It was that hour just before the sun came up, when it’s not exactly dark anymore, but it’s still not light enough to start your day and go about your business. All was quiet in Ponyville. A few ponies might have been lying awake in bed, but none of the Apple family were among them. It felt like any other day in Ponyville, but it is on these days when the most extraordinary things tend to happen. In Equestria, these things usually involve Twilight Sparkle, her friends, and the magic of friendship, along with some crazy magical occurrences. Or they involve some crazy adventure, during which the ponies on it usually learn something new that helps them become a better pony. Or sometimes they discover something that they never knew before.
There was no sound except for hoofbeats as a pony ran through the quiet streets of Ponyville. Whoever it was needed to get somewhere in a hurry. They were running so fast that you could hardly hear their hoofs when they pounded the dirt path that ran through and around Ponyville.
Applejack was not expecting a visitor in the morning. Least of all this early. She was sound asleep, dreaming that all the apples on her trees were extra big, but then they turned into fruit bats, who started eating her crop. Then Fluttershy came and talked to the fruit bats, and the fruit bats turned into Discord, and then there was Fluttershy and Discord getting married-
THUMP. Applejack bolted out of her dream, her eyes opening as she tried to remember what it was that had woken her. But she discovered it soon enough. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. Somepony was knocking on the door at a very persistent pace. The thumping turned to wacking, which turned to pounding. Applejack stumbled out of bed and put her hat on her head, hurrying out into the hallway. Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh, Sugar Belle, and Granny Smith were poking their heads out of their rooms, too, blinking sleepily.
“What’s that racket?” Granny croaked.
“Applejack?” Apple Bloom rubbed her eyes. “What’s goin’ on?”
“I don’ know, sugarcube,'' Applejack replied. “But I’m sure it’s nothin’.” Applejack hurried down the stairs and opened the front door, which was shaking from whoever was making that racket.
“Starligh’?” Starlight Glimmer dropped her hoof, her eyes wide and not sleepy at all, in comparison to Applejack, who wasn’t sure if this was a dream or real life.
“Sorry, Applejack. Did I wake you up?” Starlight was holding an old book with her magic behind her.
“Me and the whole house,” Applejack grumbled. “Wha’ in Equestria are you doin’ here so early?” She looked at the old book with the unspoken question written all over her exhausted face.
“Applejack, I-” Starlight’s voice broke. “I… I found a spell that can bring your parents back.”
“WHAT!?!?”
“Ouch,” Starlight said with a wince. “There might be a couple of yaks in Yakyakistan who didn’t hear you.” Applejack’s shocked and wide awake face didn’t change.
“What do you mean you can bring my parents back?!” Applejack yelled. “No magic can bring ponies back from the dead! I even asked Twilight, and she says that even alicorn magic couldn’t do that!” The other Apples were gathering behind Applejack, their faces mingled with sleep and shock at what they were hearing.
“Well, it’s not a permanent spell,” Starlight said, bringing her book forward and opening it, flipping through the pages. “It’s just a spell that can bring ponies back from the dead from sunrise until sunset on the next day.” She turned the book so that the Apples could see it, and they all leaned in, reading the page at lightning speed.
“You think you can do that?” Apple Bloom asked Starlight, her face hopeful. She had been a very young filly when Bright Macintosh and Pear Butter, their parents, had died, and she didn’t have that many memories of them. Applejack and Sugar Belle exchanged a glance. They both knew just how powerful Starlight’s magical talents were and had no doubt that she could pull off any spell in the universe.
“Of course she can, sugarcube,” Applejack said confidently. “What are you waiting for?”
“Well, the spell needs to be cast in a place where the ponies that you want to bring back were together,” Starlight said, turning the book back to her. “It basically takes the memory of them and makes them real, so it’s much easier if it’s done in a place where both ponies were together and shared a really important memory.”All the Apples looked at each other. They knew a place. They led Starlight to the place where their parents’ wedding had taken place, in between the Pear and Apple farms, by a rock carved by Bright Mac that showed Pear Butter’s cutie mark plus Bright Mac’s cutie mark in a heart. Two trees grew around the rock - a pear tree and an apple tree, making a heart shape at the top. The sun was rising now, and its rays shone through the heart, illuminating the ponies standing in front of it.
“Woah, this is beautiful!” Starlight said, looking up from her book and taking in the beautiful sight. She glanced at the stone carved with the two ponies’ cutie marks. “I think this will work. Everypony, stand back,” Starlight ordered. The Apples obediently stepped back several times, crouching behind some trees. Starlight studied the spell briefly before tossing the book aside and digging her hooves into the ground, bracing herself. Starlight’s horn lit up and glowed brighter as Starlight attempted the spell. In front of Starlight, the forms of two ponies slowly flickered into existence. The Apples peeked out from behind the trees in anticipation. The pony forms glowed white before gaining color and depth.
Pear Butter stood up and blinked, rubbing her head. She looked around and saw the Apples and Starlight and stopped, her hoof dropping to her side. Her eyes widened as she realized what she was seeing. Beside her, Bright Macintosh shook his head and slowly got to his feet. He took in the farm around him, not looking much different from when he’d last been here. How long had it been? How had he gotten here? Bright Mac spotted Pear Butter and turned to see what Pear Butter was so shocked about. He spotted it, and he had a similar reaction. Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big Mac slowly walked up next to Starlight, their gazes never wavering from the two ponies in front of them. Granny Smith stayed where she was, not believing what she was seeing. Truth be told, none of them did. Sugar Belle stayed with Granny. She figured she should let the family reunite first. Applejack was the first to speak.
“Mom and… Dad?” Her voice broke. Pear Butter let out a sob and nodded. And then they were all rushing at each other, embracing each other and crying and sobbing and it was all very sweet. Starlight backed up by Sugar Belle, giving them their space. Granny Smith finally hobbled out to the five ponies.
“Mom!” Bright Mac cried, pulling her in for a hug. Granny’s own tears mixed with her son’s, and she wrapped her hooves around her son and hugged him for all that she was worth. Pear Butter was holding Apple Bloom on her lap and looking at all of her children with teary eyes.
“You’ve grown so much!” she said, stroking Apple Bloom’s mane with her hoof. “And you all got your cutie marks!”
“Look, Mama, I have the same cutie mark as my best friends!” Apple Bloom said, snuggling up against her mom. “I can’t wait to take you to meet them!” Pear Butter spotted Sugar Belle and Starlight standing off to the side.
“And who are your friends?” Big Mac gestured to Sugar Belle to come closer.
“Ma, this is Sugar Belle. We’re… married.” Big Mac and Sugar Belle both blushed. Pear Butter and Bright Mac blinked in unison.
“Um… how long have we been gone?” Bright Mac asked. He was standing next to Granny Smith now.
“Long enough for Applejack to save Equestria lots and lots of times!” Apple Bloom said proudly. Applejack turned red as an apple as her parents looked like they might faint.
“Technically, I helped save Equestria lots and lots of times,” Applejack mumbled while her parents just stared.
“Wait, what?”
“I’m sure they’ll get you all caught up,” Starlight said, coming up. “But remember, this is only until sunset tomorrow. Try to make the most of this.”
An hour and one very lengthy explanation later, Apple Bloom was leading Pear Butter and Bright Mac to the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse with Applejack and Big Mac in tow. Granny had stayed at the house to bake Bright Mac’s favorite dish, although Pear Butter and Bright Mac had insisted that Sugar Belle come along so they could get to know each other better.
“So you and your friends were on a mission to discover your cutie marks together?” Bright Mac asked, hanging on to every word Apple Bloom was saying. He had missed out on seeing his daughters get their cutie marks, and he was determined to not miss anything today. “And you all got your cutie marks in what, exactly?”
“Helping other ponies find their true talents!” Apple Bloom said happily, bouncing alongside her dad. “Although I guess it’s not specifically ponies. We once helped a griffon and a hippogriff. And we also helped save Equestria, once.”
The Apple family arrived at the clearing where the CMC clubhouse was. Bright Mac pushed his hat out of his eyes so he could see better.
“Well, I’ll be! Is this the same clubhouse we built for AJ when she was no bigger than a sapling?”
“It sure is!” Apple Bloom bounded up the ramp and her parents followed, with Applejack, Big Mac, and Sugar Belle close behind. “I helped fix it up. It’s our main headquarters now.” Apple Bloom opened the door and showed her parents around. “This is the podium where I lead meetings. And this is the chart showing all the things we tried earning our cutie marks in. Boy, it’s a lot, I’d forgotten. Oh, and these are pictures of all the ponies and creatures we’ve helped!” Bright Mac and Pear Butter stared at the whole wall covered in pictures of young fillies and colts. Here and there there was a picture of another creature, such as Gabby the griffon, Terramar the hippogriff, and others.
“Oh, Apple Bloom! I’m so proud of you,” Pear Butter said as she pulled Apple Bloom in for a hug.
“Apple Bloom! Is that you?” Scootaloo said as she and Sweetie Belle trotted into the clubhouse. Applejack, Big Mac, and Sugar Belle were out on the balcony.
“Scootaloo! Sweetie Belle! This is my mom and my dad. Mom and Dad, this is Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, my best friends in the whole world! And look!” Apple Bloom walked over to her friends and all three of them showed Pear Butter and Bright Mac their matching cutie marks. “We all have the same cutie marks!”
“Well, I’ll be a bright orange fruit bat,” Bright Mac said.
“Oh, sweetie, that’s incredible!” Pear Butter walked over and pulled all three CMC in for a hug.
“Your mom is awesome!” Scootaloo whispered to Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle nodded fervently. Bright Mac suddenly sniffed the air. He walked out of the clubhouse and down the ramp. Everypony stood on the balcony of the clubhouse, watching him. Bright Mac turned to Pear Butter and grinned.
“Mom’s apple pie’s ready. I can smell it.” Pear Butter smiled back at him.
“Your father did always have a keen sense of smell, especially when it comes to pie,” Pear Butter informed everypony as they followed Bright Mac through the orchard and back to the farmhouse. Now they could all smell it. The irresistible scent of fresh apple pie wafted over the whole farm and everypony hurried into the kitchen, where Granny Smith was pulling one of two pies out of the oven. And there was somepony else sitting at the table…
“Father?” Pear Butter stopped abruptly, staring at Grand Pear, who was looking at her as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He slowly stood up and walked towards Pear Butter, and Bright Mac stepped defensively in front of her, his face set.
“Wait, uh… Dad, um, we made amends with the Pears,” Applejack said hurriedly. “It’s okay.” Bright Mac hesitantly stepped to the side only after Pear Butter laid her hoof on his, showing him that it was okay. But he still looked like he might interfere. For an awkward moment, father and daughter looked at each other, mixed emotions written over everypony’s face.
“... Pear Butter?” Grand Pear said quietly. Pear Butter nodded softly, tears glistening in her eyes. She reached out and hugged her father, who embraced her as well.
“I’m so sorry, I was just so… angry. I never should have left. I’m really sorry,” Grand Pear said after a while. Bright Mac’s expression changed and Pear Butter only hugged her father tighter.
“It’s okay, Father. It’s all in the past now.”
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Applejack opened it to find Pinkie Pie, whose mouth was watering.
“Do I smell absolutely amazingly delicious apple pie in here?” she asked, poking her head into the kitchen. “Oh, hi Bright Mac, Pear Butter. Anyways…” Pinkie dashed into the kitchen and made a beeline for the pie. “I WANT SOME PIE!!!”
“Um, how did she…?” Pear Butter started to say.
“Don’t ask,” Sugar Belle advised.
“Uh, Mom, Dad, this is my friend Pinkie Pie,” Applejack said awkwardly, gesturing helplessly to Pinkie, whose face was half-buried in a pie, with apple filling all over it. “She works at Sugarcube Corner…”
“Sugarcube Corner? Do you know somepony named Chiffon Swirl? Purple eyes, mane like icing, blue coat?” Pear Butter stood up suddenly. Pinkie’s tongue wrapped around her face, licking off all the crumbs and apple filling, and nodded.
“Only, she’s called Mrs. Cake now. And she’s married, and she has the most adorable little twin foals. She still works there. You could go see her.” Pinkie buried her head into the pie again. Pear Butter looked at her for a second before turning and rushing out the door. Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big Mac were right behind her. Bright Mac grabbed the other pie from the windowsill before he hurried after them.
“I always say Applejack inherited her father’s appetite,” Granny Smith said fondly, smiling after them.
“Especially if he grew up eating this every day!” Pinkie said, finishing off her pie. She tossed the empty pie pan in the sink, leaped into the air, hovered for a moment as her back legs spun around in circles so fast that they became blurs, and zoomed out the door, becoming nothing more than a pink blur. Granny and Grand Pear blinked and looked at each other.
Pear Butter burst through the door to Sugarcube Corner, slightly out of breath but her eyes bright and searching the room. Pinkie was behind the counter, eating a whole cake in one bite. She held the cake up, stuck out her tongue, set the cake on her tongue, and drew her tongue back in, swallowing the cake.
“How did you…? Never mind,” Pear Butter said quickly, trotting up to her, her head turning from side to side. “Where is she?”
“Where’s who?” Pinkie asked, reaching under the counter and rummaging around for a while before coming up with a cupcake, which she took a bite of, chewing noisily.
“You know who,” Pear Butter said anxiously. “Just tell me, please.”
“Buttercup? Is that you?” Pear Butter whirled around to see Mrs. Cake coming out of the kitchen with a fresh batch of cupcakes on a plate, which she was balancing on her hoof. When she saw her old friend, Mrs. Cake dropped the cupcakes and didn’t even notice. All she noticed was Pear Butter’s teary eyes as the two of them embraced each other, tears streaming down both of their faces.
“Honey?” Mr. Cake said, sticking his head out of the kitchen, surveying the mess on the floor. “You dropped the cupcakes.” He noticed Pear Butter and Mrs. Cake hugging each other and said simply, “Oh.” He shrugged and got about cleaning up the mess himself. The rest of the Apples came in the front door. Pinkie tossed what was left of her cupcake into the air and caught it in her mouth and swallowed it. Bright Mac sat down at a table and dug into the apple pie he’d brought. Pinkie Pie’s head slowly rose up next to him, and she reached her hoof towards the pie, but Bright Mac slapped it away, glaring at Pinkie. She huffed all the way into the kitchen.
“I can’t believe it’s you!” Mrs. Cake exclaimed, breaking away from Pear Butter and stroking Pear Butter’s mane. The two of them still had tears in their eyes. “After all these years…”
“I can’t believe it’s you!” Pear Butter said, leaning on Mrs. Cake’s hoof. “You’ve changed so much. And you have a family now.”
“I do,” Mrs. Cake said proudly. “Dear, bring out the twins, please.” Mr. Carrot Cake walked into the room, carrying Pound and Pumpkin Cake on his back. “This is Pound Cake and this is Pumpkin Cake.”
“Oh, they’re darling!” Pear Butter stroked each of the foals’ manes. They clambered over one another, trying to get more attention from Pear Butter.
“Oh, Mom, Dad, I want to introduce you to the rest of my friends,” Applejack said, glancing out the window. Noon was almost upon them, and that meant that there was only a day and a half left before her parents left again. Forever. Starlight had explained that the spell couldn’t be cast on anyone pony more than once. After this visit, Applejack’s parents would never again live.
“All right,” Bright Mac said agreeably, standing up. He licked the last bits of pie off his hooves and walked over to where Applejack was standing. “You coming, Buttercup?”
Pear Butter looked at Mrs. Cake, then back at her family, who were standing next to the door. She sighed and took one of Mrs. Cake’s hooves on her own.
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” she promised. “I only have today and tomorrow here. After that…” Mrs. Cake smiled at her friend.
“I’ll always be here,” she said as Pear Butter walked out the door, casting a longing glance back at her friend. After the Apples left, Mr. Cake walked up beside his wife, whose glance hadn’t shifted from the door.
“It’ll be okay, Cupcake.” Mrs. Cake blinked back tears.
“I know,” she whispered as she pushed Mr. Cake’s hoof off of her shoulders. “I know it will be okay.”
Applejack led her parents down the street to the Castle of Friendship, which still stood, gleaming and glistening in the sunlight. As soon as she could, she’d sent Twilight and all of her friends to meet her at the castle to meet her parents. Pinkie already had, but the rest of them had never met Pear Butter and Bright Mac. Applejack smiled and continued trotting down the street.
“So, you and your friends saved Equestria from… who, again?” Bright Mac asked. He’d never been all that good at remembering things, aside from anything that had to do with Pear Butter.
“Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra, Tirek, Starlight, Chrysalis again, the Pony of Shadows, Cozy Glow, Sombra again, and Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow working together,” Applejack listed as the Apples walked through the marketplace.
“Wow. You’ve done a lot. I’m so proud of you,” Pear Butter said, trotting next to her eldest daughter. Bright Mac suddenly stopped and stared at a tent that was selling firewood.
“Burnt Oak?” he said. A stallion so brown he was almost black with a white and gray mane looked over at Bright Mac from where he was chopping wood at his sales tent. His straw hat blocked the sun and his blue scarf was scuffed with ashes, but Bright Mac still recognized him.
“Bright Macintosh?” Burnt Oak asked. The two old friends stared at each other from across the marketplace before rushing at each other and hugging before the waterworks came. Tears streamed down Burnt Oak’s face, mixing with dust and leaving darker streaks on his face. Bright Mac couldn’t hold back his own tears, either.
“I can’t believe it’s really you!” Burnt Oak said when he could talk again. “I thought… well, you were… how are you here?”
“I’m still not exactly sure on the details, but I’m told it’s magic.” Bright Mac grinned through wet eyes at his old friend. “And you’re still selling firewood, are you?”
“Can’t deny what’s on the flank, old friend.” The rest of the Apples came up next to where the two friends were having their reunion. Several of the ponies in the marketplace recognized Pear Butter and Bright Mac, and were whispering to their friends, giving them some space. “And Buttercup, too! Why, I haven’t seen you in forever!”
“It’s good to see you, too,” Pear Butter smiled at him.
The Apples were only able to drag Bright Mac away when Burnt Oak had a customer that he had to tend to. The family arrived at the steps of the Castle of Friendship, and Pear Butter and Bright Mac stared at it in awe.
“How’d you say it got here, again?” Bright Mac asked, tilting his head back to see to the tip of the castle.
“Magic chest from a magic tree,” Applejack said, opening the door and leading her family inside. When Applejack opened the door to the throne room, her parents gasped as they took in the sight. From the oak tree root chandelier strung with diamonds to the glittering thrones with each of Twilight and her friends’ cutie marks on them to the incredibly detailed crystal map of all of Equestria and beyond, there was much to gasp about. Apple Bloom looked at her parents’ faces and didn’t think they’d ever recover. Their mouths were open and their eyes wide and their faces were frozen in this expression for some time until they shook their heads.
“Woah. Equestria looks a lot… bigger… than I thought,” Bright Mac commented as he and Pear Butter walked up to the map table.
“That’s because it’s not just Equestria!” Apple Bloom exclaimed as she hopped up onto the table.
“Apple Bloom!” Applejack shouted. “Get down from there!” Apple Bloom ignored her and darted all over the map.
“Here’s Griffonstone, the home of the griffons. And this is the Crystal Empire, where the Crystal ponies live. And that’s the Changeling Kingdom - they were bad, but now they’re good. Oh, and this is the Dragon Lands, I think that one explains itself. That’s Yakyakistan, and that’s Kludgetown.” Apple Bloom hopped down next to her parents. “The map got bigger when Twilight and her friends went beyond Equestria and found new areas.”
“Wow,” Pear Butter said. She looked over at Applejack. “And why do you have a throne, if you’re not a princess or anything?”
“Twilight’s the princess,” Applejack said, gesturing to Twilight’s throne. She trotted over to her own throne and sat down in it.“We’re just her friends. But we’re apparently important enough to get our own thrones, too, since we also help save Equestria.”
“Yeah, we are kinda awesome,” said Rainbow Dash, who flew into the room and sat down on her own throne. “Hi. I’m Rainbow Dash. You must be AJ’s parents.” Pear Butter and Bright Mac nodded.
“You’re Applejack’s parents?” Fluttershy said as she walked in. Angel Bunny was on her back, balancing on Fluttershy’s extended wings. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. I’m Fluttershy.” Fluttershy sat on her throne and set Angel down on the table.
“For goodness sake, Fluttershy, please, let’s act like civilized ponies and keep our pets off the table,” Rarity said as she swept into the room, neatly sitting on her throne and smiling at Bright Mac and Pear Butter. “Hello, darlings. My name is Rarity.”
There was a blast of confetti as Pinkie Pie appeared, springing up from under the table and landing in her own throne perfectly, beaming at everypony around her. Pear Butter and Bright Mac hadn’t even known Pinkie for that long, and even they now knew that this was a natural occurrence, judging from the way that nopony was shocked or anything. Everypony rolled their eyes and smiled at Pinkie Pie.
A bright flash of magenta light lit up the room, and Twilight Sparkle and Spike appeared, flying in the air over the table. Spike was getting taller, and was catching up to Smolder in height. He flapped down and landed in his smaller chair. Twilight, herself, was almost as tall as Cadence, and her mane was starting to grow longer, too. She gracefully sat down on her throne and looked at Applejack’s parents.
“Hello. I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle, and this is Spike.” Twilight gestured to Spike, who grinned and waved at Bright Mac and Pear Butter, who were looking shocked at the appearance of an alicorn other than Celestia. When they’d been around, Celestia had been the only alicorn, and Luna came back after they had passed away.
“Err… how many alicorns are there, now?” Bright Mac asked, reaching a hoof behind his head and scratching his mane. Pear Butter’s head was tilted to one side and she looked at Twilight curiously.
“Well… I mean, there’s Celestia and Luna, obviously, and Cadence and Flurry Heart in the Crystal Empire. And then there’s me.” Twilight turned and smiled at the couple, who were looking a bit more bewildered.
“Why are there so many princesses?” Pear Butter asked. “What are they all for? No offense,” she said quickly, glancing at Twilight, who smiled.
“None taken. Let’s see, Cadence is the Princess of Love. I’m the Princess of Friendship. Flurry Heart’s still a little young for all that - she’s a filly. And Celestia and Luna are retired, so they don’t really have titles anymore, but when they did, Celestia was the Princess of the Sun, and Luna was the Princess of the Moon.”
“There’s a filly who’s an alicorn princess?” Bright Mac said, and he and Pear Butter shared a puzzled look. “How’d she get that way?”
“Well, actually, Flurry was born an alicorn!” Pinkie took the floor, getting everypony’s attention. “First born alicorn ever! Her mom was Princess Cadence, and her dad’s Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor. They rule the Crystal Empire together.” Pinkie pointed her hoof at the Crystal Empire on the map.
“She was born an alicorn?” Pear Butter and Bright Mac looked like they didn’t know exactly what to make of this message.
“Like I said, first born alicorn ever.” Pinkie leaned back in her chair, reached into her mane, and pulled out another cupcake.
“We’re still getting used to it, too,” Spike said reassuringly. Bright Mac and Pear Butter looked at each other again before deciding to change the subject before things got any more confusing.
“So, you’re the ponies who’ve saved Equestria so many times?” Bright Mac asked.
“It’s so nice to finally meet you,” Pear Butter chimed in when the six ponies and one dragon nodded.
“It’s so nice to meet you, too,” Twilight said. “We never thought we’d get the chance to, because, well, you know…”
The conversation dropped off into an awkward silence, broken only by Pinkie noisily eating her cupcake.
“Darling,” Rarity said after a while, “please have some manners.”
“I don’t know what that is,” Pinkie said, finishing off her treat, “but I’m sure it’s something I would not like.” She burped. Everypony laughed at Rarity’s look of disgust.
The ponies spent the rest of the afternoon showing Bright Mac and Pear Butter around the castle and the School of Friendship. When the horizon turned blood red and the sun slipped beyond the hills, thanks to Twilight, the Apple family finally headed back to the farm. Grand Pear was staying with the rest of them, hoping to make amends with his daughter and her husband. Even though all the Apples were tired, they stayed up talking past midnight until Pear Butter and Granny Smith used their “mom voices” to order everypony to go to bed. This just set off another wave of laughter, but everypony eventually fell asleep in a heap.
The crow of the rooster was what woke them all up the next morning. Applejack hadn’t wanted to wake up. She feared that the last day would just have been a dream, and that her parents weren’t actually there. But the smell of flapjacks and bacon pried her eyes open at last, and when her eyes finally did open, the first pony she saw was Pear Butter, and Applejack felt like she could fly to the moon, her heart was so light.
“Wow, flapjacks!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. She bounded up from the couch where she’d fallen asleep, snuggled up against Bright Mac and hurried into the kitchen. Bright Mac sat up, rubbing his eyes and looking like he’d much rather just go back to sleep. Granny Smith got the plates out of a cupboard and handed them to Apple Bloom, who started to set the table.
“Applejack!” Granny Smith called. “Get your father out of bed and get over here to help your little sis set the table.” Applejack loved seeing Granny Smith in this mood. She was so happy to see her son and daughter-in-law alive, even if it was just for two days. Applejack remembered that her parents would be gone tomorrow. The thought brought her heart, which was almost to the moon, by the way, skidding back down to Equestria and buried it deep in the Diamond Dog tunnels. Applejack shook her head and nudged her dad.
“If you don’t get up, you won’t get any flapjacks,” Applejack said teasingly. Bright Mac grinned and shoved Applejack’s hat in front of her eyes. Applejack pushed it back up again and she and her dad trotted into the busy kitchen. Grand Pear and Pear Butter were making pear jam to go on the flapjacks, and Big Mac was helping Sugar Belle make the actual flapjacks. Granny Smith shoved her son in front of a frying pan with bacon and hobbled off to help Apple Bloom with the plates. Applejack got out a jug of fresh cow milk and set it on the table. She carefully picked the glass cups out of the cupboard one by one and set them next to each plate. Bright Mac set down a plate of steaming bacon, and Big Mac brought over the flapjacks. Pear Butter and Grand Pear scooped some pear jam into a bowl and set that on the table, too.
“Breakfast!” Granny called, and the happy family immediately dug into the delicious food.
“Mom,” Apple Bloom said after a while, “I want to take you and Dad to the Castle of the Two Sisters. It’s Celestia and Luna’s old castle, and it’s in ruins now, but it’s still really fun to explore, and Pinkie told me it’s full of traps and an oregon that can control them all.”
“An ancient castle, eh?” Bright Mac ruffled Apple Bloom’s strawberry red mane, his eyes twinkling.
“Yeah! Applejack’s been there, too. She says she saw the Pony of Shadows there, but it was just Pinkie Pie playing a trick on her.” Apple Bloom grabbed another flapjack and slathered it with jam before swallowing it in one bite.
“Pinkie was the one playing the oregon, which set off all the traps, but something else made that spooky shadow that me and Rainbow saw,” Applejack protested. “And the Pony of Shadows is real, I fought him.”
“Yeah, with Rockhoof.” Apple Bloom excitedly turned to her dad. “Did you know he’s real, too? He’s been trapped in limbo for a thousand years.”
“Rockhoof? You mean that pony with the shovel who saved his whole village from rushing lava?” Pear Butter said, tapping her hoof to her chin as she recalled the legend.
“The very same,” Applejack confirmed, nodding.
A green wisp blew in through the open window and swirled around in front of Applejack, forming a rolled-up scroll. Applejack unrolled it and read it while everypony else stared at her.
“Well?” Sugar Belle said at last. “What does Twilight want?”
“Actually, Apple Bloom,” Applejack said, rolling up the scroll. “Touring the Castle of the Two Sisters sounds like a great idea. Why don’t you take the whole family and spend the whole day down there and never come back to the house until it’s almost sunset.”
“Um, that’s a long time to be in a castle,” Big Mac pointed out in his deep voice.
“Then why doesn’t Apple Bloom take you to go see Zecora? I’m sure she’d love to show you all the potions she knows how to make.” Applejack stood up and headed towards the door.
“Yeah, sure, that’d be - wait, Applejack, where ya goin’?” Apple Bloom asked as Applejack opened the door.
“Uh… stuff to do,” Applejack smiled. “Friendship problem. Gotta go. See y’all later.”
“Wait, when you’re called to a friendship problem, your cutie mark is supposed to glow,” Sugar Belle said, but Applejack was already gone.
“Oooookay…”
A few moments later, Apple Bloom was excitedly leading her parents and everypony else down to the Everfree Forest.
“...And there’s this awesome treehouse in the castle that grew from the Tree of Harmony, you know, because Sombra destroyed it, but then some students at the school built a little clubhouse with the broken pieces that looked kinda like ours, just not in a tree and a lot more shiny. And then it grew into this super awesome treehouse that looks super cool…” Apple Bloom chattered constantly as the Apple family through the forest.
“I wish I woulda vouched to stay at the house,” Granny Smith whispered to Grand Pear as she stumbled over another tree root.
“You and me both,” Grand Pear replied quietly. He wasn’t all that good at walking long distances, and hanging out in a forest he’d avoided for most of his life without any other form of transportation other than his legs was not exactly his idea of fun.
“I wonder why Applejack wanted all of us to come down here,” Sugar Belle said to Big Mac as they crossed the river that Steven Magnet had lived in when Twilight and her friends had gone out seeking the elements. “She seemed like she had something else on her mind.”
“Eyup,” Big Mac agreed.
“Oh! Here we are!” Apple Bloom cried. She darted across the bridge, along with Big Mac and Sugar Belle. But the older ponies hesitated.
“...Are you sure, sugarcube?” Bright Mac said, looking at the ancient bridge.
“It looks a little… unstable,” Pear Butter finished.
“Oh it’s fine,” Sugar Belle said assuringly.
“Eyup,” Big Mac said while Apple Bloom nodded vigorously.
“... All right,” Pear Butter said, a little unhappily. She slowly crossed the bridge with Bright Mac right in her hoofsteps. He shrieked everytime the bridge tilted a little bit.
“Not much of a bridge pony, are you?” Pear Butter said, smiling teasingly back at her husband, who blushed and grinned sheepishly.
“I’m more of a… solid, not-swaying ground pony.” Pear Butter giggled behind her hoof.
Once Granny and Grand Pear crossed, Apple Bloom led the group into the entrance of the castle. Everypony stopped to stare in awe at the Treehouse of Harmony, which was glittering and gleaming more than Twilight’s castle.
“This just… sprouted out of the ground?” Grand Pear said disbelievingly.
“Well, Twilight’s castle supposedly did, too,” Pear Butter whispered to him. Grand Pear smiled at his daughter. When he’d learned that she’d passed away, his feeling of guilt of never making up to her was crushing. He’d done the best he could - he’d made up with her children and his old rival, but he’d never told the pony he’d hurt the most that he was sorry. And when Granny Smith told him that she was back for a day… well, let’s just say that a window or two was cracked, and some plates shattered. Grand Pear coughed a fair bit after that, but he’d hurried as fast as he could to Sweet Apple Acres. He hadn’t expected her to forgive him - after what he’d done, he wouldn’t forgive him, either. But his daughter was an extremely forgiving pony and had given him a second chance he didn’t deserve. Grand Pear had no idea how Pear Butter had turned out so different from him and the rest of the family. She was willing to make friends with the Apples, which was something that none of the Pears would have ever dreamed of doing.
The family spent the rest of the morning and a little bit of the afternoon touring the castle and exploring all the different traps and things that could happen if you played the oregon to the outside, although it didn’t seem like very long. Big Mac remembered to bring along a picnic lunch, and the ponies enjoyed it in front of the old thrones of Celestia and Luna.
“I want to take you to meet Zecora,” Apple Bloom said, her mouth full of sandwich.
“Apple Bloom, chew with your mouth closed,” Pear Butter reprimanded. Apple Bloom swallowed and said:
“She’s just about the best zebra ever! Actually, she’s the only zebra I know, so I don’t have anypony to compare her against. But I bet if I did, she’d still be the best.”
“Wait, Zecora’s a zebra?” Bright Mac said. “What even is that?”
“It’s kinda like a horse, but with stripes,” Sugar Belle supplied. She took another bite of her hay sandwich.
“I think I met her once,” Grand Pear said thoughtfully, tapping his hoof to his chin as he recalled. “Ah, yes, she stopped by once to try some pear jam, and she kept coming back, she said it was so good. She never bought any, so I think she was just there for the samples.” Everypony laughed. When they were all quiet again, Bright Mac’s stomach rumbled into the silence. Everypony laughed all over again. Big Mac wordlessly reached into the picnic basket and pulled out an apple pie.
“Apple pie!” Bright Mac exclaimed, jumping up.
“Eyup,” Big Mac rumbled. He gave everypony a slice of apple pie.
The sun was halfway down in the sky when the group of Apples arrived at Zecora’s hut. All the Apples, except for Big Mac and Apple Bloom, gazed around in wonder. It wasn’t like anything they’d ever seen. Apple Bloom marched straight up to the door and knocked her hoof on it three times. Immediately, Zecora opened the door. She smiled when she saw Apple Bloom.
“Why, hello, it’s Apple Bloom. I see you’ve brought somepony new.” Zecora looked at the rest of the ponies and opened the door wider, displaying her hut. “Come in, come in. Make yourselves at home. But, please, be careful. There’s not much room to roam.”
Apple Bloom followed Zecora, and so did everypony else. They all craned their necks to look at everything. It was all so… new. And different. They didn’t know quite what to make of it. Apple Bloom trotted over to the edge of the cauldron, which was full of a deep green, bubbling liquid.
“Whatcha makin’, Zecora?” Apple Bloom asked, peering at the liquid.
“Ah, that would be a formula for a simple clean up,” Zecora said, coming around to Apple Bloom. The rest of her family gathered on the other side of the cauldron. “Somepony always needs something cleaned up.”
“You… make these?” Bright Mac said. He looked up at all the bottles and jars hanging from the ceiling and sitting quietly on shelves.
“Mm. I do indeed. This is something unique to my breed.” Zecora picked up a spoon in her mouth and stirred the formula. “Apple Bloom, go get two moth cocoons. Mash them fine, but take your time.” Apple Bloom walked over to a jar and shook out two small cocoon-shaped balls of cotton into a bowl. She picked up a small, club-like object in her mouth and started grounding the cocoons to dust. When they were done, she brought the bowl over to Zecora and poured it into the cauldron. The liquid fizzed and, once Zecora stirred in the ground-up cocoons, turned light blue.
“It’s beautiful!” Pear Butter said. “You make such wonderful things. I didn’t know anypony could do this.” Zecora smiled, pleased.
Apple Bloom showed her parents and grandparents all the potions and concoctions she had learned to make. It wasn’t until Sugar Belle glanced out the window that she noticed how late it was getting.
“Goodness! The sun’s almost set. We’d better be getting home,” Sugar Belle exclaimed as she hurried to the door. Zecora opened it.
“You should go before the sun is gone. The forest is not safe after sunset is done.” The Apples trotted out the door, thanking Zecora. However, though they hurried back to Sweet Apple Acres, they were all silent. They knew what sunset would bring.
“I don’t want you to leave!” Apple Bloom burst out. She walked closer to her mother. Pear Butter put a hoof over Apple Bloom’s shoulders.
“I know, sweetie. None of us do,” she said reassuringly. Pear Butter brushed Apple Bloom’s bangs aside as she’d done so many times with Bright Mac.
“It’s been wonderful meeting you,” Sugar Belle said.
“You, too,” Bright Mac said halfheartedly. Big Macintosh stepped closer to his father. Grand Pear and Granny Smith were both holding back tears.
“It’ll be okay,” Big Mac said suddenly. “We had the best time. And we’ll remember this day forever.” His deep voice calmed and comforted them all.
The sun was behind the barn at Sweet Apple Acres, casting a huge shadow over the approaching Apples. Sugar Belle opened the door to find Applejack standing there, waiting for them.
“Applejack!” Granny Smith croaked. “Where have you been all day?” Applejack smiled mischievously.
“Getting something ready. Come on, y’all. This way.” Applejack started down the path to the orchard. Bright Mac and Pear Butter glanced at each other before following. The other ponies followed in suit. Applejack led them all the way to the place where Bright Mac and Pear Butter had their wedding. The apple and pear tree was glistening in the sunset, and in front of the stone carved with Applejack’s parents’s cutie marks was a long table filled with food. A steaming chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, apple fritters, apple pie, pear cake, and other apple and pear treats. Seated at the table was Mrs. Cake and Burnt Oak. Bright Mac and Pear Butter let out whinnies of surprise and excitement.
“What… I… how?” Granny finally made out.
“My friends and I made a special dinner for y’all. But we didn’t want you to find out, so we had to keep it a secret and do it while you were gone,” Applejack explained. “So… you like it?”
“Oh, Applejack, it’s so… everything!” Pear Butter hugged her eldest daughter.
“You’re such a thoughtful pony,” Bright Mac chimed in. He hurried to the table and sat next to Burnt Oak, pulling the chicken towards him. “Now, let’s eat!”
Everypony laughed and sat down around the table. For a few moments, there was nothing but eating delicious food and happy chatter. Bright Mac and Burnt Oak had a competition to see who could eat a turkey leg the fastest, and Granny Smith surprised them all by eating five slices of chicken in one bite.
“What?” she said when she saw everypony staring at her. “Who’d you think his father got his appetite from?”
Everypony got seconds, and a piece of pie and of cake. Once they had all eaten, they continued to talk.
“I’ll miss you, you know,” Mrs. Cake told Pear Butter quietly, tears forming in her eyes. Pear Butter looked at her old friend and patted Mrs. Cake’s hoof.
“It’ll be okay,” she whispered. “I’ll still be with you. And you have my children.” Mrs. Cake smiled at her.
“I have a feeling your daughter and her friends will help my two foals to earn their cutie marks some day.”
“I bet they will.”
“I… I just can’t believe you… you come back, and then… you have to leave again,” Burnt Oak said to Bright Mac quietly. Bright Mac started. His friend wasn’t usually gushy and cheesy.
“If I could spend every day of my life here with you and Buttercup and my family, I would,” Bright Mac responded, taking one of Burnt Oak’s hooves in his own. “You have no idea how special this has been to me. I want every day to be like this.”
“But it can’t.” Burnt Oak turned away from his friend, tears in his eyes.
“Even if I can’t actually be here, that doesn’t mean I won’t still be here with you,” Bright Mac said quietly, and Burnt Oak turned back to his friend, smiling.
Applejack looked up from her pie and gasped. The sun was just slipping beyond the horizon. Everypony else looked, too. Then they looked at Bright Mac and Pear Butter. The Apples and their friends stood up to hug them. Slowly, the tips of Bright Mac and Pear Butter’s hind legs began to fade away. Then the tips of their tails… and the tips of their front hooves… and their backs… Soon, all that was left was their heads. Applejack, Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, Granny Smith, Grand Pear, Mrs. Cake, and Burnt Oak stared at them, tears forming in their eyes and streaming down their cheeks. Bright Mac and Pear Butter smiled at their family and their friends before fading away completely. Burnt Oak and Mrs. Cake slowly left, their heads hung and tears still in their eyes. Grand Pear left after them. The last rays of sun faded away as the moon rose high in the sky.
“Come on, y’all,” Applejack said quietly. “We best be gettin’ to bed.” Applejack, Apple Bloom, Granny Smith, and Sugar Belle slowly walked out of the clearing. Big Mac started to follow, but then something caught his eye and he looked up.
“Stop,” he said quietly. “They’re here.” The rest of the Apples stopped and looked up, like Big Mac was. Next to the bright full moon were two bright stars, blinking and twinkling in the night sky. Tears came to all their eyes again.
“They’re here,” Apple Bloom whispered. She looked up at the bright stars and smiled. “They’ll always be here. Forever and ever.”
Author's Note
I was always wondering what would happen if Bright Mac and Pear Butter came back for a few days, so I wrote this! Hope you enjoy!
Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you for reading!
