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Sweet Apple Acres 100 years ago

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Little D lead his group towards the center of a small town currently under construction. The sawing of wood and hammering of nails filled the air. “Consider yourselves lucky,” he told the Apples and Rainbow Dash. “It’s not everyday you get to see your town being built from the ground up.

“Why’dja bring us here, D?” Applejack asked annoyedly.

“Well, when I said that Granny Smith and I said that we used to date you looked stupefied, so I figured that I’d show you how it happened,” D said simply. He pointed to two young women walking side by side. One looked like she was twenty and the other looked like she was eighteen. “Do they look familiar, Apple Bloom?” Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes at the group.

“Ya’ know, Ah think so,” she said slowly. “The one on the left looks a lot like Auntie Applesauce only, really young.”

“What about you, Applejack?” D asked.

“Yeah actually. The one on the right looks almost exactly like you Granny,” Applejack said in disbelief.

“That’s because it is her,” D said simply. “I’m going to show you how we met. It isn’t exactly the most romantic story ever, but it is quite unique.” Granny Smith smiled a bit at that.

“Ah can’t believe how good th’ town’s lookin’ Smith. Our boys are really doin’ a fine job,” Aunt Applesauce said excitedly. “Can ya’ believe that Princess Celestia herself let us settle down out here?”

“Ah’m still havin’ a hard time belivin’ it mah self,” Granny Smith said with an honest smile. “An lookit the progress we’ve made. It ain’t even been a week an’ we’re already half done with the town.” She spread her arms out and sighed happily. “Ah kin tell we made a good choice in comin’ out here. Ain’t nothin’ gonna stop us now.” And that’s when irony struck. Without warning a grand piano fell on top of Granny Smith, smashing her flatter than an apple pancake.

“What in tarnation happened?” Applejack asked in horror as she quickly went to cover Apple Bloom’s eyes.

“She was killed by a falling piano being delivered by the first in a long line of klutzy mail carriers,” D said and pointed to a man with short blond hair covering his mouth in shock. “This is when we met.” D pointed to two familiar people that had joined the crowd.

“Have you ever seen a death as odd as this, Uncle?” the Little D in the image asked Death.

“Dear Nephew, I have seen many odd things in my long life, however this is definitely new," Death said as he walked over to the pile of used-to-be piano. "Are you alright, my dear?"

"Uhhhgh, whut happened?" Granny Smith asked groggily as her own spirit form stepped out of her body. "It feels like Ah got crushed by a covered wagon."

"Try a piano sweetheart," D said bemusedly. He gave her his hand and she took it with a smile.

“Thank ya’ kindly stranger, Ah thought Ah was a goner fer a second there.” She stood up tall and dusted herself off.

“Who said you’re still alive?” Uncle said with his usual slowness.

"Whut d'ya mean?" Smith asked confusedly.

"We're saying you're dead," D said bluntly.

"Whut d'ya mean dead?" Smith asked hotly. "Ah ain't feelin' dead.

"Denial," D said boredly.

“Whut d’ya mean ‘denial’ huh? Ah ain’t denyin’ nothin’ ‘cuz there ain’t nothin’ here to deny!” Smith spat.

“Anger,” Uncle said softly. “My dear, if you would just look behind yourself you’ll see that we tell no lies.” Smith raised an eyebrow in suspicion then turned around slowly.

“Oh by Faust!” she gasped in horror as she gazed at her own corpse and the small crowd that had gathered around it. “Th-that can’t be. Ah mean, it is me but it can’t be. There’s gotta be somethin’ Ah can do ta’ get back.”

“Bargaining,” D said with a soft smile. “And as it just so happens my dear there is something you can do. You ever hear those old stories about how people beat Death in chess and come back to life, well, it’s sort of true.”

“Whut are ya’ talkin’ ‘bout stranger?” Smith asked suspiciously.

“Simple rules for a simple game is all. Beat Death once and you get a year back. Once that year is up, we’ll come back for your soul unless you can beat us again.”

“Are ya’ fer’ real? Ya’ better not be pullin’ the leg of a young lady.”

“We’re not joking and, c’mon, ‘lady’? Don’t flatter yourself Smith,” D said with a wry smile.

“How d’ya know mah name stranger?” she asked suspiciously.

“I’m Death’s student. He takes me around sometimes to teach me about death and dying. So when there’s a soul to be reaped he fills me in on the life the person has lived and, I gotta say, you don’t exactly scream femanimity.”

“Hey!” she yelled. “You take that back er so help me Faust.”

“What? You gonna help prove my point?” D asked with a wide grin.

“Maybe Ah will- uh, what’s yer name again?”

“Little D,” he said simply. “And no, it’s not an innuendo.”

“An inya-what-now?” Smith cocked her head in confusion.

“Nephew you’ve gotten her sidetracked,” Death said with a sigh.

“Aww, can’t I have fun with the cute ones every once in a while?”

“She’s dead,” Death deadpanned.

“Not if she beats me at chess,” D argued.

“You're going to play her?” Death asked surprised.

“Course I am. I know how to play,” D said defensively. “Just not very well,” he added under his breath

“You’re not going to purposefully throw this match on the slim chance of a date are you?” Death frowned.

“Uncle! Are you accusing me of breaking one of our most serious laws?” D asked insulted.

“Yes, because I know how you act around girls that catch your fancy,” Death said with a tight smile.

“That obvious, huh?” D asked embarrassed.

“Whut are ya’ goin’ on about now?” Smith asked impatiently.

“Uh, nothin’,” D said as he cleared his throat quickly. “Anyway, we got a chess match to play.” He snapped his fingers and a platinum and silver chess board rose out of the ground on a large table designed like a large hourglass. “You do know how to play right?”

“Ah get the gist of it, yeah," Smith said slowly as she walked over to the table. Suddenly the memory froze, like someone stopped a movie scene midway through.

"Well what happened?" Rainbow Dash demanded.

"She died a horrible and painful death," D said casually.

"Really?" she gasped in horror. Both D and Granny Smith slowly turned and gave Rainbow a look. "Oh. Right."

"Anyway, I'm not gonna bore you with the details, so basically, Smith beat me because because she kept distracting me."

"Ya kept starin’ mah body," Smith deadpanned.

"Details, details," D waived the comment aside. "Fast forward a few weeks and we're dating. The end."

"Now hold on there a minute there D," Smith said. "Ya' skipped over a few important details there.”

“I fail to see how,” D said.

"Well, fer starters, ya never mentioned how nervous ya were when ya first asked me out." She turned to Applejack and her friends. "He showed up at the farm all jittery an' nervous an' it took him all day just ta' ask me out ta' dinner."

"I fail to see how that's important," D said uncomfortably.

“It really ain’t. Ah just like embarrassin’ ya’ every once and a while,” Granny Smith teased. Little D grumbled in response.

“Anyway, I just thought you all should see this. It’s important for you kids to know what goes on right after death,” he said simply. He then snapped his fingers and the illusion dissolved, leaving the Apple Family and Rainbow Dash standing outside the old farm house. “Any questions?” No one said anything. “Alrighty then. Hey Rainbow, think you got enough juice in you for a quick race?”

“Do you really have to ask?” she grinned defiantly.

“Sweet. Let me just go tell Celestia and Luna to expect you in an hour.” He smiled wickedly and immediately shot off towards Canterlot.

“Not on your life!” she shot back and tore off after him.
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“What a dumb waste of time,” Numb Nuts remarked snidely.

“Yeah seriously. A vision and a race? When the hell is he gonna get back to finding his past?” John said. He stood on top of the tallest apple tree in Sweet Apple Acres. He gazed through a pair of binoculars. “At this rate, it’s gonna be forever before my part comes in.”

“Isn’t this your part already?” Numb Nuts asked.

“Technically, yeah, but I mean the parts when I really get involved,” he replied with a shrug.

“Oh! You mean like when you and Lil’ D do that thing and that awesome explosion happens?” Numb Nuts asked excitedly.

“Yup.” John smiled.

“And when you kill those dudes and that other dude becomes your friend?”

“Hey! Spoilers asshole!”

“But I was super vague about it!”

“Doesn’t matter. These readers have, like, ten points in their perception skill.”

“And ten points in charisma.”

“Don’t be a kiss-ass. Don’t listen to him readers. I’m sure you're all very uncharismatic.”

“I don’t really think that’s helping out our green thumb-red thumb ratio,” Reason pointed out boredly.

“Bah! What do you know?”

“Less than you think but more than you’d hope.”

“HEY!” Numb Nuts cried. “References are my shtick!”

“I’m just surprised that you know what shtick means.”

“It’s a flavor right?”

“I hate you.”

“Love you too honey!”

Author's Note

Don't forget; love can be found anywhere. Sometime you just gotta be crushed by a piano and get a little bit dead before you can find it.