//------------------------------//
// The Best Presents 
// Story: The Best Presents 
// by kleec13 
//------------------------------//

At one year old, foals are too small to understand what birthdays are. But that didn’t stop Rarity and Applejack’s friends and families from celebrating the little foal anyway. And it appeared that there was more celebrating than intended as it looked like Sweet Apple Acres had been hit by a tornado. Plates were all over the kitchen table with bits of leftover cake. The living room was filled with bottles, wrapping paper, and decorations. As Applejack and Rarity finished cleaning up after their daughter’s first birthday party, they glanced at Apple Bloom, the last guest still there, playing with the baby. She had made her niece a rattle as a present and it was the little one’s new favorite thing. But now that everything was clean, it was time for the birthday girl to get a nap.
“Alright, Auntie Apple Bloom. I know it’s her first birthday, but your niece needs some sleep,” Rarity told the youngest Apple sibling.
“I suppose she has had a big day,” Apple Bloom said, giving the baby to her mother.
“Thanks for all your help making this party a success Sugarcube,” Applejack said. “Now you run along and have a good rest yourself.”
“Alright. Bye Applejack and Rarity! Love you both!”
Apple Bloom walked away from the house tired, but grateful knowing she had the best sisters, and now niece, in the world.



The night after the party, Rarity slowly woke to what she thought was crying. She opened her eyes and saw Applejack at the end of the room looking out the window, her silhouette illuminated by the moonlight. Rarity rose to join her wife.
“Applejack?” Rarity asked.
“Oh, uh. Sorry,” Applejack mumbled. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Nonsense, darling,” Rarity said as she turned on a small lamp. “Whatever is the matter?”
Applejack took a couple moments to compose herself.
“My parents should be here,” Applejack said flatly. “They should have celebrated our daughter’s first birthday with us.”
“I know,” Rarity said, embracing Applejack.
“B…but that’s not why I’m crying,” Applejack said slowly. “I’m used to feeling that way. Sad, but true.”
“Then what is it, dear?”
“They should also know I like mares,” Applejack said, still with hesitation. “They also should know that I married the most beautiful mare in Equestria and we have an incredible daughter we both love beyond measure. But when I think about what could have happened if they did know…”
Rarity had been lucky to have an overall accepting family. Applejack, not as much.
“I know how hard it was for you not to see some of your family at our wedding,” Rarity said. “And it took Granny Smith a while to come around. But she did come around.”
“She only accepted you in the family after you were holding our daughter in the hospital. Not even Grand Pear could convince her.”
Rarity shuddered and could feel goosebumps coming from the memories. Granny had said some nasty things after she found out Rarity and Applejack were dating. Rarity had never seen a pony change so quickly. Even though Rarity had known the Apple family for a long time, every time she would step foot on Sweet Apple Acres, Granny Smith would tell her to get lost. Eventually, Rarity stopped trying and she and Applejack moved away. But her wife knew all that. There was no need to bring it up again.
“What makes you think your parents would be like Granny Smith?” Rarity asked instead. 
“Ma and Pa weren’t as bad as Granny Smith, but they were still as traditional as they come,” Applejack admitted. “You know how we Apples can be. Too stuck in our own ways.”
“But your parents also knew what it was like to have a love that not everypony approved of,” Rarity noted. “Even if they needed time, I’m sure they would have come around too.”
“Maybe they would have. But maybe they wouldn’t. I’ll never know. That’s what’s hard. I don’t know how my parents would feel about us or our daughter. I don’t know how life would be different if they lived. And I guess part of grief is learning to accept that.”
“Your parents were lovely ponies,” Rarity assured Applejack. “I might have only gotten to meet them when we were fillies, but I know that much.”
"They were fine ponies, but they weren't no saints. They were so young when they married, ya know. And Ma didn’t take being estranged from her family very well. Made some bad choices. They both did. Their relationship soured pretty quickly and it only got worse after Big Mac was born. He remembers them fighting a lot. But luckily, they finally got some help when they found out I was coming along.”
Though it perhaps shouldn’t have, this surprised Rarity a great deal. No pony was perfect, but Bright Mac and Pear Butter were such an inspiration to Rarity as a foal. She couldn’t imagine they would have such problems.
“I didn’t know that,” she told Applejack.
“I didn’t know the extent of it until fairly recently,” Applejack admitted.
Neither pony spoke for a moment as they both stared out the window.
“It’s days like today I just wish I could talk to them again. Just once more,” Applejack said. “I want to tell them that I’m happy. Their granddaughter’s happy and had a great birthday.”
As if on cue, the pair saw two shooting stars across the night sky.
“It’s just as I thought,” Rarity said with a soft smile.
“What?	” Applejack asked.
“I think they do know all that. In their own way.”
"Yeah, those two stars do seem to have a way of following me," Applejack said, also giving a small smile.
Then, also as if on cue, the baby’s cries sounded on the baby monitor. The two mares laughed knowing it was only a matter of time before their daughter needed them.
“I’ll go,” Rarity said. “You should go back to sleep.”
As Applejack lay down, she thought about what Rarity had said. Maybe her parents weren’t still present in the way some ponies believed, but they were there. They were every time Applejack saw her daughter’s soft orange curls that were like her grandmother’s. Even if her parents wouldn’t approve of her relationship, Applejack was a good mom. Nothing could take that away from her. She couldn’t change the past, but she could live in the present. And those presents she needed to be there for were in the other room. And they were the best presents Applejack had ever been given.