To Love a Mailpony

by Real_SilentPony

Chapter 3

“Ya’ll can’t be serious.” Applejack shook her head in amused disbelief. Ditzy shrugged.

“It was very sweet of him.” Ditzy replied with bright smile. Applejack kept shaking her head and chuckled slightly. Just then, Rarity strode into the room, a bowl of green mud hovering just above her head.

“It twas way more than just sweet!” Applejack began, “Why-”

“What was sweet of who?” Rarity asked as her magic lowered the bowl to a table. Ditzy looked at mold-colored green muck and glanced nervously back at Applejack.

“So’kay sugarcube.” The farmpony replied gently, “It helps with ya’ com-plex-tion.” She strained the word then turned to the fashion unicorn, “Ditzy here was tellin’ me ‘bout last year’s Winter Wrap-up. Remember?”

“Hmmm…” Rarity held a hoof to her chin, “Vaguely. Something about houses…a bird perhaps?”

“Not those froufrou bird nests ya’ll didn’t make. ‘Bout Ditzy here.” Applejack looked at the slightly embarrassed Pegasus,

“Apparently she flew the wrong way to find the birds what went north for winter.”

“Oh my!” Rarity put a hoof to Ditzy’s shoulder, “its okay dear. That wasn’t a very good Warp-up for any of us.”

“But that’s not all.” Applejack smirked.

“Oh?” Rarity glanced expectantly at Ditzy. The Pegasus blushed and looked down, “Well…?”

“Um…well…Caramel brought me…dinner that night…” Ditzy mumbled the last words, looking anywhere but at Rarity. The unicorn’s smile was dazzling.

“He brought you dinner?” Rarity beamed, “As in paid for himself and delivered directly to your doorstep?”

“Tell her the rest?” Applejack nudged the blushing Pegasus.

“There’s more?” Rarity smiled incredulously. Ditzy walked over to her discarded old winter coat. She reached into one of the pockets. Rarity tried to glance over the mailpony’s shoulder but saw nothing. Ditzy walked back over, cradling something in her hoof tenderly. Rarity raised an eyebrow as the mailpony held the item out.

“...A compass?” Rarity asked and turned back towards Applejack.

“Not just any compass.” Ditzy turned the object over and Rarity read the inscription carved in the bottom.

“Johnathan Appleseed?” Rarity looked back at the farmer pony; she was sure she had heard the name before. Applejack nodded and Rarity could tell her friend was deeply moved.

“Old Grandpa Appleseed.” She smiled wistfully, “He fought at ColverField during the war all those years ago.”

“This was his military compass.” Ditzy cradled the item close to her, “It’s an Apple heirloom. Caramel’s grandpa gave it to him when he was just a little colt.”

“And he gave it to you…” Rarity wiped a tear of joy from her eye, “oh that’s so romantic. I may have misjudged the Apple family colts.” She turned to her friend, “Applejack, do you know if Big Macintosh is seeing anyone?”

“Settle down there.” Applejack said kindly but firmly, “ya’ll aint goin’ be lassoing ma’ brother.”

“I believe that is a choice best left to him, is it not?” Rarity countered with a rueful smile. Applejack narrowed her eyes in a manner that clearly said don’t you dare. Rarity raised a single eyebrow in response; challenge accepted.

Ditzy Doo had her eyes on the item in her hoof, blissfully oblivious to the silent war of mares being waged just ahead of her. She traced a hoof over the drab-green metal casing of the compass. It was dented and scratched; obviously it had been through a tough existence. Here the case was dented, most likely from being dropped; there at the latch the paint had long since worn away from use. Ditzy had seen it in Caramel’s room back at Sweet Apple Aches. Her friend rented a house from the Apples, half-way between Ponyville and the farm proper. She had spent many nights there, usually on Fridays as a pre-weekend celebration. Movies, pizza and anecdotes were the staples of these sleepovers. Caramel had a delightful imagination and was a gifted speaker once he got over his shyness. Ditzy had often joked he had missed his calling as an official Royal Orator.

She had so many happy memories of those nights. Some nights Tree Sap, RainDrops or Lemon Marmalade would be there; these days were the most exciting to be sure, usually ending with one or more ponies getting drunk off of punch-shooters. They watched bad sci-fi or action movies, and sometimes Lemon, RainDrops and Ditzy would out-vote the single colt and watch sappy romance movies. Caramel never complained. He was stoic that way, and every willing to relent a little if it made his friends happy.

But Ditzy cherished the times it had just been her and Caramel. Nothing romantic had ever really happened. A little hoof-holding here and there, and once or twice Ditzy had clutched her friend in fear when watching a horror movie; movies Ditzy had hoof-picked herself for just such events. Moreover those days had been intimate. She had seen the pony under the surface, heard the story of how Caramel had gotten his cutie mark. Ditzy had told her own tales, including the accident at the weather factory in CloudsDale she had averted and the subsequent cutie mark that followed. Caramel had shared so much with her; more than he had ever shared with any other pony.

“…I think I love him…” Ditzy whispered and looked up. Rarity and Applejack were face to face, the farmer’s eyes so narrowed they were practically closed and the unicorn’s eyebrow so arched her head was practically sideways. Instantly both broke apart and glanced at the mailpony.

“What was that sugarcube?”

“I said I love Caramel.” Ditzy held the compass close to her. Her voice was firmer this time; the initial hesitancy of the revelation was gone. Now she was a determined mare with a goal; get her colt.

“Well of course you do dear.” Rarity put a hoof to Ditzy’s shoulder, “I saw it in your eyes the moment Caramel came running. That is why I, Rarity Unicorn, am going to make you a-” Rarity’s eyes widened in shock, “Oh sweet Celestia, I haven’t finished your coat! Oh my gosh, there is not much time!” Rarity ran from the room, her magic trailing supplies behind her. Applejack and Ditzy watched her go.

“She can be a might…intense.” Applejack offered to the cross-eyed pony, but then the farm pony’s face grew serious, “But is ya’ll sure Sugarcube? I aint sayin’ Caramel aint a good colt. He sure as hay is; as good as any Apple ever was. I just wanna’ make sure ya’ll are sure. I’ve had my fair share of crushes ya know.”

“It’s not a crush.” Ditzy said, “Not anymore at least. Maybe it was…in the beginning. But now…”

“Ya heart goes pitty-patt and ya breath catches in ya chest.” Applejack looked in the distance, not really seeing anything but remembering, “ya face flushes and ya’ll can’t think of anything but him. Ya want to be near him; ya don’t care what ya do, ya just want to be close. His arms around you; his warmth…his essence.” She blinked her eyes and the memories faded, “That what it feels like Sugar?”

Ditzy stared at the farmer with a blank expression on her face. That was it exactly; word for word. When Caramel smiled her heart skipped a beat. When he spoke she hung on every word, even if it was just mindless daily observations. When he was near her he radiated heat in an aura of comfort. Just being near him was amazing.

She squeaked out a “yes.”

Then a dark thought entered Ditzy’s mind, like a sudden spring storm. What if Caramel didn’t feel the same? Sure Applejack had said he cared about her, even so far as to save up bits. But did he care as deeply for Ditzy as she did for him? Was he just looking for a mare to mount? What if-

“Hold it right there!” Applejack interrupted her thoughts, “a’ see what ya’ll doin.”

“What?” was the whispered reply.

“Ya’ll are second guessin ya’ self.” She stamped down firmly, causing Ditzy to flinch, “A’ aint gonna’ stand for it! Ya’ll are the only pony outside the Apple family to have a’ heirloom of Grampy Appleseed. That aitn nothin’. I rememb’r what Big Macintosh said when Caramel told us he gave you Granpy’s compass.”

“Was he mad?” Ditzy asked. She was almost cowering from the farmer. Had she been there, Fluttershy would have strained to hear the meek question.

“Mad? Big Macintosh?” Applejack scoffed, “Why he’s nothin’ but a big softy at heart. But he did ask if Caramel knew how serious that was. Caramel stood his ground, looked Big Mac square in the eye and said ‘I knows and I’d do it again. She means that much to me.’”

“He said that?” Ditzy brightened up at this.

“Sure as hay did. I was so proud o’ him. Stood up tall’r than a Clydesdale.” Applejack said with a bright smile, “Trust me Ditzy, an Apple’s heirloom is a sacred thing. We all got one.” She tipped her hat to emphasize the point, “If Caramel gave ya his, it means he’s in this for real. He aint foolin and he aint lookin for a quick buck. Why” Applejack laughed, “the only thing more sacred than an Apple’s heirloom is Granny Smith’s secret apple-pie recipe. And aint no Apple be sharin’ that.”

“…two sticks of butter. Dash of salt.” Ditzy said awkwardly and scratched her head with her hoof. Applejack stared at her in shock for a long moment.

“Gol darn it, Caramel…” Applejack hissed under her breath. A moment passed and Ditzy started to laugh. Applejack soon joined in and she embraced Ditzy like a sister. Ditzy continued to laugh long after Applejack let go.

“He done picked right in ya, Ditzy.” She placed a leg around the mailpony’s neck and pulled her close, “He picked right…” The mailpony beamed with pride and her heart swelled.
Just then Rarity pranced in, her magic holding something aloft. Both ponies looked at her and Ditzy gasped, her hoof coming to her mouth.

“…Is that…” She whispered but her voice was lost.

“Woo nelly, it sure is a beaut.” Applejack whistled, “look at that thang!”

“Ditzy Doo, may I present to you your new winter coat!” Rarity proclaimed.

“…mine?”

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