My Little Hide-Out 2
Sweetie Belle stuck out of a window and called out, "Hey Ash! Hurry up."
Another window was opened and an orange head with a wild fuchsia mane peaked out. "Geez, you're so slow," Scootaloo said, clearly disappointed. She stuck her tongue out at the older pony, an action that was returned.
Ash shook his head as he struggled to climb the stairs to the Crusaders' clubhouse. He tried not to be bothered by how three fillies half his age and nearly half his size had outraced him. Granted, those three had been moving on four legs since their births but the excuse did nothing to heal his pride.
I was transformed into a pony, I'm currently living in a world filled with colorful miniature horses, I hanging out with small children during my weekend, I'm in a class that's still learning addition. Do I have any pride left to hurt?
At last, he had made it to the top. His head tilted to a side as he examined the doorway.
"Whatcha waitin' fer?" Applebloom stood in the center of the house's threshold. She tapped at the floorboards impatiently.
"Give me a minute." The Unicorn closed his eyes as he completed his calculations. "I won't fit."
"Huh? Whadaya mean, yah won' fit?"
"The doorway," he explained. "It's too narrow."
"No it's not. We can fit just fine." To demonstrate, Scootaloo jumped out of clubhouse and back inside.
"Then I'm too big."
"Applejack can fit," Applebloom argued.
"I'm bigger than Applejack. A mare could probably squeeze in but a stallion my size?"
"Sure, Big Mac does it all tha time tah play with his Smarty Pants doll."
"Well--"
"Hey look! It's Applejack!"
At Sweetie Belle's words, Ash leapt into the doorway. A groan escapes as he scraped his shoulders against the wooden doorframes.
"Move it," he managed out through gritted teeth as he fought to pull the rest of his body into the hideout. With a deep breath, Ash sucked his gut in and pushed himself through.
The door frame burned his sides as he forced himself in but through all the pain, Ash managed to grin victoriously. A grin that soon cut short as he felt himself stop moving. With another deep breath, the grey Unicorn pushed himself. He was rewarded with large bruises on his thighs.
"Cupcakes for breakfasts," he muttered. "The hell was I thinking?"
"You okay?" Sweetie Belle looked out of the window for a better look at the parts of Ash that remained out of the shelter of the clubhouse. His tail swished in annoyance.
"..."
"What was that?" Scootaloo leaned forward, a hoof cupping her ear.
"..."
"Can't hear yah. Speak up!"
"I said I'm stuck." Ash's face grew bright red as he spoke. "Now unstuck me before I'm seen."
"There's nopony out there to see." Sweetie Belle stuck her head out again and scanned the area. "Nopony around."
"What? You said Applejack was here."
"Did I say Applejack? I meant apple tree." Sweetie Belle met Ash's glare with closed eyes and an inappropriately angelic smile. Innocence that seemed to flow from the Unicorn filly rendered Ash's anger powerless and pointless.
"Tch." Ash sighed and place a hoof flat across his face. "Alright. Fine. Whatever. I still need to get unstuck so you three need to--"
The floorboards splintered as he placed his hoof from his face back onto floor. With a yelp, the Unicorn pitched forward, driving his horn right into the wooden floor of the clubhouse like a nail or a dart in a dartboard.
Grunts intermingled with suppressed giggles as Ash tried to remove himself from the floorboards.
What do you know? I did have some pride left over.
*****
"No, I'm afraid I haven't your sister today." Mrs. Cakes shook her head. "Its been strangely quiet, now that you've mentioned it." A crash came from the kitchen followed by loud bellowing that could have only been made by babies. "Well, strangely quieter at least."
Applejack sighed. "Thanks anyway," she mumbled half-heartedly. "If yah get any news, Ah sure would 'preciate it if yah told me."
"Of course dearie."
With another disgruntled sigh, Applejack left the bakery. Her friends stood outside, waiting.
"They haven't been here," she said.
"They weren't at Rarity's," Rainbow Dash reported.
"Or Cheerilee's," added Fluttershy.
"What in world were they doing in the Everfree Forest?" the dressmaker asked. Cracks in her normally solid composure began to show as news of Sweetie Belle being in potential danger was revealed. "Did Zecora see any of them?"
"No, she hasn't," answered Twilight. "But she promised to keep an eye out for those three."
Rainbow turned to the purple Unicorn. "Did Zecora say anything about that spell?"
"She mention a giant ball of light in the sky and a loud explosion. We already knew about the explosion but a giant ball of light? I wonder what Ash was up to..."
"Yah can ask 'im after we find 'im. That is, if he can still speak after I'm through with 'im. What was he thinking? What was he doing? Doesn't matter if mah sister's hurt."
"Applejack?" Fluttershy began hesitantly.
"Ah'm fine. Ah'll be fine, so long as Ash keeps his hooves tah 'imself." The Earth pony shifted her head so that her face was hidden from the rest of the group. "Let's get movin'."
Without waiting for a reply, Applejack ran off, kicking up a cloud of dust as she went.
Rainbow shook the dirt out of her feathers and mane. "Shesh, what's her problem?"
*****
"On three. One. Two. Three!"
"Oops, sorry. Though you were gonna say push."
Sweetie Belle sighed as Scootaloo shrugged. "Okay, let's try this again. On three. Not on push. Not on go. Not on one--"
"Ah said it was an accident!"
"On three. One. Two. Three!"
With all their might, the Crusaders pushed and shoved at Ash's shoulders and head. Their combined strength was however not enough to dislodge the grey Unicorn from the clubhouse floor. They were however quite successful at nearly dislocating his neck.
"Ow, ouch! Okay, okay, enough. Stop, before you separate my head from the rest of my body."
The fillies stopped their pushing and sat back to rest. Their breaths came in labored pants and sweat seeped into their hides.
"We've been at this for an hour," Scootaloo complained. "We've gotta try something else. Do we have a hacksaw?"
"Don't even think about cutting off my horn. I have grown quite attached to it."
"I was thinking about you head, not your horn."
"I'm quite attached to that as well and I'd like to stay attached to it."
"Well, what else can we do?" Sweetie Belle asked. "We've tried pushing, shoving, poking, prodding, nudging, pressing, head-butting, tickling, and forcing. We even tried begging and pleading and beseeching and asking politely..."
"Yeah, I'm still not entirely sure why you three tried asking the /floor/ to let me go."
"It works when Fluttershy does it," Scootaloo explained.
"Maybe we should have added a few more pleases," considered Sweetie Belle.
"Ooh, ooh, Ah know what we haven't tried yet."
The white Unicorn filly and the orange Pegasus filly turned to Applebloom. "What is it?" they asked in unison.
"Feh, it's a family trade secret an' it never fails. Passed down from generation tah generation. From Apple tah Apple. Did Ah mention it never fails? Cause it--"
"Quit stalling," Scootaloo interrupted. "What's your plan."
Applebloom looked to both sides before grinning at her friends.
"Buckin'."
"Wait, what was that?" Ash tried shifting his head to see what the young Earth pony had planned. "Wait, hold on. What are yo--"
*****
"Nope, can't say I have?"
"Yah sure?"
"Yeah. I'd recognize those three anywhere."
Applejack sighed for what was perhaps the fiftieth time this day. "Thanks anyway, Bon Bon."
"I'll keep an eye out. I'll make sure Lyra does too," The pink and blue maned pony reassured.
Applejack grunted her appreciation and turned to her partner. The group had split into pairs to cover more ground, except for Twilight, who had returned to the library to find.
Rarity shook her head. "It does seem like they've been here. Nopony's seen them."
From the skies soar the two Pegasi.
"Didjah see any of 'em?" Applejack yelled into the clouds.
"..."
"What was that?"
"She said no!" Rainbow yelled back. "At, least, I think she said no. But Fluttershy's right. I don't think they're in town."
"Then where are they?" Applejack nearly screamed. She tossed her hat on the ground and ran a hoof through her blond mane. "Where are they."
"Dear, I know you're worried." Rarity levitated the farmpony's trademark headgear and shook it to relieve it of dust. "But we need to stay calm."
"Calm? Calm? How can Ah stay calm?" Applejack grabbed her hat out of the air. "How can you stay calm? Yer sister's out there missin' an' in danger and, and..."
"Applejack, I hope you're not implying that I do not care for Sweetie Belle. I do. I'm as distraught as you are but panicking won't do us any good. And we don't know if they are in any danger. If Ash is with them, i believe the chances of those three in danger is quite slim."
"Are yah kiddin'? Firs' they almost get caught in an explosion an' now they're with tha stallion that caused all that damage. All alone, with nopony around. Nothin' tah stop him from doin' anythin'. Ah think they're in plenty danger." Applejack turned away. "Where Twilight an' that trackin' spell? Ah'm goin' tah go check on her."
"Okay, I know I've said this before, but what's wrong with Applejack?"
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.
"Don't tell me you haven't noticed. She's been acting real nervous and high-strung and jumpy. She keeps running and stuff. Hey Rarity, you've noticed, right?"
"Yes, I have. I've also noticed she seems to act more, well, disturbed when one mentions Ash."
"Ash? I thought those two were friends," Rainbow said. "Applejack doesn't just let anypony work on her farm."
"Yes, I know." Rarity pursed her lips in thought. "I wonder..."
*****
Like a morbid waterfall cascading from cave leading to the edge of a cliff, blood fell from the grey Unicorn's nostrils, leaving dark puddles on the wooden floor. Ash tried to stop the flow by snorting the blood leaking in his nose down his throat but his pony body reacted violently, causing him to spray the Crusaders in a warm crimson mist, hitting Applebloom square in the jaw with a tooth loosen by the young Earth pony herself.
"Any other bright ideas?" Scootaloo asked bitingly, wiping specks of gore from her face.
"Rarity's going to kill me," whined Sweetie Belle. "She says blood's one of the worst stains possible."
"Ib thith keeth ub, oou hee ah gonna keel meb firsst."
"What was that?"
Applebloom received a snort and a spat in response. She grimaced as the bloody spit glob landed inches from her hoof.
"I said, if this keeps up, you three are going to kill me first." Ash rubbed his nose. "God, you pack a punch, er kick, I mean buck."
"Aw, it was prob'ly jus' a kick. If it were a real buck yah'd be free." Applebloom crouched low. "Ah'ma tryin' again."
"Wai--"
A sickening crunch filled the house, causing everypony to flinch.
"Oops."
"Hey Applebloom," Sweetie Belle said slowly, "I think you overdid it."
"Sounds like you broke something. Hmm..." Scootaloo turned her friends and grinned.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS NURSES! YAY!"
A dejected sob forced itself into the Crusaders' cheer, effectively undermining the mood the three had tried to establish.
The fillies turned away shamefully as Ash struggled to contain his tears and managed to reduce his brawling to a piercing whimper.
"Um, maybe next time we can try to earn our nursing Cutie Marks."
Scootaloo and Applebloom nodded their agreement. "It sure sounded like it hurt though."
"Didn' think Ah'd act'ly break his nose." Applebloom looked around the clubhouse. "What do we do now? We don' have a firs' kit."
"I know, we can go help."
"How?" Scootaloo asked. She pointed to the large pony in the doorway. "Ash is blocking the only exit."
"It's not the only exit." The white Unicorn pointed to one of the windows. "One of us should go out through there and go get somepony to help."
"Gotcha. I'll do it." Scootaloo opened the window. "Hey Applebloom, give me a boost."
As the she crawled through the substitute exit, the window's latch broke, closing it on the poor Pegasus's back."
"Scootaloo!" Sweetie screamed. She and Applebloom ran to the window. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" she called back. Thankfully, there was not enough force behind the moving framework of the window to cause any real damage. Scootaloo wiggled her wings and her hooves. "But I think I'm stuck. Get me out of here!"
Her friends struggled against the window and had as much luck as they did freeing Ash.
"It's no use," Applebloom groaned. "Window's broken. It's stuck."
"Wait. Are you saying I'm stuck here," Scootaloo gulped, "forever?"
"Least 'til somepony finds us."
"But that could take...forever!"
"Don't worry," Sweetie Belle tried to console. "I'm sure everypony's looking for us as we speak. We've just got to be..." The little Unicorn sighed. "...patient."
"But I'm too uncomfortable to be patient!"
"Aw, pony up. Yah don' hear Ash complaining."
The stallion sniffed deeply and his mouth was immediately filled with blood and snot. As he spat out the offending flavor, the three looked away out of pity. He sighed as he wiped away the tears and the blood with the back of his hoof.
Could this day get any worse? he wondered.
*****
The entire library shook as Applejack kicked the door open. Books fell from their shelves and notes were flung into the air.
"Twilight! Where's Twilight?"
"I'm right here." The Unicorn stuck her head out of the pile of fallen texts.
"Have yah found a tracking spell yet?"
"I did," Twilight said, her voice filled with irritation.
"Well? What are yah waitin' fer? Where is it?"
"Somewhere in this mound of books." Twilight began to shift through the mess. "Now I have to find the spell all over again and clean this up. That is, if I ever get out of here. Spike, get over here and help!"
Applejack waited a minute, watching Twilight slowly make her escape, before she dove into the mess, freeing the purple Unicorn while scattering books to the four figurative corners of the room.
"There. Yer free an' yer books are cleaned. Now where's the spell?"
Spike could actually hear something in his guardian's mind snap, taking it as a cue to flee the scene and send a quick S.O.S. to Princess Celestia before things got too ugly.
Twilight's eye twitched violently as she examined the room. The flying books had knocked more of their brethren off their shelves."S-somewhere in one of those new piles," she managed to say. The piles grew larger and the desired spell was buried deeper as the door was once again swung open, this time revealing Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy on the other end.
"URGH! That's it! Do you know how much trouble I went through to find that spell?" Twilight had miraculously changed her color to a purple at least twice as dark. "It wasn't even under 't'! Why wouldn't the tracking spell be labeled under t? Why? I went through ten entire sections, not books, sections, before finding the spell in a book dealing with pet care! And it was under 'z' for zoology! Why would a tracking spell be in a book about zoology?"
"Um, that sounds..." Fluttershy struggled for the appropriate word. "...reasonable?"
"Hey, it kinda does."
"Pinkie Pie! What did I tell you about my chimneys? There are no snacks!"
"Zoology has something to do with zoos, right? And zoos have to do with animals. So if you were looking for an animal you'd need a tracking spell--"
Pinkie's observation was cut short by Twilight's anguished scream followed shortly by a surge of magic that sent everypony else along with Spike flying, leaving her friends in a nice neat pony-mound outside.
"Maybe we should leave Twilight alone for now."
"We don' have time fer that, Fluttershy!" Applejack yelled. "We need that spell!"
"Applejack!" admonished Rarity. "I understand that you're worried but that gives you no right to take your frustration out at your friends. Look, you've made Fluttershy cry."
"A-Ah...Ah'm sorry, sugarcube, Ah really am. But mah sister's in danger. Ah can't jus' calm down. We've...Ah've...before it's too late."
"What makes you think Applebloom's in danger?" Rainbow asked. "After all, if Ash is with them--"
"It's 'cos Ash is with her that Ah'm so worried!" Applejack snapped.
The cyan Pegasus recoiled at her friend's sudden hostility "Huh? What do you mean?" she inquired.
"Yeah. What's wrong with Ash. I think he's pretty cool."
"Spike, Ah'm not gonna explain mahself tah yah 'cos yer still young but tha rest of yah girl's should understand when Ah say wouldn' trust him 'round any child."
Rainbow's rainbow mane swished around as she shook her head. "I still don't get it."
"Wait, are you..you are!" Rarity gasped. "Applejack! How can you accuse a pony of pedophilia like that?"
"Wait, what? You think Ash is a...a...I don't know whether I should laugh or--"
"Don't you dare, Rainbow." Rarity supplemented her command with a glare. "This is a serious accusation. Such a thing could easily destroy a pony's entire reputation."
"He's a full grown stallion," Applejack argued, "that hangs 'round little fillies. How can yah say that ain't the least bit suspicious?"
"I play with Crusaders too," Pinkie piped in. "And with the Cake twins. I love playing with little kids. Does that make me a pedophile too?"
"What? No, 'course not. That's a different sort of playing."
"And what makes you think Ash is in to the other sort of playing?" Rarity inquired.
"Well, uh...He hangs 'round the school."
"Ash goes to the school," Spike informed. "Only place where he can learn to read."
"Read?"
"Yeah. I overhead Twilight and Ash talking about jobs and getting proper education. Something about debts and payments."
"See? Ash feels indebted to us. He feels the need to get a job and pay what he believes he owes."
"But he doesn't owe us anythin'."
"But he still feels obligated. He's willing to risk his image and face humiliation by going to a school for young fillies and colts just so he can learn to read and write only for you to falsely accuse him of trying to get close to your sister just to satisfy some disgusting fantasy."
"A-Ah...well..."
"I can't believe I'm saying this but Rarity's right." Rainbow turn away from the sputtering Earth pony. "That's just unfair for Ash."
"But--"
"That's enough."
Everypony turned in surprise. Fluttershy, with tears still streaked across her face, walked up in front of Applejack. A glint of determination in the normally timid Pegasus's eye commanded the farmpony's complete attention.
"You have no right to treat anypony that way. A pony you've just met and now you've gone and made horrible assumptions. How would you feel if one of us did that? How would you feel if one us called you...stupid just because you live on a farm?"
Everypony gasped, alarmed once more by Fluttershy's sudden assertiveness.
"Now wait jus' a min--"
"No, you wait and let me finish. We didn't. None of us made any assumptions like that. We got to know you. We became friends. We saw you as the most trustworthy pony there is." Fluttershy took a deep breath and sighed. "And you are. You are trustworthy. But you need to learn to share that trust, to learn to trust others. We were all wrong about Zecora but what about now? What did you learn, Applejack? What did you learn?"
"But mah sister..."
"I know you're just trying to protect your sister but is that any excuse as to how you're treating Ash? He's already had a hard life and now you're making it even more difficult. All he wants is a place where he belongs. That's why he became a pony. That's why he's trying to learn to read and write.
"What type of example are you trying to set for Applebloom? How is she going to trust anypony when she sees her sister like this?"
"A-A-Ah..."
"I think you owe somepony an apology."
And with that, Fluttershy began to sway.
"Whoa." Rainbow Dash caught her friend before she could completely collapse. A lock of pink mane fell over her shut eyes.
Spike approached hesitantly. "Is she..." he began.
"She fine," Rainbow assured. "Just out cold."
Applejack blinked and opened her mouth. Silence was all she could muster.
"Applejack, dear, are you alright?" Rarity asked, clearly worried.
The orange pony nodded curtly.
The Unicorn sighed as she looked over to the fainted Pegasus. "She means well, you know. A bit harsh perhaps..."
Once again the library door widely swung open, this time by a purplish aura. Twilight stood at the entrance, looking quite disheveled while at the same time victorious. Floating before her was a book.
"I found it," she said triumphantly. "Now we can find Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle."
"Oh, are you looking for those three? They're hiding in their clubhouse," Pinkie Pie announced with a lack of care.
Twilight's eye began to twitch.
*****
Scootaloo yawned. "How much longer are we gonna have to wait?"
"It can't be much longer." Sweetie Belle climbed to the windowsill. "The sun's beginning to set."
"Maybe we shouldn' have hidden ourselves so well," Applebloom considered out loud. She picked up her crayon and continued her drawing. "Hey Ash?" she said nervously.
"Hm?"
"Yer not mad at me anymore, are yah?"
"...No. What is it?"
"Can't yah use magic tah free yerself?"
He had presented the same suggestion to himself several times earlier but the morning's incident was still fresh in his mind. Odds were, he'd end up setting the entire clubhouse on fire. Dying in a raging inferno was however arguably less painful than the humiliation and suffering he had faced today.
Ash had taken a deep breath. No, he couldn't choose the easy way out, not with the Crusaders with him. Still, while he was just as anxious to be rescued, the thought of being discovered in such a vulnerable position with such an injury inflicted by a filly only half his size was, to say the least, horrifying and he had spent the last few hours creating stories, each less believable than the one before it.
"That's not a good idea. I'm too tired and right now I can't even concentrate." That excuse was at least believable; with the position his head was in plus all the blood he had lost, it was little wonder the Unicorn was more than a little light headed.
"Aw, phooey." Applebloom went back to her drawing.
Suddenly, Scootaloo began to squirm excitedly. "Hey! Hey! Somepony's coming, Over here!" she yelled.
"It's Rainbow Dash," Sweetie Belle informed. "And Rarity and Applejack."
"Where?" The youngest Apple sibling jumped onto the window's edge, nearly knocking Sweetie off. "Applejack! Over here!"
Great, Rainbow Dash. Ash sighed. I'm never going to hear the end of this now.
"They're over here!" the multi-chromed Pegasus called overhead. She landed in front of the window. "Hey squirt, how's it hanging? Geez, what happened here?"
"Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo grinned wildly. "Boy are we glad to see you."
"Tha window broke," Applebloom explained.
"Ah know, Ah was tryin' tah tell yah that before yah ran off. Applebloom, we were so worried. Don' you run off like that again, yah hear?"
"Yes Applejack."
The elder of the Apple sisters took in a shaky breath. "Ah'm jus' glad yer okay."
"Is everypony alright?" Rarity asked.
"We're fine," Sweetie Belle answered. "Well, most of us..."
"Hey, where's Ash?" Rainbow Dash looked around. "I thought he'd be with you three."
"Oh, he's stuck in the doorway." Scootaloo gestured toward the clubhouse's main entrance, where a large grey mass decorated with a white tail stuck out.
"Is that...he's..." the Pegasus turned to Rarity. "Can I laugh now?"
Rarity ignored her. "Is he alright?"
"Yeah, he just has his horn stuck in the floorboards," Sweetie Belle said. "Oh, and Applebloom broke his nose."
"It was an accident!" the young Earth pony protested. "Ah was tryin' tah unstuck him, that's all."
"Can I laugh now?"
"Here, Rarity, give me a hoof." Applejack began to push at the window. With the help of Rarity's magic, the two managed to reopen the window, giving Scootaloo the opportunity to escape.
"Come on, yah two," Applejack called to the other fillies. When Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were safely outside, she and
Rarity let the window fall back with a forceful slam.
"I'll take these three home. Rainbow Dash, you head to the hospital and get Ash some medical treatment." The Unicorn turned to the orange farm mare. "You stay here and keep a look out."
Applejack opened her mouth to protest but Rarity was faster. "No argument. We need to hurry, while there's still daylight.
Besides..."Rarity leaned forward and lowered her voice. "I think you have something you need to say."
She turned back to the fillies before her. "Come on girls, it's time to go home."
"Aw..."
"No complaining. Your families must be worried. I know I was, Sweetie Belle. Now let's go home."
Applebloom looked behind her. "Bye Ash," she called over her shoulder. "Let's do this tahmorrow!"
Was just her imagination or did Applejack really see the grey mass shudder?
"I'll be back in no time. Try not getting your leg broken by Scoots or something before I get back." With a snicker, Rainbow took to the skies.
Silence rolled in like a fog. Applejack sat awkwardly, facing away from Ash's rear.
I think you owe somepony an apology.
Applejack knew the truth when she saw it and the truth was evident in Fluttershy's rebuke. Now there was the matter of swallowing her pride.
"So...nice weather we're havin'."
"...I guess."
"There was that weird explosion this mornin'. Didjah see it?"
"I, uh, kind of caused it."
"Yeah, Twi said that. That, um, must of been some spell."
"...um, it was...yeah, an acci--"
"Look, what Ah'm trying tah say is...well..." Applejack breathed deeply for support. "Well...what Ah'm tryin' tah say...is...is...look, Ah'm sorry."
Silence had once again covered the area like a thick blanket. This time, it was Ash's turn to end it.
"You're...sorry?"
"Ah made some hasty judgments 'bout you. Guess Ah was bein' a little overprotective toward mah sister. Ah thought, well..."
"You though I was some sort of pervert."
"...Yeah. Listen, Ah shouldn' have but when it comes tah mag sister, well Ah get a little...crazy. It's just, well..." Applejack sighed. "Ah've never told anypony 'bout mah parents. It's always been me, Mac, an' Granny Smith. Ah left home a long time ago, before Applebloom was born, when Ah was jus' a filly. Ah didn' really understand family 'til after Ah left Ponyville and mah family. It wasn' 'til Ah begun tah miss 'em that Ah knew how important they were tah me."
Applejack looked up to the shady trees overhead. "Ah love this land. Ah love Sweet Apple Acres. But Ah love it because of mah family. They're what makes this patch of dirt much more than any other piece of land. Big Mac, Granny, Applebloom, they're everything tah me. If anything happened tah any of 'em, tah Applebloom, Ah...Ah don't know what Ah'd do.
"It's no excuse fer mah actions, but please try tah understand."
Applejack fidgeted as she waited for Ash's reply.
"You were just trying to protect your sister. I guess I can understand that."
"...Yah sound unsure. Is something wrong?"
"Family. I can't really call that a familiar concept."
"What do yah mean?"
Ash sighed. "It's just...well, the closest I've ever felt to how you feel to your sister and your family was to my party...and you already know how that ended."
"Didn't yah have parents? Or any siblings?"
"I don't know. My mother showed up on night in front of a sanctuary and died shortly after giving her name and me birth."
"Weren't there any other relatives?"
"None showed up. I was raised in the sanctuary with a bunch of other orphans until I was admitted and enrolled in school."
"Did...did yah ever find out who...well..."
"My father?"
Applejack nodded.
"No. Hell, my mother's identity was a mystery. No one knew who she was or where she came from. All I have of her was a name. Her name...was Ashley."
The stallion became silent, giving the statement a chance to sink in.
"My master was the closest I had to a father. Ramth Sethiop and Dorian Steelare were the closest I ever had to brothers. My party was the closest I ever had to a family. And then...my brother tried to kill me."
"...Ash, Ah..."
"I try not to let it get to me. I try to tell myself that it's in the past...but still..." From beyond Applejack's view he shook his head. "I don't even know why I'm saying all this, why I'm whining like this. It's never bothered me before, not having a family..."
He wanted to blame the dizziness, the lack of oxygen and blood in his head. He wanted an excuse. He wanted to lie, to Applejack, to himself. But he knew better.
"Seeing you act toward your sister like that, the way you describe your feelings, it reminds me of what I never had and yet I still lost. Heh," he laughed without feeling. "Maybe I really am getting old. Look at me, rambling on.
"Anyways, I'm sorry for going on like that."
Applejack was quiet. Even if Ash had been outside, he still would not have been able to read her features.
"If yah want, yah can be part of mah family."
"Huh?"
"Tha ponies Ah trust tha most are in mah family. If yah like, you can be an Apple, if not in blood or name, least in spirit."
"Do I get free apples?"
"No."
"Darn. Worth a shot." A genuine chuckle escaped him.
"Thanks...sis."
*****
Dear Princess Celestia,
Sometimes, a lot of times really, my friends call me dependable and even trustworthy. I think Twi's even referred to me as the most dependable pony in Ponyville. But being so dependable had made it hard for me to accept help and rely on my friends.
Today, I learned that trust works similarly. There is more to trust than just honesty; it's also being able to trust others.
Trust may not be the easiest thing to give. Sometimes I feel like my trust needs to be earned. But while it shouldn't just be given out willy-nilly, trust shouldn't be hoarded away greedily either.
-Applejack