Leaving the treehouse behind her, Applejack walked tiredly down the streets of Ponyville, thinking about what had transpired over the course of only a few hours. Apparently I've gained some kind of alien-like power to kill birds with my laser vision... She shook her head, feeling the feathered corpse under her hat slide around precariously. Dash is definitely not a carnivore, and Twi is probably gonna end up causing some kinda zombie apocalypse someday. Her eyes narrowed, and she blew a strand of hair out of her face, her forehead creased with irritation. What a rotten day.
Her thoughts then returned to the conversation she'd had just before her departure from the library. I should tell her, shouldn't I? She frowned, considering her other options; there weren't many. She could either tell Fluttershy and risk losing her as a friend, and possibly gain an enemy in the form of one very angry yellow veterinarian... or don't tell her, and risk losing the very same friend to hopeless depression and obsessive searching for something nonexistent. The lie Applejack would hold on her conscience wouldn't help matters, either.
She didn't even need to wonder about the magnitude of Fluttershy's inevitable sorrow, and her ears drooped, along with her tail, which dragged along the road behind her. Poor mare's gonna be devastated... But she can't be kept in limbo forever. She stopped walking and ran a hoof down her face, sighing deeply. I've got to do it. She'll understand it was an accident.
A vision of Fluttershy bearing down on her with malice, a massive chainsaw churning wildly in her grasp, made her shudder. I hope.
Sooner would be more preferable than later, she supposed. Hiding it would only end up in her conscience getting the better of her, and she'd have spilled the secret after some period of time anyway. Better to get it over with now than to do so after her friend had already wasted a large chunk of her life all for nothing. Putting it off would only result in Fluttershy feeling betrayed and Applejack herself feeling almost just as miserable.
The farmpony realized then that she had unconsciously steered herself toward Sugarcube Corner, and her ears perked up. Of course, she thought with a smile, Pinkie'd be great at helping Fluttershy feel better! Her hat secured in place, she trotted into the building. At the very least, she could try to stop her from killing me.
"Hay, Pinkie!" She called. Said pony wasn't in her usual spot behind the counter, and Applejack craned her neck to peek through the doorway into the kitchen. "You here?"
"Yeppers peppers!" Came the singsong reply. "Come on in, AJ!"
"Ah already did," she said with a smirk. She heard Pinkie make a small noise of confusion, before a flour-covered face appeared from around the doorframe.
"Good one!" Pinkie smiled, though Applejack detected an unusual hint of sarcasm in her tone. "I meant in here, though."
"Ahh, gotcha." Applejack followed her back into the kitchen, picking her way around a few sticky patches on the floor, while Pinkie resumed mixing a large bowl of what appeared to be pie filling. She took a deep breath, gingerly withdrawing Chewy's ragged remains from atop her head. "Listen, Pinks, I've got a little probl--"
"OOH, thanks!" In a flash, her hoof was left empty, and Pinkie tossed the feathery bundle into the bowl, not even bothering to take a good look at it. "Some probl is just what this batter needed! You read my mind, AJ!" Pinkie gasped, whirling around to stare at her friend--that is, if she really was her friend! "Who are you?! Are you a mind-reader?" She asked suspiciously. "What am I thinking about right now, huh? Are you planning to steal my super-secret-cherry-apple-probl-pie recipe? Are ya? Huh?"
Applejack took no notice of the accusations, nor of the pink face pressed against hers; instead, her eyes were locked on the mixing bowl, where the last of the 'probl' had just sunk under the surface of the batter. Her mouth hung open, and she stood stiffly, not even acknowledging Pinkie's presence.
Pinkie giggled then, booping her on the nose with a hoof. "Ah, I'm just playing around, Jackaroo!" The pink mare bounced back over to the countertop, resuming her whisking of the contents in the bowl. After a moment, she sniffed the mixture lightly, grinning widely as the sugary scent met her nostrils. "Mm-mm! This one's gonna be good!" The substance was dumped into a waiting pie crust, which Pinkie gathered up on her back and began walking over to the oven. "So, what was it you needed, AJ?"
Applejack's eyes followed the pie's trip to the oven, and she tried to scream out for the baker to stop, but all that came out was a quiet stutter. "Buh..." The pie slid into the oven, and she reached out for it as the door closed. "D-duhh..." Pinkie set the oven to 400 degrees and turned around to observe Applejack's twitching face with an amused snort.
"Geez, relax, cowgirl," she said, wrapping a hoof around the orange mare's quivering shoulders, "it'll only take 40 minutes, and then you can have some, okay?" A ringing bell caught her attention, and she trotted out of the kitchen to attend to the customer. "Be right back!"
Applejack shook her head, taking a shaky step towards the oven. "Ch... Chewy," she whimpered weakly, her voice cracking. "But... Oh hay, this is ridiculous!" She rushed closer and yanked the door open, quickly pulling the pie tin out and slamming it on the countertop. She dug her hoof into the pie, feeling around until a tough, fuzzy object met her hoof, and pulled it out.
It was Chewy's head.
Applejack had never screamed so loudly in her life.
She heard hoofsteps rushing back towards the kitchen, and she quickly fumbled around with the pie, pulling out a wing, foot, and a torso with one wing and one foot. Oh Celestia, why me?
A gasp met her ears, and she spun around, holding the bits and pieces of Chewy behind her back. "Applejack, shame on you!" Pinkie scolded. Sweat trickled down Applejack's face as the baker approached her and nudged her aside to look down woefully at the shredded pie. She clucked her tongue disdainfully, and Applejack forced a sheepish grin onto her face.
"Eh-heh, yeah, ah jus' couldn't help mahself..." She glanced hurriedly behind herself, storing the now-scattered bird remains in her stetson. When she returned her gaze to Pinkie, her heart jumped into her throat; Pinkie had plucked a feather from the pie and was analyzing it with confusion. Uh oh...
"Wow, I guess I must have used the wrong kind of eggs," she suggested with a shrug, and Applejack sighed quietly in relief. Pinkie then dumped the pie into the trash, and Applejack felt a newfound wave of worry, checking the contents of her hat. Oh boy, I hope I got all of 'im outta there...
Before she could confirm that 100% of Chewy was in her hat--well, actually, she'd have settled for at least 80%--Pinkie fixed her with a disappointed glare. "Now I have to make a whole 'nother pie, Applejack!" She pouted, causing Applejack to roll her eyes.
"Fine, ah'll pay ya for the pie, Pinks..."
Pinkie waved her statement off with a hoof. "Nah, I'm not mad, or anything. Don't worry about that."
Applejack smiled at her, which Pinkie soon matched with a wide grin of her own. "Phew! For a second there, I was afraid I was gonna lose two friends today..."
"What?!" Pinkie yelled, her eyes shrinking to tiny dots. Applejack shoved a hoof in her own mouth, squeezing her eyes shut. Aw horseapples, here we go...
"Applejack, who did you lose as a friend?! Did you have a fight? Did they die?" Pinkie's eyes widened even further, and Applejack feared they might pop out of her head. "Did you kill them?" Pinkie whispered, taking a step back.
Spitting her hoof out, she wiped it off on her chest and shook her head vigorously. "No, ah didn't kill anyone--" She cut off suddenly, her eyes darting around rapidly, looking everywhere but at her pink friend. Oops. Strike two.
"You... you're lying." Pinkie watched her behavior with a fearful gaze. "Oh my gosh..."
"No, wait, ah didn't--!" Applejack took a deep breath, choosing her words carefully. "I didn't kill anypony." The other mare watched her carefully, nodding after a moment.
"Okay, good." Pinkie wiped her forehead, laughing nervously. "For a second there, I thought you... ehehe... naahhh," She laughed, pushing the silly thought out of her mind. Applejack, killing somepony? No way!
"Well, now that that's settled--"
"But still, what happened?!" Applejack cringed. I was hoping she'd forget I said that...
"Um, well, it's not important..."
"'Not important?' Losing a friend is a very important matter!" Pinkie insisted, looking at her with the scornful gaze of a mother. "What would Twilight say? She's like, friendship incarnate or something!"
Applejack chuckled, remembering the unicorn's earlier hopeless attempts to resurrect Chewy, and rested a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't fret, Pinkie, nothin's happened yet. I'm sure it'll all work out."
Pinkie still looked unsure, but she relented and returned a small smile. "Well, okay. But if I can help someway, just lemme know!"
"Will do." Applejack carefully dipped her head into her stetson, straightening up slowly so as to keep Chewy's remains hidden underneath it. "Well, I think I'd better be goin', then. Thanks for the chat, Pinks."
"No problemo, Ay-Jay-mo!" Pinkie bounced towards the counter, missing the odd look that crossed Applejack's face as she repeated the strange farewell in her mind. With a shrug, Applejack tipped her hat and made her way out of the building. Well, so much for the moral support. I guess I'll just have to be as comforting and such as I can, and hope Flutters isn't the type of pony to shoot the messenger. She gulped and raised a trembling hoof to her neck. Or horribly maim, starve, and torture the messenger to insanity and subsequent death.
She gazed at Fluttershy's house in the distance, her breath quickening as shivers racked her body. I dunno how, but that cute, sweet, timid lil' mare is one darn terrifying pony. Celestia, help me. One deep breath later... Well, several deep breaths later, she finally set out on the last leg of her journey: slowly but surely, she inched her way towards the quaint cottage and her impending doom.