I woke up to a wonderful but already late morning and it was all clear too. The Hearth's Warming Eve was a big highlight but I had great fun during the rest of that festive month. It was January now and all of Ponyville was bright and clear once again. It was a shopping day for me too and good thing, as my food cupboards were just about empty.

It was all calm and quite sunny too, so leaving my suit behind and just putting on my shoes and grabbing a lot of bits from my jar, I set off out to town to begin my shopping, when I got there however, I spotted Applebloom with a light blue bonnet who looked to be feeling embarrassed and Granny Smith with a fancy hat and...BEES!

"Whoo! Why hello bees, Beatrice, Beecher. Ooh, you've all been busy little bees, haven't you?" She said, making buzzing sounds afterwards."

I stood there in total confusion, but was glad to not be close to the bees...I hate them!

"Granny, isn't there a less silly way to get the honey?" Applebloom asked as she lowered her head in embarrassment.

Just then, I spotted two other fillies coming along the pathway...it was Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, I knew they were going to be trouble for sure as twice I had to cheer Applebloom up because of them.

"Oh, isn't this just precious?" Granny Smith commented loudly as she grabbed Applebloom and picked her up.

"Please stop!" She desperately asked in a whispered tone.

"And it is perfect for makin' our zap apple jam!" Granny Smith announced loudly, beginning to gain the attention of the other ponies around her.

"Shh! Stop it, Granny!" Applebloom pleaded, but the fillies that were walking by her stopped and began laughing. "Granny, please! Those ponies over there are watchin' me!" She pointed to the fillies.

"What?" Granny Smith questioned and looked at them. "Are those fillies your friends? Hello, Half-pint's friends!" She waved to them.

"Hi, Granny Smith!" Silver Spoon waved as she greeted her. Princess Tiara began to wave as well, but by the look on her face, I could see she was up to no good. "Hi, Half-pint!" She resumed in a mocking tone and laughed with Diamond Tiara after.

Applebloom slumped on the ground and buried her face...I know that feeling all too well.

"What dolls. Why, when I was little, ponies didn't come that purdy."

"Are we done shopping, Granny? 'Cause Ah'd like to get back to the farm, fast."

"Hold on, smellybelly." She began walking on her own. "Ah got my honey, gooey-goo!" She hopped cheerfully as she sang, attracting much more attention from the ponies around her. "Got my honey, gooey-ooh! Got my honey, iddley-hoo!"

Applebloom placed her hoof on her bonnet and lowered it towards her face...poor Applebloom, I'm sure there's more to Granny Smith than what any of the apple family lets on. It's not as if she's going crazy, right?

Shaking my head, I carried on and got stuck with the shopping.

After I was done with one lunch break later, I spotted Applebloom walking through the town, probably heading for home after her school hours, I decided to check up on her.

"Hi Applebloom, are you feeling any better?" I asked.

"No, ah'm so embarrassed by my granny today." Applebloom replied sadly.

"Oh I'm sure it's not that bad, there may be something about your granny that nopony knows about."

"But that's not the worst of it, tomorrow will be family appreciating day and Granny Smith is going to be there to tell a story, ah'm gonna be the laughing stock of Ponyville." she then laid down and face planted the pavement.

"Come on Applebloom, you know that me and the rest of your friends will be there if you need help or advice. Just let me drop my shopping at my house and I'll walk you back to the farm."

"Okay, thank ya Bond."

I smiled as we trotted to my home where I went inside and dropping my shopping bags on the table, knowing that I'll take care of the rest of it later. We then walked onwards to her Apple family home and I looked to see Applejack laying down wooden baskets and watering cans in a trailer.

Before I could ponder what they were for, Applebloom quickly galloped into her home but she did smile.

"Howdy Bond." Applejack said as she saw me.

"Hey Applejack, what's with the baskets and watering cans for?" I asked.

"Oh, it's the Zap Apple Harvest! You see, Granny Smith can tell all the signs of zap apples, which are these amazing apples that are magic!"

"That sounds new to me, I've never heard of that kind of apples."

"That's because they only grow here in Ponyville!" She chuckled. "Can you believe that? Everypony in Equestria comes to Ponyville, just to get some of our jam!"

"I see, so I guess they're at a phase?"

"That's right sugarcube, they're about to be ready to be picked, but they need to go through two more phases before those leaves turn into flowers before turning into zap apples."

"Right, I get you now."

"By the way, did you know why Applebloom ran into the house as she was walking with you?"

"Oh, she's feeling embarrassed about Granny Smith's behaviour and those two filly bullies saw it all."

"Well, it is a bit of a concern, but Big Mac and ah can't help her, these zap apples need our full attention for now."

"Why?"

"Well, after the fifth day of the Harvest, they disappear."

"Disappear, just like that?"

"Eeyup!" Big Mac answered unexpectedly.

"Well, I can at least help you out with the watering if you need it."

"Okay, thanks Bond."

With my magic, I grabbed a watering can that was full of water and began to sprinkle on most of the trees.

When I reached the cart to place the can back on there, a sudden gust of wind began blowing through our manes. We looked up to see a sudden change in weather as dark clouds appeared, seeming as if there was a storm forming. Crows flew above us and cawed.

"Look!" Granny Smith rushed to us. "The third sign!" The crows had formed an apple pattern in the sky. "Right on time! Hot diggity!"

Small blue glowing round objects formed on the trees as electricity cackled around them. The blue objects literally bloomed and formed the base for the apples.

"Wow!" We all emphasized at the sight of the magic.

After a moment of taking in the sight of the pre-zap apples, Granny Smith made her announcement. "Alright, you lazy daisies, move your caboose!" She left, along with Big Macintosh, to continue whatever she was doing.

"Did that just happen?" I asked.

"Sure did, pretty fancy, ain't it" Applejack replied.

"Right, I'll go home for a lie down after seeing that."

"Ah don't blame you, but if you were working here, you'd get used to it mighty quick." she giggled, "See you later."

"Same to you, Applejack."

I then trotted off from the farm and through the town, it was already sunset so I went back to my home to start unpacking my shopping and storing all the foods away. Before making a quick sandwich as I quite hungry just then along with some apple juice. Maybe tomorrow when it's ready, I could try some of their zap apple jam if there's plenty to go around of course which I thought as I called it a day to catch some sleep.

The next morning came and the first thing on my mind was to go to the school and check on Applebloom to see if she was any better at all. So I left the house and began to the school when along the way, I spotted Granny Smith and another elderly pony walking with her.

"Morning Granny Smith." I greeted.

"Oh morning err...what are you called again?" Granny Smith asked.

"Bond Racer...or Bond for short."

"Oh that's right, Bond."

"And who's this?"

"Why, this is Uncle Apple Strudel! Ah was just about to fetch a train to visit him but it turns out he was on it!"

"I see, well mind if I join you on the way to the school?"

"Not at all, sonny!"

When we arrived at the school, Granny Smith walked through the open door and announced for all to hear. "Well howdy, my little ponies!" She continued walking with a huge grin on her face. "Howdy, y'all! I'm as happy as a pig in a fresh mudpile to be here!"

Applebloom quickly rushed over to her and spoke nervously. "Whuh- what are you doing here? Did you miss the train?"

"Er no, it came." She responded. "And Uncle Apple Strudel was on it."

"Ooooooh, noogie noogie noggie!" He stretched a hoof to Applebloom's mane and messed with it.

As Applebloom walked slowly back to her seat, I heard Tiara whispering to Silver "I can't wait to hear Granny Smith's presentation...if she can remember any of it." They both shared a giggle.

"Mind if I hear her presentation?" I asked.

"Of course!" She answered brightly.

"Thanks." I sat by Ms. Cheerilee and waited.

Apple Strudel placed a small chair for Granny Smith to sit on, but when she sat down, she merely caused the seat to fly back.

"Long ago, when ah was a little pony…" She pulled out a map and showed it to the others while holding it with her teeth. "…things were very different here in Ponyville, 'cause there was no Ponyville! That's right, my little ponies. Me and my family were pilgrim pony folk, back when I was a little filly. Oh, we ventured far and wide, collecting new seeds and sellin' the old. But my pa was the finest seed collector in all of Equestria. Then, one day, the Smith family found themselves in the most brilliant, most grand, most magnificent of all cities. A place called... Canterlot. Well, ah bet your hooves to hindquarters ah had never seen anything like it before nor since. And as if the beauty of that city wasn't enough, suddenly, she appeared. Princess Celestia, the most regal of all ponies. When lo and behold, she stopped to look at my pa's seed collection. Then Princess Celestia saw that we were plumb-tuckered, and hankerin' to find our forever home. And bein' a royal Princess and all, she knew exactly the place for us to lay down our stakes. My pa gave the Princess a mighty thanks. We quickly found that land near the Everfree Forest, and we built our first home. Next, we planted our first orchards. But an orchard don't grow overnight, and we were getting mighty short on food. Now mind you, we were cautioned about the forest, and we knew that it was not fit to enter. But I knew there was critters livin' there. There must be somethin' to eat. It was dark and musty, and ah won't lie, it was scary. But every inch was covered in plant life, and before ah knew it wasn't ah standin' in front of the most incredible apple trees! Ah had never seen anything that bore this kind of colourful fruit! Oh I started picking apples quick as a whip! But, somethin' didn't feel right. Ah turned, and there before me stood the timber wolves! I've never run so fast in my life. Ah did the only thing ah could think of. Ah scared them away with pots and pans! The next morning, my pa and I planted those special apple seeds, and before our eyes they grew like wildfire. Well, we had full grown trees faster than you could say lickety split. Then each year, ah paid close attention to the signs of the zap apple special harvesting times. How the weather affects the Everfree Forest, how the timber wolves howl when the zap apples first start growing, and how they zapped away if you didn't pick 'em all in one day! And the fruits of our labor were the best fruit we ever tasted. Soon enough ah was mixing up batches of zap apple jam. Just like harvestin' the zap apples had its special rules, so did makin' zap apple jam. Ah learned that you gotta be extra friendly with the bees, otherwise their honey won't taste rightly sweet to mix in with the zap apples. Who'd'a thought that glass jars needed talking to? Or that zap apples like pink polka dots? But magic is as magic does. Just funny that way. Then ponies started comin' to our farm from far and wide just to get a taste of my zap apple jam. Some of them decided to stay, like Stinkin' Rich, Diamond Tiara's great grandfather. Matter of fact, the first thing he ever sold was my zap apple jam. And before we knew it, we had ourselves a nice little town, bustling with all kinds of ponies. And that is how Ponyville was founded."

When she finished speaking, she looked at the fillies as we were all shocked in a good way.

You gotta be joking...Granny Smith was one of the ponies to start the founding of Ponyville...that is flipping awesome, but that didn't stop there, Silver Spoon began clapping her hooves first and everypony joined in, including me, except Tiara. This gave me the assumption that deep down, Silver is actually a nice filly and can be nice...now I wonder if it's Tiara that's being a bad influence on her.

"Oh, thank you kindly, little ponies." She announced. "Oh, now now, let's settle down."

"So if it weren't for you and the zap apples, Ponyville wouldn't even exist?" Scootaloo excitedly asked.

"Darn tootin', little filly!" Granny Smith answered, stomping a hoof on the ground.

"If it weren't for my Granny Smith, your daddy wouldn't have Barnyard Bargains." Applebloom told Diamond Tiara.

"Boom and Tiara just got owned!" I randomly said, which gave me confused looks from the fillies.

Tiara looked at all of them and raised her hooves up. "But she's just a...kooky old lady!" Tiara protested, causing the fillies to gasp.

Applebloom quickly sped towards Granny Smith as she was licking the chalkboard again. "She is not a kooky old lady! She is the most amazing pony in all of Ponyville!" She hugged her lovingly, sending a warm feeling to me.

The other little ponies agreed, causing Diamond Tiara to groan and let her head fall on her desk.

After class was dismissed, we walked as a group over to the farm to see that the zap apples had arrived and were being taken down by Applejack and Big Mac, not before long, I saw several jars full of zap apple jams, they looked very rainbow-ish and quite tempting to spread on bread.

"Here you go, sugarcube. One jar of zap apple jam, on the house." Applejack said as she handed out a jar for me.

"Thank you Applejack." I replied as I opened the jar and with my magic, grabbed a knife and spread the jam on a slice bread. I took a bite and it tasted incredible. It was so sweet and very fruity too...I would most definitely be getting this on a regular basis compared to the bags of peppermint sticks although I mean no offence to Twist and her way of making them.

Applejack and I walked over to see Applebloom working a little with selling jars of the stuff.

"So ah take it Family Appreciation Day went well?" Applejack asked.

"Did it? My Granny Smith is super special!" Applebloom exclaimed as Big Macintosh joined us. "Ah just forgot that for a little while…"

"Aw, don't fret." Granny Smith added. "Ah forget things all the time. Now, ah'll getcha... er... somethin'."

Nonetheless, Applebloom smiled and hugged her again.

"Who wants to help Granny sing to the water?" Applejack asked the foals before her.

"We do! We do!" They hopped in the air and rushed over to help.

Applejack and I shared a smile when we saw the little ones place on bunny suits and begin hopping over the watering cans.

"A, b, c, d, e f g..." They sang as they all hopped over the cans. They continued when Filthy Rich came over with Diamond Tiara, pushing her towards the children as she wore bunny ears.

"But dad!" She tried to protest.

Nonetheless, she was pushed again towards the hopping.

Applejack and Applebloom looked at each other and began laughing. I could only join in, seeing Tiara getting what she deserved, although I did wonder where Silver Spoon was, oh well, at least Filthy Rich is able to respect the Apple Family and it's history. After the selling event was over, I decided to walk on back to my home with my jar of zap apple jam.

When I got home, I placed the jar in the cupboard and took a sit down on the sofa, reflecting back on the things I've seen since yesterday. Who would've thought that Granny Smith was responsible for finding and naming this big area Ponyville as well as learning that zap apple jams turned out to taste so damn good? I'm sure it'll be a matter of time before zap apple season comes round again and I get to taste some more in the future. Next Chapter: Baby Cakes Estimated time remaining: 19 Hours, 53 Minutes