A few days later, Pinkie Pie was hopping down the country road to Sweet Apple Acres to pay a visit to Applejack’s cousin, Braeburn. The two had agreed to make a date, once the pink party pony though up her own idea of what they were gonna do on said date that is. The first pony she came across was Braeburn’s best friend, Malady “Mal” Wesson, who was still recovering from his two black eyes Applejack had inflicted on him.
“Heeeelllllllooooooo, Mr. Mal!” chimed Pinkie Pie.
“Howdy there, Ms. Pinkie,” greeted Mal. “How are ya, on this lovely day?”
“Super duper fantastical!” she exclaimed. “How are your eyes doing?”
“Still a little swollen,” he said, blushing a little. “But ah’ll be just fine.”
“For someone who grew up with Applejack, you sure don’t know how she works, do ya?” she pointed out with her usual grin.
“Well…in mah defense,” he began. “It had been a good while since ah’d seen Jan…um…“
Mal then trailed off from speaking for a moment and fearfully glanced around the farm as if he was being fallowed. Reassured, he went back to talking with Pinkie.
“Ah mean, Applejack,” he gulped. “But we’ve been workin through all that. An once mah eyes heal up, ah plan to take her out for a nice date.”
“Ooh, sounds wonderful,” Pinkie exclaimed. “Anyhoof, is Braeburn around?”
“Course he’s around,” said Mal. “If he weren’t here at the farm, he’d be in town lookin for you.”
“I see,” blushed Pinkie, making a circle with her front hoof.
“He’s out in the south field,” said Mal. “Ah know he’ll be excited to see ya.”
“Thanks, Mal,” said Pinkie with a cute little smile. “I’ll see ya later!”
Pinkie bounced off towards the south field, leaving Mal to himself again. Meanwhile, out in the south field, Braeburn was bucking trees while whistling a tune to himself. Then he noticed a pink blur at the corner of his eye, causing him to grin ear to ear. Spinning around, he came face to face with Pinkie Pie.
“Well, howdy there, Miss Pinkie,” exclaimed Braeburn.
“And howdy to you too, Mr. Braeburn,” exclaimed Pinkie, which then made them both giggle for a moment.
“So, what brings ya around the farm today?” he asked.
“Well, I finally got a fantastical wonderful superawesomefantabulousbestthinginthewholewideworld thing to do for our date!” she exclaimed.
“Wow, great,” exclaimed Braeburn. “What is it?”
“It’s a secret,” Pinkie smiled. “All I can say, is when you have a day off, meet me at the park at noon.”
“But, ah’m not sure when ah’ll be havin a day off,” said Braeburn.
“No problemo,” assured Pinkie Pie. “I’ll stand by the park entrance every day from noon to one till you show up!”
“Ah must say that is mighty unique,” thought Braeburn. “Aint never heard of somepony usin that strategy. Ya sure you’ll be ok doin that?”
“Don’t you worry about me, silly,” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. “It’ll be a fun anticipation! Like waiting for Santa Hooves to bring you presents!”
“Well, here’s hopin ah have a day off soon,” said Braeburn with great optimism.
“Yuperoonydoony!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. “Till then though, I’ll find other ways to occupy my time! Shouldn’t be too hard! Lots of ponies to play with around town!”
“Does that mean yer gonna head off?” he asked, with disappointment in his voice.
“Just remember…” began Pinkie Pie. “Santa Hooves!”
“Yer absolutely right,” exclaimed Braeburn, getting some pep back in his voice. “Ah’ll see you very soon!”
“See you soon,” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, hopping off into seemingly thin air.
“Ah’ll never understand how she does that,” said an impressed Braeburn.
Back at the front of the farm, Mal was mending the fences to the pig pens, when Applejack trotted up next to him.
“What brings ya round here?” asked Mal.
“Well, ah do live on this here farm,” said Applejack, with a smart aleck tone.
“Hardy har har,” grumbled Mal. “Ah meant to say, what brings you to this area of the farm? Dontcha have apples to buck?”
“Ah came to see how yer eyes were doin,” said Applejack.
“Oh…” said Mal, in surprise. “Doin better. A little swollen still. But ah can open mah eyes a lot easier.”
“Yeah, ah thought about a way to help with that,” said Applejack.
Out of her satchel, Applejack retrieved a jar of some sort of pasty substance.
“What the hay is that?” Mal asked with clear suspicion.
“It aint gonna hurt ya, if that’s whatcha think,” assured Applejack, opening the jar. “It’s an old Apple family remedy. Good fer healin various ailments.”
“Why’d you wait three days to use this stuff?” exclaimed Mal.
“Ah wanted you to have some time to think about everything that’s goin on between us,” admitted Applejack. “Now, close yer eyes.”
“Is this gonna hurt?” feared Mal.
“Know of many remedies that don’t hurt a little?” asked Applejack.
“Touché,” said Mal.
“Just keep yer eyes closed and it won’t hurt as bad,” assured Applejack.
Mal shut his eyes tightly, and Applejack began to apply the remedy over his eyes. This caused him to wince a little, but true to her word, it didn’t hurt too terribly.
“Smells like…apples,” Mal noticed.
“Well, this is an apple farm,” said Applejack. “Most things we make here are apple related. Mah great grampa Apple came up with this stuff a little before settlin in what would become Ponyville.
“Ah forget yer family has a huge history with this town,” said Mal, still keeping his eyes shut tight.
“Aint exactly somethin folks bring up often,” said Applejack. “Family’s been around long enough to where it’s just an everyday thing.”
“Granny Smith teach ya how to make this stuff?” asked Mal.
“Nope, my pa did,” said Applejack, with a hint of sorrow in her voice.
“Oh…jeez,” fumbled Mal. “Ah’m really sorry bout that, Applejack.”
“Don’t think nothin of it, Mal,” she assured him. “Ya had no way of knowin. Sides, ah can see how you’d think Granny Smith taught it to me. She’s taught a lot of ponies a lot of things. Ah’m sure ya can guess though that she taught the remedy to mah pa.”
“Makes sense,” taught Mal. “Guess it’s tradition in yer family for parent to teach child this remedy, eh?”
“Spose so,” said Applejack.
There was decent pause between both of them before Mal broke the silence.
“How much longer do ah have to keep this stuff on me?” he asked.
“Ah’ll guide ya to some water,” said Applejack. “By then, it shoulda been on there long enough.”
Applejack guided Mal back into the Apple family home; taking him into the kitchen so she could get water from the sink. She soaked a wash rag, rung it out a little, and gently rubbed it across Mal’s eyes.
“It’s all good now,” said Applejack.
Mal slowly opened his eyes, seeing the orange mare right in front of him.
“Aint that a site fer sore eyes,” he said, with a sly smile.
“Oh please,” snorted Applejack.
“Ah mean it, Applejack,” he exclaimed. “Ah know ah’ve been a real buckin idiot with you over the years. But one things ah’ve always been honest about is that you grew up to become a fine lookin mare. Not that looks are everything, of course. With you though, it’s most definitely a bonus.”
Applejack started turning a shade of almost beat red; Mal began to turn a little shade too. Applejack then showed him a mirror to see how his eyes looked.
“Ah’m mighty impressed,” said Mal. “Aint totally gone, but still.”
“Well, it aint gonna heal instantly,” said Applejack. “Still, a couple more days of usin this stuff an you’ll be right as rain. Then we can make plans.”
“Fer what?” asked Mal.
“Our date, knucklehead,” sighed Applejack.
“Oh, um, right,” said Mal, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Another moment of silence filled the room. This time, Applejack broke the silence.
“Ok, no more lollygaggin,” she said. “We gotta get back to work.”
“Way to kill the mood,” said Mal.
“We aint on a date now,” she rolled her eyes. “Work comes first above all else.”
“Yeah yeah,” groaned Mal.
The two made their way out of the house. In the living area, Granny Smith was sitting in her rocking chair, seemingly taking a nap. The ancient mare then slowly opened one eye.
“Bout time them two get together,” said Granny Smith to nopony. “Ah swear, youngens these days move slower than molasses in winter.”