(One month after That's Not Quite How He Told It...)
(Around the same time as the events of The Flaws Of Perfection)
(For timeline info, please visit my homepage)
The morning sun squeaked through the windows—
“Psssssst…”
… THE MORNING SUN squeaked through the wind—
“Psssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst…”
THE… MORNING… SUN…
“I know you can hear me Sillypotamus!”
I didn’t even get a full sentence out this time… What is it Pinkie?
“Who’s this story gonna be about?!”
If I’m letting you be self-aware, who do you think it’s about?
“If I’m letting you see me, why am I asking?”
Wait what?
“EXACTLY! OO! Can I write it?! Nopony writes Pinkie Pie like Pinkie Pie! Not even Pinkie Pie!”
Actually…
“DRAMATIC GASP! YOU’RE GONNA LET ME!?”
No I’m going to let Pinkie Pie.
“Awww… but I’m much better than myself!”
But yourself isn’t as good as yourself.
“I know that silly and—heeeyyyyyyyy! Trying to outthink the pink? You sir, are an amateur and a fool!”
It was worth a shot, now go along into the story Pinkie… and… I actually may need you at some point, I was serious about that.
“WOOHOO!”
The things I put up with…
The morning sun squeaked through the windows, filling a dark room with just enough light to dispel the night and welcome the dawn. A single, thin sunbeam found its way between the curtains and directly into the eyes of a slumbering pony.
“Mmm…” the pony stirred in their sleep and instinctively rolled over, but… “WHOA—OW!”
“Braeburn?” the door to the room swung open, spilling light from the hallway into the room and revealing Applejack in the doorway. She blinked as Braeburn came into view. He was upside down, tangled in his bed sheets against the side of his bed. The back of his neck was against the floor and his new hat floated down, landing on his face.
“I need a bigger bed…” he sighed.
“Y’gotta stop apple buckin’ in yer sleep,” Applejack chuckled. Braeburn reached up and pushed his hat off his face as he slid out of the bed sheets and got to his hooves.
“Why does that sound so wrong?” he asked as he rose. Applejack flattened her brow and shook her head.
“Gutterbrained stallions…” she grumbled as she turned. “We’ve got a lot of work t’do today, so get a move on!” she ordered before leaving.
Braeburn smiled as he shook his mane out and went about his room, getting ready for the day. He loved messing with Applejack, she was so easy to put off. Sometimes it ended with her forcing him down and sitting her plot down on his back, but it was priceless. With Mac never saying a word, Braeburn was surprised Applejack hadn’t gone insane here on the farm with nopony trying to keep a fun, casual air about them.
Life had been good living with his cousins. He was working hard and earning his keep. Ponyville was a mighty nice little town as well. Very friendly and welcoming with lots of great ponies around.
Braeburn slid his arms into his vest and balanced his new hat on his head that he had bought the other day. Before heading down to breakfast, he took a look at himself in the mirror hanging on the wall.
However… the sight made him frown. The reason he bought the hat was because it reminded him of the old one he used to wear in Appleloosa. He didn’t expect his old look to… heavily remind him of the past.
Who was he kidding? It wasn’t just the hat. He hadn’t gone a single morning since his disastrous mistake without thinking about it. The blunder that led him to be driven from the very town he was so proud of founding. How does one bounce back from such a terrible mistake? Sure, Granny Smith wrote a very angry letter to their relatives in Appleloosa, but it didn’t change the fact that he violated the sacred ground of the buffalo and nearly destroyed the warm relationship the ponies and buffalo shared as a consequence.
He deserved the punishment he got… and he would have to live with it.
“BRAEBURN!!!!” Applejack yelled up the stairs.
“HOLD YERSELF A.J.!” he yelled out his door before taking another look at the mirror. He shook his head and sighed before turning and leaving his room behind.
It was time for another day of work… work that he wouldn’t be doing if he didn’t make such a stupid choice.
MLP: FiM
Caught Between a Rock and a Pie
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 1:
“OOF!” Braeburn grunted as he dropped to the ground in the storage barn., the two apple baskets in his saddle harness plopping down with him, an apple or two spilling out and rolling around him.
“A.J.! He’s down again!” Rainbow Dash yelled from behind him as she emptied her baskets and reattached them to her harness.
“Again?!” Applejack yelled as she stepped into the barn with her own baskets of apples.
“Down for the count triple knock out, the match goes to the apples…” Dash joked as she passed by Applejack.
Braeburn sighed as he struggled to stand back up. Just great, now he had their resident super pegasus mare making fun of him. Her and her strength training routines… as shameful as he felt for letting a non-earth pony out work him, he just wasn’t feeling it.
“Whoa! YIPE!” Thunderlane suddenly fell beside him while trying to not spill the single basket of apples he had been gliding along with. At least Braeburn wasn’t the only one having some issues.
“Hey now! Careful there, Thunderlane!” Applejack suddenly rushed in front of Braeburn and helped Thunderlane up.
“No worries, just lost my grip on it,” Thunderlane chuckled before flapping his wings and going on his way. Applejack turned and looked at Braeburn as he lay on the floor, giving little effort to stand, drenched in sweat.
Oh, great… here comes some sort of lecture. Braeburn wasn’t really in the mood, he was too frustrated by his own troubles. Applejack should worry more about her stupid coltfriend gliding around with apple baskets. He could manage.
“Braeburn, you feelin’ alright?” Applejack asked, acting the opposite of what he expected. She reached down and hoisted up one of the apple baskets for him.
“I’m fine,” he quickly replied as Applejack turned and dumped the contents of the basket into a large storage container. No one else needed to know his troubles.
“That’s a load of crap, Braeburn,” she quickly retorted. Braeburn looked up quickly as Applejack walked up to him and leaned her head down. “You haven’t been yerself lately. We c’n see it from a mile away, I dunno what it is, but knowin’ you, ya won’t talk about it,” she said as she looked up at all the apples they had brought in over the course of the morning. “Ya know what? Just take a load off, we’ve made good time this mornin’. Let us handle the rest.”
“What?!” Braeburn stood up quickly, but Applejack shook her head.
“Cousin, I know better than anypony how bad it is to keep workin when yer not all there,” she said while pointing to her head. “Sit yer plot down on a bale of hay or somethin’ and rest up.”
“Applejack! I’m—”
“Not fine!” she cut him off while headbutting him lightly. “Now REST!” she pushed him away from his apple baskets and pointed towards the hay bales opposite of the apple storage crates.
Before Braeburn could fight her any further, she was already out the door and going back to work.
“Dammit…” Braeburn muttered as he looked over at the bales of hay. It was hot outside, the work was tiring, and he couldn’t concentrate. He was having trouble doing the job that was synonymous with his family name. With the cover of the barn shielding him from the sun, perhaps a rest and a moment to clear his head was what he really needed.
His thoughts swirled as he stepped towards the hay, wondering why he just couldn’t move on. He was too proud. Too proud at how much he accomplished in so little time. Proud to the point where he lowered himself to making shortcuts in order to save himself… and it only got him burned.
Braeburn sighed as he removed his hat and flopped down on his back on a pile of hay next to the stacked bales. Pinkie Pie had managed to help him back on his hooves when he first arrived, but it felt only temporary. It wasn’t long until he was back to feeling like a failure, even if he did have family around him for support.
Why couldn’t he find anything to be happy about?
“You’re killing me Calm… lemme at him!”
Actually… you missed your entrance Pinkie…
“I oughtta go slap a smile on his sorry—WAIT WHAT?!”
Yeah you were supposed to burst into the barn about ten seconds ago.
“AH! NO TIME TO USE THE FRONT DOOR!”
Huh? PINKIE WAIT—
“BITE YOUR PILLOW! I’M GOING IN FROM THE SKY!”
Aaaaaand she’s gone…
“Huh?” Braeburn looked up as his ears picked up a high pitched noise. It sounded like a distant, high pitch, squealing noise… and it was getting louder and louder as if it was falling towards the—
A small portion of the roof over Braeburn’s head gave way with a loud CRASH.
“WHAT THE F—”
“INCOMING!!!!!!!!!!” Pinkie pie yelled as she laid out spread-eagle, and landed right on top of Braeburn.
“WHOA!” Braeburn grunted as Pinkie struck him, her body making a loud noise similar to a squeak toy as the force of her fall pushed them both into the thick of the hay pile. Braeburn flailed as he came to his senses, pushing and throwing the hay off of him until his head emerged from the pile. “Pinkie Pie?! What are you—” Braeburn was cut off as Pinkie fired upward out of the hay and landed on the bale beside him. She grabbed the edges of his vest.
“THERE’S NO TIME!” she yelled in his face, making his mane blow back. She grabbed his hat off the ground and stuffed it back on his head. “WE NEED YOUR HELP!” she yanked him out of the hay and started dragging him towards the apple carts lined up against the side wall.
“We?” Braeburn tried to asked but before he could react to anything he was being hooked up to one of the small apple carts that was generally used for taking apples into town. “Pinkie, what’s going on?” he calmed down and asked casually.
Braeburn had actually spent a good amount of time with Pinkie since his arrival in Ponyville. She was his first good friend in town after all and helped him get back on his hooves. He had grown accustomed to her randomness… not quite so weirded out by it as most but that never stopped her from finding some way to surprise him.
“YES! WE!” she said while jumping onto his back instead of getting into the cart. “HYA!” she said while giving him light kicks to the side.
“Ow! Ow! Okay! We’re going!” he flinched as he started trotting.
He had absolutely no idea what was going on… but apparently Pinkie needed his help. Applejack forced him to stop working for the rest of the morning, so whatever, he had time to help a friend in need…
Only… Celestia knows what it was Pinkie Pie had in store…
---To Be Continued---