//------------------------------// // Past and Future // Story: Secrets of the Heart // by Quick Fix //------------------------------// December 22nd Despite her best efforts, Applejack found herself unable to escape her lingering concerns about Bounty and Windhover. As the autumn harvest season passed and the winter snows arrived in their place, the decreased work required on the farm left her with more time to dwell on it too. She only saw Bounty every few days as the sweet apple acres staff only required one or two ponies a day during the winter. Apple Bloom came by occasionally, stopping in on her way to and from meetings with the new generation of Cutie Mark Crusaders, but for the most part Applejack found herself alone again with just that cold grip for company. By now she was completely sick of the feeling and with her workload lightened for several weeks to come thanks to all the snowfall, now was the prime time to do something about it. Despite being the obvious choice, Applejack wasn't certain about asking Bounty about taking things further. Even though she remembered that moment, that one moment where she was free of her concerns with him beside her, that wasn't enough to go on. He had looks and a comforting presence, sure, but she remembered Rarity had felt the same about Prince Blueblood and how well that had turned out. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, she could just get to know him better and find out, but he wasn't the only stallion to consider. Windhover was different. She had never actually seen him and only had the descriptions included in two years worth of letters to go on. Applejack had a mental image together and it seemed rather...Plain, for lack of a better word, especially in comparison to Bounty. Those same letters had given a good layout of his personality though and that was where the pegasus had the advantage over the unicorn. He was relaxed, upfront, knowledgeable and had a way of easing her concerns with just words. After all that, she found herself looking forward to finally meeting him. She wasn't going to have to wait much longer either. Windhover had arrived in Ponyville yesterday and was staying at a B&B in town. They hadn't had the chance to meet then as he had been seeing his family and she had been side-tracked by a surprise visit from Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. On top of everything else Applejack had been dealing with, hearing her younger sister come out as gay just like that had temporarily been more than she could deal with and it had taken the whole day to absorb and accept this new information. Which was why she was now finishing her work from yesterday today before Windhover showed up. "Alright, negotiate twenty litres off the Vanhoover order, use those sales in Ponyville and that should cover all demand." Applejack muttered to herself as she took one of her order papers and adjusted the numbers on it. Paperwork took up more of her time than a workhorse like her would have liked, enough that she had needed to set up a three-meter board on the wall to hold it all. Still, it took a lot of focus to keep all that information in mind. While she was working on this, she could forget everything else. She wasn't sure how long she'd been working before a knocking on the front door broke her attention. Applejack hesitated for a moment, wondering who it was. Big Mac was the only other team member present today and he would just come in if he needed to. It took a moment for her to remember, though the moment she did she dropped the paper and rushed over to the door. She opened it to see a green pegasus stallion standing on the other side. His identity was obscured by a dark blue beanie, gold tinted snow goggles and a leather jacket that covered his mane, eyes and cutie mark, though his gold coloured tail was still visible. Even with all the obscuring features, Applejack recognised him instantly. "Windhover!" She exclaimed happily, pulling her friend into a hug before he could react. "H-hey, Applejack," Windhover gasped as he found himself pressed hard against her chest. "Breathe..." "Oh, sorry." Applejack let him go and stepped back to let him recover. It took her a moment to realise that her cold anxiety that plagued her had gone completely again. It wasn't the same as when Bounty had gifted her with that feeling previously, as she felt nothing replacing it. No happy warmth, no sudden realisations, not even any of that love at first sight nonsense that Rarity seemed to be believe in every other year. The difference was far more significant; it was more than momentary. Windhover was taking several seconds to recover from her almost accidentally crushing him and she couldn't feel it returning at all. The fact was not lost on her, but she would have to think about it later. She had been waiting for this moment for nearly a year and a half. "Should have seen it coming, getting a pony as strong as you excited to see me." Windhover said as he straightened up. Now his voice was back to normal, Applejack noticed that he did have an accent from one of the coast towns of south-east Equestria, though she didn't know enough about the area to know which one. "Darn right, can never wait to meet a new friend. 'Specially one like you." "Trust me, I haven't been able to wait either. I haven't been to Ponyville in years and the chance to not just catch up with my family but to have an element of harmony herself want to hang out with me? I think half the foals in Equestria would do anything to be in my horseshoes." "Well we can't start by having ya freeze out here, even with that getup you got." Applejack commented as she stepped back to let Windhover inside. "Too much? We didn't get much snow in Manehatten and I wasn't sure just what I was going to need." Windhover replied, wiping snow off his goggles as he entered the farmhouse. With them cleaned up he lifted them up to rest on his forehead, showing a pair of excited light blue eyes behind them. "Not in this weather, it's kinda rough even for Ponyville." Applejack clarified as she watched his reaction to her living room. It was clear that Windhover was a city colt through and through. He was constantly looking round at everything inside so quickly that he stopped and did several circles in place. The sight was oddly adorable, a grown stallion acting like a foal seeing beauty for the first time after a life of darkness. After a full minute of this he finally calmed down enough to look back over at Applejack, smiling warmly but with an ever so slight waver to it. "Wow, you've got an amazing house, Applejack," He commented, wings fluttering slightly as he failed to keep his composure completely. "I ah, can't believe you're alone here." 'Yup, wondered if he'd speak before thinking.' Applejack thought to herself before shaking her head slightly. "Not entirely alone, my siblings are often around." "You've never mentioned parents though." Windhover added, stopping as he noticed a photo by the door. It was on the same side that the door opened to, which explained why he hadn't seen it initially. It was a group shot of five ponies. Two adults in the center, two teenagers on either side and a foal in her mother's hooves. Applejack herself was sitting on the right edge, though she only looked about ten years old and sported a pair of pigtails instead of her current ponytail. Next to her was a scarlet coloured earth mare with a short cut chestnut coloured mane and tail, soulful teal eyes and cutie mark of an apple half with its juice pouring into a cider mug. Nestled in the mare's hooves was a pale yellow foal no more than a few months old, a tuft of reddish mane poking out under the blanket it was wrapped in helping identify it as Apple Bloom. The earth stallion on the mare's right and gently nuzzling her was amber with a white stripe running up the bridge of his muzzle, graying mane and tail, green eyes and a cutie mark of a barn just like the one visible in the background of the photo and outside the farmhouse. He was also the only one with an accessory, a sky blue neckerchief draped round his neck. Sitting to his right and on the left edge of the photo was a younger Big Mac, somewhat lanky and with a much messier look to his mane, looking no older than thirteen. The whole picture gave off a sense of unity, calm and pleasant nostalgia. "Ah've never had to..." Applejack said quietly as she watched Windhover step closer for a better look at the photo. His ears folded back as he caught the meaning behind her words. "Oh...I-I'm so sorry, Applejack. I didn't mean to open an old wound..." "That wound's had twenty-seven years to heal, gonna take more than words to open it again." "Twe...Sweet Celestia." Windhover breathed, stepping back slightly as he tried to imagine how he would have managed so long. Yet he couldn't even comprehend it. "Can't pretend I don't miss 'em...Redstreak and Compound Rise were the best mom and dad I could've wished for." Applejack said as she turned and rested herself against a cabinet by her work board, looking down at the floor. "I don't doubt it. If-" "Was just before my twelfth birthday," She continued, sounding like she was talking to herself to keep the memories alive. "Both went out on a major delivery to a town near the Hayseed Swamps...Never came back, no sign of them was ever found. Ponies tried to find new routes through the area a few years later and found the fire swamp and evidence of chimeras living in the area. Ah knew what had happened then..." "A-Applejack?" "Granny Smith took care of us as best she could after that, an' Apple Bloom was too young to understand, but fer me...The family and friends left were all I had, then less than five years later ah was helping save the world from Nightmare Moon." "I, had no idea..." Windhover commented quietly as he went up to her. "I fought a chimera. Did you know that?" Applejack asked as she looked back up at Windhover, watching as he shook his head. "A few months after Twilight became a princess. By then ponies knew how to counter them, not like the days when we'd have to lose half a squad of guards to bring one down. Wanted to kill the forsaken thing, would have if ah hadn't needed t'get my little sister out of there." Windhover could only gasp. "Sorry, ah'm not usually lingering on the past," Applejack sighed, letting her sadness and regrets flow out of her with it. The cold grip was back, but it was muted in comparison to normal. "Just, needed to get it all out now that it'd been brought up. Thank ya for listening, Windhover." "Thank you for trusting me enough." He replied, placing a hoof on her shoulder. That touch send a small spark of relief through Applejack, similar to what she'd felt from Bounty but smaller in scale. It was still welcome after what had just happened though. For a few moments the discussion dropped into silence as they stared at each other, both wondering where they were supposed to take their meeting after that. Applejack still looked emotionally strained, trying to stay strong even after having such memories hitting close to her heart. Windhover seemed to have similar issues, caught between concern for her and guilt over making her feel that way. As he opened his mouth to say something there was another round of knocks on the door, leaving his sentence hanging. "Hmm?" Applejack straightened herself up and shook her head slightly before going to answer it. "Sorry, Windhover. Ah know this ain't exactly been an ideal start to everything." "It's ok, I'm just happy to be here." He replied as he adjusted his goggles. Applejack took one last moment to be sure she had composed herself again before opening the door. Bounty was standing on the other side, shivering slightly from the cold and renewed snowfall. More concerning though was the fact he looked like he had been through a sleepless night, mane dishevelled and tired eyes clearly visible. "Applejack, I...Are you alright?" He asked quickly, leaning in slightly and studying her face. Clearly she hadn't managed to clear herself of what had happened completely. "Y-yeah, just some bad memories. What about you though, ya look terrible." "Okay," Bounty rubbed his forehead for a moment before letting it go again. "This might sound like a silly question, but what day is it?" "Errm, Thursday." "Okay...Which Thursday?" "December twenty-second." "Oh," Bounty shook his head slightly. "That's not from a migraine. I just thought that I needed to go look for something on Tuesday night and next thing I know, I was at the farm gates." "Right. Get yerself warmed up here, then straight to the doctors'. Whatever you're going through, it sounds serious." "Right, right," Bounty stepped inside and stopped momentarily as he finally noticed the other stallion present. "Hello, Windhover." "I...I'm afraid we've never met." Windhover replied in confusion. "Maybe, but Applejack talks about you a lot." As Bounty sat down nearby and Applejack shook her head slightly as she tried to think what to do next, Windhover looked down in thought. It might have been just him, but something about the way the unicorn had said that came across as...Threatening?