//------------------------------//
// Family Time 
// Story: Canterlot High Days 
// by James Pwyll 
//------------------------------//

"Hey, Applejack?"

"Yeah, Pinkie?"

"Do you ever get the feeling that our lives are just some sort of entertainment for an all-seeing trickster deity who laughs at our every misfortune?"

"...No, cousin, ah can safely say that ah've never felt that."

The other girl shrugged. "Meh, guess it's just me then."

Applejack shook her head slightly, keeping her smile all the way. "Yer an odd one, but ah wouldn't trade ya fer the world."

Pinkie beamed at those words. "Dawwwww! I love you too, AJ!" she replied, grabbling her cousin and hugging her tightly.

Now, most would probably be winded by such a cuddly attack, but Applejack, who had likely grown used to this sort of thing by now, took it in stride, getting one hand free from the embrace and patting Pinkie on the head just before the latter let her go. "Sorry Apple Bloom an' Big Mac weren't able ta make it out here today."

But Pinkie seemed unconcerned with that. "Pfft! It's no biggie! I know they've got other stuff on today."

Applejack, leaning further into her chair in their corner of the café, let out a sigh. "Yeah, it's just, ya got ta such lengths ta set up all these little family get-togethers, an'..."

The party-lover simply smiled to her, patting her on the shoulder. "Think of it this way. When they are available, I'll just hug them twice as hard!"

Applejack chuckled. "Eyup, ah can see it." After taking a sip of the juice she'd ordered for herself some minutes prior, she arched an eyebrow at her companion for the evening. "So, how's things?"

Pinkie smiled widely, as she was known to do. "Oh, it's great. Now that me and Mr Squirrel have called a truce, we've managed to pool our resources and outflank that pigeon! Oh, that little birdy won't know what hit him!"

Applejack blinked a few times before taking another sip of her drink. "Well, that's...nice?"

Pinkie then scooted a bit closer to her. "And you? How's things with you and your sweetheart?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows very noticeably.

In response, Applejack tipped her hat. "Now Pinkie, as Rarity would say, a lady don't kiss an' tell."

Pinkie gasped, grabbing her cousin by the front of her shirt and bringing their faces mere millimeters from one another. "There's kissing now?! Oh, now you have to tell me!"

Unfortunately for her, Applejack was determined to keep her lips zipped on the matter, scooting herself just a little bit away from her. "Sorry, Pinkie. But yer gonna have ta wait fer all that."

Retreating slightly, Pinkie folded her arms and pouted. "Hmph! You're no fun!" Then, her smile returned, carrying more than a hint of mischievousness about it. "Although, I suppose this does give me a chance to speculate in those romance novels I like to write."

Applejack looked to her with incredulity. "Ya mean yer fanfics?"

Pinkie giggled, rubbing her hands together in a manner not unlike a supervillain. "Oh, trust me, I write them about everybody I know!" She leaned in closer, bringing her voice to a whisper. "How do you feel about Miss Cheerilee and Mr Cranky as a couple?"

Applejack shivered. "Ah think we need ta keep this conversation away from romance now."

Pinkie, in sharp contrast to the more reserved way Applejack had been drinking her juice, took her glass and gulped it down in one go, letting out a contented sigh afterwards. "Ah! Well then, I suppose we'd better talk about all the other stuff we're gonna do later. I hear there's a new movie out this week."

Applejack looked to her. "A comedy?"

Pinkie gasped. "How'd you know?!"

"Heh, just a guess really," Applejack replied with a knowing smirk. "Sounds fun. But first we gotta go an' watch Rainbow set that record o' hers. Said she was gonna finish the racetrack faster than ever today, right?"

Pinkie looked utterly giddy at the prospect. "Oh yeah! Think she'll do it?"

Applejack shrugged. "Knowin' her? Oh yeah. That girls so stubborn the track'll probably grow shorter just from her sheer determination to get to the end of it faster." Taking a moment to think on that remark, she looked again to her cousin. "Though reality-warpin' is more yer are o' expertise."

Crossing one leg over the other, Pinkie leaned back into her chair with a look of pride upon her face. "Guilty, as charged." The two shared a laugh again after that, and after finishing both of their snacks, a big cream pie for Pinkie and an expected apple pie for Applejack, the former glanced over to the side, to where Mrs Cake was currently wiping down the counter. Then, in a similar move to earlier, she whispered again. "You didn't hear this from me, but I suspect Mr and Mrs Cake might be getting a happy surprise soon."

Applejack's eyes widened, looking quickly to the woman in question before again turning to Pinkie. "Ya reckon?"

Pinkie nodded firmly. "Oh yeah. I've got a sense about these things, and there's definitely a bun in the oven." A pause, then she amended her own words. "Well, besides the actual buns they've got in ovens around here."

Applejack smiled warmly, taking her empty glass and raising it to a non-existent audience. "Well, ah wish em luck then. It'll be quite the party if that happens."

Pinkie clapped. "Ooh! A party?!"

Applejack nodded. "Well, there will be if the famous Pinkie Pie has anythin' ta say about it."

Pinkie balled her hand into a fist and punched the air. "You're darned right there will be!" Getting herself up from her chair, with Applejack following shortly afterwards, the girl made her way to the front entrance of the café, giving Mrs Cake a quick wave before leaving. And once outside and giving herself a quick stretch, Pinkie turned and looked to Applejack triumphantly. "Now then, let's get over to that movie theater. And you didn't hear this from me, but I've got one doozy of a dessert waiting for you when we get back to my place afterwards!"

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Pinkie, where do ya even fit all those desserts in ya all the time?!"

Pinkie smirked to her. "Hey, with all the stuff I do, how could I not need all that sugar?!"

Applejack considered that, then shrugged. "Eh, good point."