The train bound from Appleoosa to Ponyville just arrived at the station. It was a brown colored train with several wooden cars and a yellow colored roof. Inside the train there was a tan earth pony stallion with a yellow mane that was covered by a brown cowboy hat. His tan coat was also covered in the front to about his forehooves with a brown vest. As soon as the train stopped in Ponyville, the stallion got up out of his seat and prepared to get off.
He had recently got a letter from his cousin, Big Macintosh, which he kept in his vest pocket and had actually memorized. It wasn’t really that long though so that wasn’t surprising. The letter said:
Dear Braeburn:
As y’all know, Granny Smith has recently passed away. Because of that, we’d like y’all to come over and pick up from the loss if ya can get away from Appleoosa.
Big Macintosh
Braeburn guessed there was some sort of double meaning somewhere in there but that was beside the point. His family needed some help so he was more than happy to take the next train over to Ponyville and help out. It wasn’t that difficult making sure that Appleoosa was in good hooves since there are still a few apple family members there and the buffalo are also there to help. So Braeburn was ready to stay in Ponyville for as long as he needs to be. And he even had somepony besides family that he can visit.
All Braeburn had to do was take a step outside he suddenly a bunch of pink filled his view. Braeburn shouldn’t have been surprised that he was only seconds out of the car before she came up to him, but it still did catch him off guard. Braeburn took a step back, almost causing him to walk into the train again.
“Welcome to Pooonyville!” said a high pitched voice in a parody of what Braeburn says to anypony that comes to Appleoosa.
“Pinkie Pie!” Braeburn said. “Well Sugarplum ya sure surprised me if that’s what you were goin for.”
“Aw come on Braeie!” Pinkie Pie said. “Shouldn’t you be used to my surprises already?”
She had a point there. Ever since the two of them started dating a few years back Pinkie Pie would randomly pop up in Appleoosa with no explanation. Braeburn finally figured out what Cousin Jay Jay meant whenever she said “it’s Pinkie Pie, don’t question it.”
“I guess you’re right,” Braeburn said. “Well Pinkie, I’d like ta stay and chat, but I need to head over to Cousin Jay Jay’s place. I don’t want to be late from helping them out on the farm. I’ll see ya later.”
Braeburn tilted his hat towards Pinkie before walking into Ponyville. “Whatcha doing there?” Pinkie asked.
“I ain’t exactly sure but if I had my guess it’d probably be baking,” Braeburn said. “I know that’s what Granny Smith used to do back when she was still alive.”
“Alright then let’s go!” Pinkie said as she bounced ahead of Braeburn on the way to Sweet Apple Acres.
“Let’s?” Braeburn asked. “Y’all mean both of us?”
“Of course Silly Billy, what other pony do you see around here?” Pinkie Pie asked. There were several different ponies around the station at that time, but Braeburn got what Pinkie was getting at.
“But what are ya…?” Braeburn was about to ask, but Pinkie quickly hopped away before he was able to. “I…should have guessed that. That mare is so random the wise old mares in Appleoosa couldn’t get her. But I guess that’s what makes her so interesting.”
Braeburn hit the ground running in order to catch up to Pinkie Pie. Pinkie got a good head start and was going fast so while Braeburn ran through pretty much all of Ponyville, while dodging all of the ponies that were walking the streets. Ponyville was not that crowded in the morning so he didn’t have too much trouble in the streets, however he did nearly run into a purple dragon he remembered seeing a long time ago but can’t remember his name. Luckily thanks to a quick timed jump he managed to get over Spike and then after landing on the floor with a loud clop and then giving a quick apology he continued forward towards Sweet Apple Acres.
He caught up to Pinkie Pie as she was just passing by the white fence into Sweet Apple Acres. Besides Pinkie, Sweet Apple Acres was completely void of any other ponies except for Caramel, who was busy hammering down on a fence. And he was obviously not paying any attention because he didn’t even notice the loud high Pinkie Pie gave him before she went inside the farmhouse.
“What are ya doin there Pinkie?” Braeburn asked himself. He shook his head and then followed her in. He didn’t really want to let himself in unannounced, but he was interested in what Pinkie was up to and the other Apple Family members seem to be nowhere. So he thought he would go in quickly and get an idea of what Pinkie was doing.
When walking in he just happened to see her pink tail disappear to the right. Braeburn continued to follow her into that direction and when he finally saw here again she had a cook book open and was reading it. She then went towards the fridge and grabbed out some milk and some eggs.
“Pinkie, what are y’all doin in here?” Braeburn asked. “Shouldn’t ya ask before you come barging in to their home and usin their ingredients?”
“Oh good Braeburn, you’re here!” Pinkie said. “We need to bake some cakes and a few cupcakes! And maybe some apple fritters, apple dumplings, and some pie!”
“What the…?” Braeburn was confused, but he was used to that when it comes to Pinkie. “Why do ya need to bake all this stuff?”
“It’s a surprise! Duh,” Pinkie said. She quickly dashed over to the cupboards and grabbed out some cake pans, cupcake pans, backing sheets, and whatever other utensils were in there that she needed for cooking.
“A…surprise?” Braeburn asked.
“Yeah, now get cooking!” Pinkie said. “You’re not going to just let the mare work in the kitchen!”
Aside from the sexist comment, Braeburn was caught between pulling Pinkie Pie out of the kitchen before she wastes everything and letting her stay in and work. Pinkie Pie usually had an altruistic attitude and wouldn’t do something like this unless she had a good reason for it. She probably had some good reason for wanting to bake in here. The only problem was, as Braeburn knows full well from the buffalo incident a few years back, even if she had a good intentions those good intentions can often times fall flat into making something worse. Braeburn had seen it all too many times from her marefriend.
“Pinkie, would you mind telling me what it is your doin?” Braeburn asked. “I’ll Pinkie promise I won’t tell.” And he wouldn’t dare break that. The first time he broke a Pinkie promise… Braeburn shuttered at the memory of it and then repressed that down. He didn’t need or want to think about that day.
“Don’t you trust me Braeie?” Pinkie Pie asked playfully. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
The whole house setting on fire, Braeburn thought. But I guess she’s…right. I just still don’t like the fact that she’s using Cousin Jay Jay’s food in order to make somethin. For whatever reason she is doin it, if it’s for some sort of good reason gone bad, I’d really hate for all that food to go to waste.
“I want to trust ya, I really do, but I know you can sometimes go overboard Sugarplum,” Braeburn said, trying to explain it as best as I can. “If you can tell me, then I’ll decide whether you should be doin what your doin here. I’m not going to spill your secret. After all, I am the cousin of the Element of Honesty.”
Pinkie Pie opened her mouth to say something, but then suddenly she had some of the random body spasms, known as her “Pinkie Sense,” go off. Braeburn watched as her tail and hooves randomly shook and even her head shook after a certain time. After the spasms were over she looked over Braeburn’s shoulders with a worried look.
“What’s up?” Braeburn asked.
“Somepony is coming in!” Pinkie Pie said in a soft voice. In a speed that would make Rainbow Dash jealous she dashed over towards the right side of the room as far as she could. “Try to get them to go away. They can’t ruin the surprise!”
“But I…” Braeburn started but he was interrupted with a voice behind him.
“Braeburn? Looks like y’all are here already.”
Braeburn looked back to see Applejack standing directly behind him. As soon as he caught his cousin’s gaze he immediately got some guilt from the fact that he was inside without anypony’s knowledge. So of course he wanted to apologize to his cousin but before he could get a word in Applejack spoke again.
“Looks like Big Mac lead ya in huh?” Applejack said. “Ah wasn’t exactly intendin on havin ya cook but Ah guess if Big Mac wants ya to do that then Ah ain’t gonna argue.” Applejack grumbled “even though Ah was just about ta do that.” She walked the other way into the living room leaving Braeburn bewildered at his cousin’s behavior.
Braeburn went from feeling guilty about deceiving his cousin accidently to worry about her behavior. Sure he still felt a little guilty since she was assuming Big Mac let him in, and that’s untrue, but her cold and grudging behavior just threw him off. He stood there staring at her for a few seconds in shock.
“I figured Granny Smith’s loss was affecting them somehow, but I didn’t see that coming,” Braeburn said to himself. “What happened to her usual never-give-up attitude she always gives us? She ain’t exactly the kindest mare in the world but she is usually so much better than this.”
“I know that,” Pinkie Pie said. Braeburn walked in and looked to see she was still hiding at the right side of the room.
“What’s been happenin around here?” Braeburn asked Pinkie Pie. “I know Granny Smith died but I didn’t know things were this bad.”
“Don’t you miss her?” Pinkie Pie asked curiously.
“Well yeah I do,” Braeburn admitted. “I really do miss her, and I’m sad she’s gone.”
“Well imagine how you are feeling right now, only much worse,” Pinkie Pie said. She was strangely enough completely still while talking. “Applejack, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom all lived with Granny Smith. They’ve been close together for years now. In fact, Granny Smith was almost a parent to them since their parents were gone so early. So each of them are really sad about her being gone.”
“I…can imagine,” Braeburn said.
“So that’s what I’m doing here,” Pinkie continued. She walked up closer to Braeburn. “I’m going to throw Applejack, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom a ‘feel better and smile even though you’re sad about your loss’ party. I want to cheer them up because they’ve been so sad lately.”
“I…should have guessed,” Braeburn said, feeling foolish. “I’m sorry for doubting you Pinkie.”
“It’s alright Breaie!” Pinkie Pie said, the cheer coming back to her voice. “So are you going to help me?!”
“Yeah, I guess I’ll help ya now,” Braeburn said. He walked over to the other side of the table next to Pinkie Pie. “Let’s get down to work shall we? We’ve got lots of cheering up to do for Cousin Jay Jay.”