//------------------------------// // Chapter Four: Apples and Pies // Story: Hearth's Warming on the Rock Farm, with Trixie Lulamoon // by TheCrimsonDM //------------------------------// Trixie’s Hearth Warming Story Chapter Four: Apples and Pies Written by TheCrimsonDM The morning had gone by quietly. After breakfast I tried to find something to do, there really wasn’t much in the way of entertainment though. I had read their old dusty books multiple times before. I thought about bothering Cloudy with my presence, but she was busy preparing things for Hearths Warming. Outside both Limestone and Igneous were decorating the farmstead in glowing crystals, they were really quite pretty. Maud walked down the stairs carrying a large box on her back. I tried not to stare at her too hard as she approached me and set the box down beside me. My name was written along the top. “Here’s your stuff,” Maud said. I gave her an odd look. Had they really kept all of my old stuff?  I opened the box and looked inside. Several old romance novels sat on the top, under that were a few books about magic. Aside from this I saw a picture of my mom, she looked a lot like me despite being an earth pony. She took me in from the orphanage when I was incredibly young. To me she was always just mom. I also saw a set of focusing crystals, they were guaranteed to make your magic more powerful but that was shame. The picture of those twin unicorn brothers on the front only reminded me of how I fell for their scam. Besides that there was an old piece of fabric, wrapped around a rectangular shape. My heart stopped when I saw it. This thing should not be here. “Is something wrong?” Maud asked. I pulled the thing out of my box and unwrapped it. A book with a dark black cover, wrapped not in the traditional synthetic leather, but actual animal hide. A dark red alicorn shape was on the cover. “Why is this still here?” I asked. “It was yours,” Maud said. “No,” I snapped. I didn’t want the vile thing anywhere near me. “Maud, take this book and if you can’t destroy it, bury it somewhere far, far away. Don’t you dare tell anypony where you buried it either, this thing… it’s evil.” “It’s a book,” Maud said flatly. “It’s the book!” I explained. “The one that showed me where to find the Alicorn Amulet in the first place.” I opened it up, and turned to the page I had last marked, and showed it to her. “See!” I said. “That’s a forest,” Maud said. My heart skipped a beat. I looked down, and she was right, it was indeed a picture of the forest. A dark dank forest, and a bare patch of earth where all life had simply refused to grow. This was not in here last time. “Why are you showing me a picture of the forest?” Maud asked. It suddenly hit me. “Twilight told the zebra to bury the amulet. To bury it somewhere so far away that nopony would ever find it… that daft zebra buried it there!” “Why?” Maud asked. “Because it’s supposed to be safely hidden away,” I said. “It doesn’t look hidden,” Maud said. “Yeah, well they tried their best. I bet if somepony used this book they could find it again, easily,” I said. “Probably,” Maud corrected. “Whatever, that doesn’t matter… Maud, you… you need to take the book and hide it. Please don’t let me keep this, I don’t want the temptation,” I begged her. She took the book from my hooves and closed it. “Okay. I don’t want you to lose you again.” I smiled at her. “Thank you so much… wait, lose me again?” Maud stood up and walked toward the door. “We all lost you when you ran away. It hurt. I’ll take Boulder and go hide the book, after all Boulder’s really good at Camouflage.” I laughed a little at the idea of a pet rock being good at anything, but knowing that Maud was going to take care of this made me relax quite a bit. However I wasn’t okay with knowing that I had hurt them. They cared enough about me to feel my absence, and it took me all this time to return. That left a sinking feeling in my gut. Only after Maud left did Limestone come walking in. “I spotted Pinkie on the horizon; time to get the family together. Trixie, go put on some of my spare boots upstairs, than come out with the rest of the family. We need to introduce you to our cousins properly.” I nodded. She was being nice enough to allow me to use her boots, how could I argue with that.  It took a few minutes to find them, and then a minute to put all four of them on and to tie the laces. By the time I was done, I was sure that everypony was already outside greeting the cousins. For a brief moment I debated putting on my old hat, but decided against it. The hat could stay inside, I didn’t need them on the farm. The outside air nipped at me a little, but my hooves stayed nice and warm as I walked up besides Limestone and Maud. My attention was focused on Maud, and I needed to know if she had gotten the job done. The rest of the Pie family stood next to Limestone. “Did you get it done?” I asked in a whisper. “Yes,” Maud said without lowering her voice. “Boulder hid it.” It was like a giant weight had been removed from my shoulders and I slumped over. One landmine was successfully avoided. It wasn’t just that I was scared of the possibility of wearing the amulet again that had me bothered, it was the fact that I was now feeling the urge to put it back on. Some little part of my brain was telling me that I could handle it this time, that I could use the power to become a famous magician. I pushed those thoughts away. “Trixie?” A mare asked in a southern drawl. I recognized the voice, and just hearing it again made me cringe. Applejack stood in front of us. Next to her was a giant red stallion, on the other side a little filly with a red mane and peach fur. Over by Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz stood an old green mare with a white mane. It was an entire family of apples. I was left speechless. The bully had come back for me, and she had brought her family with her. What kind of torment were they planning? Why were they here? Where were the Pie family’s cousins? Oh… “Wait, why is Trixie here?” Applejack asked. I shrunk back and lowered my head. My ears folded back, and I felt myself beginning to tremble again. I was nowhere near okay enough to deal with this. The worst news was I couldn’t very well defend myself this time, these were relatives to the Pie’s. I didn’t want to risk loosing what little trust they still had in me. Running away sounded like an even better option now than it had when I first arrived. Applejack took a few steps forward, her eyes narrowed on me. “What are you doing here, Trixie? This is mah family yer messen’ with. If y’all came here to cause trouble you best get packing cause I ain’t gonna let anything bad happen, ya hear?” I stepped back. I didn’t want to say anything knowing my luck I’d only make things worse. If she wanted me to leave so badly, than I’d better get walking. I didn’t even need my stuff I could just walk away and nopony would start trouble. “Darn it!” Limestone exclaimed. She walked in front of me, and pawed the earth with a hoof. “Applejack, Trixie’s family. She used to work here on the farm and she’s planning on doing so again. So if you have a problem with her, than you have a problem with me! But I’m not as nice as Trixie, I’m not going to stop at hog tying you.” Applejack stared her down. For a brief moment, I feared that I was about to be the cause of a fight between the two. Much to my surprise and relief Applejack backed off. “Sorry, Ah… didn’t know. Ah’ll keep mahself in check,” Applejack said. “Good, because unlike you, Trixie has never hurt Holder’s Boulder,” Limestone said. Limestone went back to my side. That’s when Limestone looked around, confused. “Where’s Pinkie Pie?” “RIGHT HERE!” A high pitched shirking voice shouted from behind us. It gave me such a start that the only thing stopping me from taking off in a full gallop was Maud’s out stretched leg holding me back. Maud didn’t even budge an inch from my attempt at running. When I looked back I saw the pink pony standing behind us with a giant beaming smile on her face. Two bright blue eyes stared right at me, and my mind assaulted me with the memory of the pony trying to desperately eat food without a mouth. I shook my head to try and lose the memories, it didn’t work. “So let me introduce you,” Limestone said to me. “You’ve already met both Pinkie Pie and Applejack, but not the others.” With one leg wrapped around my neck, Limestone spun me around and pointed me toward the new ponies. She pointed at the old mare. “That’s Granny Smith, she’s old and awesome.” She pointed at the stallion. “That’s Big Mac, he’s as quiet as Marble and only half as interesting.” Finally she pointed at the filly. “That’s Applebloom. Don’t let her tiny and cute appearance fool you. She’s more crafty than you are.” I had to admit, if that last one was true, then that would be one heck of an accomplishment. I used to be quite crafty, and when the time called for it, still am. After the introductions were over though, I really just wanted to go and rest. Applejack’s explosion had made me feel tired, and hollow. I just wanted to make things better, but being bullied twice by her was too much to handle. Thankfully I managed to tell Limestone that I was going to use the little fillies room, that was enough for her to let me go back inside in peace. Once I was back inside, I found a chair in the kitchen and laid my head down on the table. My mind just wouldn’t let me forget about what I had done to Pinkie Pie, but even worse it wouldn’t stop thinking about how bad this was going to end up. A fight with Applejack just felt natural. It would be a fight too, because despite how much I might have hated myself, I still did not tolerate bullies, and if I had to fight fire with fire then so be it. I refused to be pushed around by her. When I heard a pair of hooves enter the room I thought about looking up and pretending to be okay, but I just couldn’t find the strength to move. With them being related to Applejack they were surely going to kick me out sooner or later, if I was lucky, mopping around would let me stay a little longer. “You look down,” Pinkie Pie said. I jolted upright and looked at her. It was just me and her in here. I could scarcely hear the voices of the others outside. “Yeah… I’m sorry.” “It’s okay, I’ll just have to cheer you up,” Pinkie said. “Not about that. I’m… I’m sorry that I hurt you,” I said. “If I could go back in time and change it, I would.” “Hmm, well Twilight says that we shouldn’t do that. Although that makes her a hypocrite,” Pinkie Pie said. “Oh and I forgive you.” I stared up at her, my eyes started to burn a little as I fought to keep my tears from spilling. “You forgive me? You really forgive me for what I did to you?” “I forgive you for everything,” Pinkie Pie said with a smile. “But can I ask you one teensy bitsy little favor?” “Anything,” I said. In a very quiet whisper Pinkie asked, “Can you forgive Applejack?” “If I tell her that she’s going to get aunry,” I said. “You don’t have to tell her, but I think it would actually do some good if you did. Telling her is your call, I just ask that you, you know,” Pinkie Pie said. I nodded. “If I keep it all in, I’ll explode. I’ll forgive her… for now.” “Great!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Now I just have one very important question. Are you going to sleep with me and all my sisters tonight, or are you going to bunk with applejack? I’ll just warn you now, you’ll get cuddled if you sleep with us.” “I… what?” I asked. “Pinkie Pie,” Limestone said from the doorway. “I stop watching you for five seconds and you’re already doing things without permission. What are you two doing in here?” “She was just apologizing to me. I forgave her and now were the best of friends,” Pinkie Pie said. “Wait, we are?” I asked. I didn’t remember anything about becoming friends. “Well duh. My name is Pinkie Pie, and I’m everyponies best friend. You can tell me your secrets, rely on me to do favors, and even expect me to plan awesome surprise parties when you least expect it,” Pinkie Pie said. I simply stared at her. She really did seem like the kind of pony that everypony should know. Maybe with Pinkie Pie here, things would actually be okay. For some reason I really trusted Pinkie Pie to keep things more or less together. Limestone might have been good at keeping ponies in line while she was yelling at them, but with Pinkie it was more like she had a good natured energy that invigorated me. I just hoped that Applejack felt the same way.