Lunas night was cold, wet, and harsh. Her beautiful pale moon and playful stars sat shrouded in blackened cloud cover, hiding the world down below from there gentle caresses of light. Earlier in the evening the Clouds-Dale cloud factory had suffered a catastrophic meltdown, causing one of the vilest storms of the decade to appear. Weather ponies from the neighboring cities and towns fought to gain control. They worked diligently into the night, but that’s a story for another time.
The Storm itself was violent with the land below with what seemed to be malicious intent as it pelted the ground with masses of water that rained down from above. The thunder shook the earth below with great force, many small buildings such as shacks and shop stalls toppled over from the strength of those unearthly shakes. At times, it almost seemed to be daylight when the lightning cracked into the sky as if it was Celestia’s fiery whip. The wind uprooted many trees, hurling them across yards and streets. Accept the apple trees, they stood firm against the wind and hailing water and the same could be said for the Apple Family’s orchard.
_-()-_
In the small parlor of the Apple Family house the blinds were drawn tight and the fire burned luminously as embers gently danced up the chimney.
Apple Bloom and Apple Jack sat together on the floor playing a simple game of “GUESS WHAT?”
“Is it made of…. glass?” AJ asked her little sister.
“Nope!” Said Apple Bloom confidently. She watched as AJ flicked down all the squares with a thing made of glass on it.
The sounds of the wind shrieking echoed across the house as the windows gently rattled. That did little to disturb the sisters bonding time.
“My Turn!” Apple Bloom called out, her excitement made clear in her voice. Then her eyes shifted unsure of what to ask.
“Does yur thing have uhhh… googly eyes?” her voice raised in pitch, uncertain of her question.
Granny Smith quietly sat in the corner on her sturdy apple wood rocking chair humming to herself whilst she knitted a new bow for Apple Bloom to put in her hair. Big mac sat close by tending to the fire, he fed it what little fire wood that they had for they hadn’t expected this storm, especially one this terrible.
AJ was caught now. “Yup” She said in defeat as she watched Apple Bloom knock down every square on the board accept one.
Apple bloom beamed triumphantly “Is your thing Dwayne the R-“ she started before the door slammed open.
A small sickly figure stood in the doorway, its eyes glowed a sickly green in the reflection of the fire, its bright orange skin showed from underneath its strange lumpy yellow covering as it stood there looking at them as rain pelted its body.
“Hello there” said Granny Smith calm as day as the rest of the family screamed bloody murder.
Big Mac had jumped in front of his sisters, prepared to give the intruder the beating of a life time.
Slowly the old stallion walked in the doorway revealing himself, his bright yellow raincoat and boots were soaked to the brim as he walked inside, his crisp white beard and moustache caught the glow of the fire as he did and his bright blue eyes glinted with amusement but also with a hollow darkness, that sat behind them like a foggy memory as he slowly removed his boots and saddle bags and placed them next to the door, as well as hang up his coat upon the coat rack revealing his forest green overalls and hat.
“Apple Strudel? it’s a mighty big pleasure seein you here again but ya could’ve knocked” Apple Jack said still shocked, her eyes wide with slight fear.
Big Mac stood there the entire time looking as out of place as an orange peel in an apple bin before blinking, smiling sheepishly he scurryed back to his spot by the fireplace where he would keep tending it.
Unbeknownst to the rest family, Apple Bloom was running around the house with the tip of her tail alight with fire as she had backed up a bit too far towards the hearth when they got spooked by the unexpected visitor.
“Zo are you not goin tu velp her out ya?” Apple Strudel asked in his thick Germane accent as he pointed over to the screaming Apple Bloom in the background.
AJ looked over to where he was pointing and finally realized her little sister was on fire. She quickly took off to fetch the small fire extinguisher from the kitchen. As she did that Granny Smith spoke up again.
“How’re ya doing ya old fart?” She asked half-jokingly but as she did she noticed that fog behind his eyes causing her smirk to falter slightly.
“I am doingz..vell” he responded, almost hesitantly yet still filled with genuine contentment.
Granny Smith noticed.
“Are ya sure yur alright Strudel?” Granny asked now slightly worried
Apple Strudel sighed in defeat, there was no way to get around that old bat.
“Vell… I came here vor a reazon ya zee … I waz hoping zhat your grandaughterz freindz could velp me ya?” he asked sounding anxious and nervous at the same time.
“Well what does ya be needin help with?” Granny replied curious to see what in tarnation riled up the quiet, gentle soul of her cousin.
The sounds of sizzleing erupted through the air as AJ dumped a bucket of Icey water over apple blooms head.
“All ya had to do was sit still and you wouldn’t have been soaked like you are right now” AJ triumphantly huffed as she wrapped Apple Bloom up in a white fluffy towel.
“Now what’s this here problem of yours ya be wantin me and my friends to help you with?” She asked Apple Strudel with a smile as sweet as well, an apple strudel.
“Itz vell…very complicated” he responded, his blue eyes darkened as he walked over to his saddle bags. Using his teeth, he unlatched the buckle and dug his face into the pouch retrieving a small wrapped up piece of linen, being almost overly careful he sat down the object on the side table next to the chair he had decided to sit and speak in.
He took in a few slow breaths before beginning his story.
Author's Note
Thank you for reading!
