not attacking me.” The spider limped out of the barn and was heading towards the woods.
Applejack couldn't help it she felt bad for the spider, it had lost its home, it’s family and its legs were wounded.
She ran up to the spider. “Hey wait!” The spider stopped dead in its tracks and glanced at her.
“I mean if you got nowhere else to go, I’ll let you stay in one of our apple cellars, how about that?”
The spider turned slowly around and faced her.
“I’ll take your offer. Lead the way.”
Applejack lead the spider to one of the underground cellars, all while wondering whether she made the right decision or not, this spider was big enough to cause some major damage. But applejack trusted her heart and decided to help it.
Applejack lead the spider to the edge of the apple acres and opened two big doors labeled nr 3. She walked in, the spider following not far behind her. the cellar was huge, there were dozens of barrels filled with apples,cider,applesauce, all kind of apples in various forms and shape.
Applejack was about to say something when the spider walked over her and made itself comfortable in the center of the cellar. “I hope this will do, it’s a little dirty, I hope you don’t mind.”
“This will do. Makes me feel nostalgic. Reminds me of when I was but a hatchling, barely bigger than your sisters face.” The spider scratched its head. “I’m sorry I don’t think I caught your name, miss.”
“My name is Applejack! It’s nice to meet you......... Eh what should I call you, do you have a name?” She said with a small smile on her lips.
“Name. My kind does not have names, we have titles. My title is Broodmother, feel free to call me that, if you wish.” The spider closed its eyes.
“Broodmother, huh, Is that a good title?” Applejack asked with honest curiosity.
The spider opened its eyes again and clicked a few times with its fangs. “Well it’s bestowed upon you if you have spawned at least ten thousand hatchlings, so it’s a good title.
Sadly there are very few broodmothers left in the world.” The spider closed its eyes again.
Applejack took notice of it and made her way out of the cellar. “Well I’ll be back to cheek on you later. Feel free eat to as many apples you want!” She shut the door and ran back to the barn.
When she arrived the cows were already back inside and Granny Smith was in full process of milking them.
“Granny I need to go to the library for a quickie. I’ll be back soon.”
As Applejack was about to exit the barn Granny Smith said. “Hold it there you fritter muncher. What was inside this barn? And don’t you lie to me Applejack.”
“It was nothing granny, just a spider.” Even though she told her the truth, she still felt bad for twistin it.
Granny Smith was not a easily fooled mare, but she decided to let it slip for now. “Oh well, thats good, be back soon ,deary, we have a lot of work to do.
“Thanks granny.” Applejack broke out in gallop and ran as fast as she could, she wanted this out of the world as soon as possible. She knew better than to judge someone or something by their appearance.
But she was still worried a spider that size was probably dangerous, even if her heart told her that it was a good woman.
Inside the cellar, the spider was suffering from nightmares, images from last night was haunting her. She opened her eyes and looked over her wounded legs.
using one of her healthy legs, she penetrated an apple on the ground and drained it of juice. She shuddered and shook her head. `Too sweet for my taste.´
She wrapped her wounded legs in her own silk, it would help them to heal little faster.
The faster she could get out of here the better. Even if Applejack was a nice pony, there was still a lot of ponies who would want nothing other than to burn her alive.
“Hear me my children. I want you to find me a new nest where I can care for your yet to be born siblings.”
`My babies......... my beautiful hatchlings. Oh, how I wish I could have saved you. But fate have always been cruel to our kind. What did we ever do to deserve all this torture?´ Tears formed in all of her eyes and slowly ran down her face.
The memories of the past were harsh and they would haunt her forever. Somethings are better left forgotten. But try telling that to the ones who suffered from it firsthand.
The fires, the water. They would stop at nothing to get rid of them. Were they not allowed to live in a world they loved and cared for?
She closed her eyes again, once her legs were healed, she would leave and be forgotten, swallowed by time, never to be bothered again.
Spike was cleaning the library as usual. It had been two years since, Twilight had been bestowed with the title of princess, she was rarely in the library at all, she had a lot more responsibilities than before which caused her to travel all over Equestria.
In the meantime spike was keeping the library in tiptop condition for when she returned.
He was happy for his sister, but sometimes it got a bit lonely.
Sure he had Owlowiscious and all of his friends to keep him company, but he still missed her.
“Ho?”
Spike leaned against the wall and looked out a window. “I’m fine, I just miss Twilight a little.”
“Hoho.....Ho!...hohohoh?”
“No! I don’t think the library is too much for me to handle. I just feel lonely from time to time." Spike sat down and put his elbows on his knees, balancing his head on his hands.
“Hooooooooo.” Owlowiscious flew over to Spike and landed on his shoulder.
“Thanks, buddy. You always know just the right thing to say to cheer me up. Let’s go shopping, I need to pick up some groceries for tonights dinner.” Spike got up and grabbed his man purse.
“Hoooohooho?”
“Fine, we will stop by Sugarcube corner and get some cupcakes.” Spike rolled his eyes.
They were just about to leave when Applejack stood in front of them. She was panting and sweat was dripping from her forehead. “Spike.....hah....I...hah....need..... to talk...hah...to Twilight is she.....hah.... here?”
Spike had only seen Applejack like this a few times in his life and when she arrives like this it could only mean one thing. Trouble.
Spike held the door opened for her and motioned for her to enter. Spike went to the kitchen and poured them some tea.
He returned to the mainroom and to his surprise Applejack was nowhere to be seen.
“Applejack!?” Spike placed the cups on a table and started looking for her.
“Applejack! Where did you go?” His train of thought was interrupted by a flushing sound emanating from the upstairs bathroom. `Okay.´spike sat down and zipped on his tea.
A few moments later Applejack joined him by the table and drank from the other cup of tea. Spike reached over and plucked three pieces of sugar, to put in his tea.
“HooooHooo!”
Spike rolled his eyes and put one of the sugarcubes back, he then proceeded to whisk his tea with a spoon. “So what’s going on Applejack, I have not seen you like this since the apple eating locust swarm attacked last year.”
Applejack finished her tea. “Oh, please, don’t remind me. Anyway I guess that Twilight is on the other side of the world or something, right?”
Spike scratched his chin. “Last time I heard from her was a few weeks ago and by that time she was helping Cadence with some tax issues in the Crystal kingdom. So yes, she is not here.
Why has something bad happened?”
Applejack bit her lip and sighed. “Well ,Spike, I got a bit of a spider problem.”
Spike grabbed their cups and refilled them. “A spider problem you say. Is it an infestation or something? Are your apples in trouble?”
Applejack fidgeted with her hooves. “Spike do you know anything about. Giant talking spiders?” She smiled sheepishly.
Spike narrowed his eyes and donned a thinking position. “Well, there are the Black spiders of the black marsh, they can grow as large as three times the size of an apple. But other than that, I don’t think there any other kind I know of that I would consider big. How big is the spider you found?”
Applejack was getting more worried as time went by. “Well, spike, the spider I found is big enough to penetrate big Macintosh with one leg.”
Spike’s eyes widened and he laughed nervously. “Hahaha.......very funny Applejack. There are no spiders that big in all of Equestria.”
Applejack narrowed her eyes and stared straight into his eyes. “Spike do you really think I would lie to you?”
Spike got up from his seat and started writing a letter, a few minutes later he was done and the later had been sent. “Okay, Applejack, I might not be a professor in spiderlogy or anything. But I think we should try to get rid of it, before it hurts somepony.”
Spike got up and walked over to a small cabinet, it was filled with lots of different kinds of potions, he took three green ones, two blue ones, four red ones, six green ones and one purple bottle of potion, he put them all in his man purse and walked towards the door. But he was stopped by Applejack blocking his path. “C'mon Applejack we need to kill this thing before it kill us!”
Applejack placed her hoof on his chest and pushed him backwards. “I have talked to the spider and my heart tells me she is a nice.........pon....spider. So let’s not do anything hasty. Okay, sugarcube?”
Spike took a few deep breaths and calmed down. “Okay, Applejack. If you say that the spider is harmless I believe you. But I’m still bringing my potions. Okay?”
Applejack walked out of the library and started to pick up her pace. “You do that spike. But promise me that you won't freak out.” She was galloping full speed back to Sweet apple acres.
Spike downed a green potion and his body glowed brightly, his body cracked and it aged to that of a teenage dragon, he cracked his neck a few times and flared his new wings to their full length.
He flapped his wings, it did not take long for him to catch up with Applejack he was soon right next to her. “You can trust me, I won’t let you down.” He said in a much deeper voice, than usual.
It did not take long for them to reach Sweet Apple acres, Applejack lead spike to the cellar and pushed the door open.
They walked inside to see that the spider was still there, it looked at the visitors and raised to its legs.
Spike’s jaw dropped to the floor and he reached into his man purse and downed a red potion, smoke started to escape from his mouth, he quickly inhaled deeply.
