Living in Equestria

The same morning that Twilight and Mason were waking up together in the motel in Dodge City, Applejack rose early and checked on Spike before she headed out into the south orchard. Rarity must have left sometime in the night and only the outline of her body in the dust where she must have laid for several hours showed any trace she'd kept vigil there during the night.

Lifting the edge of the blanket, she looked in on the young dragon who was still asleep, curled in a ball. He looked a little better, his scales were clean and the smell of something vaguely reptilian and biological that had hung around him like a cloud lately had dissipated. Satisfied he was doing alright and not wanting to disturb him, she let the blanket drop and moved off to the south.

After spending most of the morning checking on the crop, she decided to stop by Ol' Grandad this morning and see how it was doing. The ancient apple tree was here when her family settled the farm and is the last remaining one of the original plants that was around since Apple family time began. It was massive and old... So old that Celestia herself said that the tree was mature even when she was a filly and could always be counted on for filling up at least three carts worth of apples alone every season.

Legend had it that however well that tree was doing in a given year, the farm would follow suit. Applejack wasn't a believer in superstition much, but she'd been told this since she was old enough to listen and it was the only mumbo jumbo she allowed herself to indulge in. The practical farmer believed it more than she'd ever admit to anypony.

As she neared the border of the southern orchard, she could see it's canopy towering in the distance behind the neat and orderly rows of planted trees. This orchard was the first one planted by her ancestors and it's trees were the oldest, giving the farm the biggest crop every year. Applejack secretly attributed this fact to the close proximity of Ol Grandad but she would rather have her tail hairs pulled out one by one before she'd say it aloud.

Applejack chastised herself for getting lazy, not venturing beyond the southern most row to see the old tree in quite some time. But the way she saw it, trees didn't notice time like ponies did. A year of not visiting it wouldn't hurt much... not to an old soul like that.

When she passed the last row of planted trees and saw the massive trunk of Ol' Grandad in the distance alone on the small rise of land, she smiled just like when she was a little filly. How could you not? she thought, A tree like this is special and the fact that I have one on my farm is a wonderful thing. It was this tree that Applejack would run to when she needed to talk to somepony during that horrible time in her life surrounding her foal. Ol Grandad listened to her when Rainbow Dash couldn't and it held a special place in her heart.

"Why hello there, Ol Grandad!" Applejack called out to the tree, not expecting a response but it was her habit to talk to it, passed down through the generations from ancestors that she couldn't remember the names of. Granny Smith swears it answered her once when she was a filly, but Applejack didn't believe her ramblings these days one bit.

She checked it's trunk for signs of Apple Beetle infestation carefully and found none before pressing her ear to the trunk. She'd been taught to listen to the wood for the tell tale signs of the pests under the bark by her father and everything seemed fine. But when she craned her head to look up at the underside of the tree's canopy, she felt her heart stop. Something wasn't right.

Applejack could see most of the branches on the underside were withered, the leaves hung limp with a sickly green color that she'd never seen in all her years of farming apples. Most of the time, a leaf would turn yellow if there was something wrong with a tree and you could easily spot it from a mile away.

"Grandad...? What's wrong with ya?" she asked, the tremble in her voice betraying just how much this tree meant to her.

Several minutes later, she returned with the ladder and climbed up into the lower branches to take a look. A black substance was spreading out from the trunk and on every limb it touched, the leaves were hanging limp and lifeless. It was like death itself was clinging to the chocolate brown bark, seeping out to slowly choke the life out of the old tree.

She nearly fell off the ladder with panic in her rush to get down. Fear gripped her stomach as she ran towards the farmhouse as fast as she could, desperate to ask the only pony she could think of who might know what to do right now. Twilight was gone and Spike was incapacitated so she couldn't get in touch with Celestia. That left only Granny Smith.

"Granny!" she yelled, kicking open the kitchen door and scaring the Tartarus out of Apple Bloom and Scootaloo who were making a nice lunch for Spike outside. The two girls jumped straight in the air, their tails shooting out behind them in a rigid line and they almost spilled the bowl of greens they were mixing.

"Good gravy, ya'll! Somethin's wrong with Ol Grandad!" Applejack cried.

"Wut?" Apple Bloom's were still wide with the sudden scare her sister had given her. "That ol' tree way out past tha orchard? Why... I fergot it even was there!"

"Hush up, now!" she dismissed. "This is important! Where's Granny?" she looked around and didn't see the old pony anywhere.

Apple Bloom gave a frown at her rudeness, "Well, she n Big Macintosh went ta Ponyville this mornin'. Don't cha remember?"

"Yeah! Granny said she needed new teeth or something..." Scootaloo giggled.

The younger ponies weren't taking her seriously and it was getting her hackles up. She almost let loose on them but figured it wouldn't do any good. She just had to find Granny fast and decided she'd better run on into town to find her. With a frustrated groan and not another word spoken, Applejack whirled on her hooves and bolted out the door, leaving the two younger ponies staring after her with confusion.

"What in tarnation?" Apple Bloom looked at her orange friend.

Scootaloo shrugged. She really wasn't interested in the drama of a tree right now. She missed Mason terribly and was eager to tell him all about her mother when he got back. Only one more day... she thought, My mom is supposed to come by again soon too...

The two girls finished making Spike a nice gem shard salad with apple dressing and brought it out to the hungry dragon. They both felt bad for him and didn't understand why he needed to be in a cage. Spike was always so nice and the vague reasons Applejack had given them for his being in there didn't make any sense.

Sure, they could both see that little tube of flesh that hung from his belly, sometimes limply like noodle and other times sticking up like a poker, and both of them knew plenty about what that was probably used for. But growing up with the occasional stallion walking around with his penis hanging out had desensitized them to the sight. Granted... it was a little odd seeing Spike's but they didn't let it bother them.

They sat outside the cage and talked with him for a bit while he ate. Near the end of the meal though, he began to feel sick again... or at least that's what Applejack told them he was when Spike would start to stare off with a vacant expression and that tube of flesh would become red and stiff. Supposedly Mason and Twilight were supposed to come back tomorrow with a girl dragon for him... and that was going to make him better.

"What's Ol Grandad?" Scootaloo asked Apple Bloom as they cleaned up the mess they made in the kitchen a little while later.

"Oh... it's just that big ol' tree you kin see from tha clubhouse that sticks up high... you know, the one we wanted to zipline from along time ago but Applejack wouldn't let us?"

"Oh yeah..." the orange pegasus nodded, "Why do you suppose Applejack's so worried? Don't trees get sick all the time?"

"Yeah... it is kinda weird. Mah sister already knows plenty 'bout trees. It's not like her ta get all flustered over a single tree gettin' sick."

"Maybe we should go out and look!" Scootaloo suggested, placing the clean dish she'd been washing on the towel to dry. "I kinda wanna see it anyways up close!"

Apple Bloom thought about it for a moment. It had been years since she'd visited the farm's totem, not since Applejack made her go that far out into the south orchard back before she even knew Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. She never saw what the big deal was, it was just an old tree and couldn't understand why everypony thought it was so special. But she did want to get out of the barn for a while, and a nice walk sounded like a good idea.

It was a good distance there and the two friends talked excitedly about Mason coming back as Apple Bloom walked and Scootaloo rode her Mark V. They both missed him, but Scootaloo felt the worst of their separation that was made only more painful by the sudden reappearance of Scootaloo's mother. She just couldn't wait to have Mason meet her even though she felt a little guilty because she didn't tell her mom she had a foal on the way. There was something about that detail that she didn't feel quite ready to share with Nightleaf yet but she didn't know why.

When the two girls caught sight of the enormous tree, the both smiled. They found they couldn't resist doing so in the presence of such a magnificent living thing and as they walked under the edge of it's towering limbs, Scootaloo gave an impressed whistle.

"Wow... this is huge!" she said.

"Ya hafta say hi to it... that's what I remember Granny always tellin me." Apple Bloom informed her friend.

"Oh," Scootaloo's ears flattened a bit. "H-hi Ol Grandad!" she said, feeling a bit sheepish talking to a tree. Scootaloo wasn't surprised when the tree didn't say hi back. "Don't you think it's a little weird to be talking to a tree, Apple Bloom?" Scootaloo shot her friend a sideways glance.

Apple Bloom only shrugged, looking up into the limbs overhead. The redheaded girl could see what her sister was upset about now. The leaves up there did look sickly but she didn't know anything about tree illnesses to understand the why's or how's.

"That's where Applejack musta climbed up at, look!" Apple Bloom pointed at the ladder still leaning against the trunk.

"You should go up there and see! I dare ya!" Scootaloo challenged her, knowing her friend's general fear of heights.

"Whut!" Apple Bloom sneered. "Nuh uh! I ain't climbin' up no ladder ta look at some sick branches! You outta yer mind Scootaloo?"

"You.... chicken?" Scootaloo's eyes narrowed with a playful grin.

"I ain't no chicken, Scootaloo! Cut it out!"

"Chicken! Chicken!" Scootaloo called, laughing now and making clucking sounds as she moved around her friend.

Apple Bloom's cheeks burned with anger. "Fine! I'll show ya I ain't no chicken!" she finally shouted, "Anythin' ta get ya ta shut up!"

She stomped over to the ladder and began to climb, ignoring her body's reluctance at the idea. She'd had enough of Scootaloo calling her chicken, darn it... Apple Bloom hated to be made fun of like that and it didn't help that she was smart enough to know when her buttons were being pushed. When she got near the top and the limbs were within a hoof's reach, she stopped. Suddenly scared to look down.

"T-there... ya happy now Scootaloo!" she yelled with her eyes screwed shut.

"Ha! I guess!" her orange friend called out from far below. "But ya forgot to say hi to the tree before ya climbed it, fuzzbrain!" she laughed.

"So! I climbed up here... s- so there!"

"Fine, fine..." Scootaloo dismissed with a wave of her hoof, rolling her eyes, "Say hi and come down then... you aren't a chicken, I guess."

Apple Bloom felt a little silly. She didn't know why she was even listening to Scootaloo right now and gave a resigned sigh. "Hi Ol' Grandad..." she said half halfheartedly.

"Apple Bloom." A deep and creaking voice immediately whispered. It was faint, but she definitely heard something say her name.

"Huh?" she said aloud, her yellow ears swiveling to catch the source of the voice but she heard nothing other than the rustle of leaves. With her eyes open now, she could see the black fuzzy stuff that coated the limbs up here and she found herself intrigued, forgetting her fear and moving higher to inspect it.

"Hey!" Scootaloo's voice called up from the ground, "You alright?"

"Y-yeah!" Apple Bloom called down absently. The black fuzz seemed to be moving, like millions of tiny microscopic dots that undulated and waved. The motion was capturing her attention with a deep fascination and she felt like she understood what was happening on some deep, fundamental level that she couldn't quite reach yet. She shook her head to clear whatever spell had come over her and began to climb down.

"Help..." came the whispering voice again and Apple Bloom froze. She heard it clearly this time... and it seemed to be coming from the tree, filled with a desperate need.

"H-hello?" she said and waited several long moments on the ladder.

But only the wind answered her.

_______________________________________________

Apple Bloom couldn't sleep that night. Scootaloo was snoring softly in the bed next to her, long abandoning their shared cuddle the two girls had developed a habit of this last day or so while Mason was gone. They'd even kissed experimentally a couple of times... just to see what it was like, of course. Both of them admitting to liking it in the quiet darkness of their room.

But it wasn't Apple Bloom's thoughts of Scootaloo's lips that kept her up, it was that voice. The voice of the tree. She'd been distracted all evening and tried to get it out of her head but it kept coming back, floating to the surface of her mind like a bobber on a fishing line cast into the river on a lazy summer day. No matter what she did, that strange, creaking voice that echoed of uncountable years kept pleading in her mind, calling to her... Apple Bloom... Help...

She threw back the covers with a frustrated grunt, not quite believing she was about to do this. Leaving the room and quietly padding as much as her hooves would allow, she moved through the barn, delicately opening the kitchen door and slipping out into the pleasant air of a late summer night.

Spike's voice called out to her from under the blanket as she passed by, causing her to curse herself for not going out the front door.

"W-who's there?" she said hesitantly.

"Ssshh! Spike.. go back ta sleep!" she whispered.

"Apple Bloom? W-where are you going?" came the young dragon's voice.

"None of your beeswax Spike, now hush up!"

The red head didn't know why she was being secretive about this but something felt intensely personal and private about what she was doing. She quickly left the barn behind and broke out into a gallop as soon as she hit the first row of trees belonging to the south orchard. A sudden sense of urgency hit her as she ran through the darkened trees, as if every step she took towards the old tree was pulling her faster and faster.

The orchard broke and she sprinted across the clearing and up the small rise where Ol' Grandad stood, dark and brooding against the starry sky. She wasn't sure why she was running so fast and came to a skidding halt just before the base of the trunk that was easily wider than their largest farm cart that only Big Mac could pull. She stood on her back legs, putting a single hoof on the trunk for support and looked up at the tree, panting with the effort of running so fast.

"I... I'm here... Ol Grandad... I'm here..." she said to the tree.

The sound of insects stopped when she spoke, causing a silence that permeated the girl's mind with a weight that felt like a thick blanket had been dropped over her head. Nothing moved except her chest as it heaved, trying to recover from the long run. First one cricket, then another started singing again and soon the symphony of the nighttime grasses was in full swing around her once more.

She felt stupid. She felt like a stupid little filly who let her imagination run away and convin-

"Apple Bloom..." came the slow, whispering words of her name, borne on the sound of the leaves rustling above her, "Help..."

"Y-you can talk?" she said to the tree, not really believing her ears.

"I am the Equ of these trees. Only a life giver of my kind may hear me." came the slow and ponderous response.

"L-life givers? What do ya mean? And what's an Equ?" Apple Bloom's heart was pounding in her chest. She didn't know if she should be scared or amazed right now.

"The Equ are the first. The Equ are the source for all of their kind from the beginning. Only a life giver of Equ may hear our call..."

Apple Bloom stood, her eyes wide and staring at the massive trunk. "You mean... Y- you were the first apple tree in Equestria?" she asked in a small, amazed voice.

The voice didn't respond for moment, and after the long pause she heard:

"No.. in all of Equus. Help me. You are a life giver. I am dying. Without me... all of my kind will soon follow."