Where The Apples Grow

"Why do you two look like you've been through Tartarus and back?" asked Quick Stacks as he read his book, hind legs on his desk. Standing in front of him were Flim and Flam, both holding bags of ice over their bruised heads.

Flim was the first to speak up. "I-It's not our fault! We didn't know she could pack such a kick!"

Flam then chimed in. "It was like facing the fury of a minotaur on muscle potions!"

Stacks flipped a page with his magic, eyes focusing on his novel. "I see."

Flam stepped forward and swallowed. "S-So... What do we do now?"

"Well, it's obvious that either you two are quite literally the weakest stallions I have ever seen in my entire life, or you'll need some of my colts to finish the job." Quick stacks pushed the button on his desk and spoke into the microphone. "Please send One Shot to my office."

"Right away, Mr. Stacks. Would you like Mr. Shot to bring his weapon?" the voice on the intercom asked.

"No no. Just have him come unarmed. There's no trouble... yet," Quick Stacks answered. He then leaned back in his chair and looked at the two brothers. "You two are very lucky I haven't called my colts on you. I'm feeling rather generous today, you know. Got a new book, so I'm right as rain."

Flam chuckled nervously. "W-Well, we have quite the collection of books if you're willing to buy."

"Oh?" Stacks raised a brow. "I'm pretty sure I have them already. You'd be surprised by how many I've collected over the years."

"Of course, sir!" Flim tugged on the collar of his shirt.

The elevator entrance to the office opened up, revealing a rather grizzly looking pony with a bulky frame. He looked as if he could take down a minotaur with ease. He had a black hide and a messy white mane, complimented by a pink scar stretching across the top of his muzzle. "You called, boss?" the pony asked.

"One Shot," Stacks greeted, "you know how to capture troublesome ponies, don't you?"

"It's in my job description, yes," replied the muscular stallion. His gaze wandered across the room before settling on the two brothers. "Didn't you two sell me fake healing tonic?"

The brothers' eyes became as big as dinner plates. They chuckled nervously and shook their heads, waving their forehooves dismissively.

"Must have been some other pair of handsome stallions," said Flam in a sad attempt to take the heat off them.

"You owe me eighty bits," he said to the brothers as he walked up to Quick Stacks' desk. "What's the target?"

"There's a rather troublesome filly who I want captured and brought here alive."

"Alive will cost you extra. I don't normally foalsit," bartered One Shot.

"Of course. I'll pay you whatever you need. Money is no object here." Quick gave One Shot a smirk. "Just make sure she's brought here. And make sure nopony sees you do it. We can't have anypony knowing what this business does."

"Can she be damaged goods? Or do you want her in mint condition?" One Shot flashed a pearly white grin.

Stacks flinched at the sight of the hunter's smile. "We need to be professional about this. No rape. If I find that one hair on her tail is out of place, you lose all chances of receiving payment."

The black stallion snorted in disagreement. "Yeah. She'll be mint then."

"Good." Stacks shooed One Shot with a wave of his hoof. "Away with you. Don't forget. Alive and mint. The brothers will show you where she is and what she looks like."

One Shot walked back towards the elevator. As he passed the brothers, he snorted again. "Come on, you mares. Let's go."

Flim and Flam both looked at each other unsurely and followed the stallion into the elevator, leaving Quick Stacks alone with his book. He placed a hoof on the button of his microphone and leaned forward.

"How's our guest?" Quick Stacks asked. Over the speaker, a pony could definitely be heard screaming in the background. The secretary's voice barely covered the screams.

"He's having his fits again. We're going to sedate him," she answered.

"No sedatives," ordered Stacks. "I want to see him."

Dylan laid across the family couch lazily, yawning and stretching himself out to take up as much space as possible. Today was Lazy Day, the one day of the year the Apple family voted to take a break on. Sure, they usually had time before and after work, but this was a day where there wasn't any work at all.

Applejack was outside in the fields, Applebloom was on the floor of the living room, playing with a jigsaw puzzle, Big Mac was who knows where, and Granny was... well...

Meanwhile...

Granny Smith put on her goggles and squinted her eyes as she lined up her shot, Goldie Delicious waiting impatiently behind her. It was all or nothing. Bottom of the ninth, the last touchdown, the final countdown.

"Hurry up, Smith!" shouted Goldie. "We've only got one day, and yer takin' up valuable time!"

"Hold onto yer bonnet!" replied Granny in an equally loud voice. "I've been waiting for the perfect shot, and by Celestia, I'm gonna get it!" Granny took a deep breath, lining up her shot again. She pulled her fore leg back and let go, the arrow flying straight and true.

Bulk Biceps shook in fear as the apple atop his head was pierced by the arrow, flying off and hitting the tree behind him. Granny looked to Goldie with a smirk on her face.

"Pay up! I got the shot!" Granny demanded. Goldie just rolled her eyes and placed fifty bits in Granny's hoof.

Back at the Apple home...

"Do ya really think it's possible to send a rocket to the moon?" Applebloom asked as she continued with her jigsaw puzzle.

"Humans did, so I guess ponies could, too," Dylan answered. After a while of talking, they had eventually reached the topic of other worlds and space. Dylan had explained how humans had used rockets to get to the moon, and Applebloom was pretty interested.

"Do ya think the Crusaders could build a rocket?" she asked hopefully.

Dylan stared at the ceiling as he gave it some thought. "I guess so. I mean, I dunno how rockets work exactly."

"I bet we could do it!" Applebloom exclaimed as she put in the final piece of the puzzle. She then flopped onto the floor. "Ah'm bored," she said in a thicker accent.

Dylan rolled off the couch and laid on the floor, staring at Applebloom. "Me too," he replied.

"Dylaaaaaaaaan," cried Applebloom.

"Whaaaaaaaaaat," cried Dylan.

"Let's go to the Sugarcube Corneeeeeer," she suggested.

"'Kay," said Dylan as he moved onto his hooves, stretching a bit and popping something in his back. "Ow..." He walked out of the living room and to the front door, opening it and letting the cool air meet him. "Hm... I feel like... a vanilla shake?" Dylan said to Applebloom. "What about you?"

"Chocolate!" she answered. As she walked out the door, she noticed something in the distance. "Hey, Dylan? Ain't that the weird pony from your party?" Dylan looked to where Applebloom was looking and saw Oak Tree, talking with Applejack out in the fields. What was he doing here?

"C'mon!" Dylan ran, leaving Applebloom confused before she started after him. He ran up to both Applejack and Oak Tree, but that was where the excitement ended, as they both had grim looks on their faces.

"Dylan, have you seen Amber lately?" asked Applejack, maintaining her cool as best she could.

"Nu uh," replied Dylan. "Not since yesterday. We were going to meet today by the river." Dylan quickly put two and two together and his internal systems tensed up. "Wait... Is something wrong?"

Oak Tree shook his head with a sigh. "I'm sorry to say this, but she never came home last night. Her parents are frantically searching all of Ponyville."

"But... she was just fine last time I saw her! We parted ways after reaching the road to Sweet Apple Acres!" Dylan claimed. He looked to Oak Tree, then to Applejack, then to Applebloom. The stress caused his stomach to tighten, giving him an ache. "We need to find her!"

"Now, calm down, there," said Applejack. "Perhaps she took a wrong turn. The roads can get a bit tricky after dark." She turned to Oak Tree. "Can you go with Dylan and Applebloom and help look for her? She can't have gone too far, right?"

"What will you be doing?" asked Dylan to Applejack.

"I'm gonna gather my friends and we're gonna search high and low. I'm pretty sure Twilight's got some fancy spell to find Amber with."

"Now, hold on there. I ain't no foalsitter," said Oak Tree. "I was only here to deliver the bad news."

"Well, now yer gonna look fer her. I'm not gonna let ya weasel out of this." Applejack gave Oak Tree a stare that gave him chills. He didn't want to be on the wrong side of an applebuckin' mare, especially if that mare was Applejack, the spawn of two fruit buckers like Pear Butter and Bright Mac. Those genes together gave the strength to move mountains.

"Yer as stubborn as yer Granny," Oak replied plain and simply. "She sure raised you right."

"Darn right," Applejack said with pride. "Now git! Take them with ya and start lookin'!" With her orders, Oak Tree sighed and motioned for both Dylan and Applebloom to follow him.

"C'mon," said Oak. "We got a lot of ground to cover."

Twilight's Castle

"Spike, write a letter," said Twilight to her faithful dragon. Spike whipped out a quill and paper and prepared to write. "Dear Princess Celestia, today I lear--"

"Twilight!" Applejack kicked open the door to Twilight's room with brute force and ran in with the rest of the mane six. "Amber's gone missing!"

"Amber?" Twilight scratched her head. "Wait... isn't that Dylan's friend?"

"Marefriend now," Applejack corrected proudly, but her smile vanished immediately after. "But now's not the time for gloatin'. We got a missin' filly!"

"Poor dear's probably cold and hungry," commented Rarity, lips pouting. "I do hope we find her."

"Maybe she's been kidnapped by some rich snooty business pony who has an agenda against a family who's been around for countless generations!" Pinkie suggested, shifting her eyes back and forth with suspicion. She peered at a lamp next to Twilight's bed. "I'm watching you!"

"Pinkie, you shouldn't make up such things," said Fluttershy, looking worried. Twilight hopped off her chair and walked over to Applejack. "I do have a tracking spell I've been studying lately."

"Great! I knew you'd have somethin'!" Applejack patted Twilight on the back, and pretty hard, too, making the princess lose her breath for a second.

"Do you have Dylan with you? What about his parents?" Twilight asked. "I'll need one of them to use the spell on since they're most in contact with her."

"Um..." Applejack smiled nervously. "Her parents expanded their search to the outside of Ponyville, but Dylan's still back on the roads around Sweet Apple Acres."

"Wow, her parents work fast." Twilight furrowed her brow. "Looks like we'll need Dylan, then. Let's head out, girls!"

Meanwhile, on the roads around Sweet Apple Acres...

The first drop of rain splashed onto Dylan's muzzle, signaling the storm the pegasi had planned. "We should hurry," he said to Oak. "We don't have much time."

"Quiet," the old stallion commanded. Applebloom walked out in front of him, looking around.

"I'm sure we'll find her soon!" Applebloom assured. "We just gotta keep looking! Keep positive!"

"Quiet," Oak repeated. Dylan couldn't keep the worried look off his face. He felt the need to find Amber growing with each minute that passed.

"Maybe she's broken a leg or something?" Dylan said, biting his lip. "Maybe she's... in a ditch somewhere? N-No... Can't think like that."

"I said quiet," said Oak. They continued walking for a few minutes in silence before Dylan spoke up again.

"Do you think she's okay?" he asked Oak.

"Goddamn it, boy! Quit it!" Oak turned around to face Dylan. "It ain't gonna change nothin'." Dylan's mind raced for a bit. This pony said God's name in vain. This pony acknowledged God. This pony called him 'boy'.

"Um... y-yeah..." Dylan nodded his head slowly as Oak turned back around and continued walking. Was it possible? Was this pony... couldn't be, right?

Dylan wanted to make sure, though. "You said... God. You believe in God?"

Oak's eyes stared ahead as he tried to cover up what he said. "I meant... Celestia. Yeah, that's it."

"But Celestia isn't a god," said Dylan. "Everypony knows that."

"Shush, boy," Oak commanded. "It ain't gonna do ya no good, probin' into what's not really there."

"Dylan, what are ya gettin' at?" asked Applebloom, obviously concerned.

"But... there is something there," Dylan insisted. "Who are you? Really?"

Oak looked back at Dylan with a somber stare. "You couldn't handle it." As the rain started to pour and as Oak began walking again, Dylan ran out in front of him and stayed put.

"We're not moving an inch until you tell me!" Dylan shouted. He steeled his nerves, preparing for the answer he was afraid of.

"What's your last name?" Oak asked. "Just to be sure..."

"Treese," Dylan answered. "Dylan Treese"

"I had my suspicions." Oak said to himself, rolling his eyes. "Goddamn it... I'm foalsittin' his kid." He looked to Dylan and sighed. "This is gonna be hard, considerin' he's probably told you a bunch of bullshit, but... I'm yer uncle."

Applebloom stared, confused. "What? but Dylan used to be a human."

"Wait..." Dylan blinked several times, eyes darting about before settling on the old stallion. "But... how are you here? If yer my uncle, and I'm from the human world, and yer a pony, and... what?"

"Look, kid, I don't wanna be sittin here in the fuckin' rain. We've already wasted time." Oak began to walk back down opposite side of the road. "We gotta go back."

"Dylan!" a familiar voice called from down the road. Applejack came running up to Dylan, going past Oak. "C'mon. Let's get outta this storm. Twilight's got a spell to help!"

"Applejack!" Dylan shouted. "He's... Oak Tree says he's my uncle!"

"Dylan, what are you talking about?" asked Applejack, feeling his forehead. "Hm... Yer not warm. Are you feelin' ok?"

"Dylan's tellin' the truth!" Applebloom affirmed. Applejack looked back to Oak Tree, who was already more than half of the way back to the farm."

"C'mon," said Applejack. "We'll meet everypony at home. We'll get this straightened out."

Everypony had gathered around the living room, most of whom were there to listen to Oak Tree while Twilight focused on her spell, eyes glowing brightly. Oak Tree sat on the couch, trying to calm himself.

"Fucking hate this stress," he commented. "Okay. Listen up, 'cuz this is a long story."

"Just start from the beginnin'," said Applejack.

"Yeah, yeah..." Oak shook his head. "So... I wasn't always a pony. Was a young boy about Dylan's age. I was named Oak Treese at the time, and I was proud of the name cuz we were well known for our early business years in the sixties. Made a lot of money offa trades. I grew up as a God-fearin' child cuz pa would always get us with the belt if we did a sin.

"Then, one day, me and David, that's Dylan's pa by the way, we was playin' in the forest after doin' our chores, like we did everyday, and I got myself in a bit of trouble. See, I was climbin' a tree with David, and we started roughhousing. We were up awfully high, and... I fell, and I grabbed onto his leg, taking him with me all the way down.

"We didn't survive. By some odd miracle, we ended up in Fillydelphia. That was around maybe... twenty years ago? Thirty? I lost track. Anyway, we had found that we were turned into these strange creatures, no offense, and after we did our fair share of freakin' out, we decided to roam around, figure out how to get back home. We didn't realize we were dead, though.

"Luckily, we were picked up by somepony who was rather friendly, said we could stay at this home for orphaned ponies. I met a lot of new friends there, but David wasn't gettin' any of the love. He'd get into fights with the others because they'd always pick on him, and he'd always been the one to get in trouble for it.

"Then there was this girl who belonged to the owner of the orphanage. She'd been one of my first ever friends, and we'd sneak out of the orphanage after dark together, gettin' into all sorts of mischief. It wasn't long before we got in trouble and I was forbidden by her father from seein' her. Didn't stop us though." Oak smiled at that fact.

"After years went by, David and I were kicked out of the orphanage. Was told we were adults and would need to find our own places to stay, and so there we went. We got several different odd jobs in several different cities, spectacularly failing at each and every one until we ran into a stallion named Full Stacks. He was a business pony, and was getting on in his years.

"He wanted to give us the opportunity to make our own profit. He'd give us some cheap merchandise and would tell us to sell it at twice the price he'd paid for. Luckily, with the training we had gotten from our grandpa before he passed, we were able to make ourselves pretty successful.

"Then his son came along. Quick Stacks was his name, and he wa--"

"Hold up!" Applejack interrupted. "Y'all did business with Full Stacks AND his son?"

"Let me finish, damn it! Didn't Smith teach ya to be patient?! That wasn't what I was sayin'," said Oak, glaring at Applejack. He took a deep breath and continued. "Quick Stacks took over the whole place, said his father had passed, and said he had no real use for us. We thought it was odd, cuz we were makin' him a shit ton of bits.

"After we were kicked back onto the streets, we found that if we scrounged up what we had, we could afford a little shack house out in Ponyville. This is where I met Granny Smith. She offered me a job, and I eagerly accepted. From then on, I was choppin' down the dead trees to make way for newer ones. That was when I took the name of Oak Tree.

"Things were peaceful for a while, and then that girl came back. The one I hung out with in the orphanage. And damn... did she grow up. I was smitten. Unfortunately, so was David. We began to fight for her affection, and I won in the end. At least... for a while. David grew bitterly jealous, and snuck into my home. He thought he was going to rough me up a bit, but little brothers never really learn.

"I gave him a beatdown, and he used that against me. Told her I was the one who attacked him. She quickly left me, and soon got together with him. I was heartbroken, couldn't find a reason to continue livin'. Things got even worse. They got married, and when I saw the kid... I lost it. I put another beatdown on him when he was alone, told him he was dead to me."

"Wait..." Dylan's eyes widened. "I was born a pony?"

"Yeah," Oak answered. "I hated you, you know. You were the spawn of a backstabber, of a deceiver." He looked away from Dylan shamefully. "I still hate you quite a bit. Maybe if I had been able to stay with her... maybe you'd be mine. Don't know how them fancy genetics work..."

"What was her name here?" Dylan asked, wide-eyed.

"Autumn Gold," Oak answered, a tear rolling down his face. Applejack blinked, her eyes widening as she recalled something.

"Wait... Autumn Gold? That's an Apple relative who went missin' years ago!" Applejack exclaimed. Dylan, putting two and two together, began to hyperventilate.

"Wait... I'm... I'm..." Dylan's eyes darted about, looking at Applejack and Applebloom. "I'm an Apple family member?!" Everything clicked into place. Dylan now knew why he was more comfortable here than anywhere else. He had been home all this time and had never even known it.

"Now hold on," said Applejack. "If y'all died coming here, how'd David get back?"

Oak let out a heavy sigh. "Quick Stacks is a clever fella. He eventually found out what we were. Don't know how, don't know why, but he knew, and he knew a way to get back. All we had to do was bring one apple tree."

"And you... you gave one to him?!" Applejack asked furiously. She stomped a hoof on the ground, making the floorboards shake. "After all Granny did for you? She gave you a job when you were down on yer luck!"

"Shut up!" yelled Oak. "I didn't give him the goddamn tree! I faked it!"

"Now how in the world do you fake an apple tree?" Applejack looked at Oak skeptically.

"It wasn't easy. In fact, it should've failed. We were lucky he didn't take a closer look. We took an orange tree, and we painted all the fruit red. From afar, it looked like an ordinary apple tree. Had he gotten closer, I wouldn't be here right now."

"Alright, so what happened next?" asked Applebloom. "C'mon! I wanna hear more!"

"He showed us this mirror," said Oak. "Said it had been in his family for generations. Said he'd done business in the other world usin' it. Made factories all over." Dylan's mind flashed back to the factories that had been built near the farm. They had been polluting the area for years, keeping him from getting a fresh breath of air. That was Quick Stacks' doing?

"Before he could discover it was a regular old orange tree, My brother and I, and Autumn took Dylan with us and we went through, sending us to Philadelphia. Somehow though, we were still ponies. Was difficult to keep out of sight. Took us a few months to get back home to the good old countryside. That was when we found out our parents had moved away from the farm. Was all abandoned, and so we fixed it up.

"It was okay for a while, but after about a few months, our parents visited the place for old pieces of equipment that had been left behind. They saw us, and called us abominations. It was a hellish scene. Took me everything I had to keep my pa from getting to David. It's funny, after all this time, I'd still protect him. Should've let him get put down.

"After the dust had settled, our parents left, said we committed bestiality. They then told us we were all sinners who'd burn in the deepest pits of hell. Called us abominations. Ever since then, David had become even more aggressive, especially towards me. I eventually found out the abuse towards Autumn didn't start in the human world. In fact, it began back in Equestria.

"I tried getting her back with me... It was useless, though. She said there was still good in him. Buncha fuckin' bullshit, I say. I couldn't take it anymore after seein' both of them like this. I decided to end my life. Didn't think I'd be brought back here again. Quick Stacks said it was a one time thing. It seems I'm cursed."

All went silent for minutes. It was a lot to take in for everypony, especially Dylan, who had found out he was an Apple. He felt a mix of emotions. Happiness, sadness, rage. He was happy he was family. Sad for his mother. Angry at his father. He didn't know which emotion to stay on. Everything was so confusing for him.

Applejack, noticing Dylan's face, pulled him into a hug. "It's okay, sugarcube..." Dylan buried his face into her chest fur, wanting to go back to being clueless. Why had he been taken from a world that brought such joy? He could've lived his entire life here, being happy. Why didn't she come to Oak for help when the abuse started? So many questions filled his mind.

Oak got up from the couch and walked over to Dylan. "I said you couldn't handle it, now didn't I?"

"Get outta here!" shouted Applejack. "You've done enough today."

"You should be thanking me for telling y'all this in the first place!" argued Oak. "The boy was stupid! Thinkin' he could just stay here, livin' a life of happiness. No such thing. There's heartbreak in both worlds! With ponies like Quick Stacks and humans like David, there can never be peace!"

Applejack stared intensely at Oak with murder in her eyes.

"How do you think I feel, Dylan?! I have to look at your goddamn face from now on! You're a fucking reminder of him! When you were born, she became cemented to him! Should've died in the damn womb!"

Applejack slowly got up, releasing Dylan from her hold. She walked up to Oak, their faces inches from each other, and looked into his eyes.

"You know what you are?" she asked. "You're nuthin' but a foal. A foal who can't help but take their anger out on others. You're blamin' others for things they can't control, and you make me sick! Get the buck out of here! Don't ya ever come back! 'Cuz if ya do, I'm gonna get the whole Apple family together, and we're gonna show you what happens when you mess with one of us. You'll be drinkin' food through a straw after we're done."

"Yeah! You tell 'em, sis!" Applebloom shouted angrily, pumping her hoof in the air. "Leave my siblings alone!"

The two stared at each other for a long time, neither backing down. Dylan looked on in terror, wondering who'd lose the fight. Finally, Oak slowly backed up to the exit, not taking his eyes off them, and walked out the front door.

Applejack took Dylan back into her forelegs and hugged him tight, with Applebloom joining in.

"Welcome home, Dylan," whispered Applejack.

"I've found it!" Twilight shouted, eyes still glowing. "I knew where Amber is!"

"Wh-Where is she?" Dylan asked worriedly.

"Get packing, because we're going to Fillydelphia!"