Early in the morning at Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville, the Apple family was already wide awake.
"Hey, Big Macintosh, did you wash your hooves?"
While Granny Smith was still busy in the kitchen preparing a hearty breakfast for the family, the other three ponies gathered around the old dining table. As Big Macintosh took his usual seat, Applejack arranged the plates and asked him.
"Yep."
Just as Applejack was about to head into the kitchen to help Granny Smith, Apple Bloom's voice grabbed her attention.
"Look! Who's that?"
Applejack and Big Macintosh followed Apple Bloom's gaze toward the path in the distance, where a white pony with black-and-white striped mane was walking toward them.
"That's strange," Applejack said, walking toward the stranger. "Why would a pony come to Sweet Apple Acres this early? And I don't remember any white pony with a black mane in Ponyville."
Driven by curiosity, Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom followed Applejack to find out who this uninvited guest was.
As the distance closed, the three Apple siblings finally got a clear look at the newcomer.
He was a male Earth Pony with a fluffy yet neat and tidy mane, and a tail that looked equally voluminous. A grey pair of headphones hung around his neck. He was on the smaller side for an Earth Pony, roughly the same build as Applejack, and quite handsome with sharp, expressive features—especially his striking grey-blue eyes. Strapped to his back was a long, black case.
"Hello, welcome to Sweet Apple Acres, I'm Applejack," Applejack said in a friendly tone while sizing up the visitor. "What's your name, and what brings you to Sweet Apple Acres?"
Before she could even finish and before the visitor could reply, she heard Apple Bloom chime in:
"Is your Cutie Mark a pear?"
At that moment, Applejack and Big Macintosh both stared at the pony's flank and dropped their jaws in astonishment. Right there on his flank was a Cutie Mark of a sliced cyan pear with a black musical note right in the middle.
Then, the newcomer spoke.
"Nice to meet you, Applejack. First time meeting you, so let me introduce myself—my name is Bingtang Xueli," he said with a polite nod.
"What are you doing here?! Sweet Apple Acres doesn't welcome ponies from the Pear family!"
Both Apple siblings glared at Bingtang Xueli with instant hostility. Apple Bloom, standing beside them, seemed startled by her older siblings' reaction.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, don't be so tense," he waved a hoof and assumed a mysterious air. "I've got a very important matter to discuss with you, but it looks like I picked a bad time. How about this? I'll be hanging out at that place in town that makes those delicious daisy sandwiches all day today. Whenever you have time, come find me there, and I'll fill you in."
With that, he turned and left, leaving the two Apple siblings standing in place, watching his retreating figure with wary eyes. Apple Bloom looked back and forth between the departing Bingtang Xueli and her older siblings in utter confusion.
"What are you three brats up to?! Why is there not a single pony around the breakfast table?"
Granny Smith's voice rang out from behind them.
"Let's go back and eat," Applejack said, turning toward the table. "We'll go find him this afternoon and see what he's up to."
"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with a pony from the Pear family?" Apple Bloom asked, looking at her sister uncomprehendingly.
"The problem is that the Apples and the Pears are sworn enemies!"
Applejack shouted with dramatic flair, and Big Macintosh nodded in fierce agreement.
"Sworn enemies?! But... why? And what is he even doing here?"
"Why?" Applejack suddenly froze. She glanced back at Big Macintosh, who looked right back at her with a blank expression, apparently having no idea either.
Applejack shook her head, deciding to push that question aside for a moment, and answered Apple Bloom's other question instead.
"Never mind what he's here for. We'll go confront him this afternoon, and whatever sneaky plot he's cooking up, it won't work."
"Yep," Big Macintosh agreed with a nod.
——Four hours later——
"We're here!"
The three Apple siblings marched straight into the diner, spotted Bingtang Xueli and his very conspicuous black mane sitting in a corner, and strode over with the swagger of warriors facing down a giant Hydra.
"Oh, you made it!" Bingtang Xueli said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Please, sit, sit. I've been wanting to meet you all for a long time."
The three siblings exchanged a glance and sat down. Then, Applejack took the lead.
"A pony from the Pear family coming to Ponyville, and showing up at Sweet Apple Acres at the crack of dawn—out with it, what's your game?"
Applejack narrowed her eyes at him with a sharp glare, backed up by her two muscular bodyguards flanking her with identical looks. Apple Bloom, however, was simply too small; no matter how hard she tried to look fierce, it just came across as adorable.
"Whoa, easy now, I'm not here to cause trouble," Bingtang Xueli said, waving a hoof. "I've been wanting to see you all for ages, my dear cousin Applejack, cousin Big Macintosh, and my sweet little cousin Apple Bloom."
"What?!"
The three Apple siblings dropped their jaws in shock.
"I don't remember having a cousin from the Pear family," Applejack said, half-convinced the black-maned white Earth Pony was spinning a yarn. Yet, looking into his eyes, he didn't look like he was lying.
"This calls for a story where apples fail to hide the tears, and every glance lands on a pear."
With that, he fished a photograph out of his saddlebag and slid it across the table toward the three siblings.
The photo looked old enough to be in black and white, featuring just three ponies. In the center stood a stallion, flanked by two young mares. The Cutie Mark of the slightly older mare on the left was blocked by the stallion, but the Cutie Mark of the younger mare on the right was fully visible—it appeared to be a jar.
Big Macintosh and Applejack stared frozen at the younger mare in the photograph.
"M-Mom..." Applejack murmured softly.
"What?! Which one's our mom? Let me see!" Apple Bloom demanded excitedly upon hearing her sister.
"Why do you have a picture of our mom? And who are the other two?"
Applejack slid the photo toward Apple Bloom, then looked up at the white pony across the table.
"I'll answer your second question first," he said with a smile. "That mare is my mother, Pear Butter, and the stallion beside her is my grandfather, Grand Pear."
"Then... why would our mom be in a picture with your mom and your grandfather?"
Sensing that Applejack hadn't quite processed it yet—or perhaps was simply in denial—Bingtang Xueli didn't mind and went ahead with his explanation.
"Because your mom is also my grandfather's daughter, of course. Your mom is my mother's younger sister, and my aunt, which makes you my cousin."
"What?!"
The three siblings exclaimed in unison once more.
"Our mom is from the Pear family? How is that possible? How come we never knew?" Applejack asked in disbelief.
"I imagine everyone at Sweet Apple Acres just called my little aunt 'Little Jam', right? At least, that's what my grandfather told me," Bingtang Xueli shrugged. "Actually, my little aunt—your mother—her real name was Pear Jam, and her Cutie Mark was a jar. Besides, Pear Jam and Apple Jam looked an awful lot alike."
"Goodness," Applejack said, still reeling. "I can't believe our mother was part of the Pear family! That means we've got Pear blood in us too!"
"Yep!"
Big Macintosh nodded in affirmation, while Apple Bloom stared at the photograph in a trance.
"But aren't the Pears and the Apples sworn enemies?" Applejack pressed, still skeptical. "Granny Smith always told us that. So how could our mother possibly be a Pear?"
"Ah, that's a long story. I heard it straight from my grandfather—our grandfather, Grand Pear. It took a whole lot of begging before he finally agreed to tell me." Bingtang Xueli took a sip of water and continued:
"A long time ago in Ponyville, back when our grandfather was still young, there were two prominent families: the Apple family and the Pear family. They couldn't stand each other and constantly feuded, both openly and behind the scenes. But there was one exception: your mom and dad. Of course, that means my little aunt and uncle. They were childhood sweethearts, inseparable since they were foals. Sadly, neither family would ever consent to their being together, so their romance had to be kept a secret—until the day my grandfather, who was then the head of the Pear family, decided to pack up the clan and leave Ponyville to find new lands to farm."
"Wait, doesn't that mean our mom and dad were going to be torn apart?!"
Applejack gasped in horror, the other two ponies mirroring her expression, completely absorbed in the tale of their parents' past.
"Yes. My little aunt was heartbroken. She figured they were going to be forced apart for good. But your dad made a deeply romantic choice—he proposed to her."
Bingtang Xueli took another sip of water, glanced at the three siblings to gauge their reactions, and went on:
"Your dad knew my little aunt didn't need some grand wedding. He brought her to a small, carefully arranged ceremony. There were no other ponies there—just the mayor to make their union official. Right after they exchanged their vows, Granny Smith and my grandfather rushed in. Both of them were furious and tried to stop the wedding, but the mayor pronounced them husband and wife anyway. In the end, my grandfather gave my little aunt a choice: leave with him or stay in Ponyville. Even though it broke her heart, she chose to stay in Ponyville for love. So my grandfather angrily took my mother and the rest of the clan away, forbidding them ever to contact my little aunt again. And that's how it happened."
The ponies sat in silence for a brief moment before Applejack broke the quiet.
"So, is that why you came here—just to tell us this?"
"Not just me—*we* came," Bingtang Xueli shrugged. "My grandfather couldn't sit still. He brought a few jars of jam to sell somewhere."
"You mean our grandfather is here in Ponyville right now?!"
"That's right. You have no idea how hard it was to drag him here," he sighed. "That old man is as stubborn as a mule. He'd been dying to meet you kids for the longest time, but he just couldn't get past his own pride. I was practically ready to drag him by his tail, and even when we got to Ponyville, he was too embarrassed to come straight to Sweet Apple Acres."
"Well, what are we waiting for, then? Dear cousin," Applejack said, standing up. "Let's go see our grandfather right now. I'm dying to meet him."
"Me too!"
"Yep!"
"Alright, let's head out." Bingtang Xueli finished the last of his water and stood up. The four cousins prepared to set off to find their shared grandfather.
As the four siblings walked out of the diner, the waiter looked at Bingtang Xueli's retreating back with a pitying expression and muttered:
"Sat there for over four hours hogging a whole table and only ordered a glass of free water... That poor kid must be flat broke and can't afford to eat. Next time he comes by, I'm bringing him a serving of fried hay."