Fairy Tales of Equestria

Hansel Mac and Apple-Gretel

Once upon a time in a large forest outside the village, there lived a brother and sister named Hansel Mac and Apple-Gretel. They lived in a small cottage sitting on the edge of the thick forest near their village. Their mother had died when they were very young and their father remarried years later, but their new stepmother was very harsh and spiteful towards the two of them and they didn't know why.

Even though things seemed fine and dandy for everypony at first, the family was dirt poor and they were starting to run out of food. The stepmother was growing very worried, but only for herself, not for the children. After a while, she came up with a plan so that she and her husband wouldn't starve to death.

She decided to leave the two siblings out in the forest the next day so that they wouldn't be able to find their way back home and she and her husband would only have themselves to worry about. That night, Hansel Mac overheard his stepmother talking to herself about her evil plan and decided to do something about it.

The next morning, the group of four went out for a walk in the forest, just as the stepmother had planned. But Mac was prepared; he gathered up some sparkling stones from outside the house the night before and hidden them in his pockets. As they walked, Mac kept leaving more stones on the forest path one at a time. And soon, they stopped and made a small fire.

"Alright Hansel Mac, Apple-Gretel. Your father and I are going to go chop some wood somewhere over there and when we're ready to go home, we'll come back and fetch you. So don't leave this area, understand?" The stepmother said.

"Yes, ma'am." Gretel said.

"Eeyup." Mac added.

"Good. We'll be back."

And with that, the wicked mare and her clueless husband walked off into the trees in a different direction, leaving the children behind. A few hours past; it was almost sundown and their father and stepmother hadn't returned. Apple-Gretel was beginning to worry. She sat close to her brother near the dying fire.

"I'm gettin' a little freaked out, big brother. Ma and Pa are pretty darn late." Apple-Gretel said.

"Sis, ma left us out here on purpose." Mac began. "I overheard her plan last night."

"What?! Oh no! What are we gonna do?"

Gretel began to cry, but her older brother comforted her by wrapping his foreleg around her shoulder.

"Don't worry, lil' sis. Look at the path. I gathered up those stones on the path last night, and I dropped them on our way in here."

"So, what you're sayin' is that if we follow these rocks on the path, we'll get back home?"

"Eeyup!"

"Well, what are we waitin' for then? Let's go!"

The two siblings stood up and followed the stones left on the forest path and just when the moon had risen high in the clear night sky, they were back home and with their father again. He had been worried sick about them and he greeted them with warm open hooves.

"Pa!" They shouted with joy.

"Hansel Mac! Apple-Gretel! You're okay! I was so worried about ya'll!" Their father cried with joy as he hugged them. "Your stepmother told me she lost track of you while we were in the forest! But I'm just so glad to see that you're both okay!"

"We're kinda glad too, pa." Gretel smiled.

"Eeyup." Hansel Mac nodded his head.

On the outside, she appeared to be happy that the two ponies safely found their way home. But on the inside, their stepmother was furious and shocked at them. She decided to play out the same nasty scheme the next morning. Hansel Mac couldn't gather any stones again, but he had a backup plan.