The Farmer & The God

by DanishDash

Rating: teen
Tags: Applejack, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Rainbow Dash, Other, Romance, Original Character, Comedy, Big Macintosh, Thor
Length: 33942

Applejack is happy for her brother and Rainbow Dash getting together, but when will she find love? Will she find it in a strange Pony that appears one stormy afternoon?

One late afternoon Applejack is caught in a freak storm that seemingly appears out of nowhere, getting home wont be easy. As a lot of sticks and branches fly everywhere she get's dangerous close to getting hurt when suddenly someone saves her!

A mysterious stallion managed to shield her from the danger, but get's himself knocked out. Where did he come from? Who is he? He has no idea, he has forgotten. So until his memories comes back he will stay at Sweet Apple Acres and get better.

Though one cannot sit still at the farm so he soon volunteers to help out and proofs himself useful much to amazement and maybe interest to a certain blonde mare?

But who is he really? Can Applejack find out and can she accept the truth when she does?

NOTE: THIS IS NOT A MARVEL CROSSOVER! IT IS INSPIRED BY NORSE MYTHOLOGY!!

(This is my first fiction on this platform, so any feedback would be much appreciated since English is not my first language ^^)

Published 2019-08-28 16:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-09-22 14:08:26 UTC

Chapter 1: A Strange Storm

Chapter 1: A Strange Storm

The sun was finally rising, it's orange rays coloring up the dark night, banishing the last stars in the sky that was quickly turning blue. It meant that a new day had begun, and for the Apple family it meant morning chores. The first one up on the farm was usually the red and only stallion in the house, Big Macintosh. He was a stoic stallion of few words, but with a kind heart and a sharp mind. He trotted through the house, making himself a quick mug of coffee before going out to enjoy the sunrise for a few minutes before starting today's work.

Today however he noticed an orange figure sitting on the porch, it was not hard to guess who it was, it was more difficult to figure out why she was out there this early in the morning. Moving his way through the farm house and stepping outside, Big Macintosh sat down on his usual spot. Just about a meter to his right sat his sister, Applejack, looking at the sunrise without a word of greeting to her brother.

Big Mac had noticed his sister getting up earlier than usual lately, but had not wanted to press her on it. Today however he chose to break the silence. "Mawnin." He said, hoping it would spark some sort of conversation or at the very least give him a clue to why Applejack was getting up so early.

At first she did not respond, it took about twelve seconds, maybe twenty before she finally seemed to come back to reality. She turned her head over so slightly towards her brother and gave him a half smile. "Mawnin Big Mac.." Her voice did not sound tired, more like she was not using her usual energy, like if she was still far away in thought.

"Ya up awful early, agayn.." Big Mac continued eyeing his little sister with a look that told her he was concerned. He had practically raised AJ along with Granny Smith so he knew when something was on her mind.

"Yep, ah suppose... ah suppose I am.." Applejack simply replied. Big Macintosh frowned, it was not really like AJ to be so far away in her thoughts. She looked back towards the sunrise and let out a sigh. "Ay'm sorry Big Mac, ah know this ain't like me at all.. Ah reckon it's just..." she shook her head and sighed. "Never you mind, i better get started on those there chores."

She stood up on her four hooves with a small forced brave smile and started to trot away. This worried Big Mac as he had never seen his sister like this, sure at times she was sad, annoyed, angry, but this was just strange. As he was sitting there thinking he suddenly heard hoof steps behind him and to his surprise it was his fillyfriend. The one and only Rainbow Danger Dash, or just Dash as he called her. They had been dating for almost a year now and Rainbow had settled in quite nicely.

"Morning..." she yawned, her eyes only half open. "Watcha sitting here for..?" She asked and sat down beside her handsome stallion.

"Mawnin Rainbow." Big Mac greeted as she leaned in against him, still trying to wake up.....She was failing... Big Mac chuckled. "Ya can't fall asleep again darlin, ya have to go to work." Big Mac reminded her. Rainbow Dash had not moved in or anything, but at times she would sleep here and on other times Big Mac would sleep at her place.

"Sush.... You did not answer my question... You have that face on..." She mumbled barely keeping her eyes open.

"What face?" He asked

"The 'Something is wrong and I am gonna fix it' face." Rainbow Dash replied with a teasing smirk before she moved to sit straight. She stretched her wings to their fullest width before folding them back and stood up. "I better go to work, i'll see you tonight?"

Big Mac nodded "Eeeyup." Giving him smile she planted a kiss on his muzzle before she finally leap into the air and flew away. Big Mac was grateful that Rainbow had let the issue drop for now, it was not a secret, he just wanted to have a brother and sister talk first.

*****

Applejack was not one for pouting for very long, it was not even that she was mad at anypony, she just felt frustrated lately. She did not like to admit it, but now that she was alone in the far north field she let out a long annoyed sigh. She did not like to admit it, but Applejack knew her frustrations came from lacking what her brother had.

Love...

True love, though she was happy for her friend and for her brother, she liked to have what they had with somepony special. So far she had not yet figured out if she was frustrated that she did not have the kind of love her brother had, or if she was frustrated her mind was focused on such matters instead of work!

Grunting a little she kicked some dirt with her hoof and tried to get her mind back on more important matters, apple bucking!

*****

Time passed and soon enough the early day had become late afternoon. Applejack had so far succeeded keeping her mind busy with her chores and so she had not been able to think to much about the whole love thing. Looking over the baskets full of apples she smirked, she could handle this all by her-

*Drip*

Self?

Applejack felt something wet hit her flank, cold and wet. Looking up she finally noticed the mass dark rain clouds that had gathered over her. Strange, it was supposed to be sunny all day and she had not seen anyone from the weather team preparing the weather, not even now.

Feeling the wind picking up and the sound of distant thunder AJ figured it was best she headed home with the apples she had before the rain got bad. Hooking herself up so she had a basket with apples on each side of her body, Applejack made her way towards the farm.

Trotting down the the small dirt trails between the apple trees, she started to feel the drops of water more frequently second by second. The wind was picking up too and before she knew it the rain was coming down hard and the wind got stronger really fast. Applejack squinted her eyes in order not to get to much of the water clouding her vision, she could feel the wind keeping her from going very far and right now it was hard not to loose her balance.

She moved with a mix of speed and precision, not wanting to be knocked over by the strong winds by being careless. She could feel the ground beneath her turn to mud and that only made it harder for her not to slide and loose balance.

"What in tarnation is goin' on?!" She yelled out feeling herself slide back.

Lowering herself she hoped she could almost crawl forward, but it became clear with he weight of the apples, the rain, the strong winds, she knew she would have to let the apples go. Soon enough to her horror her hat flew off into the chaos of the storm.

Gritting her teeth she began to loose the saddle straps that held the baskets in place, but she did not get very far. Soon enough to her shock a bright light flashed through the sky and then a loud sound startled her. A lightning flashed before her, hitting one of the apple trees, ripping it open like it was a simple stick!

Applejack let out a scream as the result from the lightning and the strong winds, the tree suddenly moved over her. It all happened so fast, soon enough she found herself lying in the mud, the tree over her forcing her to stay there as the storm raged above her.

She did a mental check of herself, luckily the tree was not resting it's full weight on her. The many branches held up just enough for her to fit below it, but with the baskets and the straps around her, she was not going anywhere.

The thunder roared above her, the rain and wind creating confusion and chaos, the many dark skies made it almost look like it was night time! She had no one to call, no one with her, she was alone.. At this point she did not care how this storm was created, she only feared for her family and friends. Was Apple Bloom out playing with her friends? What about Big Mac? He had to be outside working too! And then what about Rainbow Dash? Was she in the sky trying to stop this with the rest of the weather team?

Groaning and struggling beneath the tree in the hopes of getting out, she found out pretty quickly there was no way out of this! She kept trying until her heart felt like it was gonna explode and then finally she sunk down into the mud. Here Applejack laid, wet, cold and muddy, she would try to call for help, but the noise of the storm would surely muffle any attempt she made.

Suddenly she felt the tree press down on her. "Oh.. No!" the branches were snapping or sinking down into the mud, which meant the trunk would soon press down on her back. She moved like her life depended on it, which it most likely did, but the more she struggled the more the tree seemed to sink down. It was hard to tell at this point if it was tears of fear or the rain that was moving down her eyes, but she did know one thing, if no one came to her rescue she would be injured or worse.

Applejack did what anypony would do in her situation, no matter how bad the chances were that someone would hear her. She called for help.

"HEEELP! Sweet apples, somepony!!!" She screamed more and more, to the point she was afraid her voice would crack and fail her. She didn't care, she could feel the tree pressing down on her now, slowly moving down onto her. "HELP! Please!!" her voice started to fail and it did not help the rain and the mud was starting to cover her muzzle. "Hel-ppfth, helph!"

At this point Applejack could only look at the storm, her voice did no good and she was nowhere near strong enough to move the tree. At that moment she truly thought it was over, she closed her eyes and waited for whatever was going to happen.

Then suddenly, it just stopped. The tree stopped while in movement, the stop had been to sudden, like something was grabbing onto it. Opening her eyes AJ saw two light orange hoofs, someone was there! But that was not all, suddenly the tree was pretty much lifted from the mud freeing her! Her eyes could only grow wide as she saw, a single earth stallion with a blonde mane and deep blue eyes.

He was lifting the tree up from the mud and moved it away from her, he was buff, clear muscles under what looked like a green shirt or a tunic. She stared up at him, not believing her own eyes, but when the tree was finally off her he looked back at her with serious eyes.

"Come on!" He yelled in a loud booming voice so she could hear him over the storm. AJ still felt weighed down by the saddle straps for the baskets, but before she could tell him the problem he had apparently already spotted it. Moving his head down to her back she was not sure what he did, but she felt the strong and thick leather straps snap open!

Before she could do anything herself she felt him moving his head under her and just like that settle her onto his back, like it was nothing. Applejack would usually protest such a thing, but truth be told, she was still in shock over this was actually happening!

Turning himself in the direction she was going he started to march forward. The wind worked against him like it had done with Applejack, but she felt how his strong muscles flexed and moved as he moved at a steady pace forward. To her amazement he seemed to make progress and much faster than she had done

*****

Soon enough the farm was in sight and by this point the storm was dying down. It was still strong, but it was clear it was dying. She could see the lights in the house and suddenly as they moved closer the door sprung open and another booming voice yelled out. "Applejack!"

Big Macintosh ran out towards them, but before he even got close Applejack could feel the strange stallion shake and then suddenly collapse beneath her. She yelped as she was flung forward a little and landed just in front of him as his head and body fell into the mud, he had fainted.

Her brother hurried over to them. "Applejack, are ya alright?" he asked worried as he helped his sister. "Who's this?"

Applejack did not take her eyes of the strange stallion, instead she simply leaned into her brother as to give him a sign that she was okay. She then shook her head as the rain and wind started to fade away and the sky starting to clear. "Ah have no idea.."

Author's Note

My first chapter! Yay me! :D

I hope i can make this work since it is my first story, i hope to cross two passions and i really want to get feedback as i go on.

Also i am still finding my style, so please tell me if it is easy to read or i need to put in more paragraphs or something of that nature!

Truth be told i am most nervous about doing the southern accent right XD

Chapter 2: Who is that?

Chapter 2: Who is that?

Before the storm

Most of the day had gone by as usual, Big Mac worked the fields, pulling the plow by himself, his big muscles flexing, relaxing and stretching as he worked his way through the dirt. One of Rainbow's favorite pass times was to watch him work, admire his muscles. Today however they were both busy, him with the farm and her with the weather team, so it seemed there was no lunch together or her laying on a branch and watching.

Not that he minded to much, his thoughts were occupied by worries of his sister. Big Mac may be the silent type, but he was not blind. He was pretty observant and no one knew his sisters better than him. Big Mac had hoped he would see Applejack at lunch, but she never showed, probably working away whatever worries she had. He only knew that because it was what he would do.

When the sun was setting, signaling the the end of today's work. Big Mac moved the plow into the barn and put away the last tools before he suddenly heard a loud smack. The sound was like a loud crack, like if Applejack had bucked a door open. Turning around he saw the barn doors had started to flap open and closed again. "Hm?"

He found it strange as Rainbow Dash had not mentioned anything about strong winds or rain, usually she would give them a heads up, did she forget? Trotting his way to the barn doors, he was about to close them securely when his eyes widened at the sight of the clouds quickly turning dark. He saw how they changed by themselves, no weather pony getting them ready for raining or anything!

His gut feeling told him something was very wrong, and he was quick to lock the doors to the barn from the outside before running towards the farm house. As he did so he felt the first drops of rain which was soon followed by the distant sounds of thunder.

"Granny!" He called out as soon as he slammed open the door.

"Hold yer hoofs dearie, ah am just fine." the older mare said from her rocking chair. "Apple Bloom and her friends are upstairs."

Big Mac sighed relieved, but then looked outside. "What about Applejack Granny?"

Now Granny Smith was frowning. "I thought she was with you?" Big Mac shook his head and turned towards the door, but Granny was quick to call him. "Now hold on there young'n, the storm is gonna get worse. If you get on out there then you be in danger."

"But Granny, Applejack is out there!" he protested, but he could already hear the rain suddenly pour down along with the strong wind. "Ah cannot leave her out there!"

Granny Smith gave him a look that told him this was the end of the discussion. As much as he hated admitting it, there was nothing he could do, she could be anywhere out there in the fields and they might both get hurt, or Applejack might have sought shelter making his attempts useless.

None of them liked it and both of them were worried...

*****

Big Mac was like glued to the window, trying to look out and see if he could spot anypony out there! Applejack or Rainbow, he did not like how this storm looked and he hated to think about the two of them out there in this weather with him powerless to help them.

Suddenly the rain started to die down, the clouds were starting the scatter and then finally, he saw his sister. "Granny! It's Applejack!" He ran to the door and almost bucked it open. "Applejack!" He called out and noticed the stranger. He had seen him before out the window, but it was like it was only now registering in his mind his sister was being carried by a strange stallion.

Big Mac hurried towards them, but suddenly the stallion fell over and Applejack landed in the mud in front of him. "Ouf!" She grunted as she landed.

"Aj! Are ya alright?" he asked with his worried expression.

"Ah..." She looked up at him and then at the stranger. "Ah am alright... He saved my flank out there.." She replied before standing up, her legs were shaking a little, but she was not hurt, at least she did not seem like it.

"Big Mac!"

A voice called out and both ponies looked up into the air and saw Rainbow Dash speeding towards them, her rainbow trail following her as she was moving with great haste. Big Mac took a step back as her speed worried him, for a moment it looked like she was gonna crash into him. However she managed to land right in front of him and push herself into him. "You're alright.." She let out a relieved sigh and nuzzled up against his neck.

Big Mac returned the affection moving his front leg up on her mane to sooth her. "There there surgarcube, ah am alright.." Normally Rainbow was not one to show this kind of worry and affection in public, but she had gotten used to it when she was here on the farm.

She pulled away and looked at Applejack relieved to see her friend was not hurt as well, but then her eyes fell on the buff stallion in the mud. "What happened here? Who's he?"

Applejack shook her head. "Ah got no idea, but he saved me from the storm.."

"We should bring him inside." Big Mac said and moved over to the orange stallion to get him up on his back, but as soon as he tried he felt how heavy the stallion was. "Horse apples.." He grunted after two tries. "This here stallion weighs more than me"

"Well big guy." Rainbow cut in and moved over to the stallion in the mud. "I think this might have something to do with it." she moved some of the green tunic down his neck revealing a shiny metal shirt. The three of them leaned closer to inspect it, looked like some kind of armor. Instead of metal plates it looked like tiny metal rings that had been locked together to form a shirt.

"Chainmail?" Big Mac said in almost a gasp. He could not help being a little impressed and suspicious. "Ya tellin me he carried you from the fields to here in heavy winds and rains, wearing that?"

Applejack looked at her brother. "You saw it yourself." She pointed out.

"Eeyup, just hard to believe that's all." He said knowing his sister would not lie, it was just crazy to think about. "Ah think you better tell us what happened once we get this fella inside."

*****

With some effort Big Mac had managed to get the big stallion into the house. The rest of the apple family was shocked to see the big stallion, but soon made way for him to be brought to the guest room. They removed the tunic and the chainmail from his body and placed him in the bed, for now the dirt of the mud did not matter as he seemed to need rest.

With that finally out of the way the apple family, Rainbow Dash and the cutie mark crusaders gathered in the living room to go over the events of the storm. Rainbow Dash explained that no storm had been on the schedule and they simply lost control. The clouds had suddenly multiplied at a rapid speed and turned dark all on their own, they had no control no matter how much they fought it.

Big Mac told how he saw the wind pick up, how the clouds had seemed to gather and pretty much corroborated Rainbow's story.

Then it was Applejack's turn, at first she was silent, it was not like her, but she did not know how to explain it. Taking a sip of the hot coco Granny Smith had brought in for them she took a deep breath and began. She told them about how she had been so focused on work she never noticed the sky changing. She told them about her going home, about the tree and how she was trapped under it with no way of escaping.

The CMC was sitting very close, holding their breaths as they waited for her to continue. Then she told them when that strange stallion had appeared, lifting the tree like it was nothing, it was just an apple tree, but it was still not an easy feet under the circumstances.

A silence filled the room after her story had concluded, leaving them all to soak in all they had heard today. "Well maybe he had something to do with the storm." Rainbow Dash suddenly said from her spot beside Big Mac in the couch.

All turned to her. "What?" Applejack raised an eyebrow. "He saved me and-."

Rainbow Dash cut in. "Hey i ain't saying he's a bad pony or anything, though it is strange. He shows up at the exact moment of the storm?"

She had a point and they all knew it, Big Mac had already gone over this possibility in his head, but how would he have been able to create a-. "Uhm!" Scootaloo raised her hoof looking at Rainbow Dash. "But i thought only pegasi could manipulate the weather..?"

Sweetie Belle nodded. "He's not a unicorn either!" she added.

Silence filled the room again as that was the gab in Rainbow Dash's assumption, by all accounts the stallion looked like a regular earth pony. Finally Granny Smith broke the silence. "all ya youngsters are so worry looking.. All ah know is that he saved ma granddaughter, that is all ah need to know for now."

Big Mac still had his doubts, but Granny was right, he had been the one to save his little sister, so being involved or not he did the right thing. That meant they owed him. "Well ah say we wait until he wakes up, he cannot give us any answers right now."

They all agreed to wait until morning, even so Applejack still felt restless even though her body was exhausted. She let out a sigh knowing full well it was no use thinking about it now, she would not be able to get any answers before tomorrow.

*****

After a quick dinner Applejack had taken a loooooong shower, earning her a few annoyed whines from Rainbow Dash that was getting impatient. She was finally in her bed, thinking she would fall asleep with ease....She didn't..

Normally after a long day of work she would have no problems falling straight to sleep, but tonight that did not seem to be the case. She kept turning under the sheets, trying to find a better position, but her mind was fully awake. "Erghmm.." She groaned annoyed and getting more frustrated by the minute.

The same image came to her mind, the same tornado of feelings, the fear.. Then suddenly him standing over her, his blonde mane flowing in the wind, his muscular body not moving an inch in the storm, his-

She felt her face grow hotter. "Arghh, sweet soaking biscuits!" she finally got out of bed and trotted out of her room and into the hallway.

She noticed there was no light coming from under the other doors or any sound to be heard. The other had to be asleep, which meant it was past midnight, well at least that was her guess. Applejack knew the reason why she was so bothered, who was this colt? Why was he here? How could he lift that tree in the storm? As she was going over all the unanswered questions she hardly noticed she was making her way down to his room.

It took her five seconds to notice she was standing in front of his door, she let out a frustrated sigh knowing she would not be getting any answers tonight, so why did she feel the need to go in there?! At any rate it was no use standing out in the hallway thinking about that, so she opened the door and stepped inside.

Everything was as she expected to find it, the guest room with it's single bed and small dresser, a recliner in the corner. The apple themed curtain in the window and the few random pictures here and there, not to forget the massive stallion in the bed, snoring.. The light from Luna's moon was making it's way through the window, shining it's silver light upon the stranger, revealing his messy face.

Something compelled her to move closer, to look at him. When she came to the edge of the bed she looked at his muddy face, the mud had of course dried now and stuck to his fur. He was quite handsome, well fit and strong, his muscles were clear. She could swear he was as big or maybe even a little bigger than Big Mac, but she did conclude they were about the same size.

Letting out another sigh she felt stupid for coming in here, there was no point to it since he was not awake yet. However, that being said she did start to feel herself relax now. She made her way to the recliner, not really wanting to leave she got comfortable and soon drifted off into a deep sleep.

*****

Like the day before Celestia's morning sun was cutting through the night sky like sharp knives, it's rays even reaching through the window hitting Applejack in the face. "Mmmmh...." She groaned, moving her hoof over her eyes until she finally yawned and opened them. "...hm..?" She was not in her room?

Then everything came back to her, the strange storm, the tree, her mysterious rescuer. Looking over to the bed she could tell he was still there, having apparently not moved one inch during the night. She got out of the recliner and trotted over. "Still tuckered out big guy..?" She asked in a long yawn, not expecting a reply.

Now she had a better view of him, there was no confusing storm, no darkness, just the natural light. Once again she was struck with how handsome he looked and she found herself staring at his features. This time she did not deny herself that pleasure, it was only fair after all, he saved her, so he deserved to be admired for a few seconds!

She smiled to herself. "Well ah cannot deny you're handsome sugarcube."

His eye shot open, looking at her and her eyes widened.

Author's Note

Second chapter!

Sorry if it seems to take a bit long, but i do not wanna rush the story, i also wanna take my time with it.

I have a pretty good vision where i want the story to head and depending on how it goes i like to make a sequel to it.

by the way if any of you have suggestions to how to rewrite the lines of the Apple family so they have more of that southern accent i really appreciate it. Never really worked with such words or sayings before, so it is quite fun to try out ^^

So anyway leave your thoughts in the comment sections, please give feedback if you have any, the only way to get better is to be let known what can be done better right? ;)

Chapter 3: Astral Thunder

Chapter 3: Astral Thunder

She smiled to herself. "Well ah cannot deny you're handsome sugarcube."

His eye shot open, looking at her and her eyes widened.

"Ah!"

"Arh!"

Both of them let out as the strange stallion suddenly sat up by reflex.

SLAM!

"OW!"

They both exclaimed as their heads smashed together. Applejack was knocked back on her flank and the stallion laid back down. Applejack rubbed her hoof to her forehead mumbling small curses under her breath. "Oww, you have a thick head.." she finally said and stood up on all four hoofs.

The stallion was also rubbing his forehead with his hoof before he sat up again looking at her. "Are you alright?"

Her eyes widened a little, not in shock, but in almost awe. His voice was deep, had a sense of command and rawness, like thunder itself. It had a hint of an accent, though she could not really put a hoof on which kind it was. It sounded good, very masculine and-

"My lady?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by his deep voice yet again and this time she had to catch up on everything he said. "Uhm.." was the first thing she spoke, not really a thrilling start to a conversation. Then she shook her head, as if trying to get her thoughts back in line.

"My lady?" Applejack repeated as if trying to see if she heard him right. "I have been called many things, but never a lady. You can call me Applejack." She chuckled and trotted up to the bed. "Besides, i should be asking you that, you saved me after all." she tilted her head. "Who are you anyway?" her green eyes narrowed. "Did you make that gosh darn storm?"

Her voice was not angry, but what Rainbow Dash said yesterday did make sense. He just happened to show up during the storm, she needed to know who he was, now that he was finally awake.

"I.." The stallion closed his eyes in hopes of focusing his mind. "I'm.." It seemed like he was struggling, but he finally opened his eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry.. I cannot remember.."

This surprised her. "What? You can't remember? Are you pulling my leg here to escape trouble?"

The stallion shook his head. "I am sorry, but i woke up at the edge of a forest.. Then i heard your screams for help and i-"

She held up a hoof. "Yeah, i know that part." Applejack blushed. "Just don't go and tell everypony about me screaming and all..." She said and looked down at the floor.

The muscular stallion looked at her for a few seconds before he gave her a small smile and nodded. "You have my word.."

Applejack looked back at him and smiled. "Thank you kindly." The two of them smiled at each other for a few moments before Applejack let out a sigh, mostly to break the silence. "So i guess if you can't remember that, then what about your name?"

Once again, the colt took a few seconds to search his memory, only to sigh and shake his head. "I'm sorry, i can't remember.."

"Don't be sorry!" Applejack said quickly. "We will have to figure this out, but how about we get you cleaned up before we go downstairs to eat?" The stallion looked over his muddy body and saw how some of the dry mud had messed up the bed. He was about to apologize again, but was stopped by Applejack. "Don't you worry about that, now c’mon pardner"

The stallion got out of the bed, showing off his muscular body in all it's glory. Applejack found herself staring, now this was a stallion.. Her eyes moved over his body when suddenly she noticed the cutie mark, it looked, strange.

It was round, two silver circles, the bigger one surrounding the smaller circle and in between them was strange black symbols, letters she had never seen before. Then inside the smallest circle, in the middle of it was a detailed look of a strange looking hammer, the details were amazing. It was not that the hammer was drawn in great detail, in fact, the outline was pretty simple. It was more the artwork inside the hammer, lines moving in and out one another, another strange symbol here and there. Applejack had never seen such a detailed cutie mark before, if it even was a cutie mark. The last detail of it was six small lightning bolts, three on each side of it, seeming to come out from the hammer itself, that certainly planted the suspicion back on him.

"That's a mighty fine cutie mark you got there." she said in the hopes of tricking a memory.

"Hm?" The stallion looked down at his flank. "A cutie mark? What's that?"

Applejack was about to gasp, but she bit her lips and nodded a little. "Guess if you can't remember anything you can't remember what it is. Don't you worry though! We are gonna see what we can do, after breakfast." she grinned.

*****

After cleaning up and getting the mud out of his fur, he and Applejack then made their way down the stairs. The smell of pancakes hitting their noses. "Mawnin everypony!" Applejack greeted.

Her sister Apple Bloom looked up from her pancakes and smiled. Granny Smith stood by the stow and nodded their way. "Mawnin sis!" Apple Bloom said and looked at the stallion. "Oh he's up, mawnin!"

Granny Smith turned the pancakes with the spatula she had in her mouth before she let it drop to the kitchen table. She turned to the stallion with a warm smile. "Ah see ya are rested up sonny, what's ya name?"

"Uhm.." The stallion hesitated a bit, not sure what to answer.

"He doesn't remember Granny." Applejack cut in, saving him from the awkward moment. "He's lost his memories."

Granny nodded a little. "Well.." She started. "Why don't you sit down next to Applejack and i fix you a plate?" She suggested before turning back to the stove and got the spatula back in her mouth to turn the pancakes again.

"Thank you, it is very kind of you." The stallion said with a little smile before he followed Applejack over to the table. When both of them sat down, Applejack could not help but to smile and blush a little. She knew he was not her coltfriend, but it was almost like she had her very own special somepony to the table, just like Big Mac had Rainbow Dash.

It did not take long for Granny Smith to work her magic. She fixed them two plates with pancakes, the nice smelling flat cakes soon stood before them both and the stallion could not help but to smile. "A plate worthy of a hero." she grinned.

"Hero?" the stallion looked confused.

Apple Bloom was more than happy to fill him in. "Yeah you saved my sister here from certain doom!" She said in an overly dramatic voice. Then she took a moment to think. "I think that there is what's called a damsel in distress thing.."

Applejack gasped, making the pancakes in her muzzle to be sucked in. She coughed violently for a few seconds before being able to swallow them, once she had she looked to her little sister. "Apple Bloom! I am NOT! A damsel in distress!"

"Who's a damsel?" Rainbow asked as she walked into the kitchen yawning.

"No one!" Applejack insisted.

Rainbow Dash only smirked as she sat down. "Oh i get it.. Well you have to admit, he did save your butt." Rainbow and Apple Bloom giggled, well, Apple Bloom giggled, Rainbow Dash did not giggle! She chuckled or laughed!

The door went up and in came Big Mac. "Mawnin everypony." he greeted and noticed the stallion. "Glad to see you're up." he said as he trotted over and sat in the chair next to Rainbow. She gave him a peck on the cheek and he blushed wanting to give one back but Rainbow was already digging in.

Before Big Mac could ask the stallion anything, Apple Bloom was once again one step ahead. "He's lost his memories!"

"Oh?" Big Mac looked at Applejack and she confirmed this with a nod. "I see, well what do you remember?"

The stallion swallowed his food before he replied. "Well.. The first thing i remember was waking up in the rain, there was a storm on, so i wanted to find shelter. That's when i found lady Applejack.. I don't know what happened before that.." He frowned.

Rainbow snickered. "Heh, lady Applejack.."

"Shut up Rainbow." Applejack mumbled with a small glare.

"Then i suppose you don't have a name or know where you're from?" Big Mac asked to which the stallion nodded in confirmation. "Well ya need a name so we can call ya something."

"Oh what about Thunder Sparkle!" Apple Bloom suggested.

Rainbow snorted before she burst out laughing thinking this masculine stallion having such a name. "Ha! That be great! Ahahaha!"

"Uhm.." Applejack thought for a moment, the thunder part sounded right as he arrived during a thunder storm. "Thunder Flash?"

"Sky Thunder? He came out of nowhere, he might just have fallen out of the sky!" Granny Smith laughed a bit and took a sip of her coffee.

"A fallen star.." Apple Bloom sighed with a dreaming gaze, then suddenly she had it. "Oh! How about Astral Thunder?!" They all looked surprised at her. "What?"

"Now where did you learn such a fancy word?" Big Mac asked.

"Twahlight said it once she tried to teach us about them stars." Apple Bloom explained.

"Astral Thunder.. That sounds good." The stallion smiled. They all smiled back at him and it seemed he had gotten himself a name.

"Well, uhm, Astral.." Big Mac said trying out the name. "We gotta need to get you some help, you're welcome to stay here as long you need until you regain ya memories."

"Thank you, but are you sure it won't be a bother?" Astral asked and looked worried. "I hate to be of any trouble."

Granny Smith shook her head. "No trouble at all sonny. We Apples always help our friends, you saved Applejack, so we help you."

Applejack nodded to him. "Don't worry.." She felt her cheeks warm up again, but she did not look away, not this time.

Astral smiled and nodded. "Thank you, i hope i can prove useful in the meantime."

Everypony nodded, then laughed a bit before continuing a pleasant breakfast. When they were near done Big Mac looked to his sister. "Applejack, when we're done, why don't you take Astral to Ponyville to see Twahlight. I reckon she can help him out."

Applejack finished her apple juice before she answered. "Mighty fine idea Big Mac, what do you say pardner?"

Astral looked at her with a small smile. "Uhm sure, but what is Ponyville? Is it a village?"

"More of a town, but yeah. Our family helped found it back in the good old days!" Applejack said proudly. Astral actually looked impressed and she could not help but to enjoy the way he looked at her, made her face heat up.

"It be a date." Rainbow said casually, but with a small grin.

The casual tone caught Applejack off guard as she confirmed. "Yes a daa......da...date? N-no!" Applejack glared at Rainbow Dash who simply winked and tried to hold back her laughter at seeing Applejack's fur almost turn as red as her brother. Astral did not really have any idea what they were talking about, but he hoped this could be helpful and besides, he did not mind spending some time with Lady Applejack.

Author's Note

Alright! Here is Chapter 3!

Yay us!

Once again i hope you enjoy and can get me some feedback ;)

If you are having any thoughts, suggestions or corrections then please feel free to share. I'm sorry the chapter is shorter than the others, but i don't wanna push in things just for the sake of making it longer.

Anyway, i hope you enjoyed reading this chapter :D

Chapter 4: Welcome to Ponyville!

Chapter 4: Welcome to Ponyville!

Applejack helped clean off the table along with Astral who seemed eager to help out. Granny Smith insisted however the two of them get going and she could handle this mess with Apple Bloom. "You two get going now." Granny Smith smiled, not taking no for an answer.

"Alright Granny." Applejack smiled and gave her grandmother a peck on the cheek. "We'll be back later." She ruffled her sister's hair with her hoof while giving her a small smirk. "Alright, see ya'll later!" Applejack and Astral made their way outside to the porch, enjoying the last of the morning sun before going on their way. "Well, shall we get going pardner?"

Astral looked back at her with a smile. "Yes, let's go."

The two of them started to walk off, following the dirt road leading out of the farm and down towards the town. There was a moment of silence between them, but it was not awkward. Astral seemed to enjoy the surroundings, the beautiful apple trees, the wide open fields and the mountains in the distance.

Applejack in the meantime enjoyed observing his reactions, it was like he was seeing this for the first time, which it probably was. She did not know if he had been to Ponyville before, or if he was on his way to the town before whatever happened to him. Either way he seemed to enjoy the view and she could say the same. She blushed as she knew she was once again staring at his muscular body.

"Is everything alright?" Astral suddenly asked, bringing her back to reality.

"Uhm, yes!" Applejack said quickly, looking back forward, her face turning red. "S-sorry, you just seemed to enjoy yourself.." Applejack replied, mentally slapping herself for staring at him.

Astral nodded. "I am, you have a beautiful home." He said as he walked with her. "It kinda makes me feel nostalgic.."

"The apple trees?" She asked thinking he might be in the farm trade as well.

Astral nodded. "Yeah, a bit.. But more the mountains and the open fields.." Applejack could not help but smile, it seemed he liked the outdoors like she did. He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. "So, what is this cutie mark thing you talked about?"

"Oh yes, i guess i never explained anything about that." She chuckled and took a moment to think how to best explain it to him. "Well you see, a cutie mark is this symbol that appears on us once we find that special something that makes us who we are. A special talent or characteristic, something that sets us apart from the others." She nodded towards her flank. "You see i have apples because, well i like apples." Astral nodded slowing down a bit so he could look at her cutie mark. He took his time inspecting it, even to the point Applejack started to blush. "Hey, eyes up here pardner. It's not polite to stare at a mare's flank like that."

Astral nodded and started to blush too. "S-sorry!" he quickly moved up beside her again, feeling embarrassed he had looked for so long.

Applejack could not help but to giggle. "I'm just messing with you." she punched his side and Astral could not help but to take a step to the side as her punch had quite the power behind it.

"Ouf! Wow.. You're strong.." he smirked a bit and moved back to where he was before. "So you like apples, what about your brother, he had an apple on his flank too, so i guess he likes apples like you then?"

Applejack nodded. "Yeah, though his apple is open, because he is an apple to the core. you don't have to take the cutie mark literally all the time, sometimes it can symbolize something, like my brother's cutie mark. It is hard to explain and i don't know all them fancy words to explain it to you." She said apologetically and frowned a bit.

"It's okay." Astral assured her.

Applejack smiled slightly. "Well there is more to my cutie mark, we all have a story behind it. My cutie mark does not just say i like apples, but that i belong with my family. So to us we know the deeper meaning behind it, while others get the basic idea." She said trying her best to explain it like her teacher once had.

"So what do you think my cutie mark tells about me?" He asked glancing back to his flank.

It was a fair question, and if she was being honest she had no idea herself. "Sorry, i have no idea. Truth is, i have never seen a cutie mark like yours before." Applejack said honestly and let out a sigh.

"So you think this Twilight can help me then?" Astral asked and Applejack nodded eagerly.

"Yup, she's probably the smartest pony in all of Ponyville. If anyone can figure this out, she can." Applejack assured him. Astral smiled, it seemed Applejack had a lot of faith in this Twilight. "She also happens to be one of my friends, so i am certain she will help us!"

"You seem to have a lot of faith in her." Astral noted looking to her with a warm smile.

Applejack nodded. "Well we have been through a lot, along with our other friends. You already met Rainbow Dash, just wait until you meet the others, well just wait until you meet Pinkie."

"Who?"

She chuckled. "You'll see." Applejack suddenly stopped when she spotted something in the distance. "Well turn me around, smack me and call me miss lucky of Luckyville, is that what i think it is?" They walked closer to whatever she had spotted and stopped. It was a brown hat. "Well hello there old friend." Applejack said and dusted her hat off before placing it back on her head. "I was afraid i had lost it forever." Turning her eyes onto Astral she smirked. "Seems like you are my lucky charm."

Astral was not really sure what she meant, but he simply smiled and nodded. "Happy to be at service my lady."

Applejack giggled, blushing a bit of being called a lady again, it was mostly something she imagined Rarity being called, but coming from him, it felt nice. They walked for another 15 minutes until a sign came into view. On it, written in large black letters it said: WELCOME TO PONYVILLE

*****

It did not take the two ponies long to finally reach the town, when they did Applejack felt excited to show Astral around. He was quite interested in looking around, feeling he had never seen houses like this before. The houses were timber framed and had overhanging upper floors. The straw roofs added a certain charm to them, gave them a nice cozy look.

Of course, the streets were still a little messy from the storm. There was a lot of leafs and sticks laying around, some garbage and paper here and there, but it seemed everypony in town was helping out cleaning up the place. It would not take long before all of Ponyville looked as good as new!

"Well this is Ponyville, sorry if it seems a little dirty now, but you know with the storm and everything." Applejack said even though she knew he probably already had figured as much.

Astral shook his head. "No need to explain, your town looks nice, i'm looking forward to seeing it back to it's former glory." Applejack raised an eyebrow at his choice of words, glory? Seems a bit much.

She however decided not to ask about it and simply smiled. "Well then pardner, let me give you the grand tour!" With that the two of them started to walk around town.

*****

Applejack found it fun, she had shown newcomers around before, but this felt quite different. 'It be a date.' Rainbow Dash had said. The thought of this being a date made her blush yet again, but she shook her head in attempt to try to get the thoughts out.

This was not a date, it was a simple tour of the town that would end with them going to Twilight, perfectly normal. She took him down to see the marketplace, the town square, some of the cafes and shops. Astral was clearly impressed, soaking in everything Applejack said like a well behaved student.

She could not help but find it fun how intently he listened, then again he was a bit out of his depth with having no memory and all. "Well, that's just the basic tour, let's head on over to Twilight, then we can-"

Applejack did not even get to finish that sentence before a pink figure rushed past her. The pink mass came with such speed it made her blonde mane and tail wave behind her as the pink mass made the stallion vanish. "What in tarnation!" She looked behind her and saw what had happened.

Astral was on his back, he looked up in shock at a pink mare who seemed to almost explode in excitement. "Oh who are you? I'm Pinkie Pie! How do you know Applejack? Are you friends? Family? Where do you come from? Oh i am sure you come from far away and-mmfpphh-mmfmmhpphh-mmfmmh."

Pinkie Pie kept talking and asking at an increasing speed, Astral felt quite overwhelmed until Applejack trotted over and placed a hoof over Pinkie's mouth. Applejack's expression told Astral she had kind of expected this. "Pinkie, this is not the time. Get off the poor fellow now." She said in a calm tone of voice.

Applejack removed her hoof and Pinkie Pie proceeded to bounce off the muscular stallion. Despite being tackled with such great force, Pinkie herself weighed almost nothing. Astral got back up on his hoofs and dusted himself off a little. "So i guess this is the Pinkie you told me about?"

She nodded a little with a small smile. "Yes, the one and only Pinkie Pie. Sorry, i should have warned you about her way of meeting new ponies."

Pinkie's smile grew, it actually grew beyond her facial features which was a bit disturbing. "You talked about me?! Does that mean you two know each other?" She asked excitedly. Then she gasped. "Could he be your coltfriend!?"

Applejack blushed, though this time Astral could have sworn her entire body became as red as Big Macintosh's. "NO! We're, uhm, we're just friends! He saved me during the freak storm and i-"

Once again Applejack was interrupted as Pinkie Pie seemed unable to contain herself. "He saved you?? Like a damsel in distress?!"

"I'M NOT A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS!" Applejack yelled out all red from embarrassment. She took a moment to regain her composure. "Listen Pinkie, we don't have time to stand here and chatting all day, my friend here needs Twilight's help." She explained hoping this would get Pinkie to back off for a little while.

Pinkie kept her smile and simply nodded. "Oh while you do that, i start planning a hero/welcome to Ponyville party!!" she squealed. "Okay okay! You two go, i make the preparations!"

Before Applejack even got a chance to reply, Pinkie Pie had already left in a cloud of dust. Astral looked bemused but then smiled a little. "A party? That sounds fun, she seems nice."

"Sugarcube, you have no idea, no idea at all.." Applejack replied in almost a menacing way. "Let's go see Twilight." Astral nodded and the two of them started to walk down one of the streets.

*****

It was a short walk, soon enough they found themselves in what almost could be mistaken for another town square. In the middle of this square was a massive tree. To Astral's amazement the tree seemed to be hollowed out, and there were windows and doors build into the tree itself. There was even two balconies, and a telescope on the top one.

Applejack smirked seeing his reaction. "Come on then pardner." They walked up to the red door and knocked.

A sudden commotion could be heard from the other side of the door, someone was moving, some things fell to the floor, but what was going on Astral had no idea. Finally after a short moment of silence, the door opened, but no one was there. At least that was what Astral thought until he heard a small voice say. "Oh, hello Applejack."

Astral looked down and saw a small reptile looking creature holding the door. "Hey Spike, sorry for intruding, but is Twilight home?" Applejack asked.

The little purple reptile nodded. "Yeah, she's inside organizing the library...Again.."

"Who is it Spike?" A mare's voice called from within the library.

Spike looked back over his shoulder and called back. "It's Applejack! She has someone with her!" He turned his head back towards Applejack and Astral. "You better come inside"

Applejack thanked him before she walked inside with Astral following close behind her. Spike had barely managed to close the door behind them before a purple mare came down and greeted them. "Hey Applejack, oh, who's your friend?" Twilight asked with a friendly smile. Astral noted the horn on her head and felt something deep within him, like he had seen such a thing before, her kind before, but he simply could not place it.

"Hello Twilight, sorry for barging in like this, but we need your help." Applejack said and nodded towards Astral. "This is Astral Thunder, Astral this is my friend Twilight Sparkle."

Astral bowed his head. "It is an honor to meet a friend of Lady Applejack." Twilight looked confused and sent a look to Applejack, she however simply shook her head in return.

Twilight smiled. "The honor is mine Astral, welcome to Golden Oak Library, which also happens to be my home." Astral noted the many books neatly lined up on the shelves. Though in one of the corners was a small pile of them, no doubt what he had heard fall to the floor when they knocked on the door. There was a stairway on the left side of the library leading up to the other floors. On the first floor he could see a big bed which was presumably Twilight's bedroom. "So, what can i do for you two?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story.." Before Applejack started to explain Twilight made them some nice tea and served some biscuits for them to snack on. Then once they had settled down Applejack began to explain everything that had happened up until now. The storm, him rescuing her and his memory loss.

*****

Once Applejack was done with her story Twilight levitated the teacup back down onto the table. "That is an amazing story, so you have no idea who you are or why you are here?" Twilight asked looking over at Astral.

Astral shook his head. "No, i only remember waking up right outside a forest, that was just before i found Lady Applejack trapped under the tree.."

"And then there is his cutie mark." Applejack pointed out.

Twilight nodded. "Yea, i have never seen such a cutie mark before, nor do i think i have seen such strange letters before.." She frowned as she levitated a quill and a piece of paper. Twilight proceeded to write down the strange letters. "If you can't remember how to read them, then i must find a way to translate.." She mumbled as she wrote down the letters.

ᛏᚺᛖ ᛋᛟᚾ ᛟᚠ ᛟᛞᛁᚾ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚷᛟᛞ ᛟᚠ ᛏᚺᚢᚾᛞᛖᚱ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛈᚱᛟᛏᛖᚲᛏᛟᚱ ᛟᚠ ᚨᛋᚷᚨᚱᛞ ᛏᚺᛟᚱ

Applejack moved over to take a closer look. "Have you seen these strange symbols before Twilight?"

Twilight tilted her head. "Hmm, maybe.." She frowned and made a few books levitate towards the table. She scanned her books, turning the pages with her magic, but after maybe 15 minutes she sighed. "It seems i have to find some older books.. Or maybe write to princess Celestia.." She turned her attention back to her guests. "Sorry for not being of much help, i promise i will look into this." Twilight assured them.

Applejack shook her head. "It's alright Twilight, i reckon if anyone can figure this out, you can."

"At the very least you have my thanks for trying." Astral put in. "I hope i can repay you both for your kindness once i get my memories back."

"Don't mention it." Applejack smirked and punched his side yet again.

Twilight nodded her head. "Applejack is right, you saved her from what could have been a horrible injury.. It will be my pleasure to help you."

Astral bowed his head to her again. "Thank you, Lady Twilight."

*****

The two of them said their goodbyes and left Twilight to her research. "So, what do we do now?" Astral asked.

"Now? Now we go back home and prepare.." Applejack said with a smirk.

Astral frowned, hearing the change of tone in Applejack's voice. "Prepare? Prepare for what?"

"For the party..." She simply said. Astral had never been to one of Pinkie Pie's parties before, but this was not a normal party. It was two parties at once, which meant Pinkie was gonna plan something big and that meant there were gonna need all the energy they could save up.

Astral had no idea what he was in for, but he was gonna learn that soon enough...

Author's Note

Fun fact, Golden Oak Library was inspired by the tree of knowledge and the tree of life. The tree of life is Yggdrasil in Norse Mythology ;)

So this is the longest chapter so far, not by much, but still the longest. We got three new characters introduced, i hope i can do them justice and the other characters as they show up.

Leave me your thoughts and i be happy to take them into account in my next chapter. If you have suggestions, praise or corrections please let me know, as long as we keep a polite tone i will be happy to hear you out ^^

Chapter 5: Work & Play.

Chapter 5: Work & Play.

Carousel Boutique

Rarity stood in her round shop surrounded by mannequins and fabrics. Normally this would have been a great day to work on some of her orders, but today she had gotten a visit from a certain pink pony. Pinkie Pie had suddenly burst through the door and had simply started to go on and on about, something? Rarity could hardly get a word in other than small attempts to get an idea of what she was talking about! Pinkie seemed to insist on talking faster and faster whenever she was excited about something, she was like a little filly who had just eaten an entire shop worth of sweets. "And that's why i think we should have a super duper hero welcome party!" Pinkie Pie finally finished.

Taking a deep breath, the white mare put on a patient smile for her friend and said. "Pinkie, darling, would you care to explain it again." She held up a hoof just before Pinkie could start her rant off again. "Slowly please. Now, who's a hero?"

"Applejack's new coltfriend who's not her coltfriend, but still her hero because he saved her!" Pinkie repeated all giddy like a filly excited to see her favorite coltband play live. However this certainly got Rarity's attention.

"Applejack was saved by a colt?" Rarity asked and Pinkie Pie nodded. "Well, do you know the details dear?" Truth be told she was quite interested in the fact Applejack, her friend, might have gotten herself a coltfriend.

"Yes, he saved her during the storm! It is also his first time in Ponyville, so i am throwing him a Hero/Welcome to Ponyville party!" Pinkie squealed excitedly.

Rarity took a step back as it seemed this squeal was even higher in pitch this time. "Darling please." Rarity begged before Pinkie finally finished. "So what do you need from me?"

"Oh!" Pinkie let out, like if she was just now remembering the reason she came bursting through the doors and nearly tore it off it's hinches in the process. "I just came by to give you the invitation and the story!" Pinkie smiled and pulled out an envelope seemingly out of nowhere. "Gotta dash! I have to kidnap Venyl Scratch so she can do the music! Laters!" And with that she was gone.

Rarity was left with a surprised and confused look on her face, but after a few seconds she just shrugged. Pinkie was just being Pinkie, however this colt she mentioned, had he really saved Applejack? More importantly was he really her coltfriend? Really? Applejack? She was not exactly the classic damsel in distress type, nor a very feminine mare. She certainly had her charms and when she really wanted to be she could be very feminine. She would need to see for herself tonight and- Wait... Did Pinkie Pie say kidnap?

*****

Sweet Apple Acres

The day had been interesting to say the least, Astral had a good time in Ponyville and it was nice to meet some of Applejack's friends. When they had gotten back she had given him a tour of the farm, explaining what they did and how they worked. Once again Astral found himself impressed and interested in everything Applejack told him, they really had a nice life here it seemed.

They walked down the small dirt paths between the apple trees, it was incredible. So this was Applejack's world, it was an amazing range of colors. The green leaves above them, the many colors of the apples, all around and above them. It was like they were in their own little world, a world only a few could see or even notice.

She noticed the way he looked around, the sense of wonder that sparkled in his eyes, something that mostly only the Apple family could see he was now seeing. Applejack stopped, not really at a specific place, but it did not matter, they were surrounded by beauty. "So, what do you think?" She asked not really needing the answer as she already knew it.

Astral stopped and took a moment to take it all in, then after maybe 12 seconds of silence he let out a deep sigh. "It's amazing.. You have a beautiful home.." He had said that before, but this time he had seen a world not many could see. No matter how many times her friends spend out here they never saw what she saw. "I can see why you love this place so much.." He continued. "It must be nice."

Applejack smiled gently and nodded. "It's my home, everything here is something my family has worked at for years.. A lot of blood sweat and tears has gone into making this place our own, it's a part of us.." She blushed a little as she was not really used to being so serious and deep, especially not with a stranger! Still, she could not help it.. She knew she had not really been acting like herself lately, and with Astral she felt relaxed, like she could share with him without fear of humiliation. Applejack was strong and just like Rainbow Dash it was never easy to feel vulnerable, though maybe it was what Ma and Pa felt, they had just clicked too.

"Well." Applejack smirked. "How about we help out a little pardner?" She suggested and started to walk again. "The storm made some apples fall to the ground, let's see what we can salvage!" And with that she started to run. "Come on then Astral!"

He was a little taken aback by her sudden change, but he did not mind, he laughed and started to run after her. "Right behind you lady Applejack!" The two of them galloped down the small dirt paths, the dust building up behind them as they picked up speed.

Astral got closer and closer to the galloping mare, but she simply smirked and took a sharp turn to the left. She managed to throw Astral off for now, but she did not run away, she stayed just within his sight. "Come on then slow pony, my granny moves faster than you!" She laughed and started to run away.

Astral had managed to come to a stop when she yelled that, he smirked and started to run after her again, this time moving faster than before. Applejack was not sure what was coming over her, but she felt a like a little filly again. The sudden playfulness had taken her by surprise, each time Astral came close to finally touch her tail she let out a giddy squeal and took a sharp turn to avoid him.

They ran and ran, their hearts beating faster and faster until finally he got close enough to get her tail. Applejack didn't mind, she wanted him to catch her. Moving up a small hill Astral moved closer and closer until!

Bite~

Applejack let out a gasp as she felt him finally getting her, she let herself fall into the grass with Astral suddenly finding himself falling with her. They slided and rolled down the grassy hill laughing like playing foals. Applejack finally landed on her back, but before she had a chance to open her eyes and get up she felt something above her.

She could feel him, his heavy hot breath tickling her, she could even swear she could hear his fast heartbeat. She slowly opened her eyes, his face come into view, his snout only inches from hers. Astral had managed not to land directly on her by stopping his fall with his forelegs, the result was she was right under him, looking up into his blue eyes. They were looking straight into hers, they did not speak, the only thing breaking the silence was their heavy panting.

"Ahem.." a voice suddenly coughed lightly.

SLAM!

"Arhh!"

"Argh!"

Their heads slammed together as Applejack tried to sit up in a panic. Astral fell down onto his flank and held his head with his hoof, Applejack did the same only laying down on her back. When the pain had vanished she turned her head, only for her cheeks to light up once again as she saw her sister, her friends and her brother all standing there looking at them.

Applejack quickly got up on her hooves and tried to look as natural as possible, she failed.. "Howdy y'all!" she said with an awkward smile. The group suddenly burst out laughing as it was such a strange display. "Hey! what y'all laughing about!?" She yelled out feeling her cheeks becoming warmer.

"Your face!" Apple Bloom replied rolling around on the grass, holding her tummy with her front legs.

Astral stood up looking confused for a few seconds, but then smiled. "You have a thick head." he gave her the exact same line she had given him when they first headbutted each other. The line only added fuel to the fire as even her stoic older brother started to laugh even more, soon followed by the cutie mark crusaders. Applejack was so embarrassed, but she was not mad, she knew she would have reacted the exact same way if it had been Rainbow Dash and Big Mac, so she started to laugh as well.

It took a minute, maybe two before the laughter died out. "So.." Big Mac was the first to talk. "Did you get to see Twalight?"

Astral nodded, this time speaking for himself. "Yes, she was a very kind mare, smart, just like Lady Applejack had said.. Though she had no idea about my cutie mark or what could have happened.. She has promised to look into it however, so i will put my faith in her."

"Eyup." Applejack continued. "In the meantime we ran into Pinkie Pie, she seems bent on throwing a party in his honor this evening."

"She seems nice, i look forward to see what she has planned. Can she even organize a party that fast?" Astral asked which earned him a few chuckled from the others.

"Pinkie Pie is always ready to throw all sorts of parties!" Apple Bloom said with a big smile.

"Yeah!" Continued Scootaloo. "She has that big party canon on standby, ready to throw any kind of party!"

"Honestly, you should see what she can make when she has a lot longer to plan it out." Applejack said with a shudder. "That mare is as eager to party as a bee is for honey."

They all shared another little laugh before Big Mac once again took lead on the conversation. Honestly he had been a lot more talkative since he and Rainbow Dash got together, it was nice to see. "So what brings you two out here?"

"We thought we could help clean up the fields a little." Applejack smiled.

Big mac nodded and walked towards some of the empty baskets. "Much appreciated. Astral, i assume you are not one to shy away from a little hard work."

Astral shook his head and followed Big Mac. "Not at all, just tell me what to do."

"Well.." Big Mac walked past the baskets and over to a knocked over apple tree a few meters away. Astral knew that tree, it was the one Applejack had been pinned under, the one he had moved. "Ah need ya help moving this, though if Applejack is right then you can do it by yourself." Astral could hear the skepticism in his voice, maybe even a slight teasing. It was not mocking or anything like that and in all honesty Astral could understand why he had a hard time believing it, a simple earth pony moving this during a stormy weather, that just sounded insane.

Applejack in the meantime looked at the baskets, it was the ones she carried the other night. She raised an eyebrow as something seemed wired, the leather straps that was around her had not been opened like she would have done normally. Picking the thick leather up she took a closer look. Her eyes went wide.... They had been bitten over..

"So anyway." Big Mac continued. "I have already tied some rope around it, i just need to find another yoke for you to use, then we can drag it away." He turned around. "In the meantime you can help the girls picking up some of the apples." Big Mac started to walk away, he did however not get very far.

CRAACK!!

He could hear leafs rustling, branches and sticks twisting and snapping. He then heard the girls gasp and so he turned around, only to gasp himself! Only a meter behind him was Astral, hooked up to his yoke, pulling the tree by himself!? Now this was not some normal average little apple tree, if it was then sure Big Mac could have taken it by himself, but this one was one of the bigger ones.

Applejack and the cutie mark crusaders all stood to the side, their mouths hanging open. Astral looked up at Big Mac. "Shall i just follow you?"

"E...E-eeyup.." Big Mac said in shock as he started to walk away with Astral not far behind him. Dragging the tree like he was pulling a simple cart, Astral had figured out this was not possible for a normal earth pony. If their expressions was anything to go by, then it seemed they had never seen anyone doing this before. It only cemented the fact in him that he was not like them, but then, who was he?

Author's Note

Yay finally, my fifth chapter!

I had to rewrite it all the time as i was not happy with how the first draft turned out. This chapter was shorter that i would have wanted it, but i wrote until i found a place i was happy to end the chapter.

I am also aware about apple trees not being that big and not so heavy for a pony, so i will just admit to the plot hole and hope you wont hang me for it ;)

Anyway, leave some feedback if you want or maybe even a like if you, well liked the story XD

Chapter 6: The Party

Chapter 6: The Party

After the shocking event with the tree and then some light work cleaning up the orchard, Astral could relax a bit in the bath before the party. He did not stay for very long, but it did give him the time to reflect a bit, the looks of shock on the others faces. Had they truly never seen anypony do what he did without the use of magic? It kind of scared him that he was so different, it put so many thoughts into his head, like how, why and what.

Twilight said she would look into it, but he had already gone over some possibilities. Maybe he came from a far away land? Then again, if he did then surely they had to have some records on what this land was, not to mention which land used these symbols on his cutie mark. Another possibility was he was maybe a time traveler? Somehow he doubted that, he did have chainmail, something that had not been used for a long time, but still, he did not buy it.

He sank a little into the tub, the warm water moving up and above his muzzle. He blew some bubbles while trying to think of an answer, he got none, not even a memory, nothing. Astral let out a sigh and got out, it would not be long before they had to go and he did not want to be late.

Half an hour later he walked towards Ponyville with Applejack, Rainbow Dash and of course Big Macintosh. The four of them were in high spirits, Rainbow Dash seemed excited and pumped as she hovered above them. "Of course, i should get a hero party too for being so awesome all the time!" Sure it sounded arrogant, but she had a spark in her eye telling Astral she knew that and it was all in good fun.

Applejack asked Big Mac about Granny Smith looking after Apple Bloom, Big Mac confirmed this with his trademark. "Eeyup." Apparently there was gonna be alcohol at this party, so foals were not allowed to come, much to the annoyance of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"How do you feel?" Applejack suddenly asked as she turned her attention back to Astral. "If you are not feeling up to it you don't have to go.." Applejack knew that would disappoint Pinkie, but she was sure she would understand if she told her Astral did not feel up to it.

Astral however shook his head. "No, thank you, but i am okay. I feel fine and i am honored Lady Pinkie Pie has invited me to a feast in my honor." Once again his choice of words were strange, but Rainbow Dash loved it.

"Ha! That's the spirit! I like that, a feast!" She seemed to love the sound of that, Applejack and Big Mac already suspected she wanted such a feast when she finally joined the Wonderbolts.

"Well.. If you are sure about this." Applejack smiled as her concerns faded away. "I'm sure you will have fun, if anyone can throw a proper, uhm, feast, it is Pinkie Pie, except maybe for the Apple Family." She smirked a little knowing maybe the term feast was better suited for the Apple family's get togethers

*****

The four friends reached their destination, but when they did Astral took a moment to marvel at the building in front of him. Golden Oak Library was one thing, but this simply looked insane. Surgarcube Corner looked like a small cake castle, it even had what looked like a small tower in the middle that resembled some kind of cake, though which kind he had no idea.

"That's strange." Applejack said. "I was pretty sure the party would be here." All the windows were dark, it seemed nopony was home. Of course Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Big Mac all knew Pinkie was waiting inside with the others ready to spring their surprise. Applejack just figured it would be nice to play the part so Astral could get the full experience.

"Well what are we waiting for? We won't find out if we keep standing out here!" Rainbow's raspy voice said from behind Astral. "Why don't you go knock?" Astral felt her hooves push him towards the door.

"Uhm, as you wish?" Astral was a little confused, but he did not protest it. Making his way towards the door he sort of sensed that his three companions were moving back. He was just about to reach the doorknob with his hoof when suddenly the door burst open! A tornado of colors surrounded him, small papers moving all around him in a great force that also forced him to fly back and land on his back!

"Surprise!" Pinkie's cheerful voice said from the door.

In truth Applejack and the others had not really expected that, they had expected her to wait until he was inside. "Uhm Pinkie, maybe that is a little much?" Twilight said as she walked up behind Pinkie.

"What do you mean?" Pinkie asked and started to push her confetti canon to the side so Astral and the others could come inside.

"Astral, are you alright there buddy?" Rainbow Dash asked as she landed on the ground beside him. Applejack was quick to trot over as well along with Big Mac.

Astral sat up, freeing most of his body from the mountain of confetti that had buried him. His eyes looked unfocused for a few seconds, but with shaking his head a few times seemed to fix that problem. "What happened?"

"I'm sorry." Twilight said as she walked out. "I told her it would probably not be the best way to greet a newcomer."

Pinkie Pie jumped outside with a big grin. "Well i told you it was a surprise party! Were you surprised?" She asked excitedly seeming to have no worry she just shot Astral in the face with a canon.

"Yeah, i guess you can call it that.." Astral confirmed as he stood back up, shaking his body a little to get all of the confetti off.

"Yay!" Was Pinkie Pie's only reply.

Twilight smiled gently. "Come inside, the others are excited to meet you."

Astral smiled and followed, however he, or rather Applejack did not expect to find what she was about to find. Her eyes went wide with horror as right there, at the end of the main room was a massive banner that said.

WELCOME TO PONYVILLE ASTRAL! THE HERO WHO SAVED LADY APPLEJACK AND IS DEFINITELY NOT HER COLTFRIEND!

"WHAT IN TARNATION IS THAT??!" Applejack roared and looked at Pinkie who suddenly appeared behind her.

"It's a banner silly." Pinkie smiled innocently while the whole room full of ponies Astral had never met chuckled a little.

Applejack face hoofed. "I know that, but i mean why did you write that last part?"

"What? You told me he was not your coltfriend!" She asked and tilted her head.

"Yes but now ponies will think that..." Applejack blushed, though it was hard to see if it was out of anger or embarrassment.

"Anyway." Twilight said as she walked over to the side with Astral. Two mares waited for them, a white one and a light yellow one. "Astral this is Rarity and Fluttershy."

"Greetings." Astral said and bowed a little in greeting.

"My, what a gentlecolt. We heard about you saving our Applejack and we simply had to show up to thank you darling!" Rarity said with a charming smile.

Fluttershy was more timid in her greeting, but she did send him a small smile. "H-hello.. Thank you for saving Applejack.."

"It is an honor to meet you both, Lady Rarity, Lady Fluttershy. A friend of Lady Applejack is a friend of mine." Astral replied with a warm handsome smile.

"Well i be, seems like Applejack got herself quite the stallion. Tell me darling, what is your relationship to our Applejack?" Rarity asked.

Astral was not quite sure what she was going for, but he could see she was trying to dig for something. "She has been so kind to help me, her and her family had kindly taken me in until i get my memories back."

"Oh my.." Fluttershy exclaimed. "I hope you will get your memories back soon, it must be hard.."

Astral shrugged. "It can be, but thanks to the Apple family i am not nervous. In the meantime i hope to be of some use to repay their kindness."

Before the conversation had a chance to continue Pinkie Pie called out. "Alright everypony, let's get this party started, let's show Astral how we do it in Ponyville!" All the guests cheered and Venyl started the music!

*****

Astral spend some time at first to shake hoofs with a lot of ponies happy to meet him. There was a lot of questions, like where he was from or how he saved Applejack. Soon enough though it died down and ponies started to dance, eat, drink and chat.

Pinkie made sure Astral tasted a lot of the cupcakes she had prepared for the party, she had learned he had no idea what they were and so she made sure he tried one of each! Other than that he talked a lot with the six friends, hearing about them, learning about their adventures. Once again he soaked everything up like a sponge hungry for water.

At one point Rainbow dragged Big Mac out onto the dance floor, insisting on dancing with her stallion. As far as he could understand from the others, Rainbow was not one who liked to be all feely feely and all that fluff. It seemed Big Mac had made her change in that regard, at least in some way or another.

Soon enough however Applejack smirked and looked at Astral. "Well come on there pardner, don't think you can get away by sitting here. Come on out with me and let me see what you can do." She winked at him which made Astral's heart beat two extra times. Her friends started to cheer and waved them off towards the dance floor.

Laughing a bit to himself Astral smiled and nodded. "It would be my honor lady Applejack." She smiled back to him, feeling her heart beat a little faster as well. Soon enough they were both out there dancing to the beat.

Astral could already see Applejack had more experience in this, her movements were more fluent, elegant and upbeat. His were more clumsy and stiff, but he did his best and Applejack seemed to have fun. He figured his best option was just to let go and just do what felt fun and right, as a result he did loosen up and the whole dancing thing became much more enjoyable.

The party lights moved all around them, the base could be felt through their bodies, the dark room only added to the excitement. The lights moved over Applejack's body, they made her green eyes sparkle and soon enough her eyes was the only thing Astral could look at. By the gods she was beautiful, her blonde mane flowing and almost sparkling in all the different lights, it was like everything happened in slow motion.

Applejack suddenly looked past him, she nodded to someone and then with a hint of playfulness in her eyes she looked back at him. She moved close, very close, so close Astral for a moment thought she was going to kiss him.

Bump.

She bumped his side with her rear, pushing him back towards the table. Applejack laughed a little. "Sorry to disappoint you sugarcube, but i need to rest my tired hooves." She smirked walking past him and back to the table with her friends. For a moment Astral was confused, how long had they been dancing? To be honest he had lost track and it was only now he realized how tired his hooves actually were.

They all sat down once again and hardly a minute afterwards they were joined by Rainbow Dash and Big Mac. "Well you two seemed to enjoy yourselves." Applejack remarked with a grin as she got herself a drink.

"Well of course we had fun, but look who's talking. You two kept staring at each other for almost an entire hour." Rainbow replied with a small laugh as she too got one of the drinks on the table. Big Mac got a mug full of cider, he needed it, he was panting as it was always hard to keep up with his Rainbow Dash.

"Urgh..." A small voice suddenly whined. They all looked to Twilight who was resting her head on the table. "No more.."

"Twilight, are you alright?" Astral asked with a worried look.

"Oh don't worry darling." Rarity said. "Twilight has just had one to many."

"Yeah right." Rainbow snorted with a small grin. "Twilight can't handle her drinks to well, a few glasses and she is out for the count, she is such a light weight."

"I think i should take her home, i'm a bit tired anyway.." Fluttershy said and moved closer to Twilight. "Come on then, time to get you back to bed.."

"Urgh..." Twilight groaned in response.

Fluttershy looked at the others. "Sorry for leaving, but thank you for inviting me Pinkie Pie..." She said with a small smile before looking back to Astral. "It was nice meeting you Astral.."

Astral nodded. "You too, it was an honor."

They watched for a moment as Fluttershy helped the poor lavender mare outside. Rainbow laughed a bit before looking at Astral. "So Astral, what about you? Do you drink?"

"Hm, i don't know, i don't mind what i have tried so far." He moved a hoof over and pulled a bottle of beer closer.

Rainbow smirked. "Me and Big Mac sometimes compete who can drink the most, but of course i am always the winner."

Big Mac nodded. "Eeyup."

"And you always end up sleeping until noon!" Applejack cut in, sure she could drink more, but Big Mac could at least get up and work the next day...Well..Most times..

"So what do you say?" Rainbow continued, ignoring her friend's point. "A little friendly drinking game?" Her eyes narrowed, her muscles seemed to tense up, it was clear she was already gearing up to compete.

Astral considered for a moment, then smiled. "Sure, that sounds fun. I accept your challenge Lady Dash."

"Great! Let's get the drinks!" Rainbow announced and just like that Pinkie had got a whole trolley filled with mugs containing beer. Rarity rolled her eyes and excused herself, she did not want to bear witness to such a vulgar competition.

*****

One must always look forward, to be a better pony today than you were yesterday. To keep up the fight, seek strength from your friends so you can fight on. Tonight however, neither spirit, heart or the magic of friendship had helped Rainbow Dash in her hour of need. She had lost, big time, first Big Mac had gone down and then several mugs of beer later Rainbow had finally given up. Now the two ponies were laying in a wagon and being pulled home by their new rival. "Urrrghh...." She groaned. "How are you...Hic!.. Still standing...?" Rainbow mumbled as she scooted closer to seek comfort in her coltfriend who laid knocked out beside her.

Applejack rolled her eyes, but then looked at Astral with a small smirk. "How did you do it?" Applejack asked with a small laugh as she walked beside Astral. She was amazed he had not collapsed from the insane amount of beer he had consumed, he barely acted drunk.

Astral shrugged as he continued to march on. "I have no idea, i just kept drinking.." He laughed a little barely feeling the buzz or the cart with the two sleeping ponies he was dragging along.

Applejack chuckled and moved closer to him. With Applejack walking close beside him he felt his heart beat faster, a small smile moved to his face. "Well i suppose that will keep her from any drinking games for some time.. Though i think they will both be out for the count tomorrow. You will need to help out since this is partly your fault." Applejack smirked knowing full well this was Rainbow Dash's mess, but she would be in no condition to help out tomorrow.

"Just show me what to do lady Applejack, i be happy to work by your side.." Astral smiled warmly to her and Applejack smiled back. Applejack could not help but be glad the trip would be slower with the cart, it meant she would spend just a little more time walking in Luna's moonlight with Astral.

What a night... What a party... Hopefully they would not reach the farm for a little while...

Author's Note

There!

To be honest i was looking forward to getting this chapter over with, i had not planned for it to be longer than the last one, i actually thought it would be one of the shorter ones! XD

Anyway, i hope you enjoyed reading it, as always leave a like if you did enjoy it and if you have time leave some feedback, helps me grow ;)

Chapter 7: Life With The Apples

Chapter 7: Life With The Apples

It had been a week since the arrival of Astral and in that amount of time he had practically become a member of the family. His days were pretty simple, waking up, doing morning chores with Big Mac, then some breakfast and then back out to do work before dinner. It was a simple but pleasant life.

Though deep within himself Astral felt wanderlust, he wanted to go out there, explore and feel the call to adventure! Most of all though, deep within the corners of his mind he felt the need to fight. Whenever he heard a story about Applejack and her friends fighting some villain, he felt his blood rush through him in excitement! Not because of the great story, but for the wish to join in. These feelings felt familiar and of course he had put two and two together and figured it was feelings his old self had.

He had not yet shared these things with Applejack, he was not even sure if he wanted her to know about it. He was Astral Thunder now, even though it had only been a week since he arrived, he felt so relaxed and at home here, he felt happy, content, why should that stop?

Astral let out a sigh, he was not sure how long he had been standing out here in the sun looking at his half finished work. Today on this bright sunny day he had been tasked to paint the barn, the old thing always looked like it was about to collapse. Astral was amazed that almost every bloody day they needed to repair something on it.

"Enjoying ya break?"

A deep voice brought Astral back to reality, of course it was not hard to guess who the voice belonged to. Big Macintosh trotted over towards Astral as he wiped some sweat off his forehead. He was carrying a saddlebag on his back so he had probably been out repairing the fence.

"Sorry.." Astral replied. "I was lost in thought it seems.."

Big Mac shook his head. "Don't need to apologize Astral." He said and waved his hoof as if to dismiss the apology. He took a look at Astral's progress so far, his big green eyes moving across the barn, inspecting where he had painted. After about half a minute he nodded in satisfaction. "Mighty fine work Astral, keep up the pace and i reckon you should be done in time for supper." Big Mac said and walked over to an unpainted part of the barn and sat down, leaning against it with a small relaxing sigh.

Astral followed suit and sat down against the barn next to Big Mac. The two big muscular stallions looked over the apple orchard, enjoying the green scenery for a few minutes before Big Mac broke the silence. "Well, i got to thank ya.. With and extra pair of hooves we been able to get more work done." he opened one of the saddlebags and pulled out two glass bottles of Apple Cider out for them to enjoy in the hot sun.

Astral gladly took one of the bottles as Big Mac offered it. "Thank you." Astral smiled and took a sip of the cold liquid. Both of them enjoyed a large gulp of the apple goodness before they both let out a satisfying.

"Ahhhhh~"

"That hit the spot.." Astral smirked.

"Eeyup."

The two stallions just enjoyed the moment, taking in everything and felt the summer breeze moving through their furs. Astral was not sure how much time had passed, but soon enough they both had closed eyes just enjoying the relaxing air and the small shadow of the barn that barely covered them.

"Hey.. Astral?" Big Mac suddenly said.

Astral opened his left eye to glance at the red stallion. "Hm?"

"Ah was just wondering, do you like it here?" Big Mac's question caught Astral off guard a little, it was certainly not what he had expected him to ask him, then again why would he not expect it? Like so many other questions that surrounded him, it was a fair one.

"I do." Astral said with no hesitation. Opening his other eye he looked back over the orchard. "It's hard, peaceful and yet fulfilling work.. You and Applejack, well all of you have been kind enough to let me stay here.. You have accepted me, well at least that is what i feel.. So maybe the real question is, what's not to like?"

Big Mac did not open his eyes, he simply nodded. "Eeyup.." Astral thought he was satisfied with that answer, but he was not done yet. "Well we have all grown fond of you, despite you only being here for a week.. Buck it, we might as well change your name soon if this keeps up." He let out a small chuckle. "If you keep this up we might have to call you Apple Thunder instead.."

Astral knew what he meant, him being an Apple, it did not sound half bad, though he knew Big Mac was not done. Something was on his mind. "But?" Astral prompted.

Big Mac sighed. "But none of us, not even you, knows who ya are, who ya really are..." Astral did not reply, Big Mac did not need to say it, he had already thought about it. For all they knew he could be the one who started the storm, he could be someone terrible, one who liked moving around and creating trouble. These feelings of wanting to fight only scared him even more now.

"Tell yer what.." Big Mac continued. "If ya half the stallion you are now, then you're okay in mah book." And with that he finished his cider and stood up.

Astral looked up at the massive red stallion and nodded, he understood what he was trying to say. "Thank you, i hope i will prove worthy.."

Big Mac nodded. "Eeyup, well ya can start finishing yer job." He simply replied and walked back out towards the orchard. Astral smiled and simply nodded, work first worry later....

*****

Another two week had passed and Astral had still heard nothing from Twilight, whenever he had a chance to speak to her she told him it would take time. He understood that, but he felt frustrated all the same. One part of him did not wish her to find anything, another part wanted to find out the truth and a whole other part was afraid of what she would find!

Astral let out a small sigh as he slowly made his way upstairs. Today he had finished work early, Applejack was still at the market and Granny had gone out with Big Mac to run some errands. Which meant he was alone today and he could-

Thump!

It seemed like he was not alone after all. He moved down the hall and noticed the door to Apple Bloom's room was half open. It was strange as Astral could have sworn Apple Bloom was gonna spend her afternoon with her friends. Trotting over he froze up as he heard, sobbing? Sure enough he heard small whimpers and sobbing coming from Apple Bloom's room.

Having lived here for over almost a month he had seen and heard her cry before, usually Applejack, Granny Smith or Big Mac were there to comfort her, but no one was here but him. He stood there for a while thinking about what he could do, was there anything he could do? After all he was not her brother, or father or even a distant cousin.

He could hear the sobbing continue and it was like a knife in the heart, Apple Bloom had always been so kind to him. Like all the others she never treated him like an outsider, maybe that was why he suddenly found himself standing in the doorway to her room. It was not hard to spot the yellow filly, her red mane and the big pink bow pretty much pointed her out like if there was a big sign above her. She laid with her head buried in her pillow sobbing into it, only letting her face come up when she needed more air.

"Apple Bloom..?" He said gently not quite sure if he was overstepping some sort of line by doing this, but he did not like seeing her upset.

"Mm..?" She looked up and turned to face Astral. Her eyes were red and he could see how wet her cheeks were.

Astral frowned. "What happened?" He was a bit unsure what to say or do, he was almost afraid he would creep her out.

But the little filly sat up and wiped her eyes with her hoof. "Diamond Tiara picked on me again..." She sniffled. "She made fun of mah family, calling us stupid ground sniffing yokels..." There was clearly more to that story, seeing how she had already opened up about it to him he decided to press her on it gently.

"And then what happened?" Astral asked as he trotted over and took a seat next to her.

Apple Bloom did not seem to mind as she looked down at the floor while she fiddled with her hoofs. "I... I bit her..." She looked kind of ashamed, but probably more worried about potential punishment. "After i punched her.." Apple Bloom mumbled and fiddled with her hoofs a little faster than before.

"Hmm.." Astral said and thought for a moment. "Well, i'm not your brother, sister and i am certainly not your grandmother." Astral said with a small smile and nudged her a little. It made her giggle as she thought of him sitting in the rocking chair knitting. "So i can't punish you.. But it is always right to stand up for your family and friends.." Truth be told he saw no problem in Apple Bloom giving what was coming to the filly, not that he would punch a filly himself, but they were in the same grade, so he saw no problem with it. He however was not her family, so he tried to say what he knew Applejack or Big Mac would say.

"You and your family has always been kind to me, so i know you are noble and kind, so buck what that little missy told you little princess." Astral smirked seeing Apple Bloom snicker as he said a curse word. "You have a family that loves you and two great friends, so is it really important what she thinks?"

Apple Bloom shook her head. "No.." She smiled a little and then looked up at him. "Thanks Astral.."

"Not a problem little princess.." Though he was not sure if he had said the right things, but she was feeling better now at least, he went out on a leap and decided yes he had said the right things. Then he got an idea. "How about we play while we wait for your friends to catch up with you?" He suggested

"Hm?" Apple Bloom tilted her head, but seemed excited about the prospect of playing a game with a grown up. "What game?!"

45 minutes later.

The rest of the Apple family made their way to Sweet Apple Acres. Suddenly as they came closer they saw in front of the farm house a lot of boxes, it looked like they had been put up to form a fort. Applejack tilted her head. "What the hay?"

"Halt!" Astral's voice bellowed as he walked over. The three Apples turned over and Applejack's face burst into a smile as she snickered. There, walking towards them was Astral in his chainmail, a bucket on his head for a helmet and a broom for a spear. He looked at Granny Smith and smiled. "Aha, the queen has returned!" He looked back towards the fort. "Princess, the queen has returned along with Sir Mac and their chambermare!" He called

Apple Bloom walked out, a red cape tied to her neck, she looked, smug, but it was all in good fun. "Let them enter!" She called.

Scootaloo walked beside Apple Bloom on her right side while Sweetie Belle was on the other. She wore a small pot from the kitchen on her head, a towel wrapped around her neck as a cape like she was a great commander. "Open the gate!" She commanded to her only soldier.

Astral nodded. "Yes captain Scootaloo!" Astral made a quick salute and opened the small fence gate so the three ponies could enter. When Granny Smith passed him he bowed low. "Your majesty! Sir Mac!"

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Hey! Why am I a chambermare!?"

"Sush!" Granny Smith smirked putting on a royal tone, which only sounded more funny mixed in with her heavy accent. "Now that is nowhere for a chambermare to talk to mah loyal guards." She held her head high and walked past Astral.

"Granny!" Apple Bloom ran over to her with Sweetie Belle right behind her. Sweetie Belle had a small staff and a floppy hat, and like her friends she had a towel tied around her neck like a cape. "I am princess of the land of Apples!" She declared with a laugh.

Granny Smith chuckled. "That's nice, but how about we go in and enjoy some cookies from the royal treasury?" She smiled. "You and ya friends"

The three fillies let out a. "YAAY!" And hurried inside with Granny smith.

Astral let out a chuckle as he took off the bucket helmet. "Seems like you had fun." Applejack smirked as she walked over with Big Mac pulling the cart.

"Well she came straight home from, uhm, school?" He had not heard about school before he came here, or at least he did not remember hearing about such a place. "She was upset because some filly picked on her. They had a fight that did not end to well for the other filly, Apple Bloom sure ended it." Applejack and Big Mac frowned. "I'm sorry, you were not home and i did not like to leave her crying in her room... I told her it was okay to stand up for your family and friends, but not to punch or bite.." His ears flattened a bit hoping they were not upset with him.

To his relief however both Applejack and Big Mac smiled warmly. "Thank you for taking care of our sister, ah have a talk with her after i put this here cart away." Big Mac said with an approving nod, and with that he walked away towards the barn dragging with him the cart.

Astral was left with Applejack who let out a small chuckle. She opened her mouth to say something when the door to the farm house burst open. Apple Bloom ran towards Astral with a small plate on her back, trying her best not to drop it as she ran. Both of the young adults looked at her as she came to a full stop in front of Astral, she had a big smile on her face as she went up on her hind legs to hug him.

The plate was just about to slide off when Applejack quickly moved down and grabbed the plate with her mouth. On it was two cookies, they smelled amazing to Applejack, but it was not hard to guess who Apple Bloom had brought them out for. More fun was it to see Astral be taken aback by the sudden hug, he looked confused at first and then hesitantly placed a hoof onto Apple Bloom's back. "Thank you for cheering me up and playing with me and mah friends.." Apple Bloom said cheerfully before letting go. "I brought you cookies! Better hurry back in!" And before Applejack could say anything about the plate Apple Bloom was already gone.

Applejack chuckled and placed the plate on her hoof holding it out to him. "Looks like ya got yourself a fan." She smirked.

Astral shook his head, a faint blush burning on his cheeks. "I just did what you and Big Mac would have done.." He mumbled and reached out and took the plate.

"Yeah you did, and i am glad you did." Applejack smiled. "It is nice to know you were there for her when she needed somepony. You cheered her up, that's what matters."

"T-thanks.." Astral smiled a little still feeling a bit embarrassed, but not uncomfortable. He held the plate towards her. "Cookie my lady chambermare?" He asked bobbing his eyebrows teasingly.

Applejack laughed and took one. "Thank you my lord!" She said while rolling her eyes a little. The two of them shared a nice laugh and enjoyed the cookies..

*****

It had now been a full month since Astral had arrived here in what they called Equestria. Twilight had still not yet come up with anything, she had even written to their princess about the translation, but so far had received no reply. Astral worried a little in the beginning, even if they got the text translated there was no way of knowing if it would even help.

So he figured he might as well learn more about Equestria, he lend a few books from Twilight and brushed up on the basics. The history, geography and who the rulers were and so on. Applejack and her friends were always helpful in explaining things he did not understand like the elements of harmony and the magic of friendship.

One evening Astral found himself outside on the porch, looking up on Luna's night sky. It was hard to imagine a single pony could lift the moon and another lift the sun, but then again by now he had learned it was just how things were. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the door open and hoof steps trotting up to him, he did not need to look to guess who it was. "It's mighty pretty ain't it?" Applejack asked as she sat down beside him.

"It is.." Astral nodded not looking at her, he just kept looking at the stars.

"Are ya homesick?" Applejack asked after a few moments of silence.

"I don't even know where home is, or if i even have one."

Applejack nodded slightly. "Sorry, i did not mean to make ya feel bad or nothin." She sighed. "Ah was thinking, maybe you could give me a hoof tomorrow?" She asked with a small smile looking over at him.

Astral looked back at her, tilting his head slightly. "But i always help out?" He asked.

Applejack shook her head. "No ah mean you could help me with some chores and then, maybe, you know we could hang out afterwards.."

Astral noticed her blush slightly as she looked back up on the stars. He tried to think for a moment, they hung out, right? Yeah after work, at lunch, with her friends and with Big Mac and her sister. Then again it was not often they had much alone time, not that it should matter, right?

Now that he was thinking about it, he did not mind spending some alone time with her. He felt his cheeks blush. She was a kind and honest mare, a bit of a temper, but hard working and beautiful, he also admired her strength, he was not sure why he found that quality attractive, but he did.

He looked back up on the sky, feeling his heart beat faster and somehow only now sensing everything about her. Like he knew exactly where she was, of course he KNEW where she was, but it was like he was hyper aware of her now. Her breath, her mane and her eyes, like he noticed all sorts of things with the small glances he began to give her more and more he suddenly noticed.

He remembered Rarity speaking of something like this when two ponies went out alone together, she had called it a date. It sounded foreign to him, but it was clearly something more intimate than just hanging out. Was this what this was? A date? He did not know why the prospect of such a thing made him sweat a little and made him feel nervous, but he gulped and asked. "Like..like one of those dates..?" He asked carefully while feeling his face become redder.

Applejack blushed as well, but neither of them dared to look at each other. "W-well, yeah, that be nice.." Applejack was not one to dabble much with such things, but.. She had wanted to, though she did not have experience in these sort of things, she wanted to experience it all, and Astral felt like a good choice to explore it with. "A date then.." She smiled and stood up. "I better go to bed, don't stay up all night.." She said softly before walking inside.

Astral heard the door close and as soon as it did he let out a deep sigh. He was not sure why, but her saying yes to the date thing made him feel happy. He placed his hoof over his heart and smirked. "Yes!" He said in a loud whisper.

*****

Meanwhile Rainbow Dash had just brushed her teeth and was on her way to bed when she heard something that sounded like a squeal. Rainbow's ears shot up and she turned her head towards Applejack's door. "What the hay?" Rainbow made sure no one was looking as she moved over to the door and peaked inside through the keyhole.

There on the bed, moving around like a pig in mud was Applejack. She was hugging her pillow tightly and rolled around with the biggest smile and the biggest blush Rainbow had ever seen. She buried her face in her pillow and let out another squeal, this time however it was muffled by the pillow.

Rainbow smirked and trotted down the hall and into Big Mac's room. "Mm? What was that?" Big Mac asked from the bed, scooting over to give his fillyfriend more space.

Rainbow giggl-CHUCKLED! As she closed the door behind her and turned off the lights. "Nothing, i just pulled a small prank on applejack with a rubber spider." Rainbow covered for Applejack while she smirked. Big Mac spooned his lover from behind and Rainbow scooted closer to him. With a small smile she could not help but think: 'Good for you Applejack, good, for, you~'

Author's Note

Yay! Newest and longest chapter!

Huzzah!

Well i liked making this one, nothing big, just some simply life with the apples, next up is date time ;)

As always i appreciate leaving some feedback, maybe suggestions or even a like if you enjoyed reading! :3

Thanks for reading by the way XD

Chapter 8: The Date

Chapter 8: The Date

A new day dawned on the apple farm, Celestia's sun graced the green apple trees with it's rays as it signaled a new day had begun. True to form, Big Mac was the first pony up, once again sitting on the porch of the farm house and enjoyed a nice mug of black coffee. This was his normal morning routine before he started up with morning chores, however, now there was a change. With the arrival of Astral, a stallion stronger than himself and eager to be of use, work had become much easier.

Sure, Astral did not have the experience like the rest of them had, in fact, Astral probably knew as much as Apple Bloom. However, he was an adult, strong and eager to learn, Big Mac could work with that. Throughout the month Big Mac had, along with Applejack, mentored him and put him to good use. He never complained, he asked a lot of questions, but he never once complained.

Big Mac would lie if he said he did not feel some sort of affection for their new helper, it was almost like having a new brother as Apple Bloom had pointed out yesterday. It was nice having someone around that could handle the more physical demanding jobs, now, that was not to say Applejack was not strong, she was. However, there was some things only Big Mac could do, but now that Astral was here they were two.

It did not only mean they could get more done in one day, but it also meant that the harvest had gone over much faster! Of course they were not quite done, and Astral was not allowed to go apple bucking. He had the strength, for sure, but he still had a hard time controlling it at times. They had let him try apple bucking one time and the tree ended up being snapped in two like a twig. Astral had kept apologizing over and over again, promising he would do extra work to hopefully make it up to them.

They had of course told him to forget about it, told him it was okay, but he had stubbornly kept working after sundown, determined to make it up to them. It took a wack from Granny's cane to make him stop, she had even gone so far to pull him back to the house by the ear, scolding him all the way back.

That was something he and AJ both admired, he had shown he could take responsibility for his actions and do what he could to make it up to his friends. It was a quality the Apple family admired and lived by. Though, Big Mac knew the closer they got to him, the harder the impact would be if he had to leave. Once his memory returned he would probably be a different pony, he could have a family, a home and friends that waited for his return. He kind of hoped when his memories returned that there was a chance he kept working with them, maybe he did not need or want to live with them, but maybe he would continue to come see them.

Big Mac heard hoof steps behind him, he knew who it was. It was the same Pony who had been on his mind these past 10 minutes, the one who had gotten so close to them in such a short amount of time, the one they might have to say goodbye to.

"Morning." Astral said behind him with a warm smile.

*****

The morning was pretty simple, feed the animals, check the fence and otherwise simply preparing what needed to be ready for today's work. With the two of them it did not take them very long to get it all done, so what better way to pass the extra time than to take the long route back to the farm and enjoy the weather? The two stallions walked towards the farmhouse, enjoying the wind that had become a little colder during the month, signalling the end of summer.

Suddenly something caught Astral's attention in the sky, Big Mac seemed to have noticed it too and simply let out a small chuckle. Rainbow Dash came to a stop in front of the two of them, smiling softly as she rubbed her eyes with a big yawn. "Morning gents.." She sat and gently floated to the ground.

"Morning Rainbow." Astral greeted having learned NOT to call her lady Dash.

"Mawnin darlin." Big Mac smirked as the two of them shared a nuzzle. "Ah thought you did not have work today? What ya doing up so early?"

Rainbow sighed. "I promised Flutters i would help her today.. So she has invited me for breakfast... I could use some pancakes.." She mumbled, not thrilled about being up so early, but she always wanted to help her friends if she could, it did not mean she was happy about waking up early.

Big Mac chuckled and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. He saw how she blushed and tried to hide it by looking away. "Well be sure to give miss Fluttershy my best."

Rainbow looked up at him with a grin. "Will do. You two play nice while i'm gone." She smirked and moved back into the air. "See ya!" She gave Big Mac a quick kiss before she finally took off.

Astral and Big Mac watched her go, when she had disappeared Astral smiled seeing the big stallion stand there with a big blush and a huge smile. "You two really love each other."

"Eeyup." Big Mac confirmed with a large smile before they started to walk again.

"How did the two of you meet? Childhood friends?" Astral asked. In all the time he had lived with the Apples he had never really gotten to know the story about their relationship. They sometimes seemed like an odd pair, Rainbow being so energetic, loud and charged ahead with everything she did. Big Mac was calm, quiet and took everything as it came with a calm mind.

As far as he had gathered from Applejack, Big Mac used to be more quiet than before and Rainbow more stubborn. The two seem to make each other happy, they were maybe even making each other complete. It was beautiful in a way, they seemed happy and somehow they complimented each other very well.

"Well, she crashed into me." Big Mac said, which coursed Astral's eyes to widen a little. Then again, after what he had seen of Rainbow, that did sound very likely. Big Mac then shook his head. "And no, we did not really know each other before she became friends with mah sister. Even then we did not talk much."

"But Applejack said you talk more now thanks to Rainbow, she must have changed you." Astral said and smiled when he saw Big Mac do the same.

"She sure did.. Well i tell you about it sometime." They came to a stop in front of the house. "But another time. Applejack told me you two had plans, so i'll see you later."

*****

After a nice and wholesome breakfast, Applejack took Astral out into the orchard. She had to admit she felt excited about taking him out later, she knew it was maybe early and maybe this was not a date date, but this would be a great opportunity to at least try something similar.

Having stayed with them for a month now, Applejack had plenty of time to get to know Astral. Though she knew with his loss of memories that the pony he was now, was maybe not the pony he would be once his memories had returned. The thought scared her a little, Astral was kind, strong, stubborn, but in a good way. He wanted to do right by them, to show them his gratitude.

It was all qualities Applejack admired, besides, he was handsome, really handsome. Those muscles and that nice fla-. "Lady Applejack?"

Astral's voice cut through her thoughts and brought her back to him. "Huh? What? Uhm...i.."

"You have been staring at me for five minutes now, uhm where are we going?" Astral asked with a small concerned look, but also with a hint of a blush.

His blush however was nothing compared to Applejack's, if it was possible she would have probably turned as red as her brother. "Uhm, nothing! I was just...Uhm..Lost in thought." Applejack never lied and this was technically not a lie. "Sorry, nothing is wrong.." She put on a small smile. "This way."

Applejack led Astral down another dirt path and down to some of the last apple trees that needed to be bucked. Of course there were other places, but if they took this area and Big Mac took the other, they should be quite alone for some time. Astral and Big Mac had already gotten the buckets and cart down here and to the other area, it was part of their morning chores and now they could start working right away!

"Now, don't you worry sugarcube." She said with a teasing wink. "I won't let you break more trees, so you get to carry the apples."

The two of them shared a small laugh, at first he had been upset with himself, snapping a tree in two, but with some scolding words from Granny Smith and the encouragement from the rest of the Apple family, he found himself to relax and loosen up.

They started working and they both found themselves wanting to get it over with fast. Astral found himself glancing over at Applejack a lot, he was mesmerized by the force and yet grace she could buck a tree. Her muscles working to deliver a precise hit at the exact spot, doing it all in one movement, a glimmer in her eyes as she focused her mind. Maybe others would find it strange, but he found himself drawn to her strength, her spirit and her eyes.

Applejack in the meantime found her mind racing like a river, her heart was pounding faster today. Sure, she had worked with Astral in the orchard plenty of times by now, but it was rare it was only the two of them alone. It was like she was suddenly aware of every muscle in her body, like every time she caught him glancing at her she would feel her whole body tickle in delight.

She sometimes felt bad, like she should not be having a crush on this stallion, not because she did not want to, but because of his memory loss. Would he be the same stallion when he got them back? What if he did not get them back? Would it then be okay? What if he had a fillyfriend already? A loving family waiting for him to return?? She knew it was selfish, but she hoped he would stay with them for some time, she hoped with all her heart that he had no romantic relationship. She hated such feelings, it made her feel bad, feel selfish.

Though she could not lie to herself, she wanted to know more, wanted to know him, all of him. She wanted to let herself be taken, to love and be loved in return, to-. "Whoa!?!" Applejack missed the target and simply graced the apple tree with her ankle. She let out a yelp as a sharp pain ran up through her leg before she landed in the dirt.

Astral looked up, he saw Applejack laying on the ground, curling into a ball as she placed a hoof on her right hind leg. "Applejack!" Astral put everything down and ran to her side. She did not look injured or anything, but the way that she was curled up and held on her hoof told him she may have broken her ankle. "That does not look good." He could see it had already started to swell.

"Ermmh, horsefeathers!" She let out as she tried not to whine. The way she was breathing, clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes told him she was doing everything not to scream out. Her muscles tensed and the corners of her eyes had small tears.

"Don't worry, i will get you back to the farm house. It's gonna be okay." His heart was pounding and even though he knew she was not in any mortal danger, he still felt the need to get her back home as fast as possible. Before she could protest, he placed her on her back, her head was beside his while her forelegs moved around his neck. "Just hold on tight okay?" She did not say anything, but he felt her forelegs tighten ever so slightly around his thick neck.

It was all the confirmation he needed before he sped off down the dirt paths and towards the farm house. Applejack knew the pain would go away, she knew she was not seriously injured and in all honesty she was pretty sure her ankle was not broken. It just felt...Good. Not the leg, but it felt good to have a stallion race to her side, to lift her up when she needed it and get her help.

Astral felt how she moved her muzzle into his neck a little, he could feel the warm tears in her eyes leak into his fur. What he didn't see however, was Applejack's small smile and blush.

*****

It did not take long for them to get to the farm house, when they did Granny wasted no time on tending to her granddaughter. She had instructed Astral to take her to her room and lay her in her bed, after he had done as asked Granny asked him to leave.

He waited outside her room, he knew she would be okay, he knew everything was gonna be alright, but he felt nervous. It was like a knot in his stomach, turning and squeezing until he got any news. Finally after what seemed like hours the door opened. Granny Smith walked out and winked at him. "Now don't ya worry sonny, Applejack is gonna be as right as rain. She just need ta rest for a few weeks, go in and see her."

Granny left the relieved stallion as he trotted inside. Applejack laid on her bed, her leg had been bandaged and patched, but she did not look happy, not in the least. Though as soon as she spotted Astral she seemed to perk up a little. "..Hi.." She said in a small voice, it was not often she used that form of greeting, her energy was low too, but she continued to smile as he made his way over to her side.

"How are you feeling..?" Astral asked, though judging by her expression she could have been better.

She shrugged as she looked up at him. "I've felt better.." Applejack sighed. "Listen sugarcube, i'm sorry.."

"For what?" Astral asked taken a little aback.

"It's seems we won't be going on that date after work.." Her breath was shaky for a moment, like she tried to hold back the hurt that laid behind that fact.

"H-hey, it's okay, we just go another time.. Okay..?" He said with a small smile and Applejack nodded a bit.

"Sure..." She blushed and hesitated for just a moment. "Uhm, Astral, would you mind staying for a bit?" Applejack's smile grew a little as Astral nodded to her with a warm expression. The two stayed in the room for a bit, the silence was not uncomfortable, they just relaxed. Biting her lips Applejack asked. "Astral..? Tell me about your life.. Here i mean.."

"Hm.." Astral thought for a moment. "Well, i am not sure how to explain it.. It's different from my.. Other life, from before, i know that much.."

Applejack frowned a bit. "How's that?"

"I don't know how, i just know that is it is.."

"Is that a good thing?"

Her voice was careful, much more than he was used to. Applejack was the sort of pony that faced life head on, through honesty and hard work. "Well.." Astral continued. "I'm not sure to be honest.."

"Oh.."

"But i do know i am happy here, you and your family has made me feel welcome, a part of you.. For that i will always be grateful.." Astral noticed how Applejack's smile grew a little.

"I'm glad to hear it.." She said in almost a whisper.

Astral hesitated a little, but he sat down on the floor and moved close enough to lay his head down on the mattress. Applejack blushed, but she did not protest, she simply turned to lay on her side so they could look at each other. His deep blue eyes stared into her beautiful green emerald eyes.

There was a bit of silence, but they did not need to speak, somehow they both knew they be fine, just staying like this. However after a few minutes she smiled softly. "I'm happy you are here Astral.." And with that she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Astral watched her for a minute or two, she was so beautiful, so peaceful while sleeping. Smiling a bit he leaned down and took off her hat and placed it on the nightstand next to the bed. "Rest well, Applejack..." He whispered before he left. Though when he closed the door he felt bad, he saw how disappointed she was that they would not be going on a date. He could not help but to feel disappointed to, but what could he do?

For a few moments he just stood in the hallway, wishing he could do something for her, something to cheer her up. Then suddenly an idea popped into his head. "That might do it.." He said under his breath.

*****

The sun had been lowered and Luna's moon once again rose, Applejack had slept longer than she had wished, but when she did awoke she let out a small sigh. Astral was not in her room, why would he be? He still had chores, besides she had fallen asleep.. She was disappointed, not only had she embarrassed herself out in the orchard, but she missed the chance to go on her first ever real date.

All the others had gone out on dates, granted only Rainbow Dash was in a relationship, but everypony else, even Pinkie Pie had been on a date. She loved her family, she loved the farm, she loved doing what she did, but.. Was this really what she was gonna do for the rest of her life, alone? She always had to work and never really pursued any stallion, or mare for that matter. Before she hardly cared, in fact it was only after Rainbow Dash and her brother got together she started to feel.. Lonely? She had her friends and they were great, but she wanted something, somepony, someone that made her feel all warm and giddy like Rainbow Dash, no matter how much she denied that fact.

Letting out a sigh she knew she could not mope around, her stomach growled and dinner was probably already over. She noticed the small lamp on the desk was on, so Granny had probably been up to check on her. Just as she was about to try and get out she heard someone knock on her door lightly. "Y-yes?"

The door slowly opened and to her delight, it was Astral. Standing there with a sheepish look he smiled and trotted over to her. "Heya.." he said and Applejack could not help but giggle, the greeting was not something he used and was probably something he had learned from Apple Bloom. Astral smiled at her giggle. "Feeling better..?"

Applejack nodded. "Yeah, still sore, but mostly hungry.."

"Well i thought so, so i made sure to make what you call , reservations." He said cheerfully.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I've come to pick you up for our..Uhm.." He blushed. "Dinner date.."

Applejack started to blush too as she stammered. "W-what d-do you mean? I can't go anywhere, i'm supposed to stay and, well you would have to.. to.."

Astral shook his head. "It's okay, we won't be going that far, trust me, okay?" He turned and motioned with his head for her to get on.

She hesitated for a bit, but she soon scooted over and very carefully got onto his back, moving her forelegs around his neck. Applejack held her breath, was this really happening? Had Astral really come here to whisk her away as Rarity would say. They moved downstairs, Applejack noted the lack of noise, but then again it was a little late, so perhaps Rainbow and Big Mac went out for the evening.

Granny however sat in her rocking chair in the living room, she was knitting something she could not make out. When Astral went over to the door and opened it, Applejack for a brief moment locked eyes with her Granny, she, she winked at her?! She felt her cheeks warm as they went out into Luna's night, did Granny know? If that was the case did she approve and support it? Oh sweet Celestia, she was probably thinking grandfoals, she had made a big fuss about it when Rainbow Dash and Big Mac got together. Was that what she expected?!

Her thoughts were interrupted as Astral's voice reached her. "Close your eyes."

"What?"

"Close your eyes, i want this to be a surprise." He smiled and Applejack felt her heart flutter for a bit. She whispered an almost unheard okay and proceeded to close her eyes shut.

She felt the stallion move, at first she did not know the direction, but it hardly mattered. With her eyes closed all her other senses seemed to sharpen, she felt his muscles beneath her, working, flexing, stretching and all the other things she had noted many times before. She heard his breath, his deep warm breath that she had felt in her bedroom hitting her so gently. She even started to sense his heart beat, his powerful heart, a heart that seemed to beat hard and firm, like a work pony...Or a warrior.

She felt him coming to a stop, then turn a little. "Okay, open your eyes.." Astral said softly.

Applejack took a deep breath, not knowing what he had done, but she already felt excited. She slowly opened her eyes, but as soon as she realized what it was, her eyes shut open wide. "You.." Was all she managed to say at first.

Astral had taken them to the swimming hole, around the water he had placed small candles here and there, lighting up the spot in a gentle glow. Under the big willow he had placed a checkered picnic blanket and of course on top of it was a basket. She spend a moment to enjoy the sight, there, under the night sky was a beautiful lit picnic, the stars reflecting in the water and it would just be the two of them.

The stallion let her soak it in for a moment before he broke the trance. "I know this isn't what you had planned, but i wanted to go on that date.." He said quietly. "Is it okay..?"

"You big dolt.." He heard Applejack sniffle and he quickly looked back at her to make sure she was alright. She instead just smiled, wiping a few tears away. "It's perfect."

Astral was careful as he moved over to the blanket, Applejack got down from his back and sat down carefully on the soft fabric. Astral took a seat right next to her, from here they had a nice view of the star filled sky and the beautiful reflection of the moon in the water.

"I can't believe you did this.." She said softly and looked on as he took out some sandwiches and some pie.

"Well, Granny helped me with the food and where to find all of this.. She seemed eager to help." Astral said with a hint of gratefulness and a little bit of confusion.

"I bet she did.." She mumbled with a small smirk.

"Also." He pulled up a bottle and Applejack laughed a little.

"Apple cider, you thought of everything it seems." She could not help, but think, if this was her first date, then how was the next gonna be? Could he or anypony top this?

*****

The two of them enjoyed their meal, they chatted about this and that, looked up at the sky, laughing and blushing as the evening went on. None of them noticed how close they were sitting to each other yet, not until their hoofs suddenly touched.

Both of them looked down, but none of them removed them. It took a moment before they slowly turned their heads up and looked into each others eyes. Astral blushed as it felt like her beautiful eyes stared onto his very soul and heart. He felt it beat faster and faster, his cheeks burning red. "Uhm so..Did...did you enjoy our first, uhm...date?"

Applejack felt his hot breath tickle her lips, his deep blue eyes never once looked away, never breaking the contact. Here was a stallion that made an effort, worked hard, wanted to make her happy, he had done all of this for her. Right when she thought she would miss her first date he had fixed this little setup for them, the most romantic thing she had ever tried in her life.

"It's perfect... You made this night the best night in my life.." She whispered.

None of them knew who started it, but it did not matter. They found each other's lips, closing their eyes as they closed the distance between them. Their lips moved against one another, only breaking for an inch when they needed air. The wet sounds of the kiss and the occasional moan was the only thing breaking the silence of this night.

His memories did not matter to him anymore, he did not know his past, he only knew what his heart told him, he wanted his future to be with Applejack. As they laid down onto the blanket they both knew in this so precious moment, they both wanted the same, they both wanted each other, they both wanted, love...

Author's Note

Wow, yes.. The longest chapter i have written for now.

I liked how it turned out :D

As always please like and give feedback if you feel like i deserve either of those things ;)

Chapter 9: Truth & Thunder

Chapter 9: Truth & Thunder.

Equestria, a magical kingdom, full of wonder, adventure, friendship and... A swirling portal deep within the darkest parts of the Everfree forest? The glowing swirling portal was still for a moment, nothing happened, letting the dark green glow casts it's rays onto the dark trees.

Suddenly however several large figures stepped out, if one could see their shadows one would see a group of giant creatures walking on two legs. Their eyes scanned their surroundings, taking in the dark forest with no fear at all. The largest one of them turned to the portal and growled deeply. "You told us he would be here."

"That I did, he is in this world, you just have to find him. Now when you are ready to return, crush that crystal around your neck and you will be sent right back, good luck! Tootles~." And with that the portal closed again, leaving the group in this new world.

"Where is he?"

Another one asked as the moved in the shadows. "I don't know, but he was right, he's here.. I can smell him... Thor..."

*****

It had been about two weeks since Astral and Applejack had shared their first kiss, since then there had been many more. So far they had not told anypony about this, which was hard for Applejack, being the element of honesty she had a hard time keeping it from her family and friends.

But for now, they had both agreed to keep what they had to themselves, it was not a matter of not wanting to tell them, but a matter of just enjoying what they had in peace, at least for now. Applejack was thrilled, she had a coltfriend! She felt like a filly, she knew it was early, she was also pretty sure their glow would calm down a little as the weeks passed, but there was one thing Applejack knew for sure, she could not explain how she knew it, but she did. Their love would only grow stronger.

Astral worked in the orchard, the harvest was over, but there was still work to do. They had to prepare for the next years harvest, making sure the fields were all ready for winter and take note of which trees that may not make it. Astral was not alone however, was in the company of Big Mac and Apple Bloom.

It was nice, the three of them had some fun conversations, joking for a bit, telling stories. Astral liked hearing about their lives here in Ponyville, though he did not have any to share, it made him feel more apart of their community knowing what was going on.

"No really, she did that?" Astral asked in surprise as he looked at Big Mac.

"Eeyup." Big Mac said with a small smirk.

"Wow.. I knew Rainbow Dash was stubborn, but wow.. Uhm, did they ever find the cheese?"

Apple Bloom burst out laughing and just as Big Mac was about to tell him the rest of the story he noticed his sister. "Applejack? Aren't ya supposed to be in bed?"

Astral looked over and did indeed see Applejack limping towards them. "Don't you worry about it, my ankle feels better, I just can't support on it." She smiled a bit brighter when looking at Astral. "I am gonna need to steal him away, Granny needs his help in town."

Big Mac simply nodded. "Eeyup."

The two of them walked off, leaving Big Mac and Apple Bloom to watched as they vanished over the hill. Apple Bloom tilted her head. "Something's going on."

"Eeyup."

*****

The barn was nicely lit thanks to the sunny day outside, the light made it's way through the windows of the old barn. The smell of hay and wood all around, providing a perfect and beautifully relaxing hideout. "Mmm~." The silence of the barn was broken by a small moan, Applejack was strong, not used to give up control, but with Astral, she was so delicate.

Both of them laid in the hay, Astral above her, kissing her tenderly. The wet sounds of their lips dancing against one another echoed in the barn as they both shared this moment of passion. "Mmmh~." Applejack moaned one final time before Astral pulled away. Her heart raced, her cheeks burning red and her chest moving up and down as she panted. She opened her eyes slowly, looking up at the stallion with a small satisfied smile. "Not bad sugarcube.."

Her whisper sent shudders through Astral's body, his ears picking up the small vibrations of her accented loving voice. "..Does Granny really need my help..?" He asked and gave her a peck on the lips.

Applejack gladly received it and nodded. "Yeah.. I may not have told anypony about this, but I won't flat out lie." She kissed him. "She needs you to pull a cart with goods back to Ponyville, I can't do it because of my ankle...Do you mind?"

Astral shook his head. "Not at all..." he ran his hoof through her blonde mane, something he had started to do after their first kiss, and Applejack loved it. It made her shiver with delight. "But, maybe it is time we should tell your family.."

"I'm pretty sure Granny already knows.." Applejack sighed with a small smile and leaned into his hoof. "I am sure I saw her knitting small foal clothes.." The two then looked at each other for a few seconds, the blush slowly making their furs turn red. "N-not that it would not be, but you know.."

Astral nodded. "Yeah yeah, I mean, early right?" The two laughed nervously to kill the awkward conversation. Then as the laughter died down, they took a moment to look at each other again. They suddenly embraced one another, kissing each other deeply once again, the kiss became more and and more passionate with each second. Nothing could break this perfect moment, nothing could break their lo-.

Bang, bang, bang!

The two of them froze in terror, but luckily nopony was here. Then they heard Granny Smith's voice from the outside. "Now come on, hurry up! I appreciate the efforts my granddaughter is making to resume our family line, but do you think you can take a break and get out here?!"

"Granny!" Applejack yelled in embarrassment.

*****

Astral and Granny Smith left two minutes later, a cart hooked up to Astral and a blushing and very much embarrassed Applejack left behind. As they moved down the dirt road, Granny Smith's chuckles reached his ears. "Ah am sorry to mess with ya sonny, but it's it is good mah beloved granddaughter can be teased a little."

Astral shook his head. "It's okay Granny.." He said with a blush, feeling bad for not telling her. "You knew?"

Granny Smith did not appear angry, she simply grinned. "Ever since ya asked fer mah help with the picnic." She winked at him. "Applejack needs a pony to love her, and I've seen how you two look at each other. It is the look her parents had, the one Big Mac have with that flying tornado of trouble." Granny chuckled a bit, but then suddenly her face became sad. "But.."

With that one word, he felt his heart sink, he knew what she was going to say. "Ah am afraid, your memories are bound to return sooner or later, ah just hope you still be the same pony when that happens.." Astral sighed, thinking she might ask him to stop his advances, but to his pleasant surprise she did not. "Don't get me wrong, ah think with or without your memories you heart already knows who you love, if you had some special somepony somewhere, your heart would have told you. The heart knows what the mind doesn't."

Astral felt his heart return to it's proper place and he smiled. "Thank you Granny Smith.."

"Don't ya worry sonny, just keep working on those there grandfoals and I'll be more happy than a pig in mud." She smirked which brought a blush to his cheeks.

*****

Rainbow Dash soared through the sky, today was a nice easy day. Work had ended early as there was no special weather events planned, that meant she could go home early! She laughed and made a few tricks in the air, the wind feeling so nice as it moved through her fur and her feathered wings.

She sped towards Sweet Apple Acres hoping to be able to get Mac's help in timing her speed again. She may have to give him the EYES and a flick of her tail to get his help, but she would reward him in the end. As she moved over the orchard she started to plan out her ways to persuade her lover, but she noticed something strange. Big Mac was nowhere to be seen down there. It was odd as she was sure Big Mac would be working in the orchard, then again maybe something broke?

She got closer and closer to the farm itself and suddenly noticed something else. The door to the barn was open, well it was not strange, but it meant somepony was in there. As the Apple family always closed the barn door after them, it had to mean Big Mac was in there!

Rainbow smirked and sped down to the barn to land. Once she did she took a moment to make sure she looked alright, taking a deep breath she posed herself a little and called. "Maaaaac~." She called playfully. There was no answer. "Big Maaaac~." She tried again and walked over to the barn door, though once she reached it her smile faded and her eyebrow rose.

The barn was completely dark, the shutters had been closed, allowing no sunlight to come in. Rainbow then chuckled, this must be a game, so she moved in. "Okay big guy, you wanna play? Let's play!" Trotting her way inside she started to try and spot him, but the darkness did not help, then as she turned to open the doors more, thus allowing more sunlight to enter the barn, she saw it smack shut.

Her ears flattened for a moment. "Okay very funny Mac, if you wanna play dirty then I-." She turned and froze in place. Rainbow was not one to show fear, she was not one to react to fear, she faced dangers head on, her heart full of bravery. Though this time, as she faced what she saw what hid within the darkness, her heart stopped, her bravery vanished, her voice left her and her eyes grew wide. For in the darkness, she saw two massive red eyes, staring directly into her soul.

*****

Astral unhitched himself from the cart as Granny Smith turned to him. "Thank you for your help, run along now, I have a few errands to take care off. Why don't you go see miss Twalight? Maybe she has some news for ya."

"Thank you Granny, i will, but what about the cart?"

"Don't ya worry about that, Big Mac will pick it up later, you just enjoy your day with Applejack once ya done at the library." Granny winked and went over to another older mare.

Astral did not say anymore, he simply smiled and nodded before he left for the library. During his walk he took a moment to enjoy the peaceful life of Ponyville, by now the other ponies had come to know him and some even waved and greeted him as he passed. Astral waved back and sent them friendly smiles, everything was just pleasant and as it should be.

He came to a wide open area in town and saw Golden Oak Library in the very center of the space. As Astral made his way towards it, the door opened and Twilight stepped out. "Hey, Twilight." Astral greeted.

Her ears picked up, then flattened before she slowly turned around to face him. "H-hi Astral..uhm.." She frowned and Astral felt all the happiness he just felt a moment ago leave.

"Twilight? What is it..?"

*****

Twilight was silent as she led Astral into the library, Spike was not there, nor was anypony. There was however quite a lot of old looking books scattered around, some even looked like they were about to vanish into dust.

Astral made his way inside as Twilight closed the door. "Where's Spike?" Astral asked.

"I've sent him out to shop.. I was on my way to go the farm to meet you and Applejack, i needed to talk to the both you.. Though perhaps it's better like this." She said and had a hard time looking him in the eyes.

Astral frowned. "Twilight, hey come on.. Is it... Is it about me?" She simply nodded, still not looking him in the eyes. "And I guess you found something that is gonna..." He hesitated, but managed to force the words out. "Change everything..?"

Twilight sighed and looked up at him. "Astral.. I'm sorry.. But Princess Celestia finally found the right books for me to read." She moved over to the few thick books that laid scattered around. "They are some of the oldest books in existence, they even predate the unification.."

She turned a few pages, the text was old, old enough that Astral could see this was written in old equis. His heart raced, his had felt like a rock and his mood started to gloom. This was it, today was the day he was gonna know the truth. "Astral, the books talks about a world, a world far away, filled with the old gods that granted Celestia and Luna the power of the sun and the moon.."

She turned to a page showing a beautiful picture painted on it. It depicted an old alicorn with one eye, a long silver beard and a spear. Around him was several symbols, one of which was Astral's cutie mark. "The king, Odin, rules over a world called Asgard, home of the gods.. And, well, his son protects the land and the world of those who have passed on, Midgard.." She sighed and turned a page.

Astral knew the picture, he knew deep within his heart where this was going. His gut feeling proved him right as there, right on the next page was a depiction of himself. He was running across the sky, sparks beneath his hooves, lightning around his body, his cutie mark glowing.

"I'm sorry...Thor..." She spoke his name, his real name, and it was so painful to hear. "As for the writing on your cutie mark, it means-."

Astral, or Thor, held up a hoof. "I know what it says.." Twilight looked surprised and Thor knew the question burning on her lips. "I did not at first, but slowly the words started to come back to me.. I..." He sighed and spoke what was written. "The son of Odin, the god of thunder, the protector of Asgard, Thor..."

There was silence as Thor looked over the picture. "Why didn't you tell me when you found out you could read it?" Twilight asked. "Why didn't you tell Applejack?"

"Because I was afraid!" Thor snapped back and Twilight twitched a bit, but she did not move away from him. "I was afraid if I told you that I.. That I had to leave, that I had to leave..." His voice trailed off, he did not have the heart to say it.

Twilight however understood. "Applejack?" Thor nodded a bit and Twilight's frown deepened. "You would let go of your past to be with her?"

Thor sighed. "I would, but I know in my heart... That I can't.."

"I'm sorry Thor.." Twilight said and placed a hoof on his shoulder. "Princess Celestia will be on her way soon.. She.. She did not believe it at first, but after all we have gathered it seems you really are the god of thunder, you really are from another world.."

Thor looked down at his flank for a moment and then back at her. "And my cutie mark?"

"Well.." Twilight turned a page. "It turns out it is not a cutie mark, it shares similarities yes, but what you have there is something called an, Honor Mark, and it is not a common thing in your world as our cutie marks is in ours."

Thor frowned. "What's the difference?"

"Well instead of symbolizing your special talent, it was crafted by a pair of diamond dog brothers named Brokkr and Sindri.." Twilight looked over the page. "It was a gift for you on the the day of your birth, it is apparently a powerful weapon, the book does not share all it's detail, but the so called honor mark focus your power, makes you able to summon the weapon known as Mjölnir.. The Honor mark is something only the gods have, but i'm sure such details can wait.." She explained figuring the rest of the story was of little importance to him right now.

Thor took a moment to think it all over, he was a bit saddened that he did not feel any defiance, any disbelief, no.. He knew in his heart it was all true, every word of it. "What will happen when your princess arrives?" Thor asked, already knowing the answer.

Twilight let go of him and closed the book. "She will take you home, though it won't be easy for us.. She is gathering what she needs to send you home, but it will take some time.." Twilight looked at him with a sad heartbroken look. "You should go see Applejack, while you can i mean.."

"Say my goodbyes you mean?"

Twilight did not answer, she simply looked down at the floor and nodded a little. "Don't feel bad Twilight.." Thor said. "We both know AJ want's the truth no matter how hard it is.. You found it for us, we got the answers, now i need to tell her.."

"You want me to come with you..?"

Thor shook his head. "I think it's better if I do it while i'm alone with her.."

"I understand.." Twilight said and moved in for a hug. Thor gladly hugged her back. "I'm so sorry Astral.." she cried a little using the name he was given when he arrived.

Thor smiled a little and nodded. "Thank you Twilight, I will see you later.. Maybe you and the others can come to the farm?"

Twilight nodded. "Of course.. We'll see you then.." The two embraced each other one final time and then Thor made his way back to the farm. Each step was pure torture, he spend the time he would walk to wonder if he was gonna see any of these ponies again.

Would he ever see Rarity's spring dresses? Pinky's record cupcake? What about Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom? Or even taste Fluttershy's tea again? This town, these ponies had all left such an impact on him, their marks would be in his heart forever and he wondered if he really could let it go?

That did not even take into account of him needing to leave Applejack. Would he ever see her again? Smell her sweet scent of apples in her mane, see her eyes hear her voice? His heart broke into pieces and then those pieces broke three times more.

Thor let out a sigh, there was no way around it, Applejack needed to hear this, she deserved to know the truth. Even if it broke them...

*****

The walk back to Sweet Apple Acres felt shorter than it used to, it was like fate was taunting him, instead of slowing down time in his sadness, it made everything go faster so he would soon have to face whatever the outcome of this would be. He knew he was doing the right thing, but it felt so painful.

When he moved past the fence gate and walked up to the farmhouse it was with a heavy heart. He had hoped in secret this day would never come, he had hoped he was just a regular pony, somepony who could just drop his past even when revealed, a pony who could just settle here, be a part of this family and this great town. Alas, fate had other plans.

Looking up at the sun he figured the rest of the Apple family was eating lunch, that meant they would be in the house. Trotting his way up there he slowly opened the door and walked in. "I'm back.." He called, but received no howdy, nor some filly running up to him. Strange, usually it was lunch time now? To be safe he looked int he kitchen, but there was nopony.

Maybe they were done already and had gone back out to work? But then why was Applejack not here? She would have called out to him if she was. He noted the mug on the coffee table, it was barely half empty, so maybe Applejack stepped outside for some reason?

Moving his way outside Thor noticed the barn door being open ever so slightly. "Big Mac?" He called towards it. "Applejack?" Something felt off, where was everypony? Thor walked over there and looked inside, but saw nopony in the darkness. "Applejack? Big Mac? Anypony? Apple Bloom?" No one answered him and for some reason the darkness made him feel unnerving.

Deciding to shed some light on this he opened the doors fully, making all the sun light lit up the dark barn. As soon as it became light enough his eyes went wide. There, hanging from the rafters. "Applejack!"

Applejack, her siblings and even Rainbow Dash had been tied up with rope. Their forelegs tied down their sides, their hind legs bound together and rope a few times around their barrel that hang them from the loft. They all looked down at him, struggling within their bonds, trying to warn him, but none of their words could be heard. Their muzzles had been covered in thick scarfs, gagging them effectively and reducing their words down to a lot of: "Mmmfmh! Mmmpphh! Mmmfmh-hhmlp!"

"Applejack! I'm com-." Thor was cut off as a heavy chain swung into him from above, forcing him down into the ground. "ARgh!"

"Well well well, here he is... Seems like we finally found you." A deep voice said in a mix of normal speech and a growl. Thor looked up as several massive creatures surrounded him. "Time to finish the job.." The largest one grinned. Thor looked up into his massive red eyes and his own widened.

Author's Note

And so we are nearing our conclusion, one more chapter to go!

Thank you for reading so far, please leave a like and a comment if you feel like i deserve it ;)

Hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 10: God of Thunder

Chapter 10: God of Thunder

Applejack struggled in the ropes, feeling how they were tightly restraining her body. Her brother and sister hang on her right side, Apple Bloom between her and Big Mac. Rainbow Dash was on her left, thundering with anger as she struggled just as much as Applejack.

"Mmmfph!"

They all let out yells of protests into the gags, trying to warn whoever might come by. By now all four of them had gotten used to the darkness, their eyes had adjusted and it was now easier to see where their captors hid. They were not all here, some had gone out, why they were here and what they wanted was still a mystery to them all. Not that Applejack cared, they had kidnapped her family, tied them up out here for some reason she could not put her hoof on.

Applejack was the last one of the four to get captured, she had just sat in the living room, enjoying her tea, reading a book when she saw Rainbow Dash at the barn. Just by her expressions alone had Applejack been able to tell something was off. She had heard the barn door smack shut and then just silence? At first she thought her and Big Mac was maybe, having some alone time, but that did not explain where Apple Bloom was.

She still had chores along with Big Mac, so if he was in there then she was there too. It was strange that nopony exited the barn, so she finally decided to check it out. Just like Rainbow, she had called, she had knocked, but just like Rainbow she was met with the eyes of a massive monster.

She saw her little sister and big brother, already bound and gagged, hanging from the rafter trying to warn her. Rainbow on the ground, protesting, struggling as the monsters secured her wings and had pressed the scarf firmly over her muzzle. From there, everything just went so fast, she knew she struggled, she was pretty sure she screamed too. However the creatures were fast, strong and had soon enough secured all four of them.

Applejack had tried to count them, so far she had figured there was five all in all. The creatures was nothing like she had seen before, they had skin instead of fur, some of them had beards, most of them had hair, but otherwise it was naked skin. They came in a lot of colors, green, a sort of blue, like if you had been in the cold for to long. Red, grey and even a sort of pink, like the pigs.

Their heads were not shaped like a pony, nor did they have muzzles, instead their heads were flat, big mouths with massive teeth sticking out from the button of their lips. Their ears pointy, their eyes dull and yet filled with rage and cruelty. Their clothes were simple, even pieces of grey worn out armor here and there. Instead of hooves they had two pair of feet covered in some sort of back, and instead of four legs they had two and a pair of arms with hands. Some of them wore helmets, most of them were armed, and Applejack was pretty sure they were not afraid to use them on them.

"Big Mac? Applejack?"

Applejack's eyes went wide; Oh no! Astral is back, if he isn't careful he is gonna get himself captured!

"Applejack? Big Mac? Anypony? Apple Bloom?

The others had realized the same thing as she had, they all started to struggle and yelled into their gags, but it was two late. The doors to the barn opened as Astral called out to them again, then he saw them and for a brief moment, their eyes met.

"Applejack! I'm com-ARgh!"

Her eyes widened as Astral was about to run inside and help them when a massive chain slammed down from above and forced him to the ground.

"Hftrhl!" She called to him, but thankfully he did not look like he had been sliced in two.

She heard the monsters around them chuckle and laugh as they stepped out from their hiding places. Four of them appeared within the barn itself, and from the outside one other and the leader walked over. The big ugly one held the chain, smiling grimly.

*****

"Well well well, here he is... Seems like we finally found you." A deep voice said in a mix of normal speech and a growl. Thor looked up as several massive creatures surrounded him. "Time to finish the job.." Thor looked at the biggest one of the lot and his eyes widened. He had seen this creature before, he knew it and his heart raced with pure rage.

A flash of memories passed before his eyes, voices from his past, battles fought, though it was not clear, he knew one thing. This thing and him were enemies, maybe even rivals. However there was not time for this now, his friends were in trouble! Thor tried to stand, but before he got as much as an inch off the ground the ugliest one grabbed his blonde mane and held him high. "Argh!" The pain was great, but he gritted his teeth and glared back at him.

"Lookie here, the great and powerful hero. Lost his memories we hear, your little friends have been most helpful in explaining your little vacation." He chuckled.

Looking over at his friends, it was not hard to figure out what had happened. They had threatened them, most likely Apple Bloom and forced them to tell them about him. Applejack in the meantime had no idea, her eyes went wide as she realized; They are here for him, we were bait so they could capture Astral.

"Take them out here, i want them to have a good view." The leader growled.

Two of the five monsters walked into the barn, simply grabbed the beam from which they hung and snapped it out of it's place. The four ponies still hung from the beam itself, but now they were carried outside and was placed right in front of the barn.

Thor's friends felt the ground beneath them and as soon they did Applejack tried to move launch herself forward, towards the ugliest one in order to help Thor. However she soon fell down, the rope around her stomach was still attached to the beam and one of the monsters had placed his foot on it, so they were going nowhere.

"Now now, let us see here." The one holding Thor pressed him down into the ground in front of the others. The giant looked at their captives with and evil grin, but then his gaze remained on Applejack. "You have no idea who you have been lodging here, do you? What was it you called him? Astral?" He glanced at Apple Bloom who quickly looked away and crawled to her brother, seeking whatever comfort she could.

The giant looked back at Applejack who glared in return. "Where we come from, we call him Thor." He pressed his fist down into Thor a little, making his body dig into the ground a little deeper. "The god of thunder, the defender of Asgard, and... Our greatest enemy."

Thor looked up at Applejack, ignoring the pain from being pinned down like this. Applejack looked back at him, her eyes filled with confusion, but not blame. The thing that was clearest was the burning question that filled her eyes, though the gag kept her from asking, Thor knew what she wanted to know. Is this true?

Thor's heart broke, he wanted to tell her, but not like this. "I'm sorry.." He said. "Applejack i-." Before he could reply the giant grabbed his body with one hand, held him in his fist tightly.

"You know, i should just kill you and return home, but with you having lost your memories, you have no idea how to fight, how to use your powers. We are gonna have a little fun!"

They all laughed as Thor was suddenly thrown into the orchard. His body hurled along the ground, crashing through trees until the build up of dirt finally slowed him down enough to stop. The giant growled in delight and looked back at the one who guarded their captives. "Stay here and watch them." He grinned and looked back to where Thor had landed. "Lads, let's have a bit of sport!"

Thor took a moment to stand up, shake the dirt out of his fur as he tried to stop the stars from dancing around his head. When his mind was finally ready and alert again he gritted his teeth, this was annoying as buck! He saw the giants run towards him, one even jumping high and held out what looked like a massive cleaver!

Thor jumped back, narrowly avoiding the blade. He had really no idea about his true strength, but he figured if he could take all of this punishment he should be able to deal it right back at them! A large rock had been revealed in the dirt he had gathered, Thor grabbed it with both of his hooves and flung it towards the giant.

"Oufh!"

It hit! The rock came with such speed it did not only hit, but it made the giant fly back several meters before he landed. Thor was amazed at his own strength, though he did not have the time to stand around and awe in it for very long. One of the other giants suddenly swung what looked like a club.

Thor had just enough time to dodge the thing, but only to get grabbed by the third giant who hurled him towards their leader like they were playing a ball game. The leader caught him with ease, just as he swung his arm, he captured Thor with a loud smack and hurled him towards the ground once again. "I'm gonna plant a thunder tree!"

He buried his fist into the ground, forcing Thor down there with it. All the giants laughed, even the one hit by the rock, here they were, beating the most terrifying enemy their kind had ever faced, their destroyer, here he was, acting like a little foal who barely left his mother's side...

The giant started to pull out his fist, but was surprised to see Thor hanging on to one of his fingers. "Oh, will you look at that!" He grinned and held his hand up to his face. "Caught myself an insect have i?" The other giants laughed, but Thor just glared at him. He let go of his finger and dropped barely an inch before he punched the giant in the eye. "ARGH! You bloody bastard!"

He fell to one knee as Thor landed on the ground, as soon as he did he jumped up and kicked him with his hind legs, sending the giant sprawling across the ground. The other giants promptly stopped laughing and ran towards him. Thor however now had the distance as an ally and turned to the turned over trees. "Here's something i learned here!" He called to them and turned, used his hind legs to buck the turned over tree, he launched it into the air towards the first two giants. Like with the rock, his aim was good and the two of them was knocked back by the tree.

Thor turned towards the farm and the final giant of the four who were beating him. He leaped forward towards the ugly creature with as much speed as he could build up, only thinking about his friend's safety. As the two enemies met, Thor jumped up into the air, managing to move over the giant. However before the giant could react, just as Thor was right above him, he kicked with his leg, smashing his hoof down to the back of the giants head, forcing him face first into the ground.

As soon as Thor landed he continued to run towards the farm. He got closer and closer, intended to remove the final giant and free his lover and his friends. However, just as he came out of the orchard and saw them again a chain shot out from the trees, wrapping around his legs and stopped him. "Oufh!" Thor fell to the ground and soon felt the chain pull him back.

He was not dragged for very long, just as he was about to struggle he felt the chain move up, flicking him up into the air with great speed. He was not sure how far up in the air he was, but just as he was at the the peak of the curve, he knew he could see Ponyville. The chain then hurled him towards the ground and with a great, BOOM! Thor had landed and created a small crater where he had landed.

The chain was broken, but that did not matter to Thor as he slowly stood up. Stones and dirt fell down from his fur as he moved out of the crater. He panted, his heart was pumping like never before, by all accounts he should fear for his life and yet, he didn't.

In fact, he could not help, but to smile a little. To his own surprise he found himself to let out small chuckles, feeling the adrenaline rush through him like wild rivers in his veins. H-he was enjoying the fight? He kept looking at the ground, panting, sweaty, tired, but also excited. "This... This is such bullapples..." He said under his breath, using a curse word he learned from Rainbow Dash.

Dark clouds started to gather above the farm, in fact they started to cover the entire region. "I only wanted to belong.. Now that i know where my home is, i feel sad.. I've already found a home and yet i need to leave.. Because of buckheads like you.." He glared up at them, not noticing his honor mark had started to glow. "And now you hurt the ponies who means the most to me?!" The wind picked up around them all, the giants finally stopping in their tracks as they noticed something about Thor. Sparks had started to move around his body.

"Hálgr?" One of the giants asked the leader, clearly worried where this fight was heading.

The leader of the group, who's name was Hálgr, simply glared at Thor. "This fight ain't over, if he could use his full powers he would have done it by now.. So we stop playing games and finish him off right now."

*****

"Twilight! Wait, what's going on!" Rarity yelled as her, Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy all ran down the dirt road towards Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight had suddenly gathered them all as some sort of freak storm had begun. The wind was strong and wild and they were all pretty sure it was going to rain soon.

"There's no time!" Twilight called back. "But i think Applejack and Astral are in trouble!"

"What sort of trouble?!" Rarity asked frowning.

Suddenly something crashed through the fence to the orchard and landed right in front of them, stopping the group of ponies right in their tracks. They all looked shocked as the hideous creature groaned and slowly sat up, he suddenly slowly turned his head to look at them. "Oh? More ponies?"

"AHHHH!" Rarity screamed in horror and suddenly launched a blast of magic into the giant, sending him flying back into the orchard. "What a horrible thing!"

Twilight was as shocked as she was, but they did not have time for this. "Wait, he said more ponies." They all froze and their eyes became worried. They all thought the same thing. "We better hurry." Twilight said and turned back towards the road.

*****

Applejack was in pure awe, all fear forgotten in this moment as she saw Astral suddenly jump around, dealing a lot of strong and painful punches and kicks to the monsters. Sending them flying all around, his body even started to shoot out what looked like sparks, even his cutie mark had started to glow.

The four giants and Astral kept fighting out there, and here she was bound like some sort of...Damsel! She continued to struggle, she had to help him, get her family to safety, get Twilight and the others! "Mmmfh!"

"Stop squirming you annoying little horse!" The giant who guarded them grumbled. "You're lucky we are after him, or we might want to take you guys as a sna-ARGH!" A sudden blast of magic hurled the unsuspecting giant through the wall of the barn.

"Mmfh?!" The four captives all looked over to see Twilight and the rest of their friends run towards them.

"Oh Applejack, are you guys alright?" Twilight asked as her magic pulled down the gag and undid the restraints.

Pinkie Pie smirked as she untied Rainbow Dash. "Oh lookie, Dashie is a damsel in distress now!"

"Grmmpphh!"

Pinkie had wisely not taken the gag off before she said that. Rarity removed Big Mac's bonds and Fluttershy removed the bonds of Apple Bloom.

"What the hay is going on Twilight!?" Applejack yelled out as soon as she was free. She was not angry with her, but she clearly knew something since she was here with their friends.

"Astral.. I figured out who he was, last time i saw him he was on his way here to tell you. When i saw the storm i figured something had gone wrong, but i was not sure what.." Twilight said, her tone was apologetic.

Applejack understood, though she had a ton of questions, they had to wait. Her family came first. "Big Mac, take Apple Bloom and go to the basement."

Big Mac did not like to go hide while a battle was being fought on their family home, but he was not gonna be stubborn and pretend he had a chance against these monsters. These girls had faced monsters before, they knew how to handle this, he hoped. "Eeyup." He looked to Rainbow Dash who had finally been freed. "You be careful now."

Rainbow blushed, but hugged her big log of a coltfriend. "You too.." There was no smart remarks, after what they had just went through, she was just happy Big Mac was okay. They two shared a quick kiss and then Big Mac hurried to the farm house with Apple Bloom.

When they were gone Twilight looked to Applejack. "They came for Astral?"

Applejack nodded, but it was Rainbow Dash who responded with a question. "What the buck are they?!"

"They are something from Astral's world, monsters called Jotunn, they are the enemies of the old gods." Twilight could see them all looked shocked, all of them except Applejack. "Astral is their greatest enemy, if he can't control his powers they have the best chance to destroy him now, so we must he-."

Applejack cut her off. "Thor.. That's his name right?" Applejack did not look at Twilight, she simply looked out at the orchard where she could hear the battle take place.

Twilight frowned. "Yes.. Thor... Applejack i.."

"It's okay Twilight." Applejack reassured her. "I need to save him.." She suddenly ran off towards the orchard, she ignored the calls from her friends, she needed to be out there, she needed to be with him.

"Applejack! Wait!" Twilight called, but before she could do anything they heard the tree of the barn crack and crumple.

"Uhm, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash said. "I think we have trouble!" The giant stood up, growling in anger as he was finally getting ready to get his revenge on the ponies who had blasted him.

*****

Thor ignored the pain as he was sent along the dirt, he managed however to slow down by holding his ground. His hoofs leaving tracks as he stood against the force that had thrown him. He panted heavily, but still glared defiantly up at the giants who seemed just as tired as him, but also just as stubborn and angry.

"I must give it to you old friend.." Hálgr smirked. "You don't fight as well as you once did, but you still put up Hel of a fight.. I be glad to sent you to her, just hold still for a minute.."

Thor spat at the ground. "Just shows how...Useless you are Hálgr... You can't even defeat me when i'm vulnerable.. Maybe you weren't that strong to begin with.."

Hálgr growled. "Oh yeah? Then how about we finish this?"

Thor nodded in reply. The giants and Thor ran towards each other, however Hálgr did not plan on fighting fair. As cheap as it was, he threw the dirt at Thor, momentarily blinding him. The three other giants seized him and pinned him down to the ground.

"Argh, bastard!" Thor yelled as he struggled against the grip of the giants.

Hálgr laughed. "You really think i would play fair? After all the trouble i did to send you away?"

Thor stopped struggling as his eyes widened. "You?!"

"Yes! though i had hoped the forced teleportation would have ripped you apart, it seemed you simply lost your memories." He sighed and picked up the cleaver one of the giants had dropped earlier. "But i can fix that problem." He walked towards Thor slowly, taking full delight in having won this fight.

Thor growled. "Leave it to a Jotunn to screw up an assassination.."

"Well let's fix it!" He held up the cleaver ready to take his head, when suddenly.

Thump!

Something hit him from behind. He felt whatever it was fall to the ground and he looked down to see an. "Apple?" Hálgr tilted his head when suddenly a voice yelled out.

"Oi, buckhead!"

Hálgr slowly turned around, lowering the cleaver as he faced whoever dared to throw an apple at him. He turned and faced an orange mare with a blonde mane blowing in the strong winds, her green emerald eyes glaring at him.

"Leave my coltfriend alone."

*****

Thor's eyes went wide, but he did not speak. He was amazed how she stood up to the Jotunn, but soon enough reality kicked in for him. He knew she had no chance against the likes of these. "Applejack! Get out of here!" Thor called out, but Applejack did not flinch or move and inch.

Hálgr let out a laugh. "Ha! Who are you to command me? What can a mortal little earth pony like you do?"

Applejack gritted her teeth. "This is my family's land, not only have you messed it up, but you have messed with my family, my friends and the one i love! So, if you won't go, i will just have to kick your ass!" This made the giant laugh, was this little pony really threatening him?

Applejack simply trotted over to some of the apples on the ground, turned around and then suddenly. Thor saw how she first kicked an apple up into the air and then with another quick buck she fired it towards the giant. It was with such careful precision that the apple did not break, but instead it fired in a straight line and hit!

"Argh! My eye!" Hálgr yelled out and dropped the cleaver. "Why is it always the eye!?" Applejack fired one more at the other eye and the giant fell to his knees screaming in pain. Applejack was not done however, with two quick kicks again she fired two apples into his mouth and right down into his airway. His eyes widened as he felt the apples cutting off his air and he started gasp and struggled to breath.

Applejack started to run towards the kneeling giant who was coughing and gasping to much to really focus on her. Of course she felt how her leg hurt, but she didn't care. Thor in the meantime found the other giant's grip lessen as they were to shocked to focus on holding the thunder god down. His heart raced like it was about to explode, his body felt hotter, his honor mark started to glow as his will to protect her broke through whatever barriers held his memories hostage.

Applejack managed to get past the giant, but just as she did Hálgr coughed the apples out, grabbed the cleaver and turned to get the little mare.

It was like time slowed down for Thor, his eyes saw how the giant was about to kill his beloved, her eyes on the verge of tears as she ran towards him in a desperate attempt to save him. Was this how it would end? Was Applejack gonna pay the price of a war she was not even apart of? Was he gonna loose her this day?

His honor mark glowed, his heart suddenly became calm, his eyes sparked with lightning just before they turned from blue to pure glowing white.

"No.." He gritted his teeth, this was not how he was gonna let it end. He was Thor, the bloody god of thunder! "APPLEJAAAACK!!!!" He roared as a shock wave of lightning shot out from him, hurling the three screaming giants away. The sky flashed with the biggest lightnings Ponyville had ever seen, it was followed by ear shattering thunder that almost echoed with Thor's roar.

Before Hálgr even had a chance to fully grasp what was going on, a small burst of white energy shot out from Thor's honor mark. It went straight into his hoof, forming something physical he knew all to well. As soon as it hit Thor's hoof he twirled around to keep the momentum of the object going, he then threw the object towards Hálgr with the greatest speed. It took less than a second before the object Thor had summoned finally came into full view. He did not have time to scream, beg or even flinch before his face was greeted by the surface of a hammer.

The giant flew all the way back towards the farm, the hammer never showing any signs of slowing down!

*****

Twilight panted, this creature was to strong for them, they needed Applejack! The giant stood up from where he last was blasted to. "Haha!" He laughed and picked the barn door.

Rainbow Dash bit her lips glaring at their enemy. "Any ideas Twi?!" She asked while all the other girls looked as exhausted as her.

"I'm thinking!" Twilight called back as they all tried to keep a safe distance from the giant.

"Time to make ponypancak-."

CRASH!!

The sudden battle was interrupted as another giant came flying into the other with such speed and force they both flew into what remained of the barn. The girl's eyes widened at this sudden interruption, but it was not unwelcome. They noticed some sort of object vanish into a flash of lightning and shoot back into the orchard.

The remaining three giants came running out towards their companions, but they did not look to be aggressive anymore. No, they all saw they looked terrified. "Look, up there!" Rainbow pointed with her wing towards the sky and they looked up.

There, amidst the lightning flashing in the dark sky, a figure came flying down, or falling rather. As soon as it landed they all saw Thor, holding onto Applejack tightly. They would have gone over and hug them, but Thor's eyes flashed white with pure anger as he gently let go of Applejack. Thor started to slowly move over towards the giants, each step making the giant cower more and more.

The giants all scrambled to get their leader and the other giant up, clearly all fearing what Thor had become. "You." Thor said, not stopping walking towards them. "You come to this world, threatening the ponies i love, almost killing the most important mare in my life.." He gritted his teeth stopping right in front of them. Though they were bigger than him, the pure threat of Thor made them all cower with fear like he was the biggest and most scary creature there.

He held out a hoof and a small lightning shot out from his honor mark and directly into his hoof, forming a hammer. The hammer in the meantime in the honor mark had vanished. The giants looked so small as they looked up at their certain doom. Thor was beyond angry, he wanting nothing more to tear these giants limb from limb, to kill them for all the pain they brought with them! Now for the first time since he got here, he remembered everything, who he was, what he was, his life in Asgard, everything, he knew what he had to do, he knew he had to leave his beloved and go back. All of this hurt because of these useless worms cowering before him, like they had any right to beg for mercy!

Then, suddenly, something cut through his anger, a gentle, calm voice reached him from behind. "Astral.." Applejack's voice was soft, calm and loving, like a silk blanket that started to cover every inch of his body. That name, the name he had been using since he arrived, she used the name of the stallion she loved, the one he wished to be!

"It's okay.."

It was okay? How could she say that, how could she think any of this was okay, he was not who she loved, right?! He was, he was.. "Thor.." Now she spoke his name, his true name, and then, without having noticed her approaching him, he felt her hoof gently touch his raised one. Then like nothing had ever changed he felt her mouth moving closer to his ear and whisper. "I love you.."

That broke him, his mind flashed with the memories of his time here. The first time they met, when they baked, when they worked, when they first kissed. Her eyes, her laugh, her spirit, all the things he had fallen in love with purged the hatred and the anger from his heart, then slowly, he let his hoof lower.

The hammer in his hoof vanished into a small lightning and returned to his honor mark, making the hammer appear once again on his flank. His eyes returned to normal, the skies and the winds calmed, it was then that he realized that she was right. They were not worth this, this was Applejack's home, the place of the most amazing memories, he should not spoil this happy place with their blood, instead he simply looked at them with a scowl.

"You have your lives, return from where you came and never set foot here ever again.."

Applejack smiled, but then glared at the giants. "Get off my property. Go on, scram."

The giants did not need to be told twice, the sound of a crystal breaking reached them and then with a dark green flash the giants vanished. When they did Thor let out a sigh and turned to his love. "Applejack i-Mmfh!?" He was promptly silenced as Applejack hugged him tightly and planted her lips on his, kissing him like she had never kissed him before. It took him a second to realize what was going on, but then he placed his hooves around her and kissed her back.

The girls all blushed, but smiled. Rainbow Dash put her hooves close to her mouth and whistled at them. The two kissed for a full minute before they pulled away just by an inch. "I love you.." Thor told Applejack, but she just smiled lovingly.

"I know, you big log.." The moved in and kissed one another again, but the mood quickly changed as a voice yelled out.

"WHAT IN TARNATION HAS HAPPENED HERE??!"

All of them turned around in shock and saw Granny Smith fuming with anger and shock to see her farm and orchard in such a state. Right beside her was Princess Celestia and Princess Luna looking just as shocked. Twilight rubbed her hoof. "Well... This is a funny story.. You see.."

*****

It took some time to explain everything that had happened. They had all moved into the living room as the royal guard worked to clean up the farm the best they could. Twilight told about her research, how Astral was really the thunder god of old. Big Mac explained along with Rainbow Dash and Applejack how they got captured. Thor told about the fight and Twilight finished off with it's conclusion.

Though Granny Smith was not happy about the damage, the most important thing was that her family was safe. "So you remember everything then?" Celestia suddenly asked as she levitated her teacup down to the table.

"Yes.." Thor replied. "I know i was in a battle before i came here, i remember a flash of dark green and when i woke up i was in the Everfree forest.. That's when i met Applejack.."

Luna nodded. "That still leaves the question, why here? And should we fear them coming back?"

Thor shook his head. "No.. The only reason they came here was because of me, your world holds no value to them, there are no grudges or anything. With me going back they will likely leave you alone.." Applejack leaned into Thor a little as he mentioned going back, but they both knew there was no way around that fact.

The room went silent, they all knew what was going to happen. After a while it was princess Celestia who broke the silence. "With your memories returning it should make your return home much simpler.. We shall leave you to say your goodbyes.."

All of the ponies left Thor and Applejack, leaving them so they could say whatever needed to be said. At first none of them spoke, they simply enjoyed being so close to one another. After about five minutes Applejack spoke up. "So this is it then.." She sighed and put her head on his shoulder. "What will happen to us now..?"

Thor was not sure how to reply, instead he simply spoke what he felt was true. "Our hearts will always belong to one another... I have to believe fate has more in store for us, i don't believe this is the end.."

Applejack smiled a little. "You're sure about that..?"

He moved his foreleg around her and pulled her in close. "I know it's written in the stars.."

She couldn't help but giggle a little. "If you say it, then i must have faith... I love you, Thor.."

He turned to face her and leaned in gently. "I love you, Applejack, to the stars and beyond, i love you.." Their lips met, and they shared a deep loving kiss.

*****

The two of them spend about an hour to themselves, simply enjoying one another's company. When they finally walked out of the farm house, their friends waited for them along with Celestia and Luna. As Thor moved to an open space where he could go home, he said his goodbyes to everypony who had made him feel so welcome.

He thanked Twilight for her help, promising her to answer all of her questions of his world if they were to meet again. He thanked Rarity and Fluttershy for their kindness and support as he lived here. He thanked Granny Smith, who refused to hug him before he accepted a wack from her cane, which he accepted with a small smile. With Pinkie he thanked her so much for the welcome party she threw him and all the parties she had let him take part in while he was here.

To Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh he shared a tight hug. "You were the best drinking buddies i could have asked for.." They shared a small laugh and Big Mac had to wipe away a tear. "Thank you for all your have shown me Big Mac.."

"Eeyup." He smiled.

Apple Bloom cried a little as she hugged him tightly, but he simply comforted her. "I have to go little princess, i have to go back and defend my home.." She nodded a little, telling him it was still not fair, but that she understood.

Finally he turned towards the two royal sisters and simply send them a small nod and a smile, which they returned. Then, after letting out a deep sigh he walked away a little and turned to Applejack. "I don't know what to say.."

Applejack shook her head. "Don't say anything sugarcube, let's just say what we already know.." she said holding back her tears. "I'm gonna miss you.."

Thor had a hard time keeping his own tears away, but as Applejack allowed them to run down her cheeks so did he. They both shared one last embrace. "I'll miss you too, thank you for everything..." They both shared a kiss, this time longer than all the other kisses they had shared when they had their alone time.

When they finally pulled away he let out a sigh. "I know you already know this, but.. I love you.."

Applejack punched his shoulder. "You like making me blush don't you?" She said and then smiled. "I love you too, but don't think this is goodbye.."

Thor smirked. "I know it's not.. I know some day, we will meet again, and when that day comes, we shall be together forever." They kissed once more and after a few seconds it was Applejack who pulled away and stepped back to her friends.

The two of them looked at one another until she finally stopped, then he turned towards the sky, looked up and closed his eyes. For the first few seconds nothing happened, but then, suddenly the sky was filled with clouds, the wind picked up, but it was still gentle. Suddenly a bright light broke through the clouds and for a moment forced all the ponies to shield their eyes.

When they opened them again they all gasped, there, up in the sky, they saw a clouds having formed a sort of opening to another world. A massive palace or fortress could be seen on the other side, it's towers and walls reaching heights none of them had ever seen. Then, like some sort of bridge, a rainbow gently moved down from the opening landed it's end right before Thor's hooves.

Slowly he opened his eyes again, smiled a bit. He turned to face all of his friends one last time. "Thank you all, i'm sorry for all the trouble.. You are all the most amazing ponies i have ever met, hang on to that.." He then looked at Applejack, the two of them smiling to one another as their eyes said everything they needed to say. This was not the end... Their love would be eternal...

"Goodbye, my love.."

And with a gentle warm light covering him, he vanished and so did the rainbow and the opening to the other world. The sky returned to normal, leaving only Celestia's setting sun to fill the sky with it's orange rays. Applejack just looked up into the sky, tears still moving down her cheeks, but she still smiled as she whispered.

"Goodbye, my love.. Until we meet again...."

TO BE CONTINUED!

Author's Note

Wow, this was a really long chapter XD

I really did not expect to finish it today or that it would become so long. :D

I'm glad it did and i am glad it was the longest chapter yet. I really had fun writing this story and i am looking forward to writing the squeal!

Thank you for reading this story so far, i hoped you enjoyed it and i hope you will read the next one. Leave a like if you feel like i deserved and maybe even your thoughts int he comment section.

Thank you again for reading, tally ho~

The picture of Applejack was done by: Godoffury from Deviantart.