The tree thundered with a loud crack as my hooves impacted the surface of its trunk, its apples falling neatly into the baskets I had placed around it. I walked deliberately to the next tree in the row, and gave it a strong buck with a similar result. Thirty more trees later, I gathered up the baskets into my wagon and hauled them back to the barn. I looked up at the sun, and figured maybe a half dozen more rows could be harvested before lunchtime.
Applejack fell in behind me as I started placing the baskets. Some time passed before she tentatively said, "Mac, I was wondering about that dream last night."
"Eeyup," I replied, continuing to perform my tasks.
"Why were you a unicorn?" Applejack asked.
"I'm always a unicorn in my dreams," I replied, sighing before bucking the first tree in the row, possibly a bit too hard.
"It's just..It seemed too natural," Applejack said.
A few apples missed their mark as I bucked the next tree.
"We all have dreams," I said. "It was a dream."
"Are you happy here, on the farm?" Applejack asked.
I missed the next tree entirely. "I am content."
"Your bucking says otherwise," replied Applejack.
I straightened myself up and gave the tree a splintering buck. "Please just drop this."
Applejack quietly bucked every other tree as we worked the row. She did the same on the next few rows, then we heard the triangle sound from back at the house, signalling lunch. We walked back to the farmstead directly, knowing how Granny Smith would react if we dawdled.
Upon entering the house, I rinsed my hooves in the water trough, then hung my yoke back onto its hook. I worked my way to the table, where my grandmother was pouring a hearty stew into each bowl. We all waited to begin eating until she sat down at the head of the table and gave thanks for our bounty. I stared at the bowl, briefly thinking on how much better this would be with a spoon, then plopped my muzzle into the bowl, eating it the earth pony way.
"Granny, do you know anything about Big Macintosh and unicorns?" I heard Applejack asking of Granny Smith.
I choked on a bit of stew and looked up at my grandmother. Her gaze met mine and I knew this was going to be a long day.
"I think that's Macintosh's story to tell, not mine," she said.
I stood up from the table and retreated to the kitchen. After washing off my muzzle, I returned to the table and met the collective eyes of my family.
Thankful that Apple Bloom was at school, as she was not ready to hear this tale, I turned to my sister. "You aren't going to back down on this?"
"Eenope," she replied.
I looked back at Granny Smith. She nodded.
"Okay then," I said. "I was not born an earth pony."
"He was born right over there in the corner of this room to your parents," said Granny Smith. "I performed the midwifery. You should've seen the shock on their faces when they saw his horn. He was so cute."
"Ahem," I said. "They treated me as well, if not better, than any other foal. They gave me tons of love, and never did they make me feel odd for being different."
"Your cuteness as a foal won them over fast," said Granny Smith. "You even put Applejack to shame in that regard. I remember when he first tried levitating his bottle from the stove. 'Oopsy,' you said. For a while that was your nickname."
I blushed through my thick red coat. "Yes, I remember 'oopsy.' I wasn't nearly as sturdy, graceful, or strong as your typical earth pony foal, and my magic was..a bit unpredictable at that time.
"Our parents responded by spending large amounts of their free bits on private tutors for my magic. I took to that training well, and became a very precocious and diligent student of math, history, and magic."
"If anything, too much so," Granny Smith said. "He certainly inherited my stubborn streak. Once he got his mind to something, he never let go. One time he was trying to shear the sheep with his magic, instead of using the shears. They all ran out of the gate and he had to spend the whole day collecting them up. After this happened three more times, he actually learned a spell to keep sleepers from awakening easily so he could shear them at night."
"Time passed, and I applied to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns," I said. "I remember the final entrance test well. They wheeled this dragon egg out before me, and being the colt I was, I analyzed the problem and found it impossible. 'There is no way to hatch the egg. It is wrong to expect me to even try,' I said to the instructors. They chuckled at me and wrote some things in their notebooks. A couple of weeks later, I got my acceptance letter.
"I thrived at the school. For the first time, I truly fit in. It was so much more natural than the farm, where I always had four left hooves. My friends understood me, and we had much in common. I studied hard, and consistently placed near the top of my class.
"Then one day in my fourth year, I received a letter. It simply read that an Everfree storm had come up during one of their delivery runs, and they had never made it back. My parents were dead.
"I was still in shock when I boarded the train to Ponyville. There were only a few weeks left in the term, and I was absolved from having to take the exams. It was a long train ride, my thoughts guiltily focused on how I wasn't around when it happened, and that notice of the deaths was sent to me by letter.
"The farm was eerily quiet. The only noises came from the crib were the foal Apple Bloom was being rocked by a young filly Applejack. Granny Smith was up in her room with a barrel of cider. I snuck into the family records to examine our financial situation. It was dire. The whole operation was being run on a shoe-string to keep me in school. I saw just how many bits they had spent on me through the years. There was nothing to it. No way was Granny Smith going to be able to work the farm alone with two young ones. There were no bits to hire on workers to help.
"I crept out of the house, and boarded the train back to Canterlot. Upon returning I requested an audience with Princess Celestia. I was surprised that she was willing to see me immediately. She offered to personally pick up my schooling, and to set aside a small trust for the farm to keep it afloat, but I knew Granny Smith. There was no way she was going to accept that level of charity. It was not the Apple Family way. I told her this and she walked down off her dais, then spread her wings over me. I felt a strong warmth in her embrace. She looked into my eyes. They were sad eyes.
"'What the farm needs is a big strapping earth pony to run it,' I said. I looked down at my gangly legs and asked if it was possible for me to fill the role. She asked if I was really sure because there would be no going back if I went through with this. My unicorn magic would be forfeit. I nodded.
"She plucked one of her feathers, then added that and several other items to my saddlebag. She told me to take the path into the Everfree Forest, avoid any blue flowers on the way, and take the left fork when it branches. A zebra would be waiting for me. I was to give the zebra all of the items that she had granted me. The potion would take a week to brew, and if there was anything I needed to do before that, I should set my affairs as a unicorn in order.
"I said that I didn't want Applejack growing up guilty over the knowledge that I had given so much for the family, and she cleared me to use a subtle mind magic spell on you so you wouldn't remember that I was a unicorn. Your mind would fill in the gaps with suitable earth pony things.
"Upon returning to Ponyville, I proceeded directly into the Everfree. I did not want my resolve to be shaken. I kept a light going from my horn to clear away the dreary darkness of the forest. I felt weary as I traveled the distance through the unfamiliar forest.
"Zecora proceeded to greet me in rhyme. She collected the ingredients and told me to return at midday a week hence. She said not to be sad because whenever a door closes, a window opens somewhere, and that I had her respect for doing what I was about to do.
"I went to the funeral, as did every pony from Ponyville, as well as many more ponies from beyond. They expressed their condolences, and more than once offered help to Granny Smith, but true to her form, she said she could handle things. It was obvious in the days afterward that she could not.
"I tried to help as best I could, but I tired easily, and the apples did not respond to me. She also tried her best, but her age really showed. Without help, we would never be able to bring in the harvest.
"When the time came, I took you aside on some pretense or another. You looked at me warily before you followed. Even then you could see through falsehoods very well. You looked at me oddly as I lit my horn and cast the memory spell over you. You immediately fell asleep and I carried you to your bedroom in my magic. In a few hours, you would wake, and I would never carry you around in my field again, nor would you remember me doing so.
"I trotted through the Everfree with a purpose, tired though I was from the morning farm chores. When I got to her hut, Zecora warned me that this was my last chance to back out and that she would not think less of me if I were to do so. I simply said to do it.
"She mumbled some words in Zebric and the fluids in the pot condensed into an oily substance that floated on the top of the solution. She scooped it neatly into a potion bottle which I took in my magic. The liquid in the bottle was thick and brown.
"It had a strong earthy taste. Then the pain began. I could feel my bones thickening and shifting as my heart raced. I nearly passed out, but hung on to consciousness through force of will. After a few moments the pain subsided and I felt different. I turned to Zecora's mirror.
"I saw an unfamiliar visage gazing back at me from the mirror. Gone was my beautiful horn. Staring back at me was a firmly muscled, tall, strong, earth pony stallion. I was all that I had asked for and more, but somehow less. I experimentally called to my magical center and found none there.
"I walked back in the relative darkness. My larger body made thumping noises across the ground as I traveled. I covered the distance fully half again as quickly as I had going in, but yet I didn't feel at all tired.
"When I reached the farm house, I went up to your room and nuzzled you awake. You recognized me as if nothing had changed and made some comment about my farming prowess, comparing it to our father, then you started to sniffle. I held you in my forelegs and said it would all be okay, that we would see them again someday, and that we had to do our best to be worthy of their memory.
"I went into the fields to join Granny Smith in the afternoon chores, and to face her reaction. One look at me and she asked me what in Celestia's name had I gone and done. I gave her my reasons, then walked up to a tree and gave it a good buck. Unlike before, it felt kind of right, and instead of the apples scattering around everywhere, they all landed in their respective baskets. 'Actions always speak louder than words,' I said, and went up to another tree with the same result.
"She cried, then hugged as much of me as she could reach. We harvested a large portion of the eastern orchard that day in silence.
"She was surprised when you ran up to me at dinner as if nothing had changed. She gave me a quick scowl then shifted back to her normal state as she set the plates. It took her three months to forgive me for casting that spell over you."
"I came to the conclusion it was probably for the better in a couple of weeks," Granny Smith said, "but I wasn't going to let you off that easily for messing with my granddaughter's mind."
"It wasn't like I was in any position to repeat that action," I replied, then I turned to my sister. "Well, now you know."
Applejack collected the dishes and brought them into the kitchen to wash. I dried them, then stuck them into their proper places on the shelf.
We returned to our labors and harvested a bunch more apples. Neither one of us took a break until Luna's moon started to rise over the horizon, and we heard the dinner bell ring. We were both happy to keep the dinner conversation light, mostly of the antics of Apple Bloom and her fellow crusaders.
Later that night, I was singing a lullaby to Apple Bloom as I tucked her into bed. I closed the door behind me, and saw Applejack staring at me.
"You never did answer my question today," she said. "Was it worth it?"
I thought back to Apple Bloom's small sleeping form, and replied, "Eeyup." I paused a moment, and added, "You know, I always had a tin ear as a unicorn."
She nickered softly at this, as we walked together, back into the parlor.
