//------------------------------//
// 10 - The Reunion 
// Story: Pride of the Apples 
// by LightningSword 
//------------------------------//

Applejack held her brother tightly, crying into his fur and muttering her apologies for everything, to anypony who would listen.  She shook and jerked in place and held Calvados for dear life, caressing his mane, breathing him in, as if trying to recapture all the lost moments they never had together.  Rather than repel the guilt she knew she deserved, she embraced it, let it wash over her, drown her, properly punish her for all of her wrongs.
 
“Appajak sad?” Cal muttered wonderingly, almost confusedly.  “I sorr—”
 
“I’m sorry, Cal,” she finally spoke up through her weeping.  “I’ve been treatin’ ya so terribly. Hidin’ ya away like you’re some kinda freak . . . keepin’ you a secret from all my friends . . . all embarrassed like you were anythin’ less than a real Apple . . . I’m the worst big sister in the whole world . . . Mom and Dad would hate me for this . . . .”
 
“No, they wouldn’t!”
 
Startled out of the embrace, Applejack broke away from Cal and looked out to see her family, reunited in the living room with them.  Apple Bloom stood in front, with Granny Smith and Big McIntosh on either side of her.
 
“Mom and Dad wouldn’t hate ya, Applejack!” Apple Bloom continued.  “I didn’t get to know ‘em, but I know they’d never hate you! You promised to do everythin’ ya could for Cal, and you did! You got him to a great school! You’ve got him visitin’ family! And best of all, he’s made so many new friends! I mean, you shoulda seen him playin’ with Scootaloo today!”
 
“The little sprout’s right,” Granny Smith added, nodding.  “Cal wouldn’t be the foal he is without ya, honey. Why, just him bein’ here has made him the pride of the apples!”
 
“Eeyup!” Big Mac assured, a wide, warm grin on his face, making Cal laugh.
 
“Know what, Applejack?” Apple Bloom asked, walking up to her and Cal excitedly.  “‘Cause of everythin’ you’ve done for Cal, you’re not only not the worst big sister in the world . . . you’re just about the world’s greatest big sis!”
 
“Big sis!” Cal repeated, giggling in elation and mimicking Apple Bloom’s accent.
 
Applejack could not smile, even at the heartwarming sight of her supportive younger siblings.  “But . . .” she struggled, “but what’s the difference? It’s like . . . it’s like he ain’t learned nothin’ since he was last here . . . I never shoulda—”
 
“It’s more than jest the special schoolin’, dearie,” Granny Smith interrupted her, “if’n ya can call it that. Yore baby brother ain’t judged by what he learned at some school. He’s judged by his own character. An’ case ya didn’t cetch it, he’s jest ‘bout the sweetest li’l thang ya ever did meet!”
 
“Yeah! He sure is!”
 
“Eeyup!”
 
This made Applejack think for a moment.  They had a point.  In fact, at Pinkie’s ill-fated soiree an hour earlier, she remembered Lyra and Bon-Bon’s kind words for Cal.  How he was so adorable and how he’d handled himself before his meltdown: he’d been something of a hit.  And her friends adored him, and were willing to do whatever it took to welcome him to their town.
 
“And I guess he did learn somethin’ at school,” Applejack added as she watched Cal sit on his haunches and flap his hooves before his eyes, not a care in the world.  She’d thought back to every incident that had happened since he’d arrived—whether he’d made it occur or not, he’d always apologized.  “He learned to use his conscience . . . .”
 
Granny Smith and Big Mac approached, and the elder mare put a wizened hoof on Applejack’s shoulder.  “These thangs take time, hon,” she said deeply.  “He may not seem like he’s learnin’, but he’ll get there. I promise ya that.”
 
“Eeyup,” Mac concluded, nodding.
 
Applejack glanced between them both, and finally, her smile began to take form.  “Thanks, y’all,” she said poignantly.  “You’re the best family a mare could ever get. I just wish I could do more . . . .”
 
“Ya already do, apple dumplin’,” Granny Smith assured.  “Ya already do.”
 
“Eeyup.”
 
“Applejack,” Apple Bloom called out, “Twilight and the girls are here!”
 
Applejack turned back towards the door, and saw that, surely enough, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Spike, and a sniffling Pinkie Pie were walking through the door.
 
Applejack’s smile widened.  “Howdy, girls,”
 
Cal, instead of running and hiding as he usually did around visitors, gasped in sheer delight.  “Is Fah-Shy!” he squealed and ran to Fluttershy, his face luminous with a grin of ecstasy.
 
“Hello, Cal!” Fluttershy greeted him back and threw her forelegs open wide to hug him.  They parted quickly, and they nuzzled their noses together, with Cal opening one eye wide as he did so.  “Ooh, you’re such a cutie!” she fawned, giggling when they separated.
 
“Is bunny coming?” Cal asked excitedly.  “Is bunny cute?”
 
“Oh, I’m sorry, Cal,” Fluttershy admitted, crestfallen.  “Angel bunny didn’t come with me today. Maybe next time, okay?”
 
Before Cal could be upset, a bright light went off in the room, and Cal turned to see Twilight firing off a series of sparkly lights, just as she had three days before when they’d formally met.  Cal could only smile wider.  “Is Twileye! Is sparkles!”
 
“Hi, Cal,” Twilight greeted him.  “I remember how much you loved these, so I came prepared. You ready?”  And she released another cloud of beautiful sparkling lights, at which Cal laughed in exhilaration and started flapping his hooves.
 
“Yep, Twilight’s magic is pretty cool, huh?” Spike said suavely, stepping up to the fun-loving colt.
 
“Is dragon!” Cal greeted him happily, then stepped up and pressed the side of his head to Spike’s face, his giggling increasing.
 
The ponies were confused at first, but not when Spike obliged with the greeting he’d given Cal when they’d first met.  Snorting and sniffing, he dug his reptilian snout into Cal’s ear, and Cal’s laughter heightened in pitch.
 
“Oh, now be careful, Spike,” Applejack cautioned.  “Remember what happened last—”  She was interrupted when Spike held up his claws in front of him to calm her—they were covered with thick, fluffy gloves.
 
“I took the liberty, darling,” Rarity informed.  “Fear not. Your precious brother could not be in safer claws. And he looks just so adorable in them, if I do say so myself!”
 
Cal turned away from Spike and looked at the Unicorn’s proud face, and his glee expanded.  “Is Reh-tee!”
 
“Yes, Calvados!” Rarity greeted him, hugging him as soon as he approached.  “Oooh, auntie Rarity missed you so much, pet! I was so worried about you!”
 
“Nah, no need to be!” Rainbow Dash interjected, hovering over the two.  “This little guy’s tough. He went flying with me, after all!”  Dash then set down before Cal, lay down on the floor, and kept her wings tightly folded at her sides.  “Come give your buddy a hug!”
 
Cal went starry-eyed.  “Is Raybodash! Has got apple, and it’s bigger, bigger, bigger!”
 
“You betcha!” Dash laughed as he threw himself into her for a hug.  “And I’ll make another one for you anytime you want, kiddo!”
 
As Applejack watched on, she began to tear up.  Apple Bloom’s earlier words about how Cal had made many new friends were true; her friends were now his, and they cared for him just as they did for her.  There was no doubt about it—autism or no, they would easily have made him one of them.
 
Out of the corner of her eye, Applejack saw movement, and turned to see Pinkie Pie approach her, her smile shaky and her eyes glistening.  She held up a tray between her hooves and on it was a series of cleverly-made cupcakes.  Each one was made with golden-yellow cake, and was decorated with huge, adorable candies that looked like hazel eyes.  The tops were decorated with rich, dark-red frosting, so that each one looked like a miniature representation of Calvados himself.
 
Pinkie sniffled again before she spoke, “I hope you’re not still mad at me . . . .”
 
Now, it was Applejack’s turn to tear up.  She took the tray away from Pinkie and set it down gently on a side table.  She then jumped onto her fellow Earth pony for a tight hug.  “Thank you, Pinkie,” she said, her voice breaking slightly.  “You tried your hardest for Cal. What happened back there wasn’t your fault. And I’m sorry I made you feel that way.”  She parted from Pinkie and addressed the rest of the gang, “And I’m sorry to all y’all, too. I’ve been downright unbearable. Always comin’ down on ya for gettin’ too close to Cal or upsettin’ him. Being overprotective, when you were just tryin’ to help . . . I oughta be ashamed of myself . . . I coulda ruined our friendship that way . . . .”
 
“Don’t be ridiculous, AJ,” Twilight chuckled.  “Nothing can ruin our friendship. That’s why we helped you and Cal to begin with. Because we wanted to be there for him, and for you.”
 
Applejack felt her heart swell at Twilight’s words.  The wonderful feeling only got better as she looked around the room at her friends and family.  As weak and broken as she’d felt before, seeing everypony in her life that meant the most to her gave her a new resolve.  Nothing could have made her stronger.
 
Or more sure that Mom and Dad are proud o’ their little Apples. All of ‘em.
 
“Appajak! Appajak!” Cal yelled out, drumming his hooves beneath him and grinning wildly.  “Look, look! It’s Twileye, and Fah-Shy, and Raybodash, and Pinkie, and Reh-tee! It’s your friends?”
 
Applejack aimed a warm glance at her brother.  “Yes, sugarcube,” she replied.  “They’re my best friends.”  And I wouldn’t have it any other ol’ way. ‘Specially with a buncha friends who’ll accept my baby brother for who he is.
 
“Group hug!”
 
The group all turned to Spike with varying degrees of skepticism.  He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck with his gloved claw as he concluded, “Ehehe . . . never mind.”
 
“Aww, come here, ya little softie!” Applejack said as she reached for the little reptile and pulled him in for a hug.  Soon, Pinkie Pie jumped in, followed by Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy.  When Apple Bloom joined in, the massive group hug was complete, and Applejack felt like the luckiest mare in the world.
 
I’m so proud to have friends and family like this. I was a fool, thinkin’ I was in this alone.
 
“Appajak!” Cal called out.  “Appajak! I fix? And the big and blue? And I fix?”
 
That’s when the group hug dispersed, and everypony started taking cupcakes from Pinkie’s tray.  “What’s that, hon?” Applejack replied.  “Oh, the banner, right.”
 
“The banner? And I fix?”
 
“No, Cal, ya don’t have to fix anything. Besides, you couldn’t fix that banner. We’d have to make a new one.”
 
“Make a new one?” Cal asked eagerly.  “Be right back!”  And with that, he rushed quickly to the staircase and out of sight.
 
The group watched him go, befuddled at this sudden departure.  “What in blue blazes was that all about?” Applejack asked, scratching her head.
 
“I dunno,” Rainbow Dash replied, shrugging.  “But he sure seems like he can do something about the mess that’s going on in town right now.”
 
“He would be the only one,” Rarity added dejectedly.  “The Eclipse Celebration is tonight, and that banner is the centerpiece of the festivities! There’s no possible way we could have another one ready before the party starts!”  At this, Spike sighed guiltily, looking down on the floor.  “Oh, but Spikey, darling, you mustn’t blame yourself!” she implored, stepping up to him and touching a hoof to his back.  “You couldn’t help yourself! Besides, you were protecting Twilight! You’re quite the hero, you know!”
 
Spike glanced back up at Rarity, a faint smile on his face as her words sunk in.  “Thanks, Rarity,” he responded, blushing.  “I guess I was pretty good today, considering all that, huh?”
 
“A true gentleman,” Rarity asserted, and Spike hummed with pleasure as she proceeded to stroke his scales gently and caressingly.
 
“Well, I suppose we could just carry on without it,” Fluttershy suggested.  “As long as we all have fun and make sure everything else goes as planned, we can make it work out in the end. Applejack, maybe you could—”
 
“Hold on, Fluttershy,” Applejack stopped her, holding up a hoof.  “I don’t think I’ll be able to go out there tonight. Not after what just happened.”  She closed her eyes and heaved a deep sigh.  “I made a darn fool o’ myself out there. And there ain’t no way them ponies out there will accept Cal now—”
 
“On the contrary, “Applejack,” Twilight intervened, “you may find them quite a bit more agreeable than you last left them.”
 
“Huh? Wh-whattaya mean, Twi—”
 
“We thought we’d do a little damage control after Cal’s meltdown,” Dash explained further.  “You know, letting everypony know what just went down and why you blew up the way you did.”
 
Fluttershy nodded.  “They were all acting very rude. It’s not polite to talk behind ponies backs, you know. So, we all pitched in to try to make everypony understand what they were doing and saying—”
 
“And you shoulda seen Fluttershy!” Dash interjected.  “She was on point! Layin’ down the law! She was all like ‘Calvados is a good pony, and don’t you ever talk about him like that again!’ I mean, not quite that intense, but still, she spoke up more than any of us! It was pretty epic!”
 
At this, Fluttershy could only blush and hide her face under her mane.  “Oh, please . . . it wasn’t . . . that good . . . .”  Beneath her mane, the group could easily hear a soft, excited “squee”.
 
“The point is,” Twilight concluded, “that we all explained what autism is and what it does to ponies like Cal. So, if you ever take Cal out again, they’ll know what’s going on, and may even know how to help you out.”
 
Applejack’s shock overwhelmed her, and her mouth slowly dropped open.  “You . . .” she started, hardly knowing how to continue, “. . . you girls really did that . . . for Cal?”
 
Pinkie Pie stepped up next to Applejack and squeezed her tightly in a hug.  “‘Course we did, AJ!” she squeaked joyously.  “‘Cause we’re your friends! And we’re Cal’s friends, too!”
 
Aww, these girls, Applejack said to herself, feeling ecstatic tears start building up again.  These girls . . . .
 
“Hey, speaking of Cal,” Dash remarked, “he’s been gone for a while, hasn’t he?”
 
“Goodness, you’re right,” Rarity agreed.  “I do hope he’s all right up there.”
 
“Me, too,” said Twilight, her brow furrowing.  “We couldn’t have scared him away. We were having such fun together. Of course, he does tend to get—”
 
“Overstimulated,” Applejack said it at the same time as Twilight.  She continued alone, “Yeah, you’re right. He probably just went up to rest awhile—”  She was cut off by the sound of hooves thundering down the stairs in the distance, and seconds later, Cal returned, a sunny smile on his face and a large stack of construction paper in his mouth.
 
“Mmpmmdmmk!” Cal mumbled with his mouth crammed full of paper.  “Mmph mmnmm? Mmpmmdmmk! Mmph mmnmm?”
 
Applejack chuckled as she replied, “Cal, honey, I can’t understand what you’re say—”
 
“He said, ‘Applejack, it’s banner’?” Pinkie Pie translated.  Everypony in the room turned to her, looking bewildered.  “What?” she responded.  “I speak fluent ‘mouthfull’!”  She accentuated this declaration with her usual squeaky-toy grin.
 
Cal then set down his papers and began to push them around the floor.  “It’s banner, Appajak!” he insisted.  “It’s banner!”
 
Applejack sighed, “Cal, not now, hon. Besides, you’re makin’ a mess . . . .”  She trailed off as she saw that color of each paper was the same.  The same color she’d seen him use several times before.  The same color as the very item he’d been so excited to see since coming to Ponyville.
 
“Is . . .” Twilight began, sounding amazed, “. . . is that what I think it is?”
 
“Gracious,” Rarity mumbled breathlessly.  “It’s absolutely stunning . . . .”
 
“Whoa!” Spike exclaimed.  “He’s good! Like, some kinda genius!”
 
When Cal finished laying out all of the papers flat across the floor, the complete spread stretched from one end of the living room, in the back, to the other, almost reaching the front door.  It was colored the same deep blue—in fact, the whole thing may as well have been a spitting image.  If it hadn’t been for the speedy, somewhat juvenile craftsmanship, the girls would all insist they were looking at an exact replica.
 
“Girls,” Applejack addressed the whole room, her heart and soul swelling to the maximum with immense pride.  “I think Cal here just saved the Equestrian Eclipse Celebration!”