“Howdy?” Applejack asked and a voice called her to go down the basement. Applejack never liked to get down there because Twilight got the place full of contraptions that could explode at the drop of the hat, and she always happened to wear one.

“Just a minute, Applejack,” Twilight said, focusing on her job.

“Ah´m afraid to ask what are ya doing this time…”

“I'm a bout to extract a brand new enzyme out of this type of crystalline plant that only grows on the Crystal Empire.”

“I'm holding the lens,” Spike said with a grudge.

“Hold still, Spike. breaking this kind of crystal it´s a work that requires extreme precision and just the right amount of pressure…”

“Ya want to break this crystal here?” Applejack asked and when Twilight nodded, Applejack simply smashed it with her hooves.

“Well, that´s one way to do it..:” Twilight said.

“Sorry to rush yer act, honeybun, but I need to ask a favor from ya.”

“Sure, what you need?”

“Uh, ah misspoke, ah meant a favor from him,” Applejack said, pointing at Spike. “Ya told me once that trick with the scrolls was a spell, right?”

“Yes, Princess Celestia taught Spike that spell when he was just a abby. I think she always intended us to stay in touch,” Twilight explained.

“And only works fer celestia?”

“Well, in theory. Although Spike has figured ways to make other things appear,” Twilight said and Spike made appear his Noble Dragon credential.

“In that case, ah need ya to send a letter to a certain place. It might be a tad difficult but ah need to speak iht these ponies.”

“Sure Applejack but, can I ask who?”

“Mah parents,” Applejack said and both Twilight and Spike looked at each other. “What´s gotten into ya two?”

“Sorry Applejack, it´s just, we always assumed…”

“Aren´t your parents dead?” Spike bluntly asked and got a glare from Twilight.

“No, sugarcube. Mah parents aren´t dead, they're stuck in…”

****

“Tartarus!”

“Apple Bloom, mind your language!” Mrs. Cheerilee sadi.

“But it´s true! Mah parents are stuck in Tartarus!” Apple Bloom repeated and all the students murmured.

“Jeez, even I don´t talk that way about my parents,” Diamond Tiara murmured loud enough to be heard.

“Ah ain't lying! Years ago, mah parents discovered a weird apple tree, one that caused every creature that eat from its fruits to turn evil. Princess Celestia took it away and sent the tree to Tartarus. Mah parents were the ones pulling the charts but they got stuck when the doors closed with them inside.”

All the students murmured some more, some not quite buying the story.

“It´s the true!”

“I believe you Apple Bloom, that s why I said you could skip the family tree assignment if you wanted to,” Mrs. Cheerilee said.

“Why would ah?”

Cheerilee didn't know what to said and decided to move to the next student.

“Scootaloo, tell us a bit about your parents…”

****

“I´ve heard that story before. The two farmers who saved a group of Royal Guards by tossing them outside Tartus and sealing the doors from the inside. My brother was just a cadet back then,” Twilight said.

“Ya, my folks right away. Heroes till the end” Applejack said with a sad face.

“But, how can you be sure they're still alive?” Spike asked but this time Twilight didn't scold him.

“Ah don´t but ah have to keep believing,” Applejack said, lowering her head.

“Tomorrow is Granny Smith´s birthday, right? You want to...let them know she is fine and healthy?” Twilight asked.

“Is it possible?”

“Let´s give it a try,” Twilight said and Applejack handled her a letter.

“I'll do my best but I've never sent a letter that fat away,” Spike said.

“Ah appreciate the effort, Spike,” Applejack said with now a smile.

Spike took a deep breath and released the biggest gflame he was capable off. The letter vanished and for a few seconds it seemed like it had worked, but the smiles soon disappeared when the letter returned in an explosion of smoke and ashes.

“I'm terrible sorry, Applejack,” Twilight apologized, coughing.

“It's okay, Twi. Ah...ah should have known. Thanks anyways.”

Twilight and Spike watched Applejack leave the place, defeated and hurt.

“Is there nothing we can do to help, Twilight?”

“I don't know. The gates of Tartarus can't be easily opened. I myself had a hard time just getting there to return Cerberus.”

“Think Princess Celestia can help?”

“I don't know,” Twilight said and picked up the letter Applejack had forgotten. “Send her this. She may know waht to do.”

*****

Celestia was sitting on her study, signing papers when a bright, green flash appeared next to her. Smiling she picked up the envelope, surprised there were two. After reading the one from Twilight explaining the nature of the letter, Celestia smiled again with a bit of sadness.

“Oh my dear Twilight, if you only have asked. I could have told you that they can receive but they lack the means to answer back”

Celestia approached the sleeping phoenix and waked her up.

“I always assumed that letting Applejack and her family continue with their lives was better than make them worry but perhaps I was wrong. They need to speak to them, not just keeping the faith they will return.”

Celestia levitated the letter and added another one, then handled them to the phoenix who rose in the air and then engulfed them in flames, sending them away.

“I have faith, Applejack. I have faith they receive every letter, that they know you and your family are well and one day, one day you will tell that to them. One day.”