You will travel far, my little Kal-El. But we will never leave you... even in the face of our death. The richness of our lives shall be yours. All that I have, all that I've learned, everything I feel... all this, and more, I... I bequeath you, my son. You will carry me inside you, all the days of your life. You will make my strength your own, and see my life through your eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father, and the father the son. This is all I... all I can send you, Kal-El.

S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S

Along an old dirt road, older than even their grandpappies and grannies, Jonathan Smith Apple and his wife of ten years, Golden Delicious, were busy driving along in an old pick-up truck at sometime around midnight. They were heading back to their own farm, with a map spread out across the steering wheel, from the annual Apple Family reunion in Ponyville and their eyes drooped, begging them to get back home and crash onto their bed. However, a wrong turn here, a tired, sleep deprived mistake there, and the two found themselves lost amongst corn stalks that they vaguely recalled being inside of the town they lived in. As married folk are want to do, they were arguing about the proper course of action.

"Just pull the danged thing over and ask somepony for directions Jonathan!" Commanded Golden Delicious from the passengers seat.

"Somepony? Golden, I love you, but sometimes you make about as much sense to me as metric or my Granny Smith!"

"How am I not making any sense to you?"

"Because honey, it's the dead of night! I don't think the folk that would be up and about on these here roads this late would be the kind that'd make pleasant company."

"You mean like you and that map you've been oglin' at for the past hour and a half?

"Oh here we go again!"

So heated did their argument grow, that they failed to notice a bright light descending upon them from the heavens. That was, until said light glowed bright enough…and grew close enough as well. "Jonathan! Look out!" Golden Delicious said, pointing back towards the road where she and her husband hadn't been paying attention to up till now.

Following his wife's hoof, he saw the object as well and, like any good driver when seeing an unknown projectile hurtling towards them at subsonic velocity, swerved quickly enough to the side to avoid it…as well as into the ditch separating one of the fields from the main road. With the ear splitting sound of metal buckling against earth, their car performed several flips, both forward and side ones, before coming to a complete stop, right-side up amongst the corn stalks.

"Uhhh…" Golden Delicious said as she and her husband removed their heads from the airbags in front of them, rubbing their heads.

"Huh…" Huffed Jonathan, humorously, looking toward his wife. "And you said buying and putting in them newfangled airbags from Set Corp was a waste'a hard earned bits."

"Don't you start with me Jonathan Smith Apple!" She groaned out.

"Well, do you still think it was just a bunch'a wasted money?"

His smile at that was wiped off from a back-hoof by his beloved delivered right to one of the bruises he had sustained during the unexpected detour off the road. It was wiped off even further when he saw his wife's stare at him, which, combined with the moon being eclipsed by her head, was made all the more eerie.

She turned towards her door and, with several hard bucks, managed to force the heavily dented thing open. Unbuckling her seatbelt, she took several wobbly steps back towards the road before calling back, "You comin' or what Jonathan?"

Unbuckling his own seat belt and sliding out of her door, her husband took several wobbly steps of his own and followed her. "That depends: where we headin' darlin'?"

"Towards that there U.F.O. that almost did us in."

"U.F.O.? What in the hay is that?" Jonathan asked. "That organization that's made up of all the countries on Equis and that's supposed to be all about world peace and stuff like that?"

"You know Jonathan!" She sighed, annoyed. "A UFO. An Unidentified. Flying. Object."

"What? You mean like a bird, or plane, or Pegasi nobody can make heads or tails about?"

"Well yes, actually." Golden Delicious said, surprised for once at her husband's words that night. "Though I'm kinda hoppin' it's somethin' a bit less, errr…what's the word?"

"Mundane?"

Once again astounded at Jonathan's intelligence, she said, "Yeah, actually. I'm kinda hopin' it's somethin' from outer space that wasn't made by anypony, griffon, minotaur, or any other race on this here world that can count past ten."

"What? Like something made by one of them Extraequistrials I read about way back when I was a colt and they still sold pulps?"

"Exactly!"

Jonathan stopped abruptly and held out one of his fore-hooves, stopping Golden Delicious as well. He then grabbed onto the sides of her head with both fore-hooves and began examining it meticulously, like a doctor would a patient he suspected was wounded someplace even he or she didn't know about. "Are you sure you're okay darlin'? We did just walk out of a car that had an accident and all." He said with the utmost seriousness and sincerity in his voice.

Golden Deliciousness's initial gut response was to back-hoof him again off her, but after thinking about how legitimately concerned he sounded, she just sighed and said, "I'm fine. I may be a little banged up, but I can still think and function well enough fine." She took both his hooves off her head and looked into his eyes. "Really. I'm all right Jonathan. Just like your granny's zap-apple jam."

She smiled, and he did right on back. "Like Granny Smith's special jam, huh? That must mean you're feelin' like a million bits." He said, putting both their hooves back on the ground.

"Like two million actually." She stated matter-of-factly. "Now, let's go see just what kind of U.F.O. that was that's gonna make you have to work the fields twice as hard so we can get ourselves a new pickup."

As Golden Delicious continued her trot, Jonathan looked on with a blanched look. "Now wait a minute! Just me, or the two of us?" He said, catching up to her.

S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S

After another minute of walking, the two of them finally made it back to the road. It didn't take long afterwards to follow the path of destruction literally carved into it by the U.F.O. back towards a small bridge going over a small stream used to water the local crops.

"For the umpteenth time Jonathan, YES already! I was just jokin' about what I said. Of course the two of us will put in an equal share of hard work to pay however much it is for a new car."

"Are ya sure?" He repeated for the umpteenth time.

"Uhhh!" She repeated for the umpteenth time. "Just…just be quiet for a bit and keep up. Please?"

Complying, Jonathan and his wife made it over a side of the bridge where the riverbank and the cobblestone there met. There, they found the object that had caused tonight's grief (or at least, made it worse), sticking part way in the soft soil near the dividing area between water and land.

"Huh. That there looks like one of them rocket ships the government has."

The two of them maneuvering around the thing on opposite paths, Golden Delicious stopped inside the water and pointed to something on the side of it. "Yep, but which government?"

Jonathan looked towards the same spot she was and saw several strange…lettering, he guessed, inscribed into the rocket in a language he couldn't make apples or oranges out of. He said as much. "I can't make apples or oranges out of this here language Golden."

"Neither can I."

"Maybe it's one of them Rushian satellites they got spyin' on down on us Equestrian folk."

"Jonathan, listen to yourself. Spudnik was just one of them miscalculations them brainy types sometimes make."

"Sure it was. Like it was on of them miscalculations that lead us to bein' out here late enough to almost get killed by a U.F.O."

Golden Delicious stared at her husband with a look that instantly flopped his ears down and made him look away. "Right. Miscalculation. You're right darlin'."

Still not willing to meet her gaze, he tapped his hoof nervously on the rocket. Unbeknownst to him, this incessant beat triggered something that caused it to then begin opening.

"Jonathan! What did you do!?" Golden Delicious cried out.

"I dunno!"

It finished, a bright white light assailing their eyes and blinding them for a few moments as they adjusted. After it passed (as well as lots of rubbing with the back of the fetlocks), they reopened their eyes to see the cargo that lay inside, which was most precious indeed. A cute foal with a sandy blond mane, red fur, and that looked to be in a peaceful slumber while wrapped up in a red blanket.

It was all the both of them could do but go, "Awwwww…"

That was, until Jonathan's eyes widened and he pulled his wife back from the rocket as she reached out towards the baby. "Don't get near it Golden! It's one of them Spudnik babies!"

"Spudnik babies?" Golden Delicious asked, rather cross.

"Yeah! For all we know, as soon as it gets up, it could start showin' off superequine abilities and go on a rampage!"

She huffed out, "You sure you haven't been dippin' into them pulps you said you used to read as a kid?"

"…Maybe…" He said, sheepishly.

Groaning she, said, "That baby's not an it Jonathan." Pulling herself away from her overactive imagination possessing husband, Golden Delicious grabbed the rocket's lone passenger and held the blanketed babe with one of her fore-legs. Turning around, she said, with a smile on her face, "He's a he."

At the sound of her voice, the foal slowly awoken and, upon seeing her with bright green eyes, smiled and began cooing. Once again, Golden and Jonathan said, "Awwwww…"

S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S

"Huh. Well, whaddaya know? It's still kickin'!" Jonathan proclaimed in triumph as their truck started up again.

After a few more moments of watching the bundle of joy that had unexpectedly (and literally) dropped into their laps, they had decided to take the foal with them and, realizing that they hadn't even bothered to check if their vehicle could still run, headed back to it.

"Well, ain't that just dandy-keen!" Golden Delicious said as she entered through the passenger's side with the foal still in hoof.

He put the truck into reverse and backed up until the tires hit the road. As soon as they did however, a distinctive pop rang out.

"Hehe…" He half-heartedly grinned.

After he filed out through his wife's side as the hinges on the door on his side were banged up to the point where he couldn't open it, he took a look towards the rear tires and found what the problem was. Golden Delicious, leaving the baby on the seat, followed soon after.

"Both'a these back tires seem have gone flat darlin'."

Behind him, Golden said, sarcastically, "Well, ain't that just dandy-keen."

"Don't worry Golden. You know I always carry a couple of spares. I'll just get them and the jack from the trunk and—"

Before he could finish, the back of the truck lifted up from the ground seemingly by itself so suddenly that, Jonathan and his wife found themselves stumbling backwards in shock and surprise. These two emotions were felt much more strongly when they saw that what had caused the truck to do what it did was none other than the red furred, sandy blond maned, bright green eyed foal that they had found. He was lifting it, blanket less, with his fore-hooves while standing up on his hind ones, smiling and cooing as he had before.

Eye beyond wide now, Jonathan said coarsely, "Spudnick ba—"

"Don't you start again." Interrupted Golden, eyes just as wide and voice just as coarse.