Finishing off a quick breakfast, Pine Needle stretched his legs and indulged himself in one last moment of procrastination before setting off on what he knew was going to be a very difficult task. After spending yesterday afternoon enjoying music with his friends in Canterlot, they had all returned to Ponyville, weary and still somewhat subdued. Haystack had told him that he could have the day off today if he needed it, and Pine Needle had gratefully accepted, although not for the reasons his pegasus friend was probably thinking of.
No, today he wasn’t going to simply hide in his cottage and mope the day away. Not when he still had some loose ends to clean up that his parents had left for him to deal with.
Taking one last deep breath, he started towards the door when a noisy set of chitterings behind him made him pause. Turning around, he saw his pet squirrel Acorn looking at him in indignation. “I’m sorry, Acorn, but I don’t think you would enjoy coming with me today,” Pine Needle tried explaining. He knew that the squirrel couldn’t understand a word he said, but it helped him to focus his thoughts on how to gesture it out so that his pet would at least be able to get a basic understanding of what he was trying to convey. He had been surprised that he had managed to convince Acorn to stay home yesterday, for which he had been thankful for. Not even counting the showdown with his parents, he didn’t like the thought of trying to chase down a stubborn squirrel in the halls of Canterlot Castle-- or how that would reflect on him and his friends.
However, it seemed that Acorn wasn’t going to take no for an answer today. Despite his best efforts to act out walking into one’s doom, the squirrel either didn’t understand, or was abusing the fact that he didn’t comprehend Pine Needle’s words and was simply pretending to not get what was being told to him. With a sigh, Pine Needle lowered his head, and let Acorn take his usual riding spot in his mane. “Very well then, no need for me to put this off any longer,” he mumbled to himself as he headed out the door.
“Time to go to Sweet Apple Acres.”
Haystack was eating a late breakfast when the bell he had outside his front door started to ring. Curious as to who it could be, he left his half finished plate of grains on the table and went to find out. Opening the door, he saw a familiar grey pegasus mare with a blonde mane standing dejectedly on his front steps.
“Derpy! What’s wrong?” he said, surprised to see the normally happy mail mare looking so down.
Looking up at Haystack with a distressed look, Derpy said despondently, “Hello, Haystack. I’m sorry, but I need to ask a big favor of you.”
“Well, I can’t guarantee that I can help, but I’m certainly willing to listen. Come in and tell me what you need,” he said, gesturing inside with a wave of his hoof.
Nodding thankfully, Derpy followed Haystack inside. The two pegasi walked to the dining table, and Haystack waited patiently for Derpy to say something, doing his best to avoid staring at her wandering eye. After a moment of awkward silence, Haystack said, “So, what’s the problem?”
“Well, I’ve had a vacation planned for quite a while now. It’s been a long time since my last one, and there’s family I want to visit in Cloudsdale... and my bosses in Canterlot don’t like it when I accumulate too much vacation time either.” Derpy explained with a small, rueful grin while shuffling a hoof across the floor.. “Something about keeping the books easy to balance, or something silly like that. Anyway, the pony who was going to be my replacement had a family emergency come up, and with my vacation starting up the day after tomorrow on Wednesday, I’m stuck without anypony to take over!” She looked at the farmer pegasus sadly. “I know it’s a lot to ask out of the blue, if you could please take over my job on such short notice for a couple of weeks, but I just don’t know who to ask!”
Haystack felt his stomach twist. He didn’t really want to do somepony else’s job with so little warning, but he could see that Derpy really did feel honestly bad about this. “So, if you don’t mind me asking, why me?” he asked, hoping to put off having to make a decision for a little bit longer.
“Well, I asked Mayor Mare if there was anypony who might be needing a job like this, but she didn’t know of anypony. Then she suggested you, because of your hard work ethic, and because of it being winter she said you had mentioned to her in the past that things were somewhat easy for you during these colder months. She said that if I wanted a pony who would take the job seriously and responsibly, I wouldn’t find a better pony than you.”
Seeing Haystack starting to waver, Derpy continued. “You’ll get paid well for the work, and you get Sundays off too, which I know you're busy with your friends. That’s what the Mayor said, anyway. So, please?” she asked, giving Haystack her best forlorn look.
Unable to stand against the large sad eyes of the mail mare, Haystack hung his head slightly in defeat. “Well, I suppose I can. Pine Needle should be able to take care of things during that time by himself, and if there is anything he can’t handle, I can always get to it afterwards myself.”
“Oh, thank you!” Derpy exclaimed, giving Haystack a quick hug. “I know it’s very short notice, but it would be really great if you were able to start tomorrow, so I could at least have one day to show you what all needs to be done. We start somewhat early though, not too long after sunrise. Will that be okay?”
Haystack chuckled. “That’s the same time I’m up and about to start working in the fields, so that won’t be a problem at all.”
“Thank you again! Oh, I need to get going, looking for a replacement has put me behind in my work for today. Just come on over to the post office after you wake up tomorrow, okay?”
“I’ll do that.” Haystack promised. With a wave, he watched the grey pegasus fly away. “Well then,” he said to himself as he looked around his house, “I better make up a list of things for Pine Needle to do while I’m gone. I’ll explain things to him later this afternoon, give him time to wake up and hopefully cheer up some too.” Walking over to his work desk, he picked up a pencil with his teeth and started to write.
Bleary eyed, Luna walked down the hallway to the dining room where she and Celestia shared their meals. She was still getting used to waking up before sunrise everyday so she could lower the moon so her sister could then raise the sun. Even though she could easily find time to take a small nap sometime during the day, the act of getting out of bed so early and then performing a somewhat strenuous magical duty still took some getting used to.
Breakfast though promised two things that would help wake her up. The first was coffee. Ah, glorious, wonderful coffee! Just the thing to chase the lingering cobwebs of sleep from her eyes. And, of course, Celestia would be there too. Beyond the simple joy of seeing her sister, today she was supposed to have some ideas on how Luna could help lessen her work load too, which really excited her. Not only would she be able to finally help her out some, it would also mean she was taking another step down the long road of reintegrating into Equestrian society.
Entering the dining chamber, she smiled at the sight of her sister waiting for her. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Celestia,” she said as she took her spot at the table.
Her sister smiled at her. “Oh, I’ve only been here for a minute at most, no need to apologize, Luna.”
With a nod, the servers delivered the morning meal, oatmeal with honey and fruit slices mixed in. Strangely, Luna felt vexed by the warm meal. Although it was very tasty, she couldn’t eat it quickly without burning her throat, which was already being overheated by the coffee she was imbibing. She hoped her desire to finish her meal quickly wasn’t too obvious, but she feared that with her constant sipping from both her coffee and water cups, interspersed with her quick mouthfuls of oatmeal, that she wasn’t doing that good of a job of it. A quick glance at her sister confirmed her suspicions; Celestia was eying her with a curious smirk.
“Hmm, I wonder what has you in such a rush this morning?” the elder sister asked with a twinkle in her eyes. “Did you want to go out dancing again?” she asked teasingly.
Luna rolled her eyes as she swallowed her mouthful of oatmeal. “At least what I was doing could be considered dancing. I tried figuring out if there was any rhyme or reason to what you were doing, but the best I could deduce was that you were just sticking out your legs at random. You weren’t even in time with the music!” Seeing her sister laugh at her indignation, she huffed. “But you know why I’m impatient.”
Celestia nodded. “Indeed. You want to help out more in running the kingdom.”
“Exactly! And while getting a chance to do something besides studying about everything that happened while I was imprisoned is part of it, I really do want to help make things easier for you too.”
“I know, Luna, and it means a lot to me.” With a quick spell, she pushed her now empty breakfast bowl away from her. “I couldn’t come up with anything that would let you take over any duties right away, but I did think of a couple of things you could do that would let you do so sooner rather than later.”
Swallowing the last of her water, Luna nodded eagerly. “And those are?”
“The first would be for you to spend some time with the scribes.” Seeing Luna give her a confused look, Celestia continued. “While it wouldn’t be very exciting, I think it would be a great way for you to get a better understanding on how things work on a more intricate level, as opposed to what you’ve seen so far. It would be boring, I’ll admit, but you would come to understand what all needs to be done just to, for example, move a loaf of bread from one town to another. It would also have the benefit that, if you do make a mistake, it won’t be in public and there will be many capable ponies there to help fix any errors you might make starting out.”
Luna pursed her lips. “That... doesn’t sound exactly like what I had in mind, to be honest. What’s the other option?”
Celestia grinned. “Well, I figured that you could spend the day with me, and watched as I held court.” Seeing Luna’s face brighten, she held up a hoof to forestall her. “While it sounds like fun, let me warn you now it will probably be just as boring, if not more so, than working with the scribes. You’ll have to spend most of your time in the background, just listening in, and you won’t have the luxury of being able to get up and move about to stretch all that often either. There’s a reason why my throne is exceptionally well padded, you know,” she said with a wink.
Luna giggled. “I think I would much rather do that than work with the scribes. If I have to spend another week doing nothing but reading, I’m going to start seeing scrolls in my sleep!”
“Okay then. Just know that I still expect you to still put some time into your studies though. As boring as some parts of it may be, if you’re going to be able to fill in for me someday, you will need to know all of that and more.”
“I understand, Celestia. I also think this will help me see just exactly what you have to go through, and if I’m in a room with some scribes, instead of where the action is happening, I certainly won’t get that.”
“Okay then, it’s decided.” Celestia stood up. “If you’re ready to go?” Seeing Luna eagerly stand, she led the way out of the dining area. “To the throne room!”
Pine Needle paused at the front gate to Sweet Apple Acres, taking one last moment to calm his nerves before proceeding onward. This was it, his last chance to turn around before anypony saw him, and put off or even forget what he was about to do. Shaking his head angrily, and almost spilling Acorn from his perch in the process, Pine Needle frowned at the line of thought he had briefly followed and purposefully strode forward onto Apple family land. As he got closer to the main building, he was noticed by a yellow filly with red hair and a big pink bow in her mane, who stopped what she was doing and came forward to meet him.
“Howdy! Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres, my name’s Apple Bloom,” the filly said, while looking curiously at him. “Did you know you have a squirrel on your head?”
Pine Needle grinned ruefully. “Hello, Apple Bloom. Mine name is Pine Needle, and yes, Acorn here seems to want to follow me around today. I was wondering, do you know if Applejack or anypony else is around? I need to talk to them about something important.”
“Well, Granny Smith is inside, I can go see if she available?” Apple Bloom asked.
“That would be great. Thank you very much.” Pine Needle waited as the filly trotted inside, and after a few moments returned.
“Granny says to come on in, but that you’ll have to leave the squirrel out here. Maybe I could keep him company?” she asked.
“Well, he seemed to get along okay with my sister. I tend to be the one he saves his mischievousness for.” Pine Needle lowered his head down to the ground in front of Apple Bloom, and the squirrel took the hint and jumped off of Pine Needle’s noggin to eye the filly in front of him. “If he gives you any problems, you let me know, okay?”
“I sure will, thank you Pine Needle!” she said. “Come on, little squirrely, want to play with my dolls over here?” With a wave of her hoof, Apple Bloom led Acorn away.
Pine Needle watched the filly and his pet walk around a corner of the house, and he turned and headed to where he had seen Apple Bloom return from just a few seconds before. Arriving at the door, he raised a hoof, knocked twice, and waited. After a moment, Granny Smith opened the door and eyed him cautiously. Pine Needle recognized her instantly; although he had lived in Ponyville for only a couple of years, even he had heard about how much the elderly matron of the Apple clan had done to help Ponyville throughout the decades.
“So,” the old mare said in a raspy voice, “you must be the pony that Apple Bloom said was here to talk to me?”
“Indeed. Mine name is Pine Needle, and I...” he paused and took one last deep breath. “I’m here to apologize to you, Applejack, and the rest of your family for the actions of my parents.”
“Oh, and just what did they do that brings you here to apologize?” she asked, her voice sharp with suspicion.
Swallowing down a knot in his throat, Pine Needle plunged ahead. “Mine parents have always had a very strong sense of entitlement when it came to raising me, and thought that they knew best for what I should do. So they went out of their way, without telling me, and arranged me to be married to somepony. Of course, when I found out about it, I told them that I didn’t want any part of such a forced arrangement. They got the idea by apparently meeting Applejack’s parents and getting them to agree to such a union, and let me say--”
“Those two agreed to such a thing?!” Granny Smith cried out in anger, cutting Pine Needle off. “Why, those terrible, good for nothings! They know they aren’t welcome here after all the stuff they’ve done, and now they go and do something like this?! Tell me boy,” she said, her whole manner suddenly very calculating, “where and when did that happen?”
“Um, I don’t know when exactly, but it was in Stalliongrad, so at least a week ago, maybe two?”
Granny Smith seemed to sag at the news. “Drat, they've probably moved on by now. Guess I’ll have to hold off on telling Big MacIntosh where they were, he wouldn’t be able to find them all that easily.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry about that, but my son and his wife have never been very responsible ponies, so I’m not surprised that they would go along with such a crazy scheme.” She stepped inside and motioned for Pine Needle to follow.
After a quick walk through a kitchen, Pine Needle ended up in a dining room, with a large, long table in the middle and cushions all around. “Take a seat, sonny,” Granny Smith said, pointing at one of the cushions. “I don’t blame you one bit for what your parents did, and truth be told I’m sorry my son went along with it. If he hadn’t then we wouldn’t be here right now, apologizing for things neither of us had a hoof in doing.”
Pine Needle let out a breath that he hadn’t been aware he had been holding. “Thank you, Granny Smith. And please do not feel that you have to apologize for anything. This is not the first time my parents have tried something like this, I’m afraid, so I place all the blame on them.”
Granny Smith shook her head in disbelief. “Makes you wonder why they thought it work out, don’t it though? Anyhow, I imagine you want a chance to explain this to Applejack yourself?”
Pine Needle nodded slowly. “I don’t think it would be fair of me to dump that off on to you.”
“Well then, you wait right here and I’ll go get her. She’s out making sure the trees are doing okay with all of this winter weather, checking to make sure none of the branches have broken off from being weighed down with the past snowfall. It might take me a bit to find her though. You want some apple juice while you wait?”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you very much.”
“All right then, give me one second to grab you a bottle, and then I’ll be off. I’ll do my best to put in a good word, but I warn you, Applejack has a very strong stubborn streak in her. If she gets the wrong idea, you may find it much harder to get her to listen than you were hoping for.”
Pine Needle nodded and thanked her for the bottle of apple juice, and watched as she headed out a different door. Slowly sipping through the the straw that been thoughtfully provided, he tried hard not to think about all the things that could still go wrong.
Luna had been provided with a large, comfortable cushion for her to sit on, and had spent the morning off against a side wall in the throne room, listening as petitioners came and made their cases to her sister. Many of the petitioners brought what Luna felt were rather minor cases: One pony was upset because the street where he lived hadn’t been cleared of snow fast enough, and another group complained because their favorite park was closed for the season.
“Celestia, how can you put up with all of these petty requests? Doesn’t it drive you crazy with how silly some of them are?” Luna asked during a break.
“Oh, some of them, sure. But there are enough honest requests, like the one family that had lost its house to a fire, that I think making sure everypony has a chance to ask us for help is worth it. Besides, this way I can have some fun with some of the lazy ones too.”
Luna rolled her eyes. “Yes, I noticed you had quite the grin when you ‘helped’ that one mare by essentially having her volunteer to help out two other ponies without her even realizing it.”
Celestia smirked, and then took on a more serious look. “Well, you know, sometimes we find some our best workers this way. Sometimes ponies simply can’t find an easy path to doing what they love. Does it really matter how they get there in the end, if they get to do what they like while helping others?”
Luna nodded slowly, considering her sister’s words. As she sat there in thought, another group of ponies entered the room. To Luna, they instantly stood out; the five of them were similarly dressed, and didn’t look to be down on their luck in the least. One of them, a red unicorn mare with a short yellow mane and a rolled up scroll for a cutie mark stepped forward and bowed deeply to Celestia.
“Please rise,” Celestia said warmly. “How can I help you, my little ponies?”
“Thank you your highness. My name is Sunshine, and we are here representing the city of Edmareton. This coming up weekend we will be celebrating the two hundredth anniversary of our winter festival.”
“Oh yes!” Celestia said with a smile. “I got to attend one some years back. I had a great time.”
Sunshine bowed again. “Thank you, your highness. We are planning our biggest celebration yet, but unfortunately our scheduled guest of honor for the festivities had to cancel, and now we find ourselves without an appropriate dignitary for the position. We would love to have you attend again, but we would also fully understand if the very short notice keeps you from doing so?” Seeing Celestia nod sadly, Sunshine said, “In that case, we were hoping that maybe you could suggest somepony else who might be available and willing to make the trip up north?”
Celestia paused to think, and turned to face Luna. “Do you have any suggestions, sister? Maybe we could send Prince Blueblood?”
Luna made a sour face. “Ugh, no, they want someone who will help the celebration, not hinder it.” Luna took a moment to consider the available options. “Maybe Twilight Sparkle could go? It would be nice to see her get some recognition for what she did during the Summer Sun Celebration.”
Celestia shook her head no. “While I do appreciate everything that Twilight Sparkle has done for me and the kingdom, I don’t think she would be a good choice for an honor like this. Her nature isn’t well suited to take up such a responsibility on such a short notice. I was thinking of someone from the nobility here in Canterlot, but so many are away right now, I just don’t know who would be appropriate.”
Luna pondered the options for a few seconds. Her sister was right; many of the nobles were in southern homes, escaping the worst of the cold weather. Suddenly, an idea came to her. “Well, if you wouldn’t mind me going away for a weekend, I could go.” Luna said. “This could be a good way to help with my reintegration into society.” She turned to face the delegation. “Would that be sufficient for you, and if so, could I also bring a few friends with me?”
“Oh!” Sunshine said eagerly. “We’d be very honored if you would accept! And of course we would accommodate any staff you might need to bring.”
Luna looked up at Celestia, and seeing her nodding eagerly, she turned and smiled at Sunshine. “I would be honored to accept. Thank you very much!”
“No, thank you, your highness!” Sunshine said while bowing deeply to her. “My assistant here has all of the paperwork you’ll need, so you’ll know what time to be there, what we’ll be providing for you, and what duties we will need you to perform.” Seeing Luna give her a questioning look, Sunshine quickly added, “There will be a short parade that you’ll be leading, and we’ll ask you to be a guest judge in several of the competitions too. Nothing strenuous or difficult at all. In exchange, you’ll get enjoy the best seats to watch all the performances and competitions.”
“Oh! Of course I’d be happy to do that.” Luna said as she accepted a small sheaf of papers from an earth pony stallion. Seeing nothing amiss, she turned to Celestia. “What time do you think we’d have to leave Ponyville to get to Edmareton in time for..” she glanced down at the papers she had been given. “Well, we’d want to get there early so we aren’t rushed, so say midday Friday?”
Celestia shrugged. “You’d be better off asking the pegasus guards themselves. They’re ones who will have to do the flying, after all. But we can work on that later today.” She turned to face the delegation from Edmareton. “Is there anything else that we can do for you fine ponies?”
“Oh, goodness no, thank you again very much, Princesses!” Sunshine said while bowing deeply to both of the royal sisters. “Indeed, just as you have planning to do, I need to get word back home who we will have coming as our Guest of Honor. There is still a lot of work to be done to make sure that everything is going to be perfect.” With that, the delegation turned around and left the throne room, leaving the sisters alone once again.
“Well, if you’ll pardon me too, sister?” Luna asked as she stood up, levitating the papers that she had been given. “I would like to get things set up, and send some scrolls to my friends. I do hope that they can get the days off on such short notice.”
Celestia smiled. “Of course. Also, it may help if you sent a letter that they could give to their employers. They will most likely find it harder to say no if it’s one of us asking for them.”
Luna nodded slowly. “I don’t like to abuse my position like that, but I know Dewdrop’s boss is very friendly, from what I saw of him when I was disguised as Moonbeam. I’m sure he’d let Dewdrop have the days off without any hassle. My main concern is Feather Down’s employer. At least I know Haystack and Pine Needle won’t have any problems getting the days off. Haystack just has to ask himself,” she said with a giggle.
“Go ahead then, Luna. We’re getting close to the lunch break anyway, so I’ll see you then?”
“You bet!” with her papers floating along beside her, Luna happily trotted out a side door to her room, eager to get to work and happy she had decided against going to study what the scribes did.
Pine Needle had finished his drink, and was starting to get very nervous while he waited for Granny Smith to return with Applejack. What if he froze up in front of her? What if Applejack was so upset at the situation that she didn’t even want to see him? Finally, hearing hoofsteps approach, he turned to see the two Apple family members arrive.
And there she was. Applejack. The pony he had dreamt about for the past two years. The one whose name alone was often enough to freeze him into fantastic stupors. He was surprised to find himself able to keep his thoughts clear. Standing up at their approach, he bowed his head to them. “Thank you very much for being willing to listen to mine story and apology.”
Applejack nodded warily as she sat down opposite from him. “Granny didn’t tell me exactly what was going on,” she said in her drawl, “but she did say I should give you a fair chance, so let’s hear what you have to say.”
Pine Needle sat back down and did his best to ignore the horde of butterflies that had suddenly appeared in his stomach. “Well, it turns out that my parents thought it would be a good idea, for some reason, to arrange a marriage between me and you. I have--”
“Whoa there!” Applejack said, her eyes wide in surprise. “Ain’t no way I’m getting hitched to somepony I don’t know. Only way I’m getting married is if I decide on it, not somepony else!”
“I fully understand,” Pine Needle quickly said, trying to keep the conversation from getting away from him. “That is exactly how I feel too, and I have made sure that mine parents know that I did not approve of them doing such a thing. Please believe me when I say that that was not how I wanted to end up in a relationship with any pony, especially you.”
Applejack nodded, and then paused. “Wait, what do you mean, ‘especially me’?”
Pine Needle winced, and mentally berated himself. He was so nervous, he was saying anything and everything that came to his mind. “Well, I did have a cru--” He cut himself off and tried again. ”Feelings for you for quite a while,” he admitted, “I just could never work up the nerve to let you know. And now that my parents have gone and done this, I know that it would be foolish for me think along those lines anymore, so please, rest assured that I have no plans at all to try to use this as an excuse to press a claim, so to speak.”
Applejack looked a little mollified, but still somewhat upset. “So what, did your parents see that you had a crush on me and decide to use it to their advantage then?”
“No. In fact, they likely had no idea that I even knew you at all! They live in Stalliongrad, you see, so--”
“All the way up there?” Applejack exclaimed, again cutting Pine Needle off. “What made them think they had any right to do that then?”
“Well, they’ve tried it once before, that’s why I left home and moved here to Ponyville.” Pine Needle explained. “I did not tell anypony what mine destination was at all. It was pure chance that mine parents happened to be hosting your parents at the same time they found out where I lived. I met them in Canterlot yesterday. They were on their way to Ponyville to find me, but I made sure that they knew they weren’t welcome here if they were going to keep on trying to control my life like that. I still don’t know if they fully understand, but they did stop trying to force the issue and have given up, at least for now.”
Applejack sat back and gave herself a moment to take it all in. “Well, that’s mighty crazy of them to be sure. I never did get along with my parents either. They spent most of their time wandering about Equestria, and hardly had any time for the rest of us. I resented them for that, to be honest, and I know Big Macintosh and Granny Smith don’t like them that much either. I can sympathize with you, having parents like that.”
Pine Needle gave Applejack a small smile of thanks. “Again, I am terribly sorry for what my parents did, and for having to break it to you like this. But I figured it would be better if I came and told you face to face, rather than waiting and hoping that your parents never sent you a letter telling you about this.”
“Oh, you’re right there, pardner. I can only imagine what Big Macintosh might have done if he had found out like that.”
Pine Needle gulped. “I don’t think I would have liked that either. I imagine he can be very scary when he sets his mind to it.” he said, picturing the large stallion bearing down on him with malice in his eyes. He found himself trying not to swallow from nerves.
Applejack laughed. “Darn straight he can! Well then,” she said while standing up, “I thank you kindly for coming and telling me directly. That couldn’t have been easy to do, and I really appreciate your honesty.”
“And thank you for being willing to listen to me,” Pine Needle said, standing up and following Applejack back through the kitchen which he had entered the house through.
“Not a problem.” She opened the door and held it for him. “And hey, don’t be a stranger, okay? If nothing else, we can talk about how terrible our parents are, right? If you see me in the market, stop by and say hello, okay?”
Doing his best to conceal the giddy sensation that he suddenly felt, Pine Needle smiled and nodded. “You know what? I think I will.”
Pine Needle stepped outside, and just a couple of steps off to his left he saw Apple Bloom playing with Acorn, who had been dressed up in a pink doll blouse. “You know,” Pine Needle said wryly, “if I even pointed at an article of clothing Acorn would have chewed my head off. How did you get him to agree to wearing that?”
Apple Bloom giggled. “Well, I did have a few nuts to bribe him with, that helped a lot.”
Seeing Pine Needle, Acorn started to try to undress himself, looking a bit worn out by what he had gone through.
“Say, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop or anything, we were playing here the whole time, but with the window left open, I could hear your conversation with my sister,” Apple Bloom admitted. She then stepped up to Pine Needle and leaned in close. “So, you had a crush on my sister?” she slyly asked.
Pine Needle nodded, feeling a little nervous at being asked so openly. “Indeed I did.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, why? I mean, I think my sister’s great and all, but I just don’t see why somepony else would get a crush on her when there are some really pretty ponies in town like Rarity.”
Inside, Applejack had been reaching up to close the window, the draft coming through it having brought it to her attention. Now, she found herself pausing, curious to hear what the stallion had to say while Granny Smith looked at her quizzically from behind.
“Well,” Pine Needle said slowly as he leaned in, as if the answer was a great secret that he might share only with her. “You see, Apple Bloom, I see in your sister a lot of things I would like to see more of in myself. She’s an amazing farmer, and I hope to be one someday too. She’s very responsible and hardworking, traits that I try to practice also, although I know that I sometimes fall short. I admire how even though she does so much for Ponyville, she doesn’t let it get to her head, and she’s always there for her friends too.” He paused, and then grinned at the filly. “Also, she has the cutest freckles of anypony that I’ve seen in all of Equestria.”
Seeing that Acorn had finally freed himself of Apple Bloom’s doll dress, he lowered his head and let Acorn take his usual spot on top of it. “Well, I need to get going, if you don’t mind. Have a good day, Apple Bloom.”
“You too, Pine Needle! Feel free to bring Acorn by anytime you want!”
Inside, Applejack closed the window quietly and turned around to head out the other way to get back to work in the orchard. Seeing Granny Smith looking at her, she pulled her hat down to try to hide the blush that she could feel starting to heat up her cheeks. “The big galoot should have worked up the nerve sooner,” she muttered as she brushed her way past her grandmother, who wheezed a laugh in reply.