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Zappin' Apples! (ENDED)


SteelEagle

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Applejack held her foal, first as a warm embrace, and then as he started to cry and hyperventilate as a way to help him cool himself off. Today had been hard on him, but to think it was his fault? Perish that thought. He was blameless in all this, an innocent in a world that could prey on it as a reminder that a loving and carefree life could not be enjoyed without some sorrow. All he had done was pick up a cool looking stick in the forest while out on a stroll with his mom. He hadn't done anything wrong. At the very least, he hadn't done anything to warrant feeling this way. She held him and patted his back a few times gently and held him firm, eventually running her hoof through his mane. "Shhhh, its alright. Shhhh, sshhhh, shhhh, its alright. Momma's here for ya, sweetie. Shhhh, its okay," she said to soothe him, though sometimes it could take a while. 
 

"You didn't do a thing wrong, Zap Apple, so dry your tears and stuff your mouth, talkin' about being ta blame," she said as she pulled back a little so she could talk and see his wet, flushed face. "Y'all didn't know and Ah didn't do enough. It's okay. Yer okay, Ah'm okay, and even that thar door'll be okay," she said over the pounding of hammers. By this time, Winona had sensed that something was amiss and had jumped up next to them, sniffing and licking Zap Apple sympathetically. "Everything is okay, sugarcube. Look, even Winona thinks so. Isn't that right, girl?" Applejack asked for validation from her loyal mutt and Winona responded with an enthusiastic bark and wagging of her tail. She continued to pet her foal's head, then brought him in for another hug. "Do you wanna sleep with momma tonight, Zappy?"
 

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The few tears that escaped Zap's eyes left a dark trail of wet pelt on his face. But the moment he admitted his guilt, his mother reached in as close as possible to undo that concern, assuring him it was not his fault. His convulsing continued despite his mother's warm embrace, as it took a few moments for him to calm down from his elevated emotional state. Though his shivering and his sobbing would continue for a few seconds more, his mother vocalizing dismissing him from fault gave him a relief he wasn't sure he would feel at all. It rushed through his heart and started the healing process of getting himself back to composure. Winona hopped on the couch and served as another layer of family comfort. At first Zap wasn't feeling it from her, he didn't want the pity from a dog, even if she was part of the nuclear family. But after a few barks, Zap could not help but smile at her presence and the added encouragement coming from his mother that everything was going to be alright.

 

Zap's sniffed slowed down and he was able to answer he most recent question with some dignity. He wanted to say the more adult thing and decline needing to sleep in the same bed as his mother, but he had a long way ahead of him and he could not help but respond as the foal he was. "Yes." He starred up at his mother and smiled, his face still wet from his episode.

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"Okay, honey. Let's get ourselves ta bed," Applejack replied happily. She was bushed, emotionally more than anything, and it would be good to get him some nice rest. She tossed him up onto her back and started trotting up the stairs, sighing contently as she did. Soon they were on the second floor and passed by a bookshelf. Out of habit, she reached out with her mouth and snagged a book of fables and tales. She pushed open her door and rearranged her bedding, giving him a nice pillow next to her. She then laid down, transferred Zap Apple to her arms, and the book in front of him arranged against a pillow for support. She readjusted them to make sure he was comfortable and started leafing through the contents.

"Lookie here, all sorts of bedtime stories. Let's look, let's look...oooh, how about this one- tha wolf and tha donkey," She said excitedly, petting his arm for support. It always helped to discuss the sort of critter that scared you, especially if you could make 'em look like a fool.

She forced her self to cough to set her voice. She actually rather liked doing voices for a story and felt like she had a good, soothing tone just in mind for this one. When she narrated, her voice was clear and she enunciated perfectly as a clear blue sky, and her voice also carried the pitch and tempo of any of the classic storytellers.
 

"A long, long time ago, there was a wolf. One day the wolf didn’t manage to catch anything to eat for a whole day. He was really hungry. As he wandered around the forest he saw a donkey.
The wolf crept up silently behind the donkey, but the donkey had noticed him. He knew that the wolf could run faster than him and he could not escape by running. So the donkey thought up a clever way to save his life. The donkey pretended that his leg had been hurt and he started crying in pain."


Applejack then did her best donkey braying, played up for comedy.

"The wolf went up to the donkey and asked why he was crying."
“I have a thorn in my hoof and it hurts really badly, but I can’t get it out!” the donkey replied," Applejack said as she did her best Cranky Doodle impression.
“I can help you! If I eat you now, it will stop hurting!” offered the wolf," Applejack replied to herself, licking her lips as she spoke with a growling undertone.
The donkey had been expecting that answer and answered quickly-
“That’s a good idea, but if you eat me with the thorn, it may get stuck in your throat later. But if you remove the thorn first and eat me second, everything will be alright," he added sadly.
"The wolf, who did not know about the donkey’s plan, thought that it sounded like a good plan and agreed to take the thorn out. The donkey had been waiting for the wolf to bend over. He kicked the poor wolf so hard that the wolf fell down and couldn’t get up onto his feet again. The donkey then ran away as fast as he could. He had saved himself from being eaten by the wolf!" She ended on a high note, kissing her little Zap on the noggin. "A little wisdom can do miracles."

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Zap followed his mother in tandem up the stairs. His hooves double-timed along side Applejack's longer stride which was slowed so that he could keep pace. He hopped up the stairs and walked into the bedroom. He climbed onto the bed first while his mother grabbed the nightly reading material. Zap by this point had already heard most of the stories from these books several times each, sometimes in the context of different ponies and voices. But the context changed even more as he grew older and his mentality caught up with some of the complexities the stories unfolded. The wolf and the donkey was a story he had heard probably a dozen times. However, hearing this story now with the context of his very recent timberwolf experience shed more light on the reality of such a possible parable.

 

With the wolves stronger appearance in Zap's imagination, his eyes sparkled wide as his mother told the story of a wolf in desperation. The sounds she made were entertaining, but more captivating as Zap lay silent to the subtle changes in the story. He knew the donkey got away, and he knew how it ended, but he was never sure about what happened to the wolf. The story verbatim never addressed what happened to the wolf. And so, Zap's imagination, listening skills, and wonderment combined to ask a very curious question that began pinging to his brain. She finished the story, he paused for a moment, and then spoke up. "Mommy? What is going to happen to the timberwolves now?" He was not pitying their existence, but having had such a close ordeal with them, he wondered if the would grow to resent the ponies or if he would meet them again, soon.

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Applejack got more comfortable. As she did so, she moved Zap Apple onto her chest and held him tight, positioning the both of them so they could look out the window with the fading light. She hadn't really given it much thought, what happened to the Timberwolves when they learned their lesson and left her alone to go flee into the darkened forest. She could take some pretty strong guesses though. "Well, if Ah had ta reckon," she said as she rubbed his head reflexively, "their gonna be finally pulled all together by now an' hurtin' somethin' fierce. So they're gonna flee inta tha Everfree, likely on their way back home," she kissed the top of his head and sighed. "They likely have a lair deeper in tha forest, at least ten or twelve hours in based on tha size of that family. So they'll need ta go on a bit of a walk."

 

"On tha way they'll get a mite hungry since they've been on our tails all day, so tha momma will be huntin' once she heals up. They'll get home an' rest, and after a few hours deep in their lair they'll be all healed back ta perfect health. Long term they'll be fine. Timberwolves tend ta tick ta the deeper parts of tha Everfree and are a right pain ta deal with, but in all honesty, they're big ol' cowards once you show them the what-for. They're aggressive in defending their kin and their turf but won't tango outside of that, unless they have good cause of course. And after Ah bucked them into bits, Ah reckon that particular group ain't gonna want ta come 'round here no more ever again," She said with a laugh. "An' if they do, we'll kick their big, sticky, stinky butts!" She said with a kiss. She then settled deeper into the bed.

 

She allowed herself some time to stare out the window. Truth was, she was deeply horrified by what had just happened. Her little foal, so close to her, came so close to real harm under her care and because of what she considered frank negligence that it was hard to pay it off as easily as she was doing. But she had to, for his sake if not for her's. "Ready ta go nighty night, sugarcube?"
 

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Zap's eyelids grew heavy as he lay on his mother's barrel. The soft sound of her warm voice kept him from completely drifting for the time being. She explained about where the timberwolves would go and how they most likely would be trekking for the rest of the night. Part of Zap felt sorry for them. He was warm in bed while the timberwolves in all their fierceness were still having to deal with the elements of the Everfree and the darkness that it entailed, but he was grateful to be safe.

 

Now that he was assured he would not have to fear the timberwolves climbing through the window to seek revenge, he was left to contemplate the happy moments of the evening despite all the terror. These thoughts of joy lingered as he felt more deeply to the spell of slumber, his breath matching the music of his mother's heartbeat. "It was a nice stick," he softly uttered, as his head started dipping and his legs fell limp.


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Zap Apple was a simple colt growing up in a simple family on a simple farm, living the simple pony life. Every night he dreams about what he will be when he's older and about places he's been when he experienced happiness. At some point in the near future he will experience sudden nightmares about the terrors of the forest, perhaps a timberwolf looking for a pony snack or a smelly cave full of waters capable of drowning. His memory will never let him live without the reminders of his mortality, especially in a place like the Everfree.

 

But tonight the realm of dreams will spare him, and Princess Luna will be allowed to focus her attention in other ends of the dreamscape for nightmares that haunt the ponies of Equestria. Tonight he will experience the bliss of eating cupcakes and apple fritters in the backyard of a re-imagining of the barn house with all of the family ponies who love him. His wings fully developed to give him effortless flight, he would fly around the farm elated with the euphoria of being apart of the best family in Ponyville. Until morning, he would live his simulation to the fullest, preparing his reality for brilliant challenges and the beauty of life that awaited him. And when he was awake and ready, that life would have to come face to face with little Zap Apple, the most curious pegasus you're ever going to meet.

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