CRASH!
White light filled the room for a moment as water hammered down on the windows. Then, just as the initial echo of the lightning completely stopped, the loud rumble of thunder shook the very floor beneath the filly.
She squeaked and hid her muzzle under her shaking hooves. Her room was big, maybe too big for a filly of her age. Nopony could deny that it was often a lot of fun—especially not her, but when it was storming it felt more like a cave. A scary, dark, empty cave.
CRASH!
She jumped to her hooves and galloped to her closet, taking impatient hops in an attempt to get there faster. It felt like it worked, but her heart raced all the same. Completely focused on the safe haven of the closet, her eyes did their best to ignore all the dark, unrecognizable shapes in her room.
Finally, she opened the door and hid inside. It was cramped and offered little space to move against the clothes she rarely wore, but at least this time the thunder was muffled. That didn't stop her from trembling and whimpering, though.
From outside her safe zone, the door to her room creaked. She could barely hear it, but her ears perked up at the comforting sound. She knew who it was, and she almost wanted to run out, but not yet.
"Are you in here, honey?"
A whimper escaped the filly's mouth as she pushed the door open and peered outside, finally blinking tears away. "Ma?"
"Oh, Applejack, it's okay," the mare whispered as she made her way to the closet where her daughter was slowly emerging from. "I'm here now, don't you fret."
Applejack kept her head low as she crept to her mom. "Ma, I'm scared…"
Just as she finished her sentence, another bolt of lightning lit up the room. Applejack yelped and jumped into her mother's embrace. Pear Butter wrapped her forelegs around the little filly and pulled her into a tight hug. "Aw, it's alright, sweetie. I got you."
Applejack pushed her face further into Pear Butter's bouncy orange mane. The rumble seemed to shake the floor beneath Applejack. But her mom was there now, keeping her stable. "I don't like the thunder, Ma…"
Pear Butter pushed Applejack away for a moment, keeping her hooves on the filly's shoulders. She smiled softly. "I’m gonna tell you something, now, this is meant to be a secret, so do you promise not to tell anypony?"
Applejack nodded tearfully. Her curiosity pushed away her fear, even if just a little bit. "I promise."
"The thunder is just our family saying hi. The ones who we can't see anymore," she explained as she stroked Applejack's mane slowly. "They're big ‘n loud, but they don't mean to scare you."
Applejack looked out her window. Lightning struck again, and the filly flinched, blinking at the light. But she didn't hide away. "Like… like Pa?"
"Yeah," Pear Butter giggled, holding Applejack firmly to her body. "Just like Pa. He's big, loud, but he ain't scary, is he? He’s just silly."
Applejack nodded slowly. "He ain't scary. And… neither are the ones sayin' hi from the sky?"
Pear Butter crouched down to the floor. "Come on, Applejack. I'm gonna show you somethin'."
Applejack nodded and climbed on her mother's back. Pear Butter stood while Applejack tightened her hold around her neck. The mare’s orange, bouncy mane tickled Applejack's nose and made her snort and giggle, shaking her head to clear the funny feeling. "Whaddya wanna show me?"
"Look, next time you see lightning, I want you to say hi, alright?" Pear Butter sat at Applejack's windowsill.
Applejack climbed up and rested her body on the top of her mom's neck. The rain dripped down the window and continued to fall roughly against the glass. She waited for more lightning to strike, her chin finding a comfortable spot on her Pear Butter's mane to rest. "Will they say anythin' back?"
"That's what the thunder is, darlin'."
Applejack nodded slightly and looked resolutely out the window. Rain pattered softly on the window. It was getting hard to stay awake. The noise of the muted raindrops lulled the filly, turning what was left of her fear into drowsiness.
After a few moments of sleepy blinking, the sky lit up white again. Applejack perked up and gasped as the flash of light filled her room for a split second. Her shadow looked huge on the wall but it wasn’t frightening anymore.
"Uh… hi!" Applejack called out to the sky, darting her eyes up as if to make eye contact with the clouds.
The thunder was loud this time; a roaring boom that shook Applejack to the core. She smiled despite the overwhelming noise. Her mom was right. She could tell that it was a response to her greeting.
Pear Butter smiled gently and wrapped her hoof around the orange filly. "See? I told you. It's not scary now that you know, is it?"
Applejack shook her head, still glancing up at the storming sky with eyes wide in awe.
They stayed there for a while longer, watching the lightning and listening to the thunder. The soothing melody of the rain brought back the desire to sleep, and soon, Applejack drifted off to the rhythm of the rain. She could almost swear that the thunder wished her sweet dreams.
Applejack sat on a hill overlooking Sweet Apple Acres. The grass felt soft beneath her, and the wind blew her mane in front of her, but the hat on her head kept it mostly in place. The gust wasn’t cold nor unpleasantly warm. It was like a hug from the heavens themselves.
There was a storm coming, that she knew. The sky was cloudy and, for once, Rainbow Dash had actually personally warned her about the upcoming thunderstorm. Even without her pegasus friend’s help, she knew. The air tasted like rain and the ends of her coat bristled with the electricity in the air. Applejack didn't mind. In fact, it was perfect.
She took off her hat and placed it on the smooth stone in front of her, keeping a hoof on it just in case. Only a few hoof-lengths away rested two twin graves, each engraved with her parents' cutie marks. A jar of preserves, and a halved apple, not unlike the one on her brother’s flank. Applejack sighed and looked up. The first drop of rain fell on her nose. Somewhere in the sky, lightning broke.
"Hiya," Applejack started. The thunder took a moment to respond, but when it did, Applejack smiled. "Nice to hear from ya today. I'm glad it's rainin'. It feels nice.
"I've been meanin' to talk to y'all for a while but things've been so busy. Uh, it's been a while since you left. Happened on this day, too, so I had to make sure to catch y'all up on everything. Guess it's perfect that it's rainin' today, right?"
The sky lit up with a response.
"Yeah. I thought you'd think so too," Applejack agreed with a smile. "Big Mac and me, we miss y'all every day. Apple Bloom does too, I think. She doesn't remember you all that well, but I can tell she misses y'all in a different way." Applejack looked up and waited for the thunder. It was long, but quiet this time.
The rain started to fall, hard. Applejack's mane plastered to her head. "I try to be there for her. Like you were there for me." Applejack paused. "I just wish I could do more for her. Granny's got most of that covered, though. But y'all… Y'all would be so proud of her. She finally got her cutie mark, ya know?"
White light lit up the stone where her parents rested. Applejack smiled. The wetness of her face was equal parts proud tears and rain now. "I knew you would be. She and her little friend group all got ‘em together. They help other foals discover their talents and even help grown ponies rediscover the meaning of their cutie marks. I ain't ever seen three fillies get their marks for the same thing at the same time. They really are special.
"I just wish y'all coulda been there to see it. She's been working for it so hard. Harder than you know – for years. But I like to think y'all are watchin', right?"
A moment of silence passed. Applejack let herself be soothed by the falling rain as it flattened her coat against her body. She was a lot bigger than she had been that night. A sad smile found its way onto the farmer’s face as she glanced down at her mother’s cutie mark. “We found out about you, Ma. That you were a pear.” Her voice wavered a bit as she let out a short chuckle. “Right about sent us on a wild goose chase ‘round town askin’ about y’all. It was kinda a big surprise, but we don’t mind, we loved learnin’ about you two.”
Drops of rainwater fell harshly on her as she looked past the graves and out at the vast land that belonged to her family. A lot of it was apple orchard, but she liked this spot because it overlooked a nice clearing. The perfect spot to watch the sunset.
“Everypony in this town still remembers you. They still love you. I hope you know that wherever you are,” she whispered. “Truthfully, I don’t think that y’all could ever even be forgotten. Even… even Grand Pear came back to make things right. Or at least, as right as he could.
“He loves you, Ma,” Applejack croaked, all of the emotions from that meeting coming back to her. “He does, really, he just… he made some mistakes. But he wishes he could have told you that himself. I guess I’ll tell you for ‘im.”
She shook her head slowly, trying to turn the conversation back to a happy one. “Anyway, there’s not much new going on with Big Mac or me. We’re just doin’ what we always do. Just like y’all taught us! Maybe someday I’ll get to be in charge of the farm. I ain’t gonna worry ‘bout that, though. Granny ain’t going anywhere anytime soon,” she added with a laugh. “Besides, Big Mac and I still got a lot to learn. You’ll be proud of us, too.”
One crack of lightning split off into two and struck the ground right in the centre of the clearing that Applejack liked to look over when she visited. Her eyes widened as the thunder came immediately after, loud and clear. It made her duck her head a bit.
Her surprise was replaced with a warmth in her chest that took over her entire body. The unmistakable feeling of love. She didn't want to risk getting sick, though. Her Ma would definitely not be very happy with her if she did.
Applejack took her hat and placed it on her head again. The brim sagged with rainwater, but the inside was still warm and dry. Applejack stood, water dripping from her coat and slicking the twin graves that were now beneath her. She rested a hoof on each protruding stone and whispered goodbye. As she did, a low rumble filled Applejack's entire world.
"I love y'all too."
There was no more lightning after that.
Author's Note
Okay, here’s a little (emphasis on little) one-shot for ya. Nothing amazing, but I always meant to upload this eventually, so I thought “why not now?” This ain’t even the story I meant to upload right now but the other one kind of spiraled out of control so I need to actually rein that in and finish it haha!
