Applejack just finished bucking the last of the apple trees, and was on her way to the barn... yet her thoughts always turned back to what the mysterious hooded figure said to her a few hours ago. What he said about her family. "Is it true?" She silently asked herself. "Am ah REALLY related ta Assassins?!" She shook her head, and glared at the ground. "Of course not! Why, ah reckon' if ah told Granny Smith that phrase that fella told me... 'Thy Kingdom Sleeps', Ah reckon she'd think Ah'm spoutin' a lotta hooey!"

After placing the apples from the wagon she carried down, she walked out of the barn she placed them in, and shut the doors. Then she trotted inside the house, and let out an audible yawn. "Granny Smith! Ah'm done with the Western Orchard, now!"

From the distance, the elderly mare's voice replied, "Hmm? Oh, um, nice work out there, AJ! Ah'm a might proud o' how well you've done today!" Then she paused for a moment. "But ya seem a bit off... how come ya wasn't done as early as ya normally are?" From the kitchen, Granny Smith slowly trotted into the living room, walking on her walker as she took every step slowly.

"Ah'm sorry, Granny... Ah've just had a lot on mah mind, is all!" Applejack replied, relaxing on the couch. Granny Smith finally made it to the other side of the couch, and slowly sat on the cushion to Applejack's far left.

With a concerned expression, Granny Smith asked, "Is it about that there music box Ah plaid a couple weeks ago?" Applejack's ears perked up at that statement.

Finally, after a small moment of silence, Applejack sighed. "Granny... was mah parents Assassins?"

Granny Smith's eyes widened at that statement, before she shook her head frantically. "N-no! O' course they wasn't! Why would ya think o' somethin' like that ta begin with?!"

With a sigh of relief, Applejack smiled and replied, "Oh, it was nothin'! Ah was just worried, is all..." Then her smile faded into an uncertain frown. "...Actually... Ah was wonderin', an' please don't think Ah'm crazy, but..." She paused for a another moment, which made Granny Smith look closely at her, as her expression turned from curiosity to concern.

"What is it, dearie?" Granny Smith asked.

Slowly, Applejack opened her mouth again, and said, "...Thy Kingdom Sleeps?"

Then, there was silence. Granny Smith's concerned expression turned to one that looked hurt. "Ah reckon it's time Ah told ya, then..." Granny Smith turned towards Apple Bloom, who just trotted into the living room from the back room that led to where the hog pen was. "Apple Bloom, AJ an' Ah are gonna be out fer a while. Why don't ya go an' visit Sweetie Belle, over at the Boutique?"

Apple Bloom stared at them confusedly, while Applejack just stared at Granny Smith just as confused as her sister. "Is somethin' the matter, Granny?" Apple Bloom asked.

Granny Smith smiled at her, and replied, "Everything's fine, dearie! Ah'll just be gone fer, like... about a week, or so. Tell Big Mac that Ah'm puttin' him in charge!" Then she turned to Applejack, and motioned for her to follow her out the door.

At first Applejack hesitated, unsure of what was going on. The next thing she knew, Granny Smith opened the doors to the cellar, and motioned for her to follow again. The two of them walked under the seemingly endless staircase, until they reached the very bottom of the cellar. At this time, it was pitch black... but oddly enough, Granny Smith walked through the darkness without the need for light. Another thing that Applejack found odd was that she didn't bring her walker with her.

"G-Granny? W-what's goin' on?" Applejack hesitantly asked.

Granny Smith turned towards the wall, and replied without even looking her way, "All will be revealed soon, AJ. Jus' keep silent fer a second, please." Applejack nodded her head, while Granny Smith pulled a torch downward, which opened a hidden passage in the wall behind the barrels of cider. The sight of the tunnel caused Applejack's eyes to widen, but she remained silent, as she followed her grandmother through the tunnels.

Finally, once they reached the end of the last tunnel, they were inside a large, dome-shaped room. In the center of the room, two large coffins were placed. Both of them had metal, apple-shaped plates on them; the one on the left made of silver, and the other one made of gold.

Applejack's jaw dropped the minute they entered the room. She looked at Granny Smith, and was about to ask her about the coffins, but Granny Smith already beat her to the punch. "Applejack... this 'ere is yer parents... Silver Apple, and Golden Apple." She lowered her head, as a tear began to fall from her right eye. "An' yes... they were involved in the Children of the Night."

With a gasp, Applejack asked, "S-so... you lied ta me about them bein' Assassins?!"

Granny Smith glared at her, and before saying another word, Applejack soon found herself pinned to the wall by none other than her own grandmother. Holding her glare, Granny Smith shook her head, and replied in a harsh-sounding tone, "Ah would NEVER lie to ya! They were NOT Assassins!" Then she released her granddaughter, and walked back towards the two coffins. "Ya wanna know the truth, though? Very well, then..." She looked down for a moment, and took a deep breath. Then, after turning her head to the left, she looked Applejack in the eye, and said, "Ah was the Assassin..."

Applejack just stood there silently, unable to comprehend what she just heard. Granny Smith weakly smiled at her, and then said, "Ah wasn't cut out fer the job, though... so Ah left that lifestyle in the hooves o' mah older brothers an' sisters."

Applejack slowly trotted towards the two coffins, and stared at them silently for well over a minute. Finally, after the minute of silence was up, Applejack asked, "S-so... how exactly DID they die?" There was more silence, until she turned to Granny Smith, who at this point, had her head lowered to the ground, as tears fell from them. At first, Applejack was about to ask what was wrong, but then the thought hit her right there. The answer was plain clear to her... her grandmother's children were in those coffins. "Ah'm sorry, Granny... Ah didn't mean ta..." She was interrupted by her grandmother shaking her head.

"There's nothin' ta be worried about, dearie... Ah was just bracin' myself ta tell ya." Applejack raised an eyebrow, but slowly nodded her head. "Yer parents... they lived on the apple farm with me... grew up under mah hooves. Kinda like you do. O' course, it was yer mother who was mine. Yer father, however, was her best friend, an' eventually, her lover." She paused for a moment, and took a deep breath. "Since Ah was from a group known ta kill, Ah was defensive at first... but when yer mother saw me standin' over yer father, about ta deal a killin' blow on 'em... she stepped in the way, an' defended 'em." Then she weakly smiled, and turned to Applejack, who still had a look of disbelief. "Oh, how happy Ah was that Ah didn't kill 'em that night... because when Ah saw how much they meant to each other, Ah allowed them ta own a farm o' their own, over in Smokey Mountain." Another group of tears fell from Granny Smith's eyes, as she turned towards the coffins again. "An' when they had yer little sister, Apple Bloom, they wanted me ta take care o' y'all. Yer older brother, Big Mac was the one who carried y'all over here..." She lowered her head, and began to cry. "The reason why they asked me ta do that, though..."

Before she could finish her sentence, she was broken down into tears. Applejack, in turn, didn't realize that she, too, was crying over the news. She had a feeling that she already knew the answer, judging from the state that Granny Smith was in. "H-how did they get here, though?" She asked, now embracing her grandmother in a hug.

Granny Smith, while returning the hug, replied, "Ya must've met Shadow Blade by now, I reckon? The 'Human' that killed Tirek?" Applejack nodded her head. "Well, it was he who tried to save 'em. He even took a few arrows from the ones who killed them... but even that wasn't enough to save them. He didn't take it too well, neither... they were as close ta him as they was to me..." She let out a long sigh. "That... was the first, an' last contract that he failed ta complete..." Then she slowly broke from the hug, and trotted towards the area between the two coffins. It was then that Applejack noticed a small stone chest in the center.

"Granny? What're ya doin'?" Applejack asked, as she trotted towards Granny Smith.

Granny looked at Applejack, and smiled, before stepping to the side. "Ah'm just doin' what yer new friend's message meant." Then she winked at Applejack, who looked back towards the exit, and towards Granny Smith again. "Ah want ya ta take what's in this chest, an' head fer Canterlot. When ya get there, ah want ya ta give what Ah'm about ta give ya ta Conductor. He'll know what it means, too!"

Applejack raised an eyebrow, then asked, "W-wait... does CONDUCTOR know about-" Before she could even finish her question, Granny Smith already had her snout covered by her right hoof.

"Don't question it, AJ... we've got eyes everywhere... but not ALL o' them're our own!" She whispered to her curious granddaughter, who whimpered, and nodded her head. "Ta answer yer question, though... no, he ain't." As she said "no", however, her eyes started moving up and down.

At first, Applejack was confused about the odd "sign language", but after two seconds of thinking, it finally clicked to her. Her grandmother must've been signaling her a "yes", while saying something else to throw any curious eyes and ears off track. With a wink, Applejack replied, "Oh, alright, then... so Ah just need ta deliver this ta Conductor?"

Granny Smith nodded her head, before pointing towards the chest. When Applejack trotted up to it, she slowly lifted the lid from the top of it, and stared at what was inside it.

Folded neatly in the bottom of the chest was a dark blue cloak. Applejack tilted her head in confusion, and slowly lifted it out of the chest with her teeth. Then when she pulled the cloak out completely, a small satchel fell from within the folds, which let out a silent "clanging" noise. Out of curiosity, Applejack gently placed the robe on the ground, and began nosing through the satchel.

Inside it, she could see a small silver necklace. On the center of the necklace was a silver circular pendant. When she looked closer at the silver pendant, however, she noticed that a corner of it was darker, making it the resemble a crescent moon.

Quickly, Applejack placed the necklace back in the satchel, and buttoned it shut again. Then she unfolded the cloak, revealing a belt that the satchel fell from, and wrapped it around her waist, before attaching the satchel back on it. Finally, after taking a deep breath, she wrapped the cloak around her shoulders, and looked at Granny Smith. "Granny... what'll Ah need ta do when Ah get there?"

Granny Smith smiled at her, and trotted up to her, before placing a folded piece of paper in her satchel, and winking. Then she turned towards the exit, and started trotting along, motioning Applejack to follow her as she did. Without wasting another second, Applejack silently followed her, but was stopped when Granny Smith held her hoof out in front of her.

"Go on ahead o' me, Applejack. Do not, under any circumstances, return here... an' don't turn yer back fer a second!" Then Granny Smith turned around, and trotted behind Applejack. Out of curiosity, Applejack was about to turn around, until Granny shouted, "GO!" Without a moment to lose, Applejack nodded her head, and galloped through the hallways, shortly followed by the sound of blades being drawn.

Granny Smith glared at a tall bipedal figure who wore a red cloak similar to Shadow's. Like Shadow, he stood three times her height. Slowly, he drew a scimitar, and pointed it at Granny Smith. "You may think you know what you're doing... but your little 'Applejack' is as good as dead, now."

For a second, Granny Smith stood there silently. Then a smile began to form on her mouth. "Ya might be taller than me now, Red... but ah know ya ain't a real human... ya just a jealous ol' coward who thought he could take Shadow's form!"

Red grinned at her, and smiled. Then, in a low-pitched voice, he said, "The Brotherhood of Blood has no emotions, you foolish little pony." Slowly, more stallions wearing red cloaks started appearing from the shadows of the room around them, each with their eyes covered in their red hoods. "And as such, we will not be troubled in killing you."

Granny Smith sighed, and sat on her flanks, while the door that led from the tunnel to the burial site closed. From outside the dark tunnels, Applejack galloped, now with tears filling her eyes.