"Dinner!" Granny Smith called out to her grandchildren, who were each scattered somewhere in the orchard nearest to the farm house on Sweet Apple Acres.
Eventually, the whole Apple Family was in the kitchen sitting at the table and eating their dinner
"I just love when we're all close enough to the farm house that we can all be here to have a good ol' family dinner" Applejack loved spending time with her family, they were the most important ponies she knew.
"It's not a family dinner though" Applebloom was clearly depressed over something as she ate.
"What do you mean? You're here, I'm here, Applejack and Big Mac are here too" Granny Smith argued
"Well, Y'see Granny, whenever I go to Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo's houses for dinner, they always eat with their Ma and Pa!" Applebloom continued
Granny's eyes widened at the mention of Applebloom's parents.
"How come they're never here to eat dinner with us?" Applebloom asked
Applejack sighed "Well sis, I think It's time we told you the truth, Y'know the way we told you that Ma and Pa are gone to sell apples in the big market in the sky?"
"Yeah!" Applebloom remebered being told. "Princess Celestia made a big airship market that was full of apples and Ma and Pa left to work there.
"Well" Applejack continued "I think It's time you knew the truth"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Applejack stood at the base of one of the apple trees, she was only a little little pony at this point and was only about Applebloom's age. She bucked the tree as hard as she could with her hindlegs and a couple of apples fell into her basket. She turned around to count them.
"4! I got 4 apples Pa!" Applejack turned to her father, Apple Cider, "Did I do good!?" Applejack was only learning to buck trees as good as her big brother, Big Macintosh.
"That's very good Applejack, way better than yesterday!" Cider replied "Now let's get you back to the farmhouse and help you mother make some of her Apple Pie!"
Applejack loved her father more than anypony in her family, she spent all day everyday with him watching him buck apples and learn from him. Applejack didn't know what she'd do if she didn't have her father by her side. The two ponies walked back to the farm house, It was much smaller than the one the Apples use now and was made from old, dry wood. In the kitchen, Cider's wife and Applejack's mother, Ambrosia, was already preparing her Apple Pie.
"Ambrosia!" Cider yelled as he ran in and snatched the batter off of his wife. "Let me do that, a pregnant mare should never work too hard"
Ambrosia rolled her eyes and took the bowl back away from her husband. "Apple Cider! I am pregnant! Not disabled!" Ambrosia was heavilly pregnant with her 3rd child and couldn't do anything in her own home without Cider or Granny Smith insisting on taking over just because she was pregnant.
"Sorry, but the baby's due any day now and I want you to be relaxed as ever when it's time!"
"Hold on a second!" Applebloom interrupted "Was that baby who Ma was having me?"
"Of course!" Applejack put her dinner plate beside the sink and walked into the living room to continue the story.
"And the old farm house, was that the old barn on the north orchard?" Applebloom was full of questions.
"Eeyup" Big Mac replied
"But why the north orchard? Aren't the trees dead there?" Applebloom asked again
"How do you think they all died?" Applejack continued the story
"Mmmmmm! That smells great Ma!" Applejack loved the smell of her mother's apple pies, they always tasted better than anypony else's.
"Thanks sweetie" Ambrosia was one of the best cooks in Ponyville and whenever the Summer Harvest Festival was on the food she should would be sold out in 10 seconds flat.
"So, about the baby" The young filly admired her mother's large belly "Have you thought of any names?"
"Oh well only one if It's a boy" Ambrosia replied "I was thinking we could name him Apple Buck but I really don't have any ideas for a girl's name"
"Oh" Applejack was hoping for a girl and wanted to know what her name would be. Being the only girl besides her mother would be hard with 3 stallions running around the farm.
"Ambrosia!" Cider galloped into the kitchen. "It's Macintosh! He's stuck in the orchard! A couple trees fell down around him and he can't escape!"
"Oh No!" Ambrosia galloped out the door with Cider, Granny Smith and Applejack to help her son, not realsing she had left the oven on with the pies still cooking.
After a while they reached Big Mac. He was trapped behind a tree and it was impossible to jump over or climb under it.
"Don't worry son! We'll get you out" Cider reassured his son. He bent under the tree as far as he could and lifted it with his back. Applejack and Granny Smith grabbed onto the under end of the tree and pushed it up too. After a while the tree was up and out of the way as Big Mac trotted through.
"I'm so glad you're safe!" Ambrosia hugged her son as the family left to return home.
When they were approaching the house Applejack started sniffing around her "Anypony else smell smoke!?"
"My pies!" Ambrosia remembered she forgot to turn off the over and galloped ahead of her family back to the house.
When the rest caught up, Ambrosia was standing still at the edge of the orchard, the farmhouse was burning!
"The house!" Cider yelled as he watched his own home burning furiously, the old, dry wood had helped the fire grow and it was already too late to save the house.
"Hurry! We have to get to Ponyville and get help or else the whole farm will burn down!"
The family left the farm and hurried to town to get help. With the town in sight they began to gallop, Ambrosia stopped and started screaming.
"Calm down, Ambrosia! We're safe here and once we get help we can put out the fire and save the farm!"
"It's not that!" Ambrosia was in agony "The baby! It's coming"
"Applejack, Macintosh! Get to Ponyville and get help! Me and Granny will stay here and help your mother!
The two foals ran to town as Granny Smith and Cider stayed with Ambrosia to help deliver the baby.
"Just keep breathing, Sugarcube" Granny Smith held her Daughter-In-Law's hoof as she screamed in agony.
Big Mac and Applejack ran into Ponyville square.
"You gotta help!" Applejack screamed at the top of her lungs "Sweet Apple Acres is on fire and my Ma is having her baby. Somepony has to help us, please!"
A large group of ponies ran to the foals and ran off to Sweet Apple Acres to put out the fire and help Ambrosia deliever her child. A group of unicorns followed levitating buckets of water as the weather team formed a storm to help quench the flames.
"Aaaaaaah!!" Ambrosia screamed in agony! She'd given birth twice before but it was always as painful
"We're here!" A pony called out as the group of mares surrounded Ambrosia and comforted her. Stallions galloped by carrying buckets of water. A huge storm cloud the size of Sweet Apple Acres passed over and a group of weather team pegasi flew after it.
The smoke was starting to pass by overhead, causing Ambrosia to stress out more.
"Calm down, sugarcube" Granny Smith spoke calmly, hiding her terror "You saw all the ponies that are gonna help put out the fire. You just focus on delivering this baby and then we can go check it out, ok?"
Meanwhile, things weren't looking good, the storm clouds were almost empty now and the fire was still burning. The whole North Orchard was burning at this point.
"We're never gonna get this fire out" Applejack cried
"We'll just have to protect the rest of the orchard and let it burn!" One pegasus yelled, flying above surveying the fire.
Ambrosia was still crying in agony
"I can see It's head!" One mare cried out!
"Alright, just keep pusing darling, nearly there" Granny Smith coaxed the mare.
Soon, the baby was out and Ambrosia breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's a filly!" Granny Smith announced.
"A filly?" Ambrosia gasped. "It would be the one I didn't pick a name for!"
"Now's not the time to names!" Granny Smith interrupted "Our home's burning as we speak! You gals take care of the baby until we get back, we're gonna go to the farm and see if there's any luck with putting out the fire." Ambrosia caught her second wind and galloped off with Granny Smith to the farm.
Apple Cider threw another bucket of water into the orchard, at least the flames on the trees were going out. The house was still engulfed in the fire.
Ambrosia was the first to show up at the farm. Cider turned aroundd to see his wife, no longer pregnant.
"Ambrosia! You had your foal! Was it a colt or a filly?" The anxious father asked.
"A filly, but now's not the time. We need to put out this fire!"
The pegasi had made another storm cloud and were once again lashing rain down on the orchard, eventually the fire went out on the trees, but the house was still burning.
At this point, Granny Smith arrived.
Suddenly, Cider bolted off through the orchard towards the burning farm-house.
"CIDER!!" Ambrosia galloped off after him, quickly followed by Granny Smith
Cider galloped into the house before anypony could stop him. Ambrosia stopped on the porch and turned to Granny Smith.
"Y'all better have changed your mind! You two must be crazy going in there!" The elderly mare yelled
"I can't let him go in there alone. Granny Smith, if we don't come out of this. I want you to do something for me" The mare had tears in her eyes
"Anything, Ambrosia!" Granny replied
"I want you to name the baby Applebloom"
Granny Smith nodded as Ambrosia ran into the house after her husband.
"Apple Cider! You must be crazy running in here on your own!" Ambrosia found her husband in the bedroom upstairs.
"I had to save something!" Apple Cider protested, he could hardly see his wife in the thick flames. He opened a drawer and found the most precious thing in his entire house.
"What is so important you have to come into a burning building and probably get yourself killed?"
"Our Wedding Album" Cider lifted the album out of the drawer and went over to hand it to his wife
The floor collapsed under them
^^^^^^^^^^
The storm was still going as the pegasi tried to put out the fire. The flames in the house started to get smaller and smaller until they vanished, it was as if they knew what had just happened within the house.
Granny Smith got worried when nopony came out of the house even after the fire was put out. She went back to her two children who were waiting outside the orchard
"Is the fire out? Is anyone hurt? Where are Ma and Pa?" Applejack anxiously asked.
Granny Smith was silent, the grim look on her face said it all.
"No! They can't be!" Big Mac cried as the two foals raced through the orchard, both holding back tears.
A pony stepped out of the house and put a hoof up to the foals
"Sorry, You wouldn't want to go in there, it's not pretty" He said, as grim-faced as Granny Smith was.
Applejack could see the hole in the ceiling through the doorway, she knew it was over, they were both gone.
"We did manage to recover this though" He gave the older colt a book. Big Mac read the title
Apple Family Wedding Album
Apple Cider & Ambrosia
Tears poured from the siblings like Neighagara Falls
^^^^^^^^^^
Granny Smith lead her orphaned grandchildren to Ponyville, carrying the wedding album in her mouth.
"Granny Smith and the Apple foals!" The Mayor cried with relief "We assumed the fire was put out, Where are Cider and Ambro-" The Mayor stopped whens he saw the grim faces on the trio. Granny Smith stepped up to the Podium to make a speech.
"Today was a sad day for the Apple Family, we lost two very important members to a fire. Apple Cider and Ambrosia both ran into the burning house to retrieve this!" Granny Smith held up the wedding album for all to see "Sadly, this cost both of them their lives and they will be greatly missed. But one good thing came out of today." The mares who helped Ambrosia carried the newborn filly up to Granny Smith and handed her to the elderly mare. "Before Ambrosia sealed her fate and went into the fire, she gave me her last wish. She told me that she wanted her newborn filly to be named Applebloom. Applebloom, the only good thing to come out of today, the last born child of Apple Cider and Ambrosia. We will build a new farm house, and abandon the old North Orchard, Ambrosia and Cider will be layed to rest outside the old farm-house in 3 days, until then we ask anypony to help us rebuild." Granny Smith stepped down, carrying Apple Bloom with her.
3 days later just about all of Ponyville was gathered in the remains of the North Orchard as the funeral of Apple Cider and Ambrosia went on. Their two graves sat side by side, something placed beside each of them. Beside Cider's grave his old leather hat was place, representing his dedication to the farm and how he never took his hat off. Beside Ambrosia's grave was a mixing bowl and wooden spoon, representing her talent for cooking and baking. In between the two graves was a picture of the two on their wedding day, the only picture in their wedding album that wasn't burnt.
After the funeral Big Mac and Applejack stood at the grave, Granny Smith walked up to them, carrying Applebloom.
"I'm heading back to help out with the farmhouse, stay here as long as you need" The mare walked away
Applejack was crying "Ma, Pa, if you can hear me, I miss you guys so much, I promise me and Big Mac'll take good care of our new little sister, and the farm too. We'll miss you but we know you'd want us to move on. So, we will. I love you both so much!"
A strong gust of wind blew Cider's hat onto Applejack's head. It didn't fit very well and flopped over her eyes.
"I guess he wanted you to have it for when you grow up, sis." Big Mac suggested
"Maybe he did" Applejack looked up to the clouds.
Applebloom was crying. "That was the saddest story you could've told me, sis!"
Applejack sighed "Well it was bound to be sad."
"Yeah, I guess." Applebloom stood up and looked out the window. Two shooting stars whoosed by, both parralel to each other. Applebloom looked up to the stars and smiled. "I wish I'd known you, Ma and Pa"
