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Did you know? Soulmates will always meet once in their lifetimes, but there's an 80% chance they’ll never see it until it's too late? It’s even said that soul mates will follow each other into other lifetimes, interesting isn't it? Especially with the fact you could possibly meet the one you were supposed to love 1,000 times and yet it never clicks until they’re gone…but who am I to say such a minor fact…ahem…anyways…
Long long ago, before nightmare moon or before The Princesses were even a concept, were the three tribes. The Three tribes had set themselves into a peaceful ordeal, with the pegasi watching over the skies whilst The Unicorns and Earth Ponies were quiet on the ground. Whilst all was peaceful, there were still quarrels between them as their ways of life continued to be extremely different.
AppleBitter knew to never mess with those Old Unicorns, they were all about spells and getting stuff done easy. They probably didn’t know that some things needed to be done with efficiency and patience, but their money paid so well…by the spirits above, AppleBitter just HAD to market her food in some way. Her little brother had been weak and sick ever since the shows passed but it seems like medicine just got more expensive…especially with the new mayor. She had nice policies and stuff but she’s really pushed equality between all ponies…
AppleBitter started her day like always, waking up at 4am and tending to her family's apple tree. It was the only one within 100,000 meters near the town and produced the freshest of apples. AppleBitter huffed as she held a rear hoof up and kicked, dropping down a few red apples. They fell into their buckets with ease, they were hard but they shined very brightly. Perfect!
The Young mare carefully put the buckets together, grunting as they felt heavier than ever. That was definitely odd but it was nothing she truly had to worry about, all the mare needed to do was get the apples into her wagon and just sell them. With the recent influx of wealthier unicorns slipping into the town, it could definitely help AppleBitter and Tarte Tatin.
Once all was prepared, AppleBitter rolled out with confident steps. Down the muddy path and into the refined coarse dirt around Ponyville, she still wasn’t used to this strange texture but it wasn’t in her control now was it? Besides, a little new texture on her hooves could probably benefit from getting more something…especially when it's not dirt and chicken shit. Then the sound of storming hooves could be heard, and as AppleBitter turned to look at the sound came along 17 carriages pulled by heavy duty stallions. Each carriage was bedazzled with fine rocks and stones made of the highest quality.
AppleBitter rushed towards the middle of town and set up her wagon, getting the sign off the side that said its price and standing there with big, bright eyes. She smiled like a doll, AppleBitter knew she needed to be polite and pretty with unicorns, especially when they were more judgmental of earthponies. Even with the treaty, they were all pricks who clearly needed to be taught a lesson in some way, shape or form but it wasn’t her place. It was never her place to speak on others, all she needed were some coins to buy Tarte Tatin’s medicine…maybe if she saved enough she could probably buy a huge lot of land, build a farm and build a huge anchor filled with apples!...ha, who was she kidding, she’d need to slay a dragon and sell its hide to get that kind of money. How would they ever get that sort of money anyways? Dragon’s rarely ever left their own lands and when they were outside they took long hibernations after eating thousands of pounds from both gold and jewels.
As AppleBitter continued to smile and wave her hoof, a mare and stallions approached. Two Unicorns, the stallion was tall and stocky but had that look of pure judgment and disgust upon seeing her muddy wagon but the mare was petite and delicate looking. She had a beautiful white coat and gorgeous purple hair that curled elegantly against her neck. She had gorgeous sapphire eyes as well…AppleBitter had to remind herself that she was just a unicorn.
“Howdy Sir, would you like to buy some apples? They’re nice and fresh, pluuuusss they can provide a nice drink when you crush ‘em down!” AppleBitter smiled, as she got a glass out and crushed an apple between her hooves to squeeze out any juice in it. The White Mare giggled at the trick which made AppleBitter feel better about herself, but the stallion remained cold.
“I’d like some Appleseeds.”
“...What?”
The Blonde mare stared at the brooding Unicorn, whose eyes remained dead and cold. He pulled out three coins and slapped them into her hoof whilst taking one of the apples. He ripped the apple apart and trotted away with the seeds with a mushy fruit slop remaining on the ground, AppleBitter frowned as she stared at it then at the coins. However, six more coins flew into the young mare's hooves as The White Unicorn smiled.
“I’d like to see that Applejuice trick again dear, then I’d like two apples to go.”
“Oh, uhh, thank you Miss!"
“Please, call me Splendid Diamond. That was my husband, Dr. Fancy Britches, he can be quite to the point so don’t mind him.” The White mare smiled and sat down on the ground carefully, tilting her head to the side as AppleBitter began to do her magic. Making some fresh Apple juice and then packing a bag of two apples for Mrs Splendid Diamond.
“And- Here yah go, Sugarcube! One Apple juice and two fresh apples. I hope you’ll like them! Oh, and you can call me AppleBitter!”
“What a wonderful name, I quite like the name of AppleBitter…Do you have a husband yourself, Dear?”
“Nah, I've been too busy dealin’ with my younger brother, Tare Tatin. He’s been dealing with an illness, the local doctor thinks it may be some sort of fever but my neighbor thinks it may be Influenza. We’re not a hundred percent sure but the medicine we were prescribed has been…sort of workin’?”
As AppleBitter rambled on about Tarte Tatin, the white mare held a sympathetic look on her face before an idea struck her mind. She immediately rushed forward and put her hooves around AppleBitter’s. A look of pure excitement crossed her face.
“My husband's an actual doctor! He went to Hoofvard and has a degree in medicine and is from a family of doctors! He could probably help! I can bring him over tomorrow, just tell me where you live!” Splendid Diamond’s back feet were stomping as a little whicker escaped her lips, sparkles shining in her eyes like there was nothing that could stop her. AppleBitter gave the white mare a genuine smile as she nodded rapidly, immediately clutching her own hooves around Splendid’s. Maybe her brother would be fine afterall!
“Alrighty then, Splendid Diamond, come by tomorrow at around…6am?..haha, unless that's too early then around 9am. I’m down the muddy path near the Everfree forest. We have a huge apple tree that’s around 2 meters in circumference. Can’t miss it, it’s big and tall as well!”
“Ah, splendid my dear! We’ll be around at 9am, I promise…oh, and also take this as well. I heard there's a cupcake sale nearby and I’m sure your little brother would love a sweet treat after some medicine, treat it as a reward for taking it in the first place.” Splendid diamond winked at the Blonde mare whilst tossing a small bag of gold, and trotted off to join her husband, bag and juice in toe. She was such a darling. AppleBitter felt a large smile grow on her face…seeing that Unicorn again wouldn’t be so bad.
As AppleBitter came home with her wagon and a small bag of cupcakes on her back, a tiredness rolled onto her. Was she supposed to be so tired? She hadn’t even done much anyways, all she really did was sell apples until 7pm, then bought the last remaining cupcakes at the bakery just for Tarte Tatin. The Mare just sighed and dropped the harness, then carefully walked into the small shack.
As she lit the fireplace and turned to her brother, the little colt was quietly reading a book about dragons and their dangers. The mare chuckled and trotted towards Tarte quietly before grabbing his shoulder.
“And what do you think you’re doin’ little fellar’?” The mare asked, looking over the boy's shoulder as he gasped and shut the book. He looked up and sighed as he leaned against her chest, placing the book on the dresser. The mare kissed his forehead then put the bag on the dresser and moved towards the small cabinet to get the boy’s medicine.
“I’m readin’ about dragons! I heard their scales can make a mighty fine salt that can cure any illness! Imagine how revolutionary that’d be so cool to get our hands on…do you think Papa’s trying to find the scales? Is that why he’s been gone for so long?” The little colt asked, his little eyes had so much hope even though that rat bastard had left years ago. She bit her lip quietly then nodded, putting on a softer smile for the little boy…
“Why of course, Tarte Tatin. Papa was the sweetest and kindest stallion Equestria’s ever seen, you couldn’t ever miss his kindness. Especially with his sugary sweets, they were the best…now, if you want to be the best stallion to ever exist, you need to take your medicine okay?” AppleBitter smiled as she slowly fed the liquid to the young colt, watching him gag down some medicine that tasted like hot garbage. Once the colt had finished, the mare grabbed the bag and opened it to reveal two cupcakes that were a little warm and a little melty.
“Oh wow, this is amazing, Bitter! Thank you thank you thank you!” The young colt squealed, clapping his hooves and trying to grab the more melty cupcake, but she immediately pushed the cooler cupcake towards him. Tarte smiled even bigger and ate away, seeing his smile made the cupcakes worth it in the end. Who knew that Splendid Diamond had a Splendid idea, especially with how genuinely excited Tarte was. The last time she saw him smile this much was on the day their mother got them a swing set for the apple tree…
AppleBitter carefully laid the young colt down and tucked him in, kissing his forehead once again and then walking away with her own cupcake. She placed her grandma’s rocking chair next to the fireplace, eating her cupcake carefully. Everything that could be going wrong is actually going right! They have some extra money so depending on what Doctor Britches recommends, they could possibly afford it and could be fine for a while! Especially since the apple tree is very healthy and actually produces the most beautiful apples this country has ever seen. They just need to get their name out there and everything would be okay…firstly, AppleBitter need to start getting settled down…especially because in order to meet Splendid Diamond and Dr. Fancy Britches bright and early. She could probably get some nice and cool apple juice ready and some apple seeds. Does that stallion like apple seeds or is he just a weirdo? Eh, whatever, that's stuff she can worry about in the morning.
AppleBitter looked towards her little brother who was now sleeping peacefully, that little smile… so precious, she wouldn’t trade it for the world. That was her only family member left after everything that's ever happened, especially their father leaving…Rat Bastard really wanted to find the golden apple. A damn myth that’s been disproven a thousand times throughout every paper and scripture but noooo, he had to go find it…Stupid Man thing…Tarte Tatin was gonna live to be a good family man and he was going to be the greatest farmer that the land has ever seen. They were gonna leave a mark on this land that nobody has ever seen, Bitter swears upon that.
As the Mare slowly shut her eyes in that old rocking chair, only two things came to mind. Tarte Tatin’s official diagnosis and what they can do to fix it…and then seeing that Mare again…oh excitement crawled up Bitter’s legs like a plague and she didn’t hate it.
As AppleBitter fell into a deep deep slumber, thoughts of Tarte Tatin and Splendid Diamond circled her head like a carousel. Their smiles painted a beautiful picture in her mind, all 3- 4, right, Dr Fancy Britches was Splendid Diamond’s husband…right. Anyways, the four of them enjoyed a wonderful picnic as the sun rose as high as it could. AppleBitter felt so happy with them all, maybe she could hang out with them more. Holding hooves as they canter along into the sunset like nothing was stopping them. It felt so incredible, so magical…
Then the sound of a rooster went off and AppleBitter shot out of her rocking chair, it was around 7am…7am!? The Blonde mare immediately got off the chair and moved on to doing her daily chores. Her hooves moved quickly and with quick calculation, aiming to get the most done from waking her brother up and cleaning his bed to getting breakfast and the apple juice all prepared. AppleBitter needed to make sure everything was perfect…was she going overboard? No, she wanted these unicorns to think of her as an equal and if it was dirty and gross then they’d think so lowly of her and it’d just be a miserable time for all of them.
Once AppleBitter was finished, it was 8:45am. Just 15 minutes until they got there which meant a 5 minute break for AppleBitter…she just had to relax. The Mare sat back down in her rocking chair and stared at her hard work, everything was clean and tidy, breakfast was served and Tarte Tatin was eating his apple cider with some apple juice on the same. The mare felt relaxed, especially since the chickens were put away as well which made everything 100 times easier. She shut her eyes once more and relaxed.
“Deary, AppleBitter, We’re here, are you alright?”
A voice called out her name and the mare was up and at ‘em again, moving towards the door and opening it to reveal Splendid Diamond and Dr Fancy Britches. Dr Britches had his suitcase and trotted towards the bed, he placed the suitcase on the nightstand and immediately started his examination. AppleBitter huffed and looked towards Splendid Diamond.
“So, wanna see the apple tree?” AppleBitter smiled gently as she nodded her head to the tree, the white mare smirked and held a hoof out for AppleBitter. The two began making their way to the tree, Splendid Diamond moved towards the swing set and sat on the left one. AppleBitter moved towards the right side and sat down.
The Two mares began their swinging, the wind blowing through their manes as they moved with grace. This was really nice and AppleBitter wouldn’t change this for the world, especially with the way Splendid Diamond smiled as she flew higher and higher. Surely when Tarte Tatin was better, they’d all get to swing like this without a single problem affecting them at all. It was just amazing…especially her eyes, as the sun glistened on them and made them look like blueish rainbows that showed only hope and fortune…oh how AppleBitter was so glad to have this mare as a friend, how much luckier could she be?
The Girls continued to swing around for a bit longer before Dr Britches appeared from out the door. His face was sorrowful and fear immediately clinged to AppleBitter’s heart, her hooves digging into the ground as she looked towards the doctor and then towards the house. She shoved herself off the swing and rushed inside, hooves thundering against the ground as her heart was beating rapidly. She grabbed her little brothers face then looked towards the doctor.
“I’m afraid he has Herpesvirus. The only cure that exists is in Mareland, and even then it’d be hard to find a way to get a good handful of it. The only other thing I could even offer you was a surgery but even then those are still risky…I’m afraid your brother is not going to make it. I’m sorry, Miss Apple. We’re simply unable to get the proper resources.”
AppleBitters felt her heart tighten at that sound and immediately looked towards her younger brother who sniffled and looked up at her, his big amber eyes becoming watery. AppleBitter hugged her younger brother, burying his little head into her chest. How could they be so clueless…Colic? She was so stupid stupid stupid…she should’ve tried harder, she should’ve pushed harder for a proper answer. She knew something was wrong when his lower legs stopped working, she should’ve tried harder…she was the worst big sister to ever exist and it was all her fault.
AppleBitters carefully moved the young colt into town, whilst her brother's time was short, she was gonna try to make it the best he’s ever lived! She had to attach some wheels to her old walking chair and tied a rope around his stomach to prevent him from falling off but it worked quite nicely!
“Oooo, AppleBitter, can we get some candy? I heard chocolate is the most delicious, mama and papa never let us try any!” The young colt squealed, watching as ponies moved around the village with festivity. Tonight was the official sun rising ceremony, first of its kind as a bunch of unicorns would work together to raise the sun and bring upon a new era. As they moved, there were so many snacks and treats that they could feast upon, along with games and toys. Ponies were getting along as ponies and not at some stupid ceremony to certify they were all united…I mean they technically were but that was besides the point.
As the duo finally made it to the stage where a band was performing, the mayor stepped up. She had a high ponytail and a braided mane, she had rainbow hair and a purple coat…her outfit however was black and white and covered her whole body…definitely unique in a way.
“Fillies and Gentlecolts, I welcome you to the official First Sun Rising Ceremony. I’m so happy to see all of you here and I long to see all of your smiles for the rest of this year. I've always dreamed of you ponies working together in true harmony and maybe next year we’ll manage to get the Pegasi to help us as well. Now, for what we’ve all been waiting for, The Sun Rising shall begin!”
The Trumpets blared and the drums began to go off, AppleBitter smiled as she looked towards her younger brother who smiled so brightly. This was most likely gonna be the last time she was ever going to see him, he was so happy…tears began to build up in her eyes as the unicorns set themselves up. They were all in a wonderful circle and their stances were strong, all of them shut their eyes and the magic from their horns began to shine.
The sparkle of the sun began to shine from the distance as it was slowly raised up into the sky. The unicorns looked like they were in pain from doing all of this, it was a little worrying…AppleBitter bit her lip as these Unicorns continued to struggle…did they always struggle? Were they going to have a stroke live on stage after the sun rose to its peak. Before AppleBitter could truly shut her eyes, a shriek escaped into the sky and the sound of something powerful could be heard. The unicorns broke concentration and dropped the sun, ponies began to scream and cry. The moon casted a dimlight shadow onto a horrifically large beast, its size casting a monstrous shadow upon the small village.
“Dragon!!” A pony shrieked and everything the mayor had perfectly organized and set up was immediately thrown away as everypony began to run home. Those who chose to stay in town rushed into the townhall, their hooves creating a horrible echo as the large beast landed onto the ground. AppleBitter, wheeled her brother out of there immediately but a thought hit her mind…a dragon…their scales…maybe that was the key to all of this!
The sound of a loud roar escaped into the air and she could feel something bright shine behind her but she dared herself to not check. She had to keep Tarte Tatin safe, that was her first and only priority right now and if anything else happened then let the spirits above strike her down. Her hooves crashed into the floor and she shoved her little brother into that old shack, making a soft shh sound at him so he didn’t freak out.
When she checked outside and towards ponyville…all she saw was a horrible fire…it’s size was huge and its flames were great. AppleBrittle’s eye’s teared up as she thought about everyone there…Townhall…so many innocent lives taken away in one fowl swoop. She brought her hat down to her heart and stared…it was all gone…
AppleBitter watched the beast fly away once the flames reached their peak and a horrible feeling hit the young mare's gut…it would be back…it destroyed townhall, who’s to say it wouldn’t come back and continue destroying everything else around the area? Especially with the way it aimed for the most popular spot and left…the mayor and every other pony who went in there was most likely gone…if AppleBitter hadn’t thought of moving out of town immediately, her and Tarte Tatin would’ve been in that building as well…oh but what about Splendid Diamond? Was she alright?
“Deary! AppleBitter, Tarte Tatin, are you two alright? Please tell me you weren’t in that horrible fire! Please respond to my voice!” A familiar voice called out, hooves stomping down the muddy path that made a faint squishy echo. AppleBitter looked in the direction of the sound.
“Oh, AppleBitter! I’m so happy you’re alright!” The white mare immediately hugged the blonde pony, and everything just came crashing down. The young mare held Splendid Diamond, holding on like letting go for even a second would ruin everything they had built up, her eyes were watery and everything just rolled out.
“I- I was so scared you and Doctor Fancy Britches we’re gone! I thought I lost both of you!” AppleBitter whimpered, continued to hold Splendid Diamond who just hushed her and stroked her mane. Their heads resting against each other in hopes everything would be alright.
“Oh Deary, we’re just fine. There were some survivors of the attack and Doctor Britches was handling it. I wanted to check on you and Tarte…I was so scared I had lost both of you before I got to know you both…” Splendid cleared the hair off of AppleBitter’s face, then gently held the other side. “I’m so glad you’re safe…let me tuck you in tonight and tomorrow, the village is going to have a meeting about the whole thing.”
Apple Bitter Nodded and followed Splendid Diamond inside the house, tomorrow, everything was going to be settled and they were going to figure everything out. Surely, the thought of that dragon coming back was just her being paranoid and overexaggerating the whole thing…she just needed to rest, Tarte Tatin’s diagnoses might be making her crazy.
As the ponies began to gather around with the moon and stars still high up in the sky with not a single centimeter of movement, the Mayor of the town stood on her podium covered in bandages…how did she survive? Mayor Lollipop Rock cleared her throat and brought up a megaphone before speaking with confidence and with some conciseness.
“Hear Me, Hear Me, last night was an unfortunate play of events that was not supposed to happen. I wish all those who lost family members inside the fire are granted great fortune and endless prosperity as the years move on. However, we have more things to move on to, such as our dragon problem. We’ve been made aware this dragon has been terrorizing the country for ages and so, we’re sending out volunteers to either drive out the dragon or slay it. The newly established Cloudsvale and Hoof york are also sending out their own volunteers. We will be sending weapons, food, and a wagon as well. All ponies who return home once the dragon is gone will be given 35,000 gold.”
The ponies remained silent for a moment, then began to whisper as horrible thoughts echoed through everyone's words…nobody was strong enough to defeat a dragon…especially when they were so small…
Two hooves raised amongst the crowd, and a voice cleared through it all the doubt and deliberation.
“We’ll go! And we’ll make sure we get it done before the sun rises!”