The sun was high in the summer sky. One farm pony sat on the train looking out the window of the train. Applejack was on her way to Appleloosa to attend the fair that was being held there. She knew it was a great opportunity to see her cousin, Braeburn, as well as see how much progress they had made. She wanted to be with her friends, but they were busy with other things.
The train arrived in Appleloosa, and she got off, along with a crowd of other ponies. The town was decorated with green ribbons adorned with apples. Booths for caramel apples, apple cider, apple pie, apple bobbing, and other apple related things filled the town. The sight of all the apples made Applejack start to feel hungry.
She walked around looking for Braeburn. She expected him to be helping out with the town hall, but she scanned the whole town, just in case he was somewhere else. As she made her way to the town hall, ponies and buffalo were seen conversing with each other. She knew that the relationships between the buffalo and the ponies had improved greatly.
She found herself in front of the town hall. Her predictions were right. Braeburn was on the left holding a ladder while another pony tied the end of a banner to the side of the town hall. After he was done, he got off the ladder. Braeburn let go of the ladder and turned looking for other ponies who needed any help. That was when he saw Applejack.
He galloped to her and greeted her, “Howdy, AJ! We’re almost done preparing for the Appleloosa fair. I’m mighty glad ya joined!”
Applejack chuckled, “I wouldn’t want ta miss your first official fair. I’m surprised you didn’t say ‘Aaaaappleloooosaaa!’ though.”
“It got a bit annoyin’,” Braeburn admitted.
Applejack smiled, “Yeah. It did get tiring after the first few times of hearin’ it.”
Braeburn chuckled and shook his head, “You’re definitely honest like they say,”
“Ah take it ponies here ain’t too honest,” Applejack assumed.
“They have their moments. Ah don’t lie at least,” Braeburn said looking towards the sky.
“You are a terrible liar, and that is something considerin’ I’m a terrible liar myself,” Applejack accused.
Braeburn smiled, “You got me. Truthfully though, even though I may not always be honest, I ain’t a liar,”
“Ya mean you don’t have a habit of lyin’, right?” Applejack asked giving him a serious look.
“I only lie when the situation calls for it,” Braeburn admitted.
“I ain’t ever seen a situation where I had to lie. I’ve been in situations where it was hard to tell the truth, and sometimes I made the wrong choice, but I didn’t have to lie.” Applejack decided to change the subject, “So, when’s the fair starting?”
“In a couple hours,” Braeburn informed.
“It looks like you’re ahead of schedule lookin’ at the decorations,” Applejack complimented.
“It’s our first fair. We started setting up early so we weren’t late. Better safe than sorry, they say,” Braeburn admitted.
“Yeah,” Applejack agreed.
Applejack and Braeburn helped set up the last of the decorations, then they walked to Braeburn’s house. The house was more decorated than Applejack last remembered. Pictures were framed and hung on the walls. The furniture was polished. She could smell apple pie coming from the kitchen.
“Do ya want some apple pie? It’s fresh,” Braeburn offered.
“Yeah!” Applejack accepted enthusiastically.
Applejack and Braeburn walked to the kitchen. Braeburn pulled a chair out for Applejack who sat down, and the stallion put a slice of apple pie on two plates. He put one plate in front of Applejack and one in front of himself.
Applejack took a bite and was amazed, “This is good! We need this recipe!”
“Family recipe,” Braeburn said, smirking.
“I’m family,” Applejack stated.
Braeburn smiled but went no further with the conversation. They finished their slices of pie and sat in the living room with nothing better to do. They were bored, but there was nothing that needed to be done, and the fair was coming up.
Two hours later, their patience paid off. The fair was open, and they joined the large crowd of ponies. Applejack and Braeburn were split up, and they went to different activities. Applejack decided to try bobbing for apples.
After a successful attempt at bobbing, Applejack saw something that caught her eye. A sign read, “The Mechanical Buffalo.” She galloped over there pushing passed a few ponies to get a closer look. Sure enough, there was a mechanical buffalo and a slot for bits. A colt was getting on as she walked forward.
She found a stallion who was watching the machine carefully and walked up to him. “Excuse me, do ya know who came up with this idea?” She had an angry look on her face.
“Braeburn. He came up with lots of events here,” the stallion replied.
Applejack thanked him and left. She had nothing else to do. She knew that the mechanical buffalo was offensive portraying buffalo as violent animals, but she had a strong feeling Braeburn didn’t realize that. She knew she had to confront him, but she didn’t want to hurt him. She didn’t like hurting anypony.
She was still uncertain whether she should confront Braeburn or not, but she searched for him. If she wasn’t going to confront him, she could at least talk to him some more. As she searched for Braeburn, she continued arguing with herself. Part of her wanted to confront Braeburn, but the other part didn't want to hurt him.
She found Braeburn, and the thought of the possibility of the buffalo being offended by the mechanical buffalo caused her to make up her mind. She walked to Braeburn and got his attention. Then she asked to speak to him in private. They walked to an empty area and made sure no one was eavesdropping.
“I’m sorry ta say, but your mechanical buffalo thing can be seen as offensive to buffalo. I know you worked hard on that, but you are portrayin’ buffalo as violent and aggressive animals. It ain’t right,” Applejack told him.
His ears flattened, “Ah’m sorry, cousin. I heard some buffalo talkin’ about somethin’ being offensive, but I wasn't sure what it was. I had no intentions on hurtin’ anyone.”
“I know, Braeburn. I didn’t want to hurt ya, but I had to say somethin’ or there may be some anger among the buffalo. I don’t want ya gettin’ hurt,” Applejack said.
“Thanks. I honestly had no intentions on hurtin’ anyone,” He said again. “I’m gonna go put it away right away. I’m awfully sorry about that.”
“It’s alright. I care about you. You’re my cousin. I knew tellin’ you would hurt, but I had to,” Applejack replied.
Braeburn nodded and left to put up the mechanical buffalo. Applejack’s ears were flat, but she knew she did the right thing. She never wanted to hurt her cousin, but she felt as if she had no other choice.
She played games and bought food to her heart’s content until the fair closed. Ponies started leaving with wagons. As soon as the majority of the ponies were off the streets, Braeburn galloped to her and hugged her.
“Thanks, Applejack. Ya did the right thing by confrontin’ me. I will make extra sure not to offend anyone. Again, I’m sorry,” Braeburn apologized.
“Don’t worry about it. I gotta get home, I hope to see ya ‘round,” Applejack replied smiling. She galloped to the train station just in time to get on it. She waved to Braeburn as Appleloosa grew smaller and the train got further away. When she couldn't see the small town anymore, she turned in her seat and sat patiently until the train arrived in Ponyville.