//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: the gift 
// Story: stranded 
// by johntheanimefan 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 4
The gift

“Valentine’s day?” asked Grey, taking a break from his morning cereal to look at granny smith. 

“Yes sir,” said the Apple matriarch, who was setting breakfast down in front of Applebloom. “Once a year, all the couples in town git together to show their special someone how much they care. And everyone else…well, there’s always next year.”

Grey chuckled at the joke before placing a finger to his chin in thought. Applebloom leaned over the table with a sly grin on her face. “Plannin on gettin somethin for Applejack?” she asked. The eponymous cowgirl was at school today, most likely drowning in a sea of red and pink decorations.

Now, a less composed man might’ve flustered and stumbled over his words at such an accusation. But Grey was…experienced in these matters (yeah, that’s a good word for it), and thus knew how to temper his emotions. Grey crossed his arms. “I just might,” he replied. “Problem is that I don’t have any money, and I don’t have any clue what she’d want.” 

Applebloom quickly scarfed down her breakfast and ran up next to him. “Well, I can’t help ya with the money thing, but I can help ya with finding out what she’d want,” she said, grabbing his arm and tugging him out of his seat. “Follow me.”

“Uh, ok.” Grey was led out of the kitchen and up the stairs, leaving a mirthful granny to clean up the food.

Applebloom opened the door to her older sister’s room and led Grey inside. Applejack in terms of personal decoration was the exact opposite of what was expected of a teenage girl. Which is to say, the girl was a Spartan. A mediocre vanity with a small mirror, a simple bed and nightstand, with a picture of her friends sitting next to the lamp, and a picture of her family hanging on the wall. Well kept, but simple and essential. “There has to be somethin here that’ll help,” said Applebloom. “Just have a look around, but don’t go pokin your hands where they don’t belong, know what I mean?” 

Grey chuckled. “Understood.” The two searched through the room for a few minutes, Grey of course staying a good distance away from anything that would draw the ire of the hyper active youth. Eventually, his search led him to Applejack’s closet, which he opened to inspect the contents within. Inside, there was a series of hung up shirts next to a dresser, but something in the upper left hand corner caught his eye. It was pretty far off to the side, far enough that he would’ve missed it had his head not been fully leaned inside. It seemed to be a stuffed animal of sorts, so Grey reached up and pulled it out of the closet. Sure enough, it was a stuffed teddy bear, worn down from age. An ear was missing, as was an eye, and some of the stuffing was sticking out. Grey turned the toy around in his hands, further inspecting it. 

“Oh, you found AJ’s old teddy bear,” Abblebloom said, walking up behind him. “Yeah, Granny says she’s had it ever since she was my age. Guess she just forgot it was back there.”

Grey focused intently on the bear, as a brilliant idea formed in his head. A grin plastered itself across his face, it just might work! “Applebloom,” he said. “Do you know how to sew? I don’t, unfortunately.”

“Nah, sorry,” Applebloom said with a shrug. “Though, AJ’s friend Rarity does-and he’s gone.” Indeed, Grey had sped out of the room the moment he had a name. 

Grey ran past the kitchen, stopping for a second to talk to Granny. “Granny, I’m borrowing the bike for an errand, I’ll be right back,” he said before running out of the house.

“What’s got him in such a rush?” Granny asked no one in particular. 



Rarity chewed on her pencil, staring down at the pop quiz below her that simply vexed her. Honestly, she knew Valentine’s day was essentially a made up holiday meant to sell cheesy hallmark cards, but it was still a holiday, why did they have to have a pop quiz? And as she stared down at her inevitable F that was just waiting to happen, she silently swore that she would do friggin ANYTHING to be out of this hell. Then, the intercom blared to life. “Rarity, please report to the principal’s office. Your father is here to pick you up.”  

Rarity then made a mental note to thank whatever gods may be before zipping out of the classroom. 



Grey watched Rarity walk out of the school from behind a corner, currently having taken the form of her father, whom he was lucky enough to ride by on the way here. Quickly transforming back, he stepped out to meet her. “Hey Rarity,” he said with a smile. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“What have you done with my father, Grey?” Rarity asked, her face deadpan.

“That’s beside the point-look, I need your help. Or would you rather go back to whatever fresh hell your deeply flawed school system was subjecting you to?” 

Rarity thought about it for a second or two before sighing in defeat. “Alright, what is it?” 

Grey reached behind him and presented the bear to Rarity. Rarity looked at the bear, then back at him with her eyebrow firmly raised. “Yes?” she asked.

“I want to give this to applejack as a valentine’s day gift,” Grey said. “Unfortunately, I don’t know how to sew. I was hoping you could help me with that.” 

This made Rarity soften and smile at her friend. She reached over and patted him on the arm. “Come with me, darling. You have much to learn.” She took Grey by the arm and walked off with him in tow. 

Rarity brought Grey to her home, where the lessons began. Though a fast learner, that didn’t stop Grey from pricking himself with the needle more times than he could count. Rarity was patient enough with her student, guiding him through the process of sewing on the replacement ear and eye, and patching the torn holes in the fabric. Finally, after half an afternoon spent on this labor of love, the bear was finished.

“It’s brilliant I tell you, brilliant!” Grey proclaimed, holding up the bear while looking at Rarity.

“Congratulate yourself, darling,” Rarity replied with a smile. “You made this gift, not I. Now, she should be on her way home by now, so you might want to be-and he’s gone.” Indeed, Grey was once more already out the door before Rarity could finish her sentence, yelling out a “thank you” as he zipped out the doorway.



Applejack pulled into the driveway of sweet apple acres, downing another piece of heart shaped chocolate as she did so. She didn’t really care for this holiday, to be honest, but any holiday that lead to free chocolate by the bundle simply for being drop dead gorgeous couldn’t be all bad. She stepped out of the car, whistling a tune and swinging her key ring on her index finger while she stepped up the porch to the door. But right as she was about to open the door, the sound of huffing and peddling grew in volume behind her. She turned around to find Grey on her bike, slumped over the handlebars trying to catch his breath. “Grey? What in tarnashin are you doin?” she asked.

Grey held up his finger, silently asking her to give him a second. After regaining his breath, he stepped off the bike and retrieved the bear from the front basket, which he had adorned with a bow he picked up on his way out of Rarity’s house. He walked up to Applejack and presented the present to her. “I wanted to give you this,” he said in between smaller breaths. “Happy Valentine’s day. I didn’t have the money to buy you a bear, so I just repaired one of yours.” Grey held up his right hand, the fingers wrapped in band-aids. “Took a few pricks, but Rarity helped me through it. So, what do you think?” 

Applejack looked down at the bear, trying to remember where she had seen it before. One of hers, was it? After a few seconds, her eyes widened slightly when the memory came back. She let out a deep breath and, wither her eyes downcast, snatched the bear away from Grey. “Thanks,” she muttered before going into the house and shutting the door in his face.

Grey was dumbstruck, staring at the wooden door as if it would give him an answer as to what just happened. On one hand, he was angry. All that hard work, and she slams the door on him? But on the other hand, he was confused. He had never seen her act that way. Perhaps it was because he went into her room and put his hands all over his stuff? Possibly. Probably. Yeah, that sounded about right. “This is all my fault,” He said to himself.

“Nah, it’s mine,” said a voice from behind him. Grey turned and saw Granny Smith standing in the driveway, a forlorn expression covering her like a storm cloud. “I should’ve told ya sooner, but you left in such a rush I didn’t even catch on to your plan. Once Applebloom told me what you were plannin on doin, I knew this would happen. Poor thing doesn’t understand either. Then again, how could she?” Granny walked up the porch and sat in one of the two chairs. “Sit down, I need to tell ya somethin about our family.” 

Grey sat in the other chair, watching the old woman’s every move. “First off,” Granny said. “It ain’t your fault. How could you have known what I’m about to tell ya? So you’d best get that thought outta your brain. That bear was the last gift Applejack’s parents ever gave her. The very next day after giving it to her, they…died.” Grey’s eyes widened considerably and he sunk back into the chair. “She ain’t really mad at you. It’s that just lookin at that bear makes her remember. She’ll calm down in time, don’t you worry.”

“No,” Grey said, standing up. “This is my fault. And I have to make it right.” Grey ran into the house before Granny could say anything.

Before Grey knew it, he was standing in front of the door to Applejack’s room. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. The door slowly opened, revealing Applejack, whose eyes were just a bit red and puffy. The mere sight made Grey’s heart drop, along with his shoulders. “Applejack, listen I…”he started before applejack interrupted.

“You don’t have to apologize, Grey,” she said, wiping her left eye. “I should apologize. I shouldn’t have acted so ugly. I-it’s a great gift, and I shouldn’t have overreacted. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?” Asked Grey. “I’m the one who imposed himself on you and your family. I’m the one who invaded your private life without your permission. I’m the one who arrogantly ignored the obvious warning signs that this would piss you off. I should be the one on my knees begging you to forgive me!” Grey’s head dropped, out of breath from the rant. 

Applejack was dumbstruck, to say the least. She was at a complete loss for what to say to him. So she did the only thing that came to her mind. She hugged him around the waist and squeezed tightly. 

Grey tensed up when she hugged him, but after a moment or two, he returned the hug. At that moment, it didn’t matter who was at fault. All that mattered was that, even if they didn’t want to admit it to themselves, this was the only place either of them wanted to be.