Applejack pored over the month’s harvest sale reports by the light of the fireplace and a few candles. She pushed up the glasses she only used to do bookkeeping with her hoof. It’s gonna be a good month, she thought, Everypony’s even gonna have a little extra spending money!
Applejack’s thoughts drifted for just a moment to what she might buy with her share of the surplus when the fourth step of the staircase squeaked, gaining her attention.
“Apple Bloom, what are you doing up this late? You know you’ve got that test in the morning,” Applejack said in a hushed voice.
“I… I couldn’t sleep, Applejack. I’ve been busy… thinking,” Apple Bloom replied. Applejack noticed that her sister’s eyes looked tired. They were more mentally exhausted than physically exhausted, though. They were the kind of tired that needed big sister’s lap right away.
“Come on over here, sugarcube. Tell your big sister all about it.” Applejack and Apple Bloom moved to the couch sitting opposite the fireplace. Apple Bloom nestled herself in the warmth of Applejack’s chest. She didn’t say anything at first—her eyes were fixed on the crackling fire, as if something were meant to leap out of it at any minute. Applejack was about to press her sister again when she spoke up,
“Applejack, what were Mom and Dad like?” she asked. Applejack closed her eyes and wrapped her forehooves around her sister, pulling her in close.
“What brought this on?” Applejack whispered. Apple Bloom lowered her voice in kind,
“I was just thinking about how amazing life is right now, y’know? You and your friends have saved Equestria like a hundred times. Me and my friends just getting our cutie marks together is a really big deal. The farm’s doing well, we’re all in good health… It’s like we got everything going for us. I just wonder if it’d be any better if Ma and Pa were around.”
“Apple Bloom…” Applejack said in a kind sigh, “I don’t remember all that much, but I’ll tell you everything I know, okay?” Apple Bloom looked up at her sister and nodded. Applejack sighed again.
“Now you know I like to talk up anything Apple, but I ain’t just blowing hot air when I say that our parents were two of the finest Apples to ever be in the Apple family.
“Mom’s name was Honeycrisp. She was sassy, stubborn, and ain’t nopony could ever tell her she couldn’t do anything.”
Apple Bloom giggled softly, “That sounds a lot like you and me, AJ.”
“And Granny Smith,” Applejack added, “That kind of behavior just runs in that side of the family I guess. Anyway, nothing got done at Sweet Apple Acres without Ma’s say-so. As much as she ordered ponies around, though, she could also do a might bit of work herself. You know how Big Mac can get an entire tree harvested in one kick?”
Apple Bloom nodded.
“Well Honeycrisp could get an entire row of an orchard done just by stomping on the ground.”
“Nu-uh.” Apple Bloom smiled in delight but raised an eyebrow in skepticism.
“Sure as shootin’. I’ve seen it myself,” Applejack insisted, “She called it the Sweet Apple Ground Breaker. It’s a real tough earth pony magic technique. I’ve tried to learn it from what I’ve seen, but I just ain’t got the raw strength she had. Plus, Ma’s the only Apple to fully master it past Granny’s ma. Unless I figure it out sometime, we’re just gonna have to buck the old fashioned way.”
“I betcha I could pull it off,” Apple Bloom boasted.
Applejack chuckled, “I don’t mean to discourage you, but I’m pretty sure you’d break your little hooves trying to do a full force Ground Breaker. Maybe after some training.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Apple Bloom pouted for a second before looking up at Applejack with expectant eyes. “What else about Ma is there?” she asked.
Applejack leaned back and sighed again, “Well let’s see.”
“As much of a firebrand as she was, Honeycrisp was also a real sweetheart. She was always there for you when you needed her, family and friend alike. Everything I know about cooking and baking that I didn’t learn from Granny Smith I got from Mom. With all that, it’s no wonder Dad fell for her so hard.”
“And Dad? What was he like?” Apple Bloom was staring at the fire again, but the tiredness was gone for her eyes and the still constant flames played in her pupils as if they were illustrating everything Applejack was telling her.
“Imagine Big Mac, but bigger and more of a softie than he already is.”
Apple Bloom gave her sister another quizzical look, “Really?” she asked.
“Yep, I reckon Pa was about as big as that Troubleshoes fella you and the other little ones helped a while back. No offense to him, but I think Dad was a might bit more handsome, too. You could always see Ma’s face melt whenever she saw him.
“His name was Calvados, but Ma and all the other grown up ponies called him Cal. Let me tell you, AB, our dad was nothing short of a genius—at least when it came to farming know-how. Even away from that he could probably give Twilight a run for her money. If Honeycrisp could harvest an orchard in record time, Cal would be the first pony to tell you exactly how many apples she gathered just by looking at the baskets. As far as I know, we weren’t ever a bushel short as long as Dad was doing the numbers.
“Pa taught me a lot of life lessons, too. He told me that everypony’s got a reason for doing something, even if it don’t make much sense to you. That’s why I don’t ask too many questions whenever Pinkie Pie’s going around doing… whatever it is Pinkie Pie does. It’s also why I’ve always found it in my heart to forgive a lot of ponies other might not have given a second chance.”
“Like Starlight Glimmer and Discord?” Apple Bloom asked.
Applejack rubbed her little sister’s head, “Exactly. I take Pa’s advice whenever I’m not sure of something, even to this day.”
“To this day?” Apple Bloom echoed, “You mean you talk to Pa sometimes?”
“He ain’t ever answer back, but yeah, I do,” Applejack said, “I guess it’s not really talking to him. It’s more like I look deep in my heart and think about what he might do in a situation I’m in. It usually steers me right.” Another bout of silence fell between the sisters.
“I wish I could talk to Pa. Mama too. You were lucky,” Apple Bloom sighed wistfully.
“Hey, now, you’re pretty lucky yourself. Who else in Equestria got their cutie mark at the same time as her two best friends? And it’s a cutie mark for helping ponies all over? That’s the kind of luck that other ponies can only wish for.” Applejack hugged her sister again.
“I guess you’re right,” Apple Bloom said. Apple Bloom’s hooves gripped her sister’s tight in the embrace. The little filly fell quiet again. A few of the candles Applejack had set up had gone out, and the fire in the fireplace was finally dying down. Only very dim, soft light illuminated the two Apples on the couch.
“Applejack?” Apple Bloom squeaked. Her voice sounded tightened and choked, and before Applejack knew it, a tear landed on her hoof. “Did they love us?”
Applejack’s hold strengthened immediately as mist rushed toward her own eyes. She held her sister close as she began to sob and stroked her head.
“Oh, baby girl, of course they did. They loved us more than every leaf on every tree in every orchard across Equestria and beyond. They loved us so, so much, and wherever they’re watching over us, by Celestia I’m sure they still love us. You know why I go around calling ponies ‘sugarcube?’” Apple Bloom shook her head. “It’s because that’s what Ma always used to call us. She only used it for us and it’s because we were the sweetest things in her life. I say it to keep her alive in me, even if just a little.”
Apple Bloom’s sobbing subsided. Between the crackles of the last log of the fire she sniffed and hiccupped. Applejack held her sister in her hooves until even that stopped.
“Applejack?” Apple Bloom whispered, exhaustion returning to her eyes. This time, it was the exhaustion that would bring dreams.
“What is it, sugarcube?” Applejack ran her hoof down her sister’s cheek.
“Is it all right if I call you Mom every now and again?”
“Of course, darlin’. Anything you want,” Applejack said as tears welled up in her eyes.
“…Applejack?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.” Apple Bloom closed her eyes and rested her head against Applejack’s hoof.
“I love you, too, AB.”