//------------------------------// // Apple Pie // Story: Long But Not Forgotten // by Sedgewick //------------------------------// “Here ya go, Applejack! Now go make some amazing apple pies!” “Hah, will do, Pinkie.” She tipped her hat at me before picking up the sugar and other ingredients. I smiled at her before she began towards the door. “Do you need any help around the farm, AJ? Or maybe we could hang out for a while,” I suggested to her. She turned around, putting a hoof to her chin in thought. “Well ah think we’re good with the farm at the moment, but we can still hang out,” she finally responded with a smile on her face. I jumped in the air in excitement. “Okie dokie lokie! I’ll see you around lunch tomorrow?” “Sure thing, sugarcube,” she tipped her hat again, “See ya then!” she exclaimed while she headed towards the door again. I waved a hoof goodbye as she disappeared behind the other side of the door. Applejack. She was always such an understanding pony, maybe one of the most understanding I’ve met here in Ponyville. I met her a while back ago, close to around when I met Dash, after that accident she had. It was all too familiar to forget... *********************** A few days after Dash’s accident, Fluttershy and I got word that she was able to leave the hospital; however she would have to take things easy. Around that time I kept seeing and orange earth pony with a hat, around town. After a while I decided it was time that I introduced myself to this mare. So I did. I trotted up to her stand while she was selling apples to the locals and introduced myself then and there. “Hi! My name is Pinkie Pie and I help run the bakery her in town! What’s your name?” she seemed to have recoiled a bit at the sudden outburst. “Oh, well uh, hey there, Pinkie Pie. Mah name’s Applejack,” she readjusted her hat. “So what are you doing, Applejack? Selling apples? Oh I love apples! They can be used for such great sweets!” I exclaimed, bouncing up into the air every so often, gathering stares from other passerby ponies. Applejack gave me a quizzical look before she opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She simply nodded. “Well, yes they are. Apples are pretty versatile when it comes to food, but ah should probably get going, Pinkie. It was nice meettin’ ya,” she tipped her hat, then gathered her cart together before walking off towards the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. I noticed that she seemed a slight bit down from the way she hung her head low and slowly walking, instead of a steady normal sort of pace. I then decided that the next time I saw her in town that I would ask if everything was okie dokie lokie and such. Until then though, I made my way back to Sugarcube Corner. *********************** I didn’t see her for a couple days after the day I introduced myself. I began to get a bit worried about what happened to her. I sat there behind the cashier table at Sugarcube corner, obviously at a loss. I wasn’t quite there for the time being, most of the customers actually noticed and asked about it too. I played it off as nothing, so they wouldn’t have to worry as well. The sun began to sink behind the horizon, in which I decided it was time I got some sleep. Tomorrow would be the day when I head to Sweet Apple Acres. Before I knew it, light began to shine through the windows nearby. I stirred in my half awake state, rolling over to try and find a spot away from the light. It was no use. I gave up and groggily sat up in my bed. I glanced outside, it was probably just about noon by now. I guess I slept in a little too long... I thought to myself. I shrugged it off, I had a day off today anyway. I made my way towards the bathroom to get ready for the day ahead. I trotted downstairs and made my way for the door, putting off lunch for a bit. For now, I had to check up on Applejack. I could see the farm coming up in the distance as I moved closer and closer to it. By the time I got a few feet away from some of the apple trees, I noticed Applejack a little ways away, bucking some of the trees that still had apples in them. I made my way closer to get within speaking distance from her. “Hey, Applejack!” her ears perked up as she looked up to see where the voice was coming from. “Well hey there, Pinkie, was it? Ah wasn’t expectin’ to see you here,” She said in between breaths. I nodded. “I noticed that you kind of seemed a little down last I saw you and I wanted to be sure you were alright,” I stated. “Well I would like to order some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies,” I snapped out of the memory I was thinking about. I glanced up to see Lyra and Bon-Bon standing on the other side of the cashier table. I giggled. “That’ll be two bits!” I exclaimed. Lyra levitated two bits over onto the tabletop. I smiled and waved them off as they walked out of the shop. I tapped my hoof on my chin, trying to think of where I was. Oh right. “Well that is mighty kind of you, Pinkie, but I don’t want to drag you into this,” her head dropped the ground. “But it is my duty to make sure everyone is happy!,” I pleaded as I put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. “Well...” she looked back up at me. I smiled at her, hoping to get her to reconsider. “Just let me help, Applejack. I promise it will be worth it,” “Well... alright then... you’ll need to hear the story though,” she said with a tinge of sadness. I looked at her a little confused, but waited for her to continue on and tell the story. “Alright... well... a few years ago, we all lived like any other family. Happy, peaceful, just getting by. A little while after ah was born though, my father began drinking. Ah guess he wasn’t expecting to have me... ah don’t think either of them did. that wasn’t the worst of it though. We still got by despite that, but as time went on, he started drinking more and more. Later on my mother told me and Big Mac to go and live with Granny Smith. Apparently grandfather had died around that time, and Granny would definitely need help around the farm. We didn’t like the fact of leaving her with our drunk father, but we didn’t have much a choice.” She paused here, taking in a deep breath. “Things began to look up since we moved here with Granny. Little to no problems, not much worry, everything was well. Couple more years had passed though, and apparently we got word that our parents had another foal; Applebloom. Well we didn’t think much of it. We took care of her as we did each other, but as time went on it got harder and harder. We did our best and still managed to get through it all, but we never expected one thing,” I thought I caught a glimpse of tears well up in her eyes as she paused. “We got a letter. It was from the police department. It said that the house was burnt to the ground, presumably by our drunk father, killing our mother in the process. Our father was noted missing,” tears began to flow down her cheeks, dripping onto the ground below. I winced at the sight, but waited for her to finish before I took any action. “We tried to move on after that, but just knowing what happened and that we couldn’t do anything just made it that much harder. It wasn’t that long ago that we got that letter, and we never even got to say goodbye...” she choked out the last few words and broke down. Finished or not, I took this time to try and help her through this. I quickly walked over by her side and embraced her, slightly rubbing her back, hoping it would calm her down. Several minutes passed until she broke the embrace. I put my hoof under her chin and lifted her head so she was looking into my eyes. I put a smile on my face. “C’mon, AJ. Turn that frown upside down! It will be alright,” she didn’t say anything, but instead nodded. She pulled me back into an embrace in which I returned. The air around us felt tense. It was silent for the longest time. I tried not to push anything further, and I tried my hardest to hold back any outbursts in case it made things worse. After several moments had passed, she finally spoke up. “If you could help me and Big Mac with Applebloom whenever we’re not around, that would be a great load off of us, Pinkie.” “You got it! I’ll do the bestiest best that I can do!” I exclaimed, doing a salute to her. She chuckled a bit and smiled. She got back on all fours, then placing a hoof on my shoulder. “Thanks, Pinkie. She should be in the house. I need some time to think,” she picked up the baskets that were left on the ground and headed back to some of the trees that still needed to be bucked. I nodded and bounded towards the farm house. *********************** It felt as if it was just yesterday, when in reality it has been much, much longer. Applebloom had grown a tad since then and we always had some fun playing around the farm and cooking goodies. Especially the goodies! I licked my lips at the thought of having some sweets before realizing that I was still at the bakery. It was beginning to get late and just about that time to close up shop for the day. I flipped the sign by the window to say ‘closed’ to any passerby ponies outside. I picked up some sweets, cupcakes specifically, from the kitchen before retiring to my room for the rest of the night. Day came by as did any other. I got up from bed and made my way to the bathroom to get ready for the day ahead of me. I checked the clock to see it was still a bit early, so I decided to take a stroll around town before I headed off to Sweet Apple Acres. After about an hour of wandering around town, I began to make my way towards the farm. It was a rather cool day out, but also slightly warm from the sun. It was a nice and comfortable mix. It didn’t take long until the farm came into view. It was just about that time again. Apple bucking season. Before I knew it, I was at the door to the farm house. I knocked on it a few times. I heard hoof falls from the other side, then the doorknob turned. The door swung open to Applejack, motioning for me to come inside. “So, are ya up for some baking, Pinkie?” she asked me. “Of course! I love baking!” “Well alright then. Lets get some pies going then,” she exclaimed waving her hooves in front of her. I bounded up and down toward the kitchen to get the pies setup. I felt a hoof on my shoulder just before I made it inside the kitchen. I turned around to see Applejack, a large smile across her features. “Thanks again, Pinkie.” *********************** (Authors Note: I apologize for this taking so long to get out, been stressed and such, but here you guys go. All 5 of you reading this. Also a big thank you to Sith_Dreamer for pre-reading this and such.)