//------------------------------//
// Meeting Apples 
// Story: Snapple Pie 
// by RavensDagger 
//------------------------------//

“You know,” Twilight said, touching her chin with the tip of her hoof, “That’s an interesting expression, ‘going south.’ So, you two were heading towards the Apple home and, if I am not mistaken, were starting to have behavioral hints of liking one another?”

Apple Bloom blinked at the mare, shifting in her seat as she traded a quick look with Snails. “Um, yeah? Ah guess.”

“Interesting! But so far I’ve only seen hints of a relationship, not anything... conclusive. It’s as if you were becoming friends and not lovers.”

Snails nodded. “Well, yeah, that’s sorta how it works, I think. I started wanting to be her friend and then other things.”

The young scientist nodded and crossed out some of her notes before replacing them with new text. She then looked up, staring at first Apple Bloom and then Snails in turn.



































I stumbled forwards, following you out of the orchard while both trying not to stare at your rear end and trying not to cry about the loss of those cupcakes I had ordered from Miss Pie. At least we still had a box left. 

You stared over your shoulder at me, those big orange eyes of yours twinkling in the warm light. I swallowed and tore my attention away, looking out ahead at the farmhouse, which was quickly getting closer.

For a while, the only sound were our hooves scratching against dry grass and the giggles you occasionally let escape. “Um, Apple Bloom?” I asked, fidgeting as I followed you. 

“Hmm, what’s wrong, Snails?”

“Um, well, maybe I should go home, you know, instead of bothering you and all your family and all that?” I bit my lip, wishing I could stop time and slap myself across the muzzle for being silly. Of course you didn’t want me near your house. Who would want to be my friend? Not a pretty filly like you. At least, that’s what I was thinking. 

“Oh,” you said, your smile fading. “All right, if that’s what you want. But the Apple family’s hospitality is legendary, and you helped me out plenty today. So don’t feel all bummed out or shy, alright?” A fierce scowl crossed your face and you shook your hoof at me, as if I were a little colt being told, again, by mom to fess up.

We trotted on, by the pig pens and past the great big barn until we slipped into the cooler shadows. From there, I could see your home in all its glory. The windows were opened wide and welcomed the passing breeze. Granny Smith was on the patio, rocking back and forth on her creaky old chair while somepony inside was baking fresh apple pie. 

“Maybe I can visit after all,” I said, trying to swallow the gush of saliva that the smells had brought on.

You perked up. “Ah, that’s great! C’mon, I’ll get Applejack to get some cups clean cups while I fetch us some apple juice from outta the cellar! It’s always sorta cold that way.”

Cold liquid sounded good, really good, in fact. We upped our pace and ran out of the shadows, my saddlebags bouncing on my back while the paint pail bounced on yours.

Granny Smith looked up, frowning and squeezing her eyes to look at us better as we approached. She stopped her rocking and cleared her throat with a hoarse cough. “Apple Bloom, that you?” she asked.

“Yep, Granny, it’s me. Snails is with me, too. He helped out with the clubhouse today, figured Ah ought to get him somthin’ t’ drink before sendin’ him off.”

“Uh-huh, I’m sure you two were workin’ real hard,” she replied, a slow, creeping smile crossing her wrinkly features. “But you ought to send the lil’ colt on home. Applejack was a-talkin’ earlier and Ah figures she’s gonna whop you good.”

You changed your stance, standing tall before your grandmother with a worried frown crossing your forehead. “What’cha mean, gimme a whop? Ah ain’t do nothin’ wrong!”

“That’s not what she thinks,” Granny Smith said, pushing herself back and rocking once more.

Huffing, you took a few steps towards the house, then paused and looked back to me. As if uncertain, you bit your lips and thumped a hoof on the ground. “Snails, can ya wait just here for a minute? Ah’mma go talk to Sis and be right back.”

“S-sure thing, Apple Bloom,” I said, nodding like a drunken woodpecker. 

I watched you climb up the house’s old but sturdy steps and disappear into the shadows within, your frazzled tail the last thing I saw of you. Granny Smith chuckled under her breath and stopped rocking again. With a forehoof she waved me closer. “C’mon here, lil’ colt.”

Swallowing hard, but wanting to get out of the sun, I trotted closer to the wrinkly old mare and climbed onto the porch, welcoming the shadows as they ate me up. I walked to Granny Smith’s side and sat down, turning my eyes to the tilled land out front of the house. 

“Hmm, well, aren’t you a strange specimen,” she said and I felt her eyes crawling up and down my back. “Ah can’t see why she’d bring you home. But Apple Bloom always did have interestin’ tastes. Tell me, boy, what brings ya here?”

“Um, uh. I was helping Apple Bloom and I brought her lunch to say thanks. Yesterday she helped me... a lot. Then she told me to come here?”

She shook her head, sighing as her ancient eyes closed. “No, no. Not what brought you here like that. What is it in Apple Bloom that you like so much that you’d follow her here? The Apple clan can be rather picky, I’ll have you know.”

I tilted my head to the side and thought for a bit. Why had I followed you here? I liked you, of course; I liked you a lot. But did I like-like you? I felt the blood rushing to my face and I turned away from the old mare. 

That wasn’t the case, right? I mean, I thought you were one of the prettiest fillies I’d ever seen, and seeing you with sweat running down your back and your bow all undone

“Oh-hoh-hoh,” Granny Smith laughed. “Well, if yer always making such a face then I can see why the filly might be fallin’ for ya.”

I twisted around, facing her with wide eyes. “S-she likes me too?” I croaked.

Your grandmare cackled and giggled in her seat, rocking back and forth like a school filly before wiping a tear from her eyes. “My my, aren’t you young foals a hoof-full. Applejack’s goin’ to have herself some nightmares with that sister of hers.”

I didn't know what to say, and in these kinds of situations I usually said something silly that I would regret, so I kept my muzzle shut and began tracing circles on the patio's floor. My ears perked when I heard your voice from within the house.

“What'cha mean! Ah just did what I ought to have done. Them fillies deserved every ounce of that beatdown!” you said.

“Don't talk back to me, little miss,” your sister replied. “Filthy Rich came over here and told me all about it. You hurt those two fillies and Ah won't have a bully livin' under mah roof. Not now and not ever.”

“B-bully?” you repeated and I heard hooves scuffing against the wooden floor, as if you'd reeled back in shock. “Ah ain't no bully! Diamond Tiara and that silly Silver Spoon are bullies. They're nothin' but a bunch'a trouble. When I got there, they were after poor Snails, buggin' him and threatenin’ him  for no good reason.”

Somepony bucked something and the rest of the chatter became unintelligible gibberish. I flinched with every bang until finally, you barged out of the house, tiny droplets of water pooling in the corner of your eyes. Swallowing hard, you looked at me and sighed. “Um, sorry, Snails. Ah don't think Ah can give you any pie today. There's um, somethin' goin' on. 'Kay?”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” I said.

“Ah owe ya one. Next time ya come over Ah'll make you somethin' special, alright?” you said, turning away from me and looking towards the doorway. “Thanks for all the help and all that.”

I nodded, but you didn't see it. “Yeah, it was really fun, being with you. So, thanks. M-maybe, if you need more help, you could let me know, or something?” I took a step towards you, fighting against the choking wall that had popped into my chest. “And... and maybe we could hang out together, just because?”

I bit my lip until I tasted blood in my mouth while my cheeks flamed.

Your cheeks were also warm when you looked at me. “Yeah, Ah don't see why not,” you said before trotting back into your home.

When your tail disappeared I was finally able to breath.

That breathing was cut short as the squabble continued. Twitching with every shout, I took a step back, bowed to Granny Smith and hopped off the patio. I was a sack of mixed emotions as I galloped away from the farmhouse, ignoring the hot sun as I did so. 

On the one hoof, I hadden’t gotten to spend any more time with you that day. On the other hoof, I had totally got to spend the day with you already, and to make everything better, you had sorta agreed to spend some more time with me later.

A huge grin was splitting my face apart as I ran down the well-worn road leading into Ponyville. I arrived at the arch on which SWEET APPLE ACRES was written and slowed to a halt as I looked at the path below.

A few hundred paces down, three ponies were making their way up the hill, two of them fillies I knew all too well.

Diamond Tiara was in the lead, huffing and stomping with every step as she came ever closer. One of her eyes was swollen shut by an ugly purple bruise on her pink-ish coat. It didn’t stop her from glaring at the ground.

Behind her, as always, was Silver Spoon, trotting at a softer pace beside the third pony, an older stallion whose cutie mark of three money bags was partially covered by his tight vest. 

I bit my lip and stood frozen above them, shifting my weight from side-to-side, but none of them looked up to me and they all seemed to be talking to one another, their voices too far for me to hear. 

Swallowing hard, I turned tail and hopped over the nearby fence and into a hay field, rushing into the stalks of wheat until I thought I was hidden. The air between the plants was humid and they tickled my nose, but I forced myself not to sneeze.

After what felt like an hour later, the three were walking by me, none of them paying any attention to the field as they trotted on by and towards your house. I heard Diamond Tiara muttering under her breath, something about “making that ugly, bow-wearing filly pay.”

With careful steps, I crawled after them, following along from across the blades of vegetation  until the field ran out and I was faced with a fence. I stayed there, looking out between the wooden bars as they got closer and closer to your home. 

Granny Smith got up and slowly climbed out of her chair to welcome them, specifically the older stallion that she greeted with a firm hoofshake.They chatted for a while, Diamond Tiara pacing back and forth right behind them. 

The four began moving towards the house, Granny Smith taking the lead with a slow but confident shuffle before the stallion charged ahead and opened the door for her. I perked my ears, trying to listen a bit more but only hearing some of the detached conversation.

When all four were inside, I hopped over the fence and bolted behind the barn, panting as I flew over your land and raced around to the house’s side. At the last second I threw myself down and parapony-rolled under the window.

Leaning against the wooden-slat wall, I pushed myself up and let just the tip of one of my ears poke out to listen to what was going on inside.

Chairs were shuffled around as the guests sat around the family table. I heard Applejack cough into her hoof as she sat at the head of the table. “Alright, Mister Rich. Ah got yer message this mornin’ and Ah read real careful-like. You’ve been one of Sweet Apple Acres’ best customers for years, and Ah guarantee on my Papa’s name that we’ll always do the best ta serve you and your kind. Please, accept mah apologies for what Apple Bloom has done.”

“But I didn’t do it!” you protested. I heard your chair scrape back on the wooden floor as you pushed away from the table. 

“Yeah, you did!” Diamond Tiara shot back, growling. “Dad, for no reason that little bully came up to me and bucked me right in the face! I told you about it already. Ask Silver Spoon, she was there the whole time.”

Applejack thumped a hoof on the table. “Apple Bloom, Ah won’t have ya mistreating friends of our family.”

“They’re not friends,” you said, voice cracking mid-sentence. “Both of them are evil, pear-eatin’ monsters!”

“Apple Bloom!” Applejack hollered.

With a tiny, little cough, Mr. Rich joined the conversation. “It seems that the relationship between our youths has become a little... strained. Now, I won’t tell you how to parent or how to be a role model, nor will I hold the Apple family to blame for the actions of one of its youngest and least mature members. Still, I think I might make exception and tell you this: please keep a reign on the young one from now on.”

“But Ah didn’t do it!” you wailed, bucking the wable before huffing in indignation.

Your outburst got their attention. “Okay then, young’un,” Granny Smith said in her quiet way. “Who did it then? Who punched the little pink one right in the eye-hole?”

“W-well, Ah sorta did that,” you admitted. “But Ah had a real good reason to do it. She was actin’ real mean-like to other ponies. And she’s nothin’ but a bully and a meanie!”

“I am not!” the other filly defended herself.

“Are too!”

I heard Granny Smith shush them, interrupting the chatter. “Apple Bloom, do you have any proof that that lil’ filly actually did any of those mean things?”

“Um, well, no?” you said, cringing back.

“See, she’s a big, fat, ugly liar!” Diamond Tiara screeched. 

I stopped listening then, not only because the whole room exploded in argument, but also because somepony touched me on the shoulder and almost gave me a heart attack. 

The large, strong hoof spun me around, bringing me face-to-face with Big Macintosh, who was looking at me with an arched eyebrow while chewing away at a stalk of hay. He brought his hoof back, pressing it against his lips in a sign for me to be quiet before pointing to the back of the house.

Gulping, I nodded, showing that I understood. The two of us trotted side-by-side, hardly making a peep until we were behind the old farmhouse. From there I could only just barely hear you talking in mean tones to the other ponies in the kitchen.

“So, um, Mister Macintosh, you’re probably wondering what I was doing there, huh?” I asked, rubbing a hoof against my shin. 

“Eeyup,” he said, shifting the stalk from one side to another.

“Well, you see,” I said, not daring to meet his eyes. Your brother’s scary. “I was sorta helping Apple Bloom today, then when we came back there was a fight, so I left to go home, but then I saw Diamond Tiara and her bunch coming on up. I figured that it’d be trouble, and no pony likes trouble, right?”

“Nnope.”

I nodded. “Right, so I figured I should listen in and, make sure everything was okay before heading on off.... But, I don’t know.” I looked up to him, staring right into his big eyeballs. 

Your brother hummed, slowly lowering himself until he stood down in front of me. He was in the sunlight still, while I was cowering in the shadows of your house. “Mmaybe you could help. Nothin’ like the truth ta set things straight.”

“You mean, like, go in there, and talk, to them, while they’re like that?” I shot off, my words coming out of me super fast. 

“Eeyup,” he said, adding a slow nod for emphasis. “You could end the fightin’ and Ah’d be awful happy ‘bout that. Happy enough ta forget about trespassers, maybe.”

I swallowed, trying not to look too afraid in front of him. He was your brother, and for some reason it was important that he like me. “Okay? But, uh, how?” I asked, trying to stand a little taller. He stood up, dwarfing me with his limbs. 

“Whelp, let’s start by explaining everythin’ that happened. Then we’ll find the truth of it and work things out.” He walked by me at a slow, patient pace until he reached the house’s back door, opening it with a yank. The sounds of you and those around you arguing reached us. “Go on in,” he said. “If ya want.”

“Yeah, I guess I should.” Licking my lips, I trotted to the doorway and paused, a hoof raised above the frame but refusing to budge. Then, closing my eyes, I stumbling into your home.

You were not arguing anymore, instead just tucked into the back of your seat, legs crossed over your chest while you slowly sank under the table. Your eyes were staring at the floor and you were blinking a lot, almost as if you were going to cry or something. I shook my head, knowing that you crying was impossible.

Big Macintosh cleared his throat with a deep growling cough that made everypony jump and turn to us. “‘Scuse me,” he said, “Just wanna let y’all hear him.” With a hoof, your brother tapped my shoulder. 

“Who’s he?” Applejack asked as she stared right at me, frowning. 

“Oh my, I know that young fellow,” said an old voice, we all turned to the far end of the table where Granny Smith sat. She was rocking back and forth in her seat, a wrinkly smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye. “That’s the little Snails colt. He’s a good lad. Did he have something to say about all this, Macintosh?”

Big Mac nodded. “Eeyup.”

Then all attention was on me. Seven pairs of eyes, that’s like a bunch of single eyes, all bobbing up and down in their sockets while looking right at me. I swallowed hard and licked my lips again. “Uh, yeah, I’ve got something to say,” I said.

“What is it, lad?” Filthy Rich asked while touching his daughter on the forehead to calm her down. She fidgeted and glared up to her dad. 

I shut my eyes up and looked down, breathing deep as I thought. Was this worth it? I mean, sure, I wanted to be liked, and being with you sorta did that. But I wanted-wanted to be with you, like, a lot. And I didn’t know what that meant yet. When I looked up you were staring right at me, your face filled with hope as you bit your lower lip and blushed. That did it for me. “Apple Bloom is innocent!” I declared as loud as I could.

You and your family jumped on the spot as my voice rattled around the little dining room. “She’s not guilty of the things you said she was,” I continued in a hushed tone. “I-I was with her, the other day. Well, not with-with her. She was there for me, when those two"—I pointed to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon—"were being sorta mean to me.”

Filthy Rich looked at his daughter then to Silver Spoon, another frown creasing his forehead. “DT, my darling. Do you know this colt?”

“Y-yeah, daddy. He’s a no good troublemaker too! He’s just like that Apple Bloom filly and her friends. Ask Miss Cheerilee, she’ll show you. He has terrible grades!”

“Is that true, Silver Spoon?” Filthy asked, turning to the grey filly.

“Well, uh,” Silver said, blushing as she faced the opposite wall. 

Diamond scowled and tapped her on the shoulder. “Come on, Silver. Tell them the truth.”

“You don’t have to lie for her!” I blurted out. She stared at me sharply. “Friends don’t ask that you lie for them. Not real friends.”

Silver Spoon looked at you,then closed her eyes and bowed over, facing the table while her shoulders slumped. She looked like a grey sack of potatoes. “Diamond Tiara, and me, we... well.” She stopped talking and took a deep breath,  then opened her eyes to look at all those looking at her. “It’s our fault. Apple Bloom didn’t do anything bad. We were playing with Snails, and I guess we went a little bit too far. And I... we were maybe being mean, a little....”

Diamond Tiara seethed, hissing as she stood up and the table and swung at Silver Spoon. Her hoof connected with the back of the filly’s head with a firm smack. A few of us gasped while you stared with wide eyes.

The grey filly bent over and touched a hoof to the back of her head, as if handling a cracked egg. 

“Diamond Tiara!” Filthy Rich said, his voice snapping out like a whip. Even I jumped when he stood on the table with his forehooves and glared at his daughter. “You’re coming with me, right now!”

“B-but Daddy, she lied!” Diamond whined, false tears welling under her eyes. “It’s not my fault...”

“I will not have my own blood be humiliating and friendless. You’re coming home, right now. And if I hear so much as a squeak from you, young Miss, you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life. Do you understand?”

She nodded, her pout cracking on the edges as she turned to shoot a glare at you, a burning fire flashing in her eyes until Filthy grabbed her by the collar and pushed her towards the doorway. 

He turned, breathing hard as he regarded those at the table. “I’m truly, truly sorry for the pain we have caused. I do hope you will overlook this transgression. Until then, I wish you a good evening.” Spinning on the tip of his hoof, Filthy Rich trotted to the doorway, only stopping to say his goodbyes to Granny Smith.

We stared at each other before I broke it off with a quick blush. Did I make all that stuff happen? Or was it Silver Spoon’s fault? She was still looking down, her mane drawn up around her face as if to hide her tears. Her sobbing gave it away. “I-I’m going home,” she finally said to the silence as she slid out of her seat. “Sorry.”

“Silver Spoon,” you said, your crackly voice cutting through the room. “Do ya, do ya want me ta go with you, or somethin’?” you asked, lowering your tone a bit.

She shook her head and trotted out of the kitchen. A few seconds later we all heard the door snapping close. 

“Whelp, that’s that,” Applejack said, staring off towards the doorway.

“That’s that?” you repeated, pushing yourself away from the table. “She lied ta you, and you believed her before believin’ me! 

I took a quick step back, tail between my legs. Something told me that I really, really shouldn’t be around if your family started to fight.

Applejack huffed, then looked to the ground, as if deep in thought. All along, you glared at her, waiting. “Yer right,” Applejack finally said, snapping the tension. “Ah’m sorry, sis. Ah should’ve believed ya from the get go. And Ah was hopin’ that it was all some sorta mis’undertandin’, but I couldn’t see right from wrong. Ah’m sorry.”

I blinked back and watched with my jaw dropping as you and your sister gave each other hard hugs. With some back-patting you both forgave each other. 

Awkward redness crept up my face and I licked my lips. It was nice, seeing you and your sister being so good with each other, but I didn’t belong there. I spun around, heading to the back door and past Big Macintosh, who only spared me a quick glance and a sly smile.