Of Black Feathers and Young Apples

This is a Michelle Creber X Black Gryph0n story, but since Michelle doesn't seem to have an OC I am using grown up Applebloom to represent her.

Applebloom brought Granny her requested mug of tea. The nights were getting colder on the Apple Farm and Ponyville in general, as winter was well on its way.

"Thank ye kindly Applebloom. Ya remind me of yer sister." Granny said in her shrill old voice. "Always putting the family's needs before her own."

Applebloom felt a pang of sadness that her big sister no longer lived at home. Over the years, Applejack spent less time with Applebloom and more time with Rainbow Dash, the Wonder Bolt in training. It was becoming quite clear that their strong bond was moving past the friendship stage. Soon they started dating, and their love grew so strong for one another that the night came that Rainbow knelt down and pulled a box out on her wing. They became engaged, and two months ago Twilight Sparkle herself married them in front of all of Ponyville. Applebloom was happy for her sister, but sad that things had changed. Big Macintosh also spent less time at the farm, as he and Cherilee were planning their own wedding and he had moved in with her as their relationship became more serious. They still came over for the holidays. Applebloom sighed. It was mostly just her out in the fields now, she had grown into a full sized mare, and she found the time to crusade with her friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle whenever they could. Scootaloo was a scooter daredevil now and Sweetie Belle toured Equestria, singing for large crowds of ponies and becoming famous all over the country.

"Applebloom." Granny's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Oh. Yes Granny?"

"There's something Ah need to tell yer. It's something mah ma and pa told me when Ah was yer age, and yer a full grown mare now." Applebloom sat down, listening intently. "When an Apple catches the eye of an eagle, that's a true honour."

"Wha? What do ya mean by that, Granny?"

"Ya'll find out soon enough, young un." She chuckled, then fell asleep.

"But… Granny? Why tell me something and then not explain what it means? Urgh!" Applebloom grumbled, tucking in for the night. She shrugged it off, it was probably just Granny's usual nonsense.  

***

When Applebloom came back from the Ponyville village, she thought about why the town had been so much busier than usual today. She then recalled that a popular musician was in town, Black Gryphon. Memories of mares bombarding his trailer filled her mind.

Must be quite the looker if he can rope in any mare he wants. She mused. She thought about her sister and Rainbow Dash. Truth be told, Applebloom wasn't sure if she was attracted to mares, stallions, or both. She didn't care much for romance, so she never gave it much thought. She mostly focused on her chores of running the farm.

Applebloom started on her first tree of the Southern fields. But before she even bucked, an apple fell onto her rump, bouncing off and landing on the ground, causing her to spin around.

"What the?" She looked at the apple.

"Hey there." A black gryphon revealed himself.

"Ack!!" The apple farmer gasped in surprised. It wasn't every day you saw a gryphon around these parts. "What're y'all doing out here?" She asked, suspicious of this stranger that had sneaked up on her. He laughed.

"I heard that the Apple Family Farm had the finest apples in Ponyville, and since I'm staying in Ponyville for my tour, I thought I'd pick up a few." The gryphon explained. Tour? Applebloom thought.

"Yeah. You're Applejack right?" He asked.

"Uh, no. That'd be mah big sis, and she doesn't live here anymore. I'm Applebloom." She said.

"Ooh, right. Princess Twilight mentioned Applejack had a sister." The gryphon mumbled.

"Uh… y'all know Princess Twilight?"

"Of course, she happily found me a place to stay while touring here."

"Ya keep mentioning this tour. What's all that about?"

"Oh… you don't know who I am?" He mused. This was kind of nice. A fresh start with a mare that didn't instantly fawn over him and ask for his autograph. "My alias is Black Gryph0n, but my friends and family call me Gryph." He reached out a claw. Applebloom shook it with her fore hoof.

"Well ya came to the right place, we do have the finest apples! How many and what kind do ya want?"

"I'll take five golden deliciouses please." The gryphon said. Applebloom walked over to the best looking Golden Delicious tree she could find and bucked hard. Dozens of apples fell from the branches. Gryph stared at her in awe.

"Here ya go, five. That'll be nine bits." She said.

"Oh, heh, right." Gryph took nine bits out of his feathers and counted them out, handing them to the farmer. Applebloom put the apples in an extra bag she had and handed them over.

"Pleasure doing business with ya." She said. Gryph smiled. He seemed to have something on his mind.

"Hey, this might seem out of the blue, but… I'm performing tonight but I'm free after… wanna come to my show and hang out after it's done?"  

Applebloom wasn't doing anything other than her usual chores, and those where sure to be done by sundown.

"Sure, I suppose it wouldn't do any harm to go out fer once." She thought out loud. "Okay."

"Sweet, I'll pick you up at 5, gotta bounce." Gryph said, with a flash he disappeared into the sky with his bag of apples.

"Huh?" The way he made it sound it sounded like a date, but how could that be? They weren't even really friends yet! Applebloom sighed. Times like this were when she wished her big sis were around, Applebloom didn't know what to do with guys. She'd had a couple of foal hood crushes, but those never seemed to work out. She decided to put it out of her head for now, and keep doing chores.

***

Since there was no dress code for tonight's concert, Applebloom just wore her usual bandana and her mane and tail tied in buns at the end. She had picked up that style from her big sis. She never cared for dressing fancy like Sweetie Belle and Rarity, and she usually just wore what she was comfortable in. Judging by the angle of the sun it was nearing 5, and sure enough "Black Gryph0n" had arrived.

"Hey! Climb on." He motioned for the mare to get on her back.

"W-What?" Applebloom stuttered. She wasn't a pegasus herself, nor had she flown on the back of a pegasus before like her sister had done with Dash, so flying made her nervous.

"Don't worry, I'll go slow." He chuckled. Hesitating, Applebloom carefully climbed on, gripping the gryphon's neck tightly to avoid falling off. He laughed some more.

"Oh shut it!" Applebloom joked. He launched them into the air, the farm growing smaller and smaller to Applebloom's eyes, making her feel a bit queazy. It wasn't long before they reached the stadium, Gryph giving her a special front row seat. Ponies weren't allowed in quite yet, so they didn't get bombarded at their arrival.

"Gryph!" A gruff voice barked. The gryphon groaned. "Where were you? While taking that mare for a joy ride you could have gotten here on time and gotten some practice in!"

"I don't need practice, Joe. I needed to stretch my wings."

"If you think this is how you can talk to your manager, you're wrong, now do your vocal warm ups!" The beefy stallion barked. "And who is she anyways, aside from being your arm candy for tonight?" Applebloom glared at her treatment, if Gryph really was just using her as arm candy, he'd have explaining to do after the show.

"She's the Element of Honesty's sister, she sold me some apples just this afternoon. I figured this is the least I could do for her troubles." Gryph explained.

"Fine, just this once. Now GET ON IT!" The manager barked. Gryph sighed, then turned to Applebloom, winking. This gesture made her heart flutter, and she wasn't sure why. He began to sing parts of his song that he referred to as "Academy." She was mesmerized by his voice. Soon the concert began, and mares and stallions alike poured into the stadium. Applebloom could have listened to him sing all night, but soon the closing act came.

"Thank you everypony for coming!" Gryph bowed.

"We love you Gryph!!!!" The mares next to Applebloom called out. She rolled her eyes at them. The lights faded and soon the stadium was empty again. With a towel around his neck and wiping a layer of sweat off his fore head, Gryph signed something for his manager and made his way to Applebloom.

"So what'd you think?"

"Y'all. Were. AMAZIN'!" Applebloom laughed. The gryphon laughed with her. "Ya seem to have quite the following! Ah seriously think all of Ponyville was here tonight!"

"Heh, well maybe not ALL." Gryph blushed at the honest praise. He found himself getting lost in the farm mare's amber eyes. A heavy coat of blush grew on Applebloom's face as he continued to lean in. His beak made a seal around Applebloom's muzzle, and for a moment time froze. His wings shot up in arousal. The mare's heart beat faster and faster.

Mah… mah first kiss… she thought. Finally they had to break for a gasp of air. Neither knew what to say at first.

"Uhm… this, this was nice. Do you wanna do this again?" The gryphon asked. Do this again? Oh yes! Yes yes yes! Applebloom nearly squealed. If she was ever unsure before, she definitely had some feelings for this gryphon now.

"That's great… I guess I better get you home then?" Gryph said.

"We can stay out a little longer." Applebloom said, still blushing heavily.