Arc awakens early the next morning to the smell of eggs and hash browns. Heading downstairs he spies Applejack at the stove.
“Good morning, sleepyhead. I figured you’d wake up for this. It’s almost done, so have a seat.”
Arc grins as he walks over to the kitchen table. “You know me. I never miss a good breakfast.”
Applejack chuckles as she turns off the stove and scoops the eggs onto a large plate. “That I’ve heard, yes.”
Setting the plate down she pulls out a chair and sits down herself as Arc serves them. Sighing, she looks to him.
“I don’t suppose anyone called on your earring?”
Arc shakes his head. “Nothing. Either that or I was really out cold last night.”
Applejack appears hopeful. “Wanna try again?”
“I suppose I should.”
Touching his earring Arc speaks.
“Arc to Sunburst. Anyone out there?”
Silence ensues. Arc shakes his head as he looks to Applejack.
“Looks like we’re going to be playing the waiting game.”
Applejack sighs. “I guess so.”
“Anything special you want to do?”
“Huh?”
“Well, we have nothing but time on our hands at the moment. I was just wondering if you had a preference on how to spend it.”
“Um… kinda.”
“What is it?”
Applejack smiles nervously. “You’ll probably think it’s silly, but…”
She pauses before continuing.
“I’d… like to practice cooking.”
“That’s not silly at all, Applejack. But might I ask why?”
Applejack sighs. “Back home there’s always something that needs doing. Harvesting apples, tending to the property, fixing up the buildings.”
Looking out the window as the sun comes up, Applejack gestures to the scene outside before continuing.
“But here there’s nothing for me to do. Well, other than chores around the house, I mean.”
“Well, how about we finish eating and head to the store for some ingredients then?”
“Sure. But we should probably do the dishes first.”
“Fine with me.”
Sometime later the pair hop in the Jeep and start driving. Arriving at the store Arc leads Applejack inside and grabs a cart.
“So what do you want to cook?”
“I’m… not really sure.”
“Too many things to choose from?”
“Kinda. But the main problem is the fact that the old family recipes I’d like to tweak are back in Equestria.”
“Do you have any memorized?”
Applejack shakes her head. “Sadly, no. Like I said back at the house, there’s usually a lot to do so I don’t experiment with cooking all that much. And the things I do have memorized were perfected long ago.”
“How about we pick up a cookbook then?”
“Good idea. Is there a bookstore nearby?”
“Yes. But they sell those here too.”
“Oh?”
Arc nods. “A supermarket carries a bit of everything. That’s why it’s called a ‘super-market’.”
“So Earth doesn’t have specialty stores?”
“Oh, we do. But it’s easier to come here than to run all over town.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
“If you want a generic cookbook they carry those here. But if you wanted a very specific one you’d need to visit an actual bookstore. Either that or look online.”
“Online?”
“The Internet.”
Applejack appears confused. “What’s that?”
Arc chuckles. “I’ll have to show you when we get home. For now why don’t you follow me to the book section?”
“Okay.”
Leading Applejack to the proper section of the store, he waits while she picks out a cookbook and reads it over.
“This should do.”
Arc smiles. “What did you decide on?”
“Main courses.”
“Oh?”
“I can make a pie better than anyone else. But cooking for a full meal isn’t something I’m very good at. Especially the main dish.”
“Then that’s what we’ll focus on.”
“We?”
“Sure. I’d like to learn some more recipes too, you know.”
Applejack grins. “That does sound like fun.”
Arc puts a hand to his chin. “How about we start with something for lunch? Say… a soup of some kind?”
Applejack grins as she holds up the book. “I was actually just looking at a recipe for Tomato Soup.”
“Then let’s find all the ingredients and see what we can do.”
Walking the aisles, they gather the necessary ingredients before heading to the checkout lanes. Leaving the store Applejack looks happily at the bags in the cart.
“This should be good!”
“Agreed. “
“But I didn’t realize how many herbs and spices we’d need.”
“Earth has many cultures. Each of which have their own unique spices and seasonings.”
“Sounds complicated from a cooking standpoint.”
“I suppose it might be. If you cook something in a different region without the proper spices, that is.”
“But it looked like they had everything we needed in there.”
“Right. Fortunately we can get all the major international spices here. But the flavor might change depending on where you live.”
“Oh?”
“Different things from different parts of the world can smell and taste differently.”
“How so?”
Arc puts a hand to his chin thoughtfully. “Well… let’s take apples for example. The ‘Fuji’ variety come from Japan while the ‘Granny Smith’ kind originally came from Australia. Now while I’ve never actually tested this, I’m told that over the years the latter grown across the ocean tastes very different from the ones we grow domestically.”
Applejack raises an eyebrow. “But if they’re the same species why taste different?”
Arc shrugs as they reach the Jeep. “No idea. Then again it could just be a tall tale. Like I said, I’ve never actually tested it.”
Loading up the Jeep they hop in and drive back towards Arc’s house. Arriving, Arc helps Applejack carry in their bounty. Setting everything down on the table she begins unpacking.
“Ready to get started, Arc?”
Arc suddenly has a pained expression on his face. “Um… there’s actually something I suggest you do first.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
“Do you smell something a bit… off?”
Applejack sniffs the air. “Yeah. I first started smelling that partway through the store. What is it?”
“Um… it’s you.”
“Me?”
Arc points to her armpit. “Smell this.”
Doing so, Applejack makes a face and blushes fervently.
“That smells terrible! What happened?!”
“Humans need to put something called ‘deodorant’ under their armpits. If we don’t, that happens.”
Applejack puts her arms down to hide the smell. “Princess Celestia had her Hoof Maidens put a spray of some kind under there when they were getting me ready. I just kinda thought it was perfume, or something though.”
“Must’ve been some kind of liquid anti-perspirant.”
“I’m sorry, Arc! I didn’t know about…!”
“It’s okay, Applejack. In truth, I should have been the one to tell you about it. Now then, why don’t you take the guest room’s shower while I use the upstairs one?”
“Sure. But I don’t know what I’m supposed to do after showering.”
“I’ll show you. Follow me.”
Heading upstairs, Arc leads Applejack into the guest room’s bathroom. Opening the medicine cabinet he removes a stick of deodorant. Pulling off the cap Arc turns to his friend.
“After you shower and dry off you need to rub this under your armpits. Against the skin, of course.”
“What’s it do?”
“Keeps your body from producing that smelly perspiration mostly. Humans generally apply it daily in the morning.”
“I’ll do my best to keep up with my hygiene in the future.”
“Thanks. I’ll do the same.”
“But you always smell okay.”
“That’s because I do my best to bathe daily and use anti-perspirant.”
Applejack gasps. “Every… DAY?!”
Arc raises an eyebrow. “Is something wrong with that?”
“Not… really. It’s just that ponies don’t bath nearly as much.”
“They don’t?”
Applejack shakes her head. “Nope. Even on the farm we kinda just rinse ourselves off after a hard day’s work. And that’s just to avoid getting the kitchen dirty.”
“How often do you actually…?”
“About once a week. But I’ll start showering regularly when we get back to Equestria if that’s what you want.”
“It’s… okay. Well, when you’re in your pony form, that is. Truth be told I never really questioned it.”
Applejack looks him in the eye. “Arc… be honest with me.”
“About what?”
“When I was a pony, did I… smell bad?”
Arc shakes his head. “No. You smelled just fine to me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. From what I could tell, pony body odor is much different from the human equivalent.”
“Is that… good?”
“I by suppose by comparison it is. After all, if a female human went a week without showering, well… it wouldn’t be too hard to smell her coming. But I should probably let you get to it.”
“Alright. Meet you back in the kitchen later?”
“I’ll be there.”
Arc leaves and closes the door behind him. Applejack sighs and disrobes before turning on the water. Setting it to a very hot temperature she jumps in and begins feverishly scrubbing her body. Groaning, she talks to herself as she works.
“Of all the times to smell and I have to do it while on a date!”
She thinks for a moment before continuing.
“Well… extended date, that is.”
Sometime later Arc and Applejack descend the stairs together. Applejack turns to him sheepishly.
“Do I smell better now?”
Arc nods. “Much.”
“Again, sorry about that.”
“It’s fine, Applejack.”
“Like I said before, I’ll do my best to take care of my personal hygiene in the future.”
Arc chuckles. “That really wasn’t a big deal. Now then, why don’t we get back to the kitchen and start cooking?”
“Sounds good.”
Picking up the cookbook, Applejack opens it to a specific page and begins to read as she talks.
“It looks like we need to puree some tomatoes along with the spices and seasonings. This could take a while.”
“Not to worry. I have something for that.”
Opening a cupboard, Arc removes a device and sets it on the kitchen counter. Applejack appears confused.
“What is that?”
“A food processor. Think of it like a blender with a bigger blade.”
Applejack grins. “That’ll make this a snap!”
“Right. All we have to do is cut up the tomatoes and put them in here with the rest of the ingredients. Then just cook it for however long the book says.”
“I’ll start chopping tomatoes if you want to measure out the spices.”
“Sure.”
They get to work with their respective tasks. Arc looks to her as he sets the spice bottles on the table.
“I remember doing things like this with my mom sometimes.”
Applejack smiles as she looks over her shoulder from the cutting board. “Did you now?”
“Yeah. Well, before she became an alcoholic anyways.”
He sighs before continuing.
“Sometimes I wish I could go back to those simpler times.”
Applejack looks away. “I wish I’d had times like that.”
“Applejack?”
“Truth be told, I… don’t actually remember much about my mother. She died when I was just a filly.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up painful memories.”
Applejack shakes her head. “No, no. It’s like you said last night, Arc. We need to get to know each other better.”
“Then would you like to tell me about her.”
Applejack puts a hand to her chin. “Well… I remember watching her and Granny Smith cook when I sat in my chair at the table. They would mix things I couldn’t identify into bowls and add seasonings before mixing them up.”
She chuckles before continuing.
“Sometimes Big Mac would join them. They’d have a lot of fun together. But I was too little to do much of anything.”
“So you just watched?”
Applejack nods. “Sometimes they’d let me lick the spoon or bowl clean. But that was about it.”
“Anything else?”
“If they weren’t in a hurry my mother would put a spoon in my hoof and help me stir a bowl of ingredients.”
She smiles and closes her eyes.
“And by ‘stir’ I mean that my hoof was on the spoon. She did pretty much everything.”
“Sounds like you had fun.”
“I think so. I mean… I was pretty young at the time. It was fun to just be included.”
“Spending time with loved ones is always a good time.”
“Yeah. But I do remember my mom’s belly getting bigger. At the time I didn’t think much of it until one day Big Mac told me that mom was pregnant.”
“Were you excited?”
“At the time, yes. But that changed.”
“Uh oh. What happened?”
Applejack stops cutting as she speaks. “One night I woke up to shouting coming from down the hall. I hopped out of bed and walked over to the door to see what was going on. As I peeked out, I saw stallions from the hospital running down the hall with my mother on a stretcher and Granny Smith hurrying after them. Mom was breathing heavily and covered in sweat. When she turned to me as they passed I remember her telling me to be a good little filly until she got back.”
Sighing, Applejack puts down her knife and looks away.
“That was the last time I saw my mother alive.”
Arc steps toward her and puts his hands on her shoulders. Applejack silently puts a hand on his before continuing.
“I’m told she died from complications of foalbirth. But it wasn’t until years later, as an adult, that I learned the whole story.”
“Oh?”
“Granny Smith, on one of her... better days, took me and Big Mac aside to talk to us. We both though we were in trouble for something or other. But she just told us that we had to had a talk about what really happened that night.”
Arc waits patiently as Applejack pauses to compose herself.
“My father had passed away almost a year prior from an undiagnosed heart condition. It was right after he impregnated my mother. Back then it was Granny Smith whom went to the hospital with mom when the time came, so she knew exactly what happened.”
Taking a deep breath, Applejack continues.
“Granny told me that the labor was a hard one. At one point the doctor turned to her and gave her a choice. They could only save… one of them.”
Arc nods soberly. “So she had to choose between your mother and Apple Bloom?”
Applejack shakes her head. “No, Arc. You see, while granny was trying to decide, my mother forced herself to look over at her. She pointed a hoof at her large belly and mouthed the words ‘save the baby’ before passing out. Granny told the doctors my mother’s wishes and they got to work. As you know, Apple Bloom made it. But at the cost of my mother’s life.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Does Apple Bloom know?”
“No. In fact, granny told us never to tell her about it.”
Arc raises an eyebrow. “Then why tell you and your brother?”
“She said she didn’t want to die without telling somepony. And since we were her closest living relatives it made sense that we should be the ones.”
“I’m glad you’re all so close. It must have helped a bit, especially during that hard time.”
“Actually… no.”
“What?”
“You see… back then I believed that Apple Bloom had killed mom. So I was always being mean to her. Granny Smith would give me a bowl of food to feed her and I’d toss it to the hogs. I’d go to change her diaper and give her flank a smack before putting the clean diaper on. And whenever I could I’d pull her mane or do whatever to make her feel pain.
She bows her head before continuing.
“I did all that to her right up until I learned the truth about what happened that night.”
“Then you started being a better big sister?”
“Right. From then on everything was about her. After all, I felt I had a lot to make up for.”
“Well, I say you’ve done a good job there. After all, Apple Bloom seems to be really happy.”
Applejack groans. “Yeah, she is. But sometimes in the past I was a bit… overbearing.”
“Oh?”
“I’d treat her like a newborn instead of a growing filly. The first time we left her home alone I came back to make sure she was okay.”
“And she was, right?”
Applejack shakes her head. “I found her in the kitchen surrounded by a large mess of food.”
“Uh oh. She get into the sweets?”
“It looked more like she was trying to make a full course meal at the time. Apple Bloom told me later that she had just been trying to get the leftovers out of the refrigerator and things kinda went from there.”
“So you felt the need to protect her still?”
“Right. But I still viewed her as the baby of the family. That and subconsciously I still felt as though I was responsible for all the future bad things that happened, or might happen, to her.”
“And you overreacted.”
“I did, yes. Not proud of that fact, but I did.”
Applejack sighs and looks to Arc.
“Even today I feel the need to protect her from things that even might remotely be dangerous.”
“Rarity did the same, you know.”
“She did?”
Arc nods. “By trying to protect Sweetie Belle from the truth about whom her mother really was.”
“She told us about that, yes. But it isn’t really the same.”
“How so?”
“Rarity told her the truth.”
“You can too, you know.”
“I guess so. While I’ve been meaning to tell her about it, that would also require her learning about what really happened to our mother.”
“She might be ready to hear that. After all, she’s pretty mature.”
Applejack frowns. “How can you say that, Arc?! She’s just a filly!”
“A filly whom traveled halfway across Equestria to try and find me with her friends.”
“Well, I suppose she is growing up. But I still don’t think she’s ready, Arc.”
“That’s your choice to make, of course. And I know you’ll tell her eventually. However it’ll bother you until you do.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“I’m sure you will, Applejack.”
Applejack turns to him with a hopeful look on her face. “Do you… think you could possibly… you know…?”
“You want me to be there when you tell her?”
Applejack nods as Arc smiles.
“You’re going to be her father-figure, after all.”
Arc chuckles. “Kinda already am.”
“That too. And Rarity said it worked out so well with Sweetie Belle with you being there. What’d you do exactly?”
“I just kinda made sure the conversation didn’t stray too far from the topic at hand.”
“There had to have been more going on than THAT though!”
“The only other thing I did was hold Rarity’s hoof.”
“Then that’s what I want from you. Someone to make sure I stay on topic and to help me keep it together.”
“I can do that.”
Applejack appears relieved as she looks back to the tomatoes. “That you can. But why don’t we get back to work now?”
“I suppose we should. After all, there’s nothing we can do about this at the moment, right?”
“Other than wait, no.”
Arc turns back to the seasonings. “So let’s make the best use of our time and come up with some perfected recipes to take home.”
Applejack grins. “Right!”