My name is Apple Bloom, and I'm ten years old. I live on a farm near Ponyville called Sweet Apple Acres.
I have a sister and brother. My sister's name is Applejack, and my brother's name is Big MacIntosh, or Big Mac for short.
We also have a grandmother. Her name is Granny Smith, and she is the sweetest granny y'all could ever ask for. She makes me and my siblings happier than a possum eatin' a sweet 'tater.
Now, y'all must be wondering what I'm here here to tell ya. Well, it's a pretty scary story. And to me, it really happened, and I'm gonna tell y'all all about it.
It was about two months ago. Another school day came and went. I was saying goodbye to my two best friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle as I started my way down the path to Sweet Apple Acres.
I decided to take a shortcut that day because I didn't really feel like taking the longer path back to the farm. My legs would've been asleep before it was even nighttime if I took the longer route.
This shortcut etched a beautiful scenery of flowers and a river by the side. Take the river into the mind. It becomes a big part of this story later on.
But anyways, as I was making my way down the path toward home, I heard the slight sound of water splashing. I stopped and cocked my ear toward the sound definitely heard the sound of water splashing. I thought just the stream going towards faster currents, so I just ignored it and started to make my way down the path again. I didn't even take four steps when I heard the desperate plea for help.
"Help me! Please, help me!"
I felt my heart sink into the pit of my stomach as I turned to the river where the cries were coming from. Then I gasped in horror as I saw a foal about my age flailing her front hooves wildly, making the water splash crazily.
Without thinking, I threw off my sabblebags and charged towards the river while yelling, "Don't worry! I'll save you!"
The filly coughed and sputtered as she drifted down the current. "Hurry!" she called to me.
I didn't want to jump in the river. I'd be pulled along with her. Plus, it was too deep. So I frantically looked around for something for her to grab on to.
"Aha!" I cried as I found a branch lying by the riverbank. The perfect size to save the drowning filly. I ran over and picked it up with teeth, then I darted down the stream.
A short distance in front of me, I spotted a log that hung over a roaring dead-end of water. Dead-end? My eyes went wide as I gasped through the branch I held in my mouth. I realized that sound. She was heading straight for a waterfall!
"Oh! Help!" she cried, her limbs flailing faster, causing her splashes to become more larger as it pulled her faster.
Using all the strength I could muster, I bolted as fast as I never imagined my little legs could take me, faster than a hot knife though a stick of butter. I jumped on the log and held out the branch for her to reach.
"Grab on!" I yelled, my voice muffled by the branch I held between my teeth. I wouldn't give up. I wasn't going to let a filly drown or fall to their death today, no sirree! I was going to save this little filly even if it tore the teeth from between my gums!
Could she make it in time? Could she reach out and grab the branch before she went over the roaring waterfall? She reached out her hooves. Yes! She grabbed on just in time. I let out a huge sigh of relief through my nostrils.
With a grunt, I pulled the branch with all my strength and backed up from the log to the grass as the filly was freed from the cold stream and on to the dry, safe land. She was coughing and sputtering, try to free any water that was trapped in her pulmonary area.
I trotted up to her, and I noticed something a little peculiar and interesting. The filly looked kinda like....me. Even though her mane was soaked, I saw that it was the same shade of red as my mane. It was also the same length. She also had the same colored bow in her mane like mine, a darkish-pink color. The only thing different was that her hide was a light shade of pink and her eyes were green, unlike mine, which were orange. I also noticed she didn't have a cutie mark.
She looked at me, and tears formed in her eyes. They weren't tears of fear and sadness, they were tears of joy and relief. Then I gasped in surprise as she wrapped her front hooves around me in a tight hug.
"Thank you! Thank you!" she exclaimed. Her voice had a Southern-tint to it, just like mine, but it was a little soft, almost like Fluttershy, one of my other friends.
After a few seconds, I went from surprised to a smile as a returned to the embrace to the shivering filly.
"You're so welcome," I said. "All that matters is you're safe now."
We broke up the hug as I asked her, "How did you even fall in the river in the first place?"
"I slipped on a log bridge," she told me. "I was just walking across like a tightrope performer, when I lost my balance and went plunging in."
I was really worried about this filly. For one thing, where were her parents? I decided I'd take her back home to farm so my sister, Applejack, could dry her up.
"What's your name?" I asked her.
"A–Alice," she said, stammering.
"I'm Apple Bloom," I said. "I'm ten. What about you?"
"Me, too," she replied with a weak smile.
How come I've never seen this girl before? Everypony in Ponyville knew each other like peas in a pod.
"Where do you live?" I asked. "Your parents must be worried sick about you."
She thought hard for a moment, then she said, "I....I don't remember."
Huh? She didn't remember? Did the water really wash up her brain or something? How could she forget where she lived? I wanted to ask her those questions, but I decided to keep quiet because I didn't want to make her nervous.
"Well, would you like to come back to my farm so my family could get you all dried up?" I asked her. "We'll try to get in contact with somepony who might have an idea of where you live. Follow me."
"Oh, um — ok," she said softly.
She followed me up the bank as I went to pickup my saddlebags I had dropped earlier. Then we took off for Sweet Apple Acres.
It was nearly sunset when I got to the farm. Sweat was dripping down my forehead as I darted into the kitchen where my family was sitting.
"Applejack! Applejack!" I cried , trying to catch my breath.
"Apple Bloom, where in the name of Celestia have you been?" she cried. "It's nearly time for din–"
"No time to explain," I interrupted. "I met a filly by the river and she was drowning, so I had to save her."
"You went by the river at the rapids?!" she exclaimed. "Apple Bloom, you know that's very danger–"
"Just listen to me!" I screamed. That silenced her. "I saved a filly from drowning, and we have to get her dried off. She's right here behind me."
Applejack squinted at me, as if she didn't know who I was. "Apple Bloom, what are you talking about? There's nopony there."
"Huh?" I turned around. Alice was gone. No where to be seen.
"B–but–but," I sputtered. "That's impossible! She was standing right behind me!"
I ran out of the house, calling and searching for her all around the orchard, but to no avail. Sighing, I gave up and sadly walked back in the house. Applejack walked up to me, a sad expression on her face as she came up to me and put a hoof on my shoulder.
"Sugarcube, could at least tell me me what she looked like?" she asked.
"She looked just like me," I began. She had a red mane and a pink bow, and she was ten like me. But the only thing different about her was that her hide was light-pink, and her eyes were green. She didn't have her cutie mark, either."
Applejack nodded understandingly. "I see," she said. "What was her name?"
"Alice," I told her.
We all turned as we heard a gasp coming from the table. It was Granny Smith. Her eyes were wide as her mouth was gaped open. Then she covered it with her bony green hoof.
"What's wrong, Granny?" Applejack asked, worry starting to form on her face.
"I–I–I–I," Granny stammered. I could see her face was starting to turn pale. Then she got up and made her way to the living room. "Youngins," she said. "there's something... I want to show you. Follow me."
Me, Applejack, and Big Mac followed her into the living room. She went over to a shelf filled with old books and pulled out a scrapbook. She blew the dust off it and walked over to the couch and sat down, motioning us to join her. Me and Applejack scooted beside Granny, while Big Mac went behind the sofa and leaned over to see.
Granny opened the scrapbook and turned the page to an old, vintage photo. A pony with curly pigtails sat beside a filly that looked just like Alice sat beside each other, smiling warmly.
Granny pointed to the pony with the pigtails. "That's me when I was sixteen," she explained. Then she pointed to the filly beside her. "You see that filly right there beside me?"
"That's her!" I exclaimed. "That's Alice!"
Granny chuckled sadly. "That was my little sister. Lady Alice as I called her. She was the best sister I could ever ask for." Then her face fell to a melancholy expression. "Then one day, we went to river you saved her from, Apple Bloom, and we made a bet to each other who could stay on a log bridge the longest without losing their balance. Then–" her voice started to become shaky as a tear rolled down her cheek. Then, while she was trying to show me a trick, she lost her balance her fell into the river. I tried to save her, but it was too late. She got pulled into the rapids, and she....drowned."
Me and my siblings all had looks of horror and shock on our faces.
I began to stutter. "Y–you–you mean she's a–"
Granny just stared at me with her sad expression. Without thinking, I wrapped my hooves around her in a tight embrace. I was so stunned, I didn't know what to think. Then, I felt Applejack and Big Mac's hooves wrap around me and Granny as we hugged each other tightly on that cold and sorrow-filled evening.
★★★
The next day after school, I decided to take another to the river where I had met Alice, or Alice's ghost, I realized. I wanted to tell my friends about it, but I knew they wouldn't believe me, so I just kept my mouth shut.
I stopped at the riverbank and gazed down at the rushing stream. The wind felt cool against my face as I kept staring into the water.
"You're in a better place now, Alice" I said softly. "Thank you for being a wonderful sister to my Granny Smith."
I let out a sad sigh, then I started to turn away to go back on the path, when something lying on the riverbank caught my eye. Curious, I turned to look at what I had seen from my peripherals. Then I let out a silent gasp as I saw what was there for me to see. Lying on the bank, to my shock, to my horror, was a wet pink bow, one that looked like what Alice was wearing from the day before.
