Something was amiss at Sweet Apple Acres.
It wasn’t as if the orchard on the western outskirts of Ponyville wasn’t always filled with the sound of leaves rustling and hooves clopping against the hard, unforgiving bark of the apple trees. Today, however, was different. Today, the shaking of the apple trees and the stomping of hooves did not come from the typical applebucking that the Apple family was so well known for.
No, instead, these sounds came from the stallion Big Macintosh, who was charging through Sweet Apple Acres so fast it was clear his life didn’t depend on it; someone else’s did. Sweat coursed through his bright red coat and slicked his dirty blonde mane against his forehead. Fatigue was showing in Big Mac’s eyes and movements; he had not slept last night, and the exhaustion left his eyes baggy and blackened and his breathing strained and full of more effort than usual.
Despite this, pure and simple rage drove the stallion’s hooves forward. Big Mac was determined to seek revenge on the stallion that had left the countless red marks of tightly held ropes and the shallow, not yet scabbed over cuts that adorned some parts of his body. Running through Sweet Apple Acres had given him plenty of time to think. And what he thought about was simply this:
How could he do this?
Big Mac’s troubled mind flashed back to what had only been a few days ago, when he had been gathered along with his little sisters Applebloom and Applejack by their Granny Smith in the dining room.
“What’s this all about, Granny Smith? I was on a hot sreak buckin’ them apple trees!” Applejack said, rather irritated, despite her usual patience with other ponies.
“Pipe down, young’n, ahma gettin’ to it.” Granny Smith retorted, laying back in her rocking chair.
“Tell us then!” Applebloom said, the bright yellow filly just as impatient as her big sister.
Granny Smith took a moment to clear her throat, and then looked around at her grandchildren. “Yer Uncle Jacknife is stoppin’ by Ponyville fer a few days, and ah though y’all’d like t’ know.”
Applejack and Applebloom were confused, but Big Mac appeared to be unexpectedly excited at these events, which was rather out of character for the usually reserved stallion.
“Uncle Jacknife!?” Big Mac said in his deep, gruff voice. “He ain’t been around these parts since Applejack was born.”
“I know, I know, it has been quite a while, sonny.” Granny Smith said.
“Wait wait wait, who is Jacknife and why have I never heard of him until now?” Applejack asked, a little irked that she had been left out of the loop.
Granny Smith adjusted her glasses and turned to look Applejack directly in the eyes.
“Well, this ain’t an easy story to tell, Applejack. You better be ready to hear quite a bit. Many years ago, back when you were very first born, there was a great civil war among the three pony tribes, just like there was so many more years ago, like y’all talked about in that fancy-schmancy theater show’a yers. Now, what with yer maw and paw bein’ simple Earth Ponies, they ended up bein’ assigned to the frontlines. I couldn’t go, what with mah already bein’ so old. It was a hard, bloody war, and many ponies were injured, yer paw included. Was fightin’ a pegasus who just picked him up and dropped him right outta the sky. Broke his hooves in all the wrong places.
“That… That’s awful…” Applejack said, her eyes filling with tears.
“’Twas around the same time yer mother died, AJ…” Granny Smith said, her head bowing towards the floor sadly.
The Apples sat in silence for a while, all (except Applebloom) remembering what little they could of Applejack’s mother. Eventually, Granny Smith heaved a heavy sigh and continued.
“In the hospital yer paw ended up in, he was operated on by one of the best unicorn doctors there, Jackknife. Good ol’ Jackknife was always better and straighter with a scalpel than any other pony I’ve yet to meet. His cutie mark was even a scalpel and a needle and thread. Given the delicacy of the procedure, yer paw came to be pretty close friends with Jackknife. By the time everything was back in place, yer paw considered Uncle Jackknife the brother he’d never had.
“Whatever happened to Paw?” Applejack asked, already slightly sure of the answer.
Granny Smith looked at Applejack, and then to Big Mac, and then to Applebloom. She heaved a heavy sigh.
“Well, after that, yer paw went back… He was in a different regiment, and that was where he met Applebloom’s mother. She ended up pregnant with little Applebloom, and was discharged. Our armies needed soldiers too badly to let yer paw go, and so he let her go, promising her he’d be back soon to help take care of Applebloom…
“And he… he didn’t make it?” Applejack asked, tears now flowing freely down her cheeks, along with her sisters and her brother’s.
“’Fraid not, Applejack…” Granny Smith said, a tear slipping down her cheek, as well.
“What about my momma?” Applebloom said, her eyes already stinging with saline and the fur on her face mussed and flattened by streaks of tears.
“Well… She… She didn’t make it when she gave birth to ya…” Granny Smith said slowly.
Applebloom looked to her older brother and sister, now sobbing.
“Y’ALL KNEW ABOUT THIS AND Y’ALL NEVER TOLD ME?” she demanded of her startled brother and sister. Before they could breathe a word, she was outside of the room, running up the stairs, slamming the door, and finally locking it; her heavy sobs still shaking the foundations of the house and the hearts of her family.
Applejack turned to Granny Smith, her eyes red and fur mussed in the same fashion as everyone elses.
“What happened after that? What about the war, Granny?” Applejack nearly demanded, not knowing this was why she had lost her mother and father, a fact she had never come to terms with as a filly nor as a full-grown mare.
“Eventually, after realizing none could best the other, the three tribes agreed to peace. But not before there was more bloodshed. The pegasi were always known fer their brute, warrior-like tactics. As such, yer friends Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash also lost their parents, and later on, Scootaloo as well. Even yer friend Pinkie Pie… Her family was killed in an unfortunate case of civilian crossfire. That’s why she lives with the Cakes now.”
Applejack was shocked. She had no idea that such a horrible reality was why she had never met her three friend’s parents.
“But what about Twi and Rarity? Their parents are still around.”
“Unicorns are almost never on the frontlines, dearie; much better at healing and the like. A lot more of them survived and moved away from Ponyville.” Granny Smith said almost plainly.
There was nothing left to say, so the Apples simply sat in silence for a long time, thinking about their relatives and war and poor little Applebloom, crying herself hoarse upstairs. None of the them got much sleep that night, Granny Smith included.
The next day, it was a sunny afternoon, around 1:00. Applejack and Big Mac were sitting at the kitchen table, expecting Uncle Jackknife, and glanced out the window every few minutes, waiting to see a silhouetted figure walking towards the farm. However, what they eventually saw approaching the barn was not one silhouette, but two. All they could do is sit in surprise as the figures came closer.
Chapter One:
When the silhouettes finally came into closer view, Applejack and Big Macintosh recognized the one on the left: It was Cheerilee, the teacher down at the schoolhouse Applebloom went to. Seeing the purple pony trotting up to Sweet Apple Acres sent Big Macintosh’s stomach aflutter; ever since the incident the CMC had gotten himself and Cheerilee into on Hearts and Hooves day, he knew that his chances with her had grown slimmer, and he had not seen her since.
Big Macintosh had been admiring Cheerilee from afar since his little sister began attending her schoolhouse. Her brightness and outgoing way of life were personality traits he was envious of, since he came across as, well… Quiet and serious. In reality, he could be just the same as anypony else, but was held back by a painful shyness and overall demeanor of silence, owed in part to losing his father and mother. Nopony else but him and the rest of the Apple’s that lived in the house knew about his reasons for being so quiet, and nopony else at all knew about his deep-seated affection for Cheerilee.
Finally, as the figures came close enough for Applejack and Big Mac to come through the front door and stand on the front porch to greet their visitors, Big Mac got a better look at the unicorn on the right that had been walking with Cheerilee. He had a brownish-yellow coat that looked similar to Cousin Braeburn’s, but with more brown. His mane was somewhat long, but tidy, and was a dark blue. Sure enough, as Granny Smith had said, his cutie mark was, in fact, a scalpel crossed with a needle with a piece of thread passing through its eye.
As the two came within earshot, Big Mac could hear Cheerilee laughing heartily, no doubt at a good joke that Jackknife had told.
“Oh goodness, I’ve never heard that one before, Mr. Jackknife.”
“Oh, come off it, now. Please, call me Jack.” Jackknife said in a smooth, even voice tinged with an English accent.
Cheerilee giggled, sounding more like a schoolfilly she’d be teaching than a schoolteacher. “Alright then, Jack.”
“Ah… Howdy there, Uncle Jackknife. And howdy to you too, Miss Cheerilee! What brings you to these parts?”
“Hello, Applejack! And hello to you too, Big Macintosh!” Cheerilee said brightly, giving a warm smile to the siblings standing on the porch. “I’m here because Applebloom never showed up for class today. I just wanted to stop by to make sure everything was alright.
“Hold on now, whad’ya mean Applebloom never showed up fer class? Ah watched that filly walk out the door this mornin’.” Applejack said defensively, believing her little sister would never be so irresponsible.
“Well, be that as it may, Applejack, little Applebloom wasn’t there when I called roll. Are you sure she headed to school? Did you see her head in that direction?” Cheerilee responded.
“Well, ah… Ah guess I didn’t really pay much attention after she headed out the door. Didn’t think ah’d need to, seein’ as how she always goes to school. This is the first time this has happened, y’know.”
“Well, if I may interject,” Jackknife cut in, clearing his throat, “while it certainly was irresponsible of Applebloom to not head to class, we now face a new problem; Applebloom cannot be accounted for, and is therefore technically missing.”
Applejack’s eyes grew wide with fear. “Oh mah gosh! Yer right, Uncle Jackknife! We gotta find her!” Prepared to race off, Applejack ran… straight into Bic Mac. He had stepped in front of her to stop her from going anywhere.
“Now, everyone just calm down.” Big Mac said, letting his concern for his little sister overpower his lack of will to speak more than a few words at a time. “First of all, it’s good ta see ya again, Jack.” Jackknife bowed slightly in response, a small smirk playing across his muzzle.
“Alrighty. Now, from what we know about Applebloom, she couldn’t have gotten far. She would most likely wanna stay in Sweet Apple Acres. Gettin’ lost in town wouldn’t do her a bit ah good, and she knows that. She may not be the smartest filly, but she knows enough.” Big Mac said. As he spoke, his eyes drifted towards Cheerilee. Her emerald green eyes were fixed on his. Looking at her almost caused him to drift off, but he caught himself at the last second.
Even still, it wasn't soon enough for Jackknife to not notice.
Applejack’s heavy breathing out of concern for her sister slowed a bit, and eventually ceased, as she calmed down and regained her rational thought. She sighed and looked over to the other ponies around her.
“Well, ah guess yer right about that much, Big Mac. We still gotta find her, though.”
“I’d like to help.” Jackknife and Cheerilee said at nearly the same time. They looked at eachother, Jackknife with a playful look and Cheerilee with a slight blush.
“Well, I have yet to meet my little “niece”, as it were, and I certainly wish it was on better terms than this, but I’d certainly like to offer my assistance in tracking her down. I’d so hate to leave you two to the task.” Jackknife said to Applejack and Big Mac, looking at them both with a look of sudden look of ya sternness.
“And since I am her teacher, I feel obligated to assist in finding her as well. I want to make sure she’s safe.” Cheerilee said.
“Alright then. Ah figure it’ll be easier to split up into two teams to search for Applebloom. Howd’ya wanna split up the teams?” Applejack said.
“I believe it would be best if it were to be Big Macintosh and I and yourself and Miss Cheerilee.” Jackknife replied coolly, looking over to Big Mac out the corners of his narrow eyes.
“Yes, that sounds like a good plan, Jack.” Cheerilee said, trotting over to join Applejack.
“Right then. Big Macintosh and I shall work our way towards the Southern fields and yourself and Cheerilee shall work toward the Northern fields.” Jackknife said, his skills as a leader overtaking those of all of the other ponies there.
Applejack looked over to Cheerilee. “That sound like a plan to you, ma’am?”
“The sooner we find Applebloom, the better.” Cheerilee simply said, joining Applejack as they trotted towards the trails that led to the North fields.
“It’s settled, then.” Jackknife said, gesturing with his head for Big Mac to follow in the opposite direction.
