Proof is in the Pudding... errr Jam
The sun rises, the world turns, and the inhabitants of the world begin their daily routines as reliably as the blazing orb that had woken them. It was another day in the land of Equestria, but not just any day. No, today was very different indeed, as it just so happened to be the birthday of a certain wizened old matron of the Apple family.
Breakfast had taken place at the Sweet Apple Acres farmstead without much fanfare, and Granny Smith had taken to her niche in the living room at her sturdy old rocking chair shortly after. Her grandchildren had already made their way outside and into the orchard where the hard, honest work of being a farmer waited for them, save for Apple Bloom. The little yellow filly bounded into the room as carefree as youthful innocence would allow before wrapping herself around the frail form of her grandmother in a loving embrace.
“Happy birthday Granny!”
With a faint chuckled Granny Smith tussled her granddaughters scarlet mane, “Why thank ya kindly Apple Bloom.” Pausing for a moment she looked down at the little filly pressed against her dull green fur. “How old do ya think Ah am today?”
“Well ya were seventy one last year, so that'd make ya seventy two Granny,” She replied as she shifted her gaze, mirroring her grandmother's orange eyes.
“Well that's mighty kind of ya,” she chortled at the notion. “Can't say Ah wouldn't mind being a spry young filly again.”
Apple Bloom withdrew slightly only offering a perplexed stare.
“Now yer lookin' at me like Ah've gone crazy. Don't worry, most ponies do. Can't say Ah blame em. Reckon Ah am a few apples short of a bushel, but what do ya expect fer a mare of three hundred n' seventy two.”
The filly's expression switched from mild confusion to astonishment at the proclamation. Her jaw dropped and her pupils grew impossibly large to the size of saucers.
“But-But Granny! That's impossible! Nopony can be that old! 'Cept fer a princess Ah guess...” she trailed off as the wheels started to turn, trying to organize her sporadic thoughts. A gaping smile stretched across her face as she reached her inevitable conclusion, “Granny, are you a princess!?”
The ancient gray haired mare responded with a feeble, yet warm laugh as she waved a hoof in the air, “Oh pony feathers. No, Ah ain't no princess or anythin' of the sort. Ah'm just an ol' apple farmer that time has forgotten about.”
“But how then?”
“Reckon Ah got a doozy of a yarn to spin for ya but first Ah got two questions fer ya.”
The little filly sat on the floor completely captivated, hanging onto her grandmother's every word.
“Ah Ain't quite as loony as most folks think, though mah memory is a lil rusty. Do ya recall when Ah came to ya'll's school n' told ya'll 'bout the foundin' of Ponyville?”
“How could Ah forget! Diamond Tiara was right saddle-sore for a whole week after that!”
“Well seein' as ya remember that, can ya remember how long ago that was? Ah'll give ya a hint. How long has Ponyville been doing Winter Wrap Ups?”
Apple Bloom sat and thought for a moment before gasping at the revelation. Granny Smith let out a light chuckle at her reaction as she began to rock rhythmically back and forth in her rocking chair.
“Zap apple season will come along 'fore too long n' Ah reckon it's fittin' Ah share this with ya before that happens.”
“What do the zap apples have to do with it?” the young filly asked cocking her head, her pink ribbon flopping to one side to punctuate her curiosity.
“Yer well aware there's a spot of magic that goes along with zap apples. Whether harvestin' or cookin' em, but Ah reckon there's a bit more magic when it comes to jammin'.”
“What do ya mean Granny?”
Continuing to sway to and fro in her chair Granny Smith began to reveal the terrible, wonderful secret of zap apple jam.
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Yer already familiar with the signs of the zap apple harvest, the timber wolves howling n' such.
There's more that goes into jammin' than makin' pies n' the like. If ya recall, everthin's gotta be just so; The honey, the jars, the polka dots...
Look at me ramblin' on like a filly.
Anyways, when makin' zap apple jam ya always gotta be tastin' it to make sure it turns out just right n' I reckon that's where the magic happens. The magic Ah ain't ever told ya about. Somethin' about it that gives a pony more life then nature intended. Near as Ah can tell it's gotta be while it's still hot in the kettle. Once it's been jarred and cooled whatever magic there was is gone.
Now before ya go askin' any questions there, Ah know yer gonna ask me how Ah know that. Ah ain't quite lost all my marbles yet. The truth is Ah ain't the only pony who ever lived longer than they should after samplin' a bit of zap apple jam while it was cookin'. Yer Ma and Pa had their share of this lil miracle as well. There's another pony that might surprise ya too. That lil filly friend of yers, Filthy Rich's daughter, her great grandfather Stinkin' Rich n' his wife shared from our lil fountain of youth fer a spell too.
…................................................................................................................
“What!? Diamond Tiara's great grandfather!?” Apple Bloom blurted out in utter shock and disbelief as she shot to her hooves.
“Calm down there Pipsqueak,” Granny cooed with half lidded eyes as she reached out and patted her granddaughter on the head. “Ya oughta close yer mouth there, lest ya be trying ta catch flies. Yer not related if that's what yer fussin' over.”
Relieved, the young filly once again took up her spot on the floor intent on learning her Granny's secret.
“Now where was Ah?” she began as she settled back into her story. “Ahh that's right, Stinkin' Rich...”
….........................................................................................................
He came to Ponyville as a business pony lookin' to strike out on his own. Once he'd made his way sellin' zap apple jam he started comin' 'round the farm more n' more just to visit. Guess ya could say we got right friendly n' before we knew it we were spendin' almost all our time together. Zap apple harvest would come n' he'd keep me company n' the kitchen while Ah'd let him sample my work. 'Course that was before we knew about the magic that was in it.
We watched other ponies grow old, fillies grow up, n' we stayed the same, slowly watchin' the world turn. We didn't understand it at first n' not too many ponies took notice as we mostly kept to ourselves. Most believed we'd been blessed by Princess Celestia. Rich kept shop in town but never got asked too many questions. When he did, he'd say that it was mah cookin' that kept him young. Little did we know at the time how right he was.
After Ma n' Pa Smith had passed on we took to tryin' to find the cause of our youth. Eventually we came to the zap apple jam, ain't nopony aside from us had ever eaten it out of the pot. It sounded crazy but it's the only thing that made sense.
As time went on we brought on hired hooves to help keep the farm, n fer a long time we were happy. Rich n' Ah never started a family or anything of the sort. We were content just to keep each others company. That is 'til we had our fallin' out.
Ah couldn't tell ya how long we'd been together, it'd been a lifetime fer most ponies, but one zap apple season Rich grew distant... quiet. It was unusual fer him. He was always such a talkative pony, 'specially when he was tryin' to sell somethin'. Not knowin' any better Ah asked him what'd been eatin' at him. It was like stirrin' a nest of hornets.
He tried to convince me we should sell my zap apple jam recipe, or sell tastes of it while Ah was cookin'! He wanted to market it as a fountain of youth! Can ya believe that? The nerve! We quarreled somethin' fierce over it, n' Ah reckon anypony that caught wind of it was runnin' fer the hills. Once the dust had settled, he was gone.
…............................................................................................................
“Why didn't ya wanna sell the recipe Granny?” Apple Bloom interrupted. “Wouldn't helping ponies live longer be a good thing?”
“Yer heart is in the right place kiddo,” she said as her wrinkles deepened into a warm smile, “but a normal pony ain't meant to live forever. It'd be disastrous if it fell into the wrong hooves. It's too dangerous to allow somepony the chance to abuse it.”
“What happened next?”
“Well next Ah reckon is when Ah met yer grandpappy.”
The little fillies ears perked up as she scooted closer, looking up at the old storyteller in wonder, “What was he like Granny?”
“He was strong n' quiet. He was never one to dilly dally when there was work to be done. He never said much but he was smarter than he'd let on. Big Macintosh is like him in a lot of ways, even takes after his good looks. We were like two peas in a pod, him and Ah. You'd have liked him.”
“What happened to him?”
“Like all ponies with the passage of time, he grew old.”
“But Ah thought the zap apple jam made ya live longer.”
Granny Smith let out a heavy sigh as she reminisced about the stallion she had known so long ago.
“It does darlin', but he was stubborn as a mule. Somethin' Ah always liked about him. Ah think it runs in the family. Whenever Ah offered him some jam he'd just smile, say 'Ah meant to live forever' that it 'dilutes the value of life'. Reckon there's some truth to that. When ya live longer than anypony else ya get passive, n' ya start just watchin' the rest of the world. Yer never in a hurry cuz you've had a lot of yesterdays and ya got a lot more tomorrows comin'.”
“Ah see... What ever happened to Stinkin' Rich then?”
“Stinkin' what...?”
“Stinkin' Rich. Ya said ya'll had a fight.”
“Darn tootin'! We feuded somethin' fierce. Anyways...”
…....................................................................................................................
Stinkin' Rich stormed off the farm like a thunder cloud that'd come outa the Everfree Forest. We didn't see each other or say nothin' to each other for a long while, not 'til the next zap apple harvest. He'd come strollin' up to the house one evenin'. Yer grandpappy n' Ah had been an item for a while by then, n it was yer grandpappy who answered the door. He almost clobbered him on sight, but instead he let Rich in to say his piece.”
First words out of his mouth were an apology. To be honest Ah never held any hard feelin's over what happened, n' quicker than you can say lickety split we were all laughin' n' carryin' on like nothin' had ever happened. Everythin' was right as rain.
It wasn't too long after harvest yer grandpappy n' Ah had tied the knot and gotten married, n' before the next harvestin' season yer mother was born. She was a beautiful lil filly. As a matter of fact yer a spittin' image of her. Ya share the same curiosity to boot. She was such a sweet filly, always thinkin' of others 'fore herself. Even after she'd grown into a mare she never lost her passion fer helpin' ponies.
Now that next harvest Rich came back 'round with a wife of his own. She was a very pretty pony, but not really one who cared for the hominess of the farm. Ah think it grew on her though. It became a tradition, almost a holiday in it's own right, when they would come over at the zap apple harvest and share in makin' jam.
Those years flew past, sometimes Ah wonder where they all went, but eventually yer Ma had met yer Pa and we had brought another pony into our family to share our miracle with. Yer Pa was a real looker if Ah say so mahself. Applejack's a carbon copy of yer Pa, right down to his old stetson she's always wearin'. Ah can't say there were many ponies that worked as hard as he did. From sun up to sun down he'd work the orchard, n' he was honest to a fault. Couldn't tell a lie even if it meant savin' him a whole lot of trouble.
Eventually yer Grandpappy moved on, those were hard times. It had been a long time since Ah'd lost somepony so close to me. He went quietly, just like he lived, smilin' to the end. Said 'don't ya be in a hurry to follow me'. We burried him up on the hill over yonder, the same hill under the same tree he asked me to marry him. Where we would sit n' watch the sun set over the orchard durin' the summers we shared.
The years kept comin' as we passed through em 'n eventually Rich n' his wife stopped comin' round. They finally planned to start a family of their own. Ah never took Rich fer a family pony really, but he had himself a son that followed right in his hoofsteps. Kid had a knack fer sellin' things n' soon he was runnin' his fathers business like he was born fer it. He wasn't out on his own too long when Rich n' his wife passed away. They never did get to meet their grandson, Filthy. It was quite a ceremony with a lot of to-do, seein' how many ponies knew him n' how important his business was to Ponyville.
'Fore too long it was just the three of us; yer Ma, Pa, n' Ah. Time really is a funny thing. It seemed it wasn't too long 'fore yer folks wanted to settle down n' have a family of their own. Ah must say Ah certainly wasn't opposed the idea. Ah loved the thought of grandfoals, the sound of lil hooves pitter patterin' about n' such. Though it was what they decided next that took me by surprise.
They wanted to give up zap apple jam to live a natural life. As natural as they could at their age, though they still looked as fresh n' young as May flowers. On top of that they wanted a normal life fer ya'll n' asked Ah not get any of ya'll involved in this lil wellspring. Ah guess ya do something long enough it becomes second nature n' it turns ya on yer head when it changes. Makes ya re-evaluate what ya got n' how ya been spendin' yer yesteryears.
Ah won't lie it made me sad knowin' what the end result would eventually be, n' Ah reckon it all came faster n' Ah expected it would. Seems a pony lives on borrowed time once they stop eatin' zap apple jam out of the kettle. The day Big Macintosh was born was the biggest day of mah life. Mah first grandchild! Ah didn't think Ah could be more proud 'til Ah was proven wrong a couple years later when we were blessed with lil Applejack. As happy as Ah was in the years that followed, Ah couldn't help but worry as yer Ma n' Pa grew old. Not that they looked it, but they were slowin' down, n' achin' all the time. Takin' on all the burdens of old age, just not the appearance.
A few more years had passed n' to everypony's surprise yer Ma was pregnant again. Any guess as to who that would be? Yer Pa passed away before you were born, n' fer months yer Ma had one hoof in the grave right behind him. Ah was terribly afraid Ah'd lose the both of ya but yer Ma was right stubborn when she wanted to be. She held on just long enough to bring ya into this world before her own flame went out. Holdin' ya with what little strength she had left she whispered to ya 'yer mah last precious gift fer this world. Ah know you'll make it a brighter place'. It's the only thing she got the chance to tell ya. She tied that ribbon in yer mane too, it's the only gift she had to give ya. It used to be hers to wear.
We buried yer Ma n' Pa under the same tree we buried yer grandpappy. Ah like to think they're watchin' over ya'll from up there, n' sometimes Ah like to go up there n' watch the sunset so Ah can tell em about ya'll n' how yer doin'. Even though they're all gone, it's been a blessin' seein' parts of em live on through ya'll. Sometimes when Ah look at the three of ya Ah feel Ah'm seein' them again, n' realize even when a pony dies they're never truly gone.
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Tears welled up in Apple Bloom's eyes as she heard the truth about the parents she never knew, of her mother's final words and the precious pink bow she kept tied in her mane. A mixture of pride and regret vied for dominance over the little filly's feelings, leaving her heart aching.
“Why Granny? Why did they stop? Why didn't they want us to know about the zap apple jam?”
Granny Smith held out a hoof, inviting her granddaughter to climb into her rocking chair with her. Once Apple Bloom had done so she firmly pressed her face into her grandmother's side. Granny took a deep breath before slowly releasing it as she comforted the confused filly.
“Ah reckon so they could live a normal life and watch ya'll grow up. So ya'll wouldn't have the curse of living more lifetimes than ya were meant to.”
Drying her eyes with a front hoof Apple Bloom finally brought herself to meet her grandmother's kind stare.
“What do ya mean?”
“It's a terrible burden n' a wonderful gift to live as long as Ah have. Ya see so many lives, so many loved ones come and go. Ya watch the world change in truly amazin' ways you would never expect.” She hesitated as though her next words had placed an incredible weight on her chest, “It's unthinkable when a mother buries her children. Ah couldn't bear the thought of buryin' mah grandchildren.”
Granny Smith paused for a moment as she organized her thoughts, noticing the fearful eyes that gazed up at her.
“Don't worry yerself there Half-pint. Ah reckon Ah still might have a lot of years left, hard to say though. Ah don't think the zap apples hold quite the same magic fer me that they used to. I'm agin' faster n' faster all the time. Thirty years ago ya'd never guess Ah was any older than forty or fifty.”
Finally bringing herself to speak, Apple Bloom relaxed her grip around her grandmother.
“Why ain't ya ever told me before now? Have ya ever told Big Mac or Applejack?”
“No Ah ain't told yer brother or sister. They knew their parents and it didn't strike me as the right thing to change what they knew about em or what they believe.”
“Why?”
“Well I reckon what Ah'm 'bout to ask ya is reason enough.”
Apple Bloom waited apprehensively as Granny Smith took another deep breath.
“Yer folks never wanted ya'll to know, like Ah said, but at the same time Ah don't think it's rightly fair to keep somethin' so wonderful as zap apple jam from the world. Leavin' it's discovery up to somepony else is to risky,” she said pausing as the tension in the room thickened. The little yellow filly shifted uneasily in the brief silence.
“Ah ain't gonna be 'round forever n' there's a reason Ah asked ya to help me jam last season. Yer brother is just like yer grandpappy n' Ah know he'd just smile and decline. Yer sister already has a lot of responsibility bearin' an Element of Harmony n' it wouldn't be fair to ask her to take on another burden like this. They both are well on in their own lives n' found their place in the world. It ain't rightly fair of me to ask ya neither Ah s'pose, but well, Ah'm askin'”
Apple Bloom had finally relaxed, replacing the turmoil of her earlier feelings with a strange sense of calm.
“You want me to take over jammin' instead of you Granny?”
“S'pose that's what Ah'm askin'. Ya don't have to answer now, n' ya can say no if ya want to.”
“But what about you?”
the wizened green mare sighed a light chuck before responding, “A wise ol' pony once said 'Ah ain't meant to live forever'. Ah imagine the zap apples will still grant me enough years to find somepony who would take up jammin' so Ah can rest these weary bones of mine.”
“Ah'll do it.”
“Are ya certain Apple Bloom?” she asked with a hint of skepticism. “It's a terrible curse n' a wonderful blessin' to have. You'll see a lot of amazin' things but there'll be a lot of heartache that goes along with it. It's a mighty powerful secret to keep.”
The filly replied with conviction, even surprising herself a little bit as she gripped Granny in as tight a hug as she could manage, “Ah'm certain! Maybe Ah'll even get my cutie mark in zap apple jammin'!
Returning her granddaughter's embrace Granny patted her on the head, letting out a warm laugh, “Ya sure are a humdinger of a zap apple jammer there kiddo. Now what do ya say we get back to this birthday business?”
Apple Bloom gasped with excitement as she leaped out of the chair, “Can we bake a cake? I didn't get ya a present but Ah'd like to do somethin' special for ya.”
“Reckon that'd be mighty fine,” she said rising from her rocking chair. “Ya don't need to be worryin' to much over getting' me nothin' though. The sun rises, the world turns, n' every day with my grandchildren are all the gift Ah could ever ask fer.”
The pair, though separated by generations and brought together by a force more powerful than just family ties, made their way towards the kitchen. The sole keepers of the terrible, wonderful secret of zap apple jam.
