“Does it really need to take half an hour to get there?” Applebloom protested, “We could have gotten back to our home before arriving here.”
In reality, it had been just twenty minutes, and while it was true Sweet Apple Acres was twenty minutes from the stadium, it was only another ten from the center of Ponyville, “Applebloom! It’s quite rude to say that to anypony that thay’re holding you up.”
“Now, now,” Aiden tried to reason, “I know she’s your younger sister, but at least out of what I go through on a constant basis where we’re going, I’ve been asked questions too immoral for me to answer.”
The filly took her chance to poke her tongue out, but Applejack scoffed it off. Applebloom took it as a chance to ask again, but a smidgen more dignity in her question, “If you don’t mind me askin’ this of you, why are we heading into town?”
Her elder sibling added to the question, “And what exactly are we doing over there anyway?”
On the edge of the town, at the only three story stand-alone building in Ponyville, Aiding Heart turned around to face the Apple sisters. His façade took a more ominous look as he sought the attention of them both, “I should probably mention why I’ve brought you here, but do you mind if it takes a while to explain?”
Both siblings nodded, so he was free to continue.
“Well, the troubles started when I was a foal. My father went to Las Pegasus for what he planned to be a month, but after… ‘certain circumstances’… my mother disallowed him from the household. He never came back after that point, but I don’t think he wanted to anyway. Especially after what happened to Vitesse.
Applebloom interrupted with the inevidable question, “What happened to yer mother?”
Even while Aiding Hearts struggled to form his words – words Applejack could see strain in his face as he tried to tell them – as he spoke. While scattered in though, it remained coherent, “Well…you see…my mother was one of the racing Wonderbolts. She actually won the Wonderbolts Derby about fifteen years before Luna’s return.”
Taking a more inopportune pause, Applejack tried to lighten his mood, “Well, you should meet my friend, Rainbow Dash. She knows all there is to know about them Wonderbolts.”
“Even the DEAD ONES?!” Aiding Hearts snapped back, unwarranted. His booming retort left Applebloom scared and the original talker even more dismayed. Quickly, Aiden tried backtracking on his shouting, “I’m…I’m so sorry…I didn’t mean to it’s just…”
Applejack opened her mood to calm him down, “It’s quite a sore spot, ain’t it?”
After a few deep breaths, he continued, albeit with harder spirits, “You see… about two years after she won…she brought…brought me to another race. Most of it was fine. That was…until Lightning Strike tried to overtake her….They…they crashed with about two laps to go, and while Strike struck the clouds…well…”
“She struck the crowd?” Though knowing the impact of what she said, Applebloom still hoped for the best case scenario.
“At first,” he admitted, “but then she crammed into… into…”
“Ya don’t need to tell us how it happened,” the farmer pony implored as she placed a hoof around him in a friendly embrace, “but I would like to know what happened after the whole ruckus.”
Any remnants of tears were wiped away from the current state of mind, but it still didn’t help Aiden’s mood, “You see…I would have gone to my father next, but since he essentially gave up ownership of my, I was out of luck.”
The filly couldn’t comprehend, “Why wouldn’t your father want you?”
Trying his best to explain, he tried keeping the terms to a minor level, “Um…let me put it this way: He went to Pegasus to join the Shadowbolts. What they do is….well…you know how a mother and father produce a foal?”
The yellow pony nodded her head. In haste, her older sister requested of her sibling, “But do you know how they’re made?” When Applebloom shook her head, Applejack grinned in satisfaction, “good.”
“All I was gonna say,” Aiden clarified, “Was that the Shadowbolts…do that stuff without actually making a child in the first place. Didn’t stop them from…”
The last sentence trailing into a rambling that confused the viewers, “Uh, beg your pardon?” the elder inquired.
“Nevermind that too much,” fast to dismiss, he went on, “anyway, long story short, I got sent to this orphanage. Yeah, in Ponyville, but it was the only one I felt comfortable with staying at.”
“How long did you stay there?” Though the younger asked, both wanted to know.
“Must have been at least three years.”
“THREE?!”
“Yeah,” he sighed, half in dismay and half in reminiscence, “Nopony wanted a pegasus like me. So I ended up working and helping the owners of the place. They’ve kinda changed over time, but their intentions have been the same throughout. The younger ones always loved my help. So even after I got adopted from the home, I always continued to help out, not matter how busy I might get.”
“But is that your special talent?”
“Oh, Applebloom,” it was the first time he addressed the filly by name, but he wanted to be calm in nature to her, “I’ve been told that if I had my cutie mark, it would have been something related to daycare or something similar.”
The explanation would not do, “But if that’s the case, then why have you been playing baseball?”
In the epitome of upfront honesty, he elaborated, “I might not be the best in terms of talent, but even the common players, there’s bits to be had. Horsepower can only do so much in physically helping them.”
It might not have been all there was to know, it was at least enough to know what to expect. Applejack wanted to know, “So, does that mean we’re prepared to help out with whatever it is we can do?”
Aiden grew a smile, a nice boost to his mood knowing somepony was willing to help, “Dinner should be just about over. It might just be story time, but if you want to see what there is inside, you both are welcome to stay.”
Both sisters nodded, Applebloom a little less sure of what she wanted to do, but was at least willing to play along with her sister.
“Good to know,” but before opening the door, he gave one last point of information, “Oh, just for the record…I mean no offense to the foals…but make sure you leave with what you went in with. Some of these ponies were raised by sleazy parents, and don’t always know the best way to go about things.”