Best Friends Forever

The day started like every other normal day in the dull town of Ponyville. The sun as shining, the birds were singing, and Applejack was plowing the fields.

The orange earth pony was always hard at work. In fact, it'd be hard to find a pony in town who wouldn't say that Applejack was the hardest worker around. The only pony who could even rival her work ethic was her own brother, Big Macintosh.

But all of Applejack's work, however, meant that some things had to suffer. She was probably the least sociable of all of her friends in the summer months. Whenever they would ask her what she doing, it was always the same answer, "Sorry, y'all, Ah'm workin' today." It was starting to bring some of her friends down, especially Pinkie Pie, the happiest, craziest, most hyper pony around.

But Applejack didn't really notice. Instead, she just continually focused on her work. She kept on apple bucking in the hot summer sun. There was barely a breeze to cool her down.

The mare kept plowing through, though. She would occasionally wipe the sweat from her forehead with her hoof, and would keep on working. With Sweet Apple Acres being the main supplier of apples for the entire town, she knew that she had to power through the heat and keep going.

She did her work as always, and as the sun was starting to set, she could hardly feel her hooves anymore. She was tired, worn out, exhausted, and tired from yet another hard day's work. She took a deep breath through her nose, sucking in the clean Ponyville air.

Instead of the normal, beautiful smell of manure, Applejack smelled something different. It was something sweet. And it enticed her to figure out where it was coming from.

The earth mare followed her nose, which eventually led her to Sugar Cube Corner. The pleasant aroma of freshly baked treats was in the air. Standing outside the corner bakery, Applejack took in one more deep breath. Cupcakes, muffins, cookies- they all awaited her.

The blond pony pushed open the door, and the bell dinged, informing Mrs. Cake that another customer had arrived.

"Oh, Applejack," Mrs. Cake said as she came to the counter. "It's so good to see you!"

"Thanks, Mrs. Cake," the apple pony responded.

"You're always so hard at work," the mare at the counter replied. "What would you like? It's on us!"

"Oh, Ah'm mighty thankful, Mrs. Cake!" Applejack said with a smile as she looked at the menu. She scracted the back of her head with her hoof as she made her decision. "Let's see... there's cupcakes, muffins, pancakes... just too much to choose from! What do ya think Ah should have, Mrs. Cake? Anything you like?"

"Well, I always enjoy Pinkie Pie's cakes. I don't know where she went, but she made one for us earlier that was delicious! Would you like a piece?"

"Of course Ah would, Mrs. Cake. Thanks so much!" Applejack replied.

"Coming right up! Take a seat," the mother of the baby Cakes said as she disappeared into the back room.

Applejack, being the only pony in the restaurant, had an abundance of choices on where to sit. She decided to take a seat at the table right against the large window facing the street.

It was almost eerie, being the only pony in the bakery. The place was usually packed with ponies after work. But, alas, Applejack considered that it might have just been a slow day. Besides, she had worked hard all day, the last thing she would have wanted was to sit in a noisy, crowded room.

After about a minute, Mrs. Cake came back with a beautiful pink cake and plopped it down on the table, along with am ice cold glass of water.

"Thanks so much, Mrs. Cake. Ah really appreciate it!"

"You're very welcome, Applejack. I'll just be in the back room. Yell if you need anything!"

"Will do, ma'am!" Applejack said as the other mare smiled, then turning around to leave the room.

The taste of the cake was amazing, just as Applejack had expected. The mare finished her meal, let out a slight belch, and put her fork down. All as quiet in the room.

Not wanting to be rude and just leave, Applejack got up to say goodbye to the Cakes. She slowly trotted over to the saloon-style doors leading to the house side of the bakery, where the Cake family lived. Not wanting to intrude, Applejack stopped herself, called out for Mrs. Cake, and waited for her to come. She leaned down on the counter, and awaited the older mare to come back out.

All was silent. Unusually silent.

After a few minutes, and a few more calls out, the waiting pony started to get impatient at the lack of a reply. She tapped her hoof on the counter a few times.

Almost instantly, though, Applejack tensed up. Things just didn't feel right.

She could feel breathing down her neck.

With her peripheral vision, the mare could see a figure behind her.

Applejack quickly whipped around, and found herself nose-to-nose with a pink figure.

"Hiya, Applejack!"

"Pinkie Pie? Why're you so close to me?" Applejack asked her friend, who was still too close for comfort. "There's something called 'personal space'."

Pinkie, with a grin from ear to ear, responded, "I'm so happy to see you, Applejack! It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Applejack, feeling rather uncomfortable, took a step back. As she did that, however, Pinkie took a step forward, staying the same close distance away.

"Ah know, Pinkie," Applejack replied. "Ah've just been really busy at the farm. The warm months always mean Ah've gotta give work top priority."

"That's a shame," Pinkie replied, still a hair's distance away from the other earth pony. "I miss you so much. We have so much to catch up on!"

"We really do, Pinkie," Applejack said in reply. Feeling unnerved at the awkward situation, however, she tried to think quickly at how to get out of the situation. "Well, your cake was delicious, Pinkie, but Ah've got to get going. Those apples won't buck themselves!"

"Oh, but you're done work already!" Pinkie replied.

"Ah am?"

"Oh yeah, you are. I know that you finish work every day around this time."

"Have you been spying on me, Pinkie Pie?"

"You betcha!"

Applejack shuddered nervously. "Yeah, well, Ah've got some other things to take care o- did you just lick me?"

"Uh-huh," Pinkie responded. "Your breath smells like frosting, and you had a piece of cake still on your face."

Okay, I've had enough, Applejack's brain said. "Well, it was nice seeing such a good friend again, but Ah must be on mah way!"

"Awww," Pinkie responded sadly as her ears went down and she sat on her flank.

Applejack did feel a little bad. After all, Pinkie Pie really was a good friend. She was just a little... different than the others. Even though Pinkie was almost always happy, she was also the most delicate of all her friends.

"Ah'm really sorry, Pinkie. Ah'll see you later, though," she said with a reassuring smile.

"I thought we were friends," Pinkie replied in the saddest tone she could conjure up. A single teardrop fell from her eyes.

Not wanting one of her oldest, most delicate friends to cry, Applejack responded, "We are friends, Pinkie. In fact, Ah'd say that we're best friends." Applejack swung her hoof in a joyful way at that last part, hoping to convince the crazy party pony.

Pinkie's sadness instantly disappeared. "B-best friends?"

"Yeah, Pinkie," Applejack said while putting a hoof on her friend's foreleg. "Best friends. Ah'll see you later."

Applejack turned around to leave. After she was gone, Pinkie muttered to herself, "See you later, best friend." A large smile grew on her face.

--------------------------------------

After a hard day's work, one of Applejack's pastimes was to grab a glass of apple juice, sit back on Granny Smith's rocking chair, and read a good book. Despite what many ponies thought, Applejack actually could read.

After this tough day of work, and after the weirdness at Sugar Cube Corner, Applejack needed a book that would relieve her of her stress and satisfy her desires. The book she chose was Fifty Shades of Hay- a how-to book for becoming a successful farmer.

The sun had now set, and storm clouds came in, and rain quickly followed. The mare lit a candle, kept the windows open for the nice breeze and sound of the raindrops, opened her book, and commenced reading. After a few minutes, she became fully absorbed in her book.

"Applejack."

"Huh? What was that?" she asked as she lowered her book and looked around the room.

There was nothing to be seen. Nothing was stirring in the house, not even a mouse. So the mare raised her book once again, and continued from where she was interrupted.

"Applejack."

"Ah know Ah heard somethin' that time!" Applejack said as she put her book down once again. "Apple Bloom? Is that you?"

There was no response, though. Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, and Apple Bloom went out together for the afternoon, leaving Applejack alone in the house.

After a few seconds, there was nothing to be seen, and no more noises were heard, other than the sound of raindrops hitting the roof and the metal eaves troughs.

The mare was just about to start reading her book once again, but she was stopped. Louder than the sound of the rain and wind was something bone-chilling. It was a high-pitched giggle; a sound creepy enough to hear in one's nightmares. A shiver went down the earth pony's spine.

Applejack decided to get up and do some investigative work. She looked outside, and everything was as it was. The animals were all in their barns, and it was still raining outside. Just to be sure, though, Applejack closed the window. Now without the sounds of nature, the house was completely quiet.

Almost too quiet.

But that was okay. The mare needed some quiet. There was nopony in her house, and she finally had time to herself. She only heard some noises, and nothing else. There were no real reasons to worry.

Boom!

A lightning bolt hit no further than a kilometre away, causing the mare to jump out of her seat, and the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up. What was worse than the jumpscare, though, was the fear that Applejack now had that something she just saw actually just happened. As the lightning bolt lit up the area, there was a shadow in her house. It was against the wall in front of her, and only showed for a split-second; not long enough to get a good enough look to see if it was actually something to worry about.

Now starting to shake from some nerves, Applejack turned around. The window was still closed. She trotted over to it, opened it quickly, stuck her hear out, and looked along the out walls. But there was nothing there.

"Ah know Ah saw something," she said quietly while scratching her chin with her hoof. "Aw, come on, Applejack! It's nothing. Ah've been through way too much to be scared of some silly storm!"

But there were reasons to be afraid. Genuine, real, frightening reasons. She just wasn't aware of them yet.

The mare tried to shrug off her fear. She sat back down on her chair.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The sound of a hoof tapping on glass. She quickly turned around to see the window. Very quickly, she saw a figure duck away from the window.

"Ah saw that!" Applejack said as she jumped out of her seat, nearly knocking the chair over in the process. She whipped open the window, and yelled to the stormy outdoors, "Ah don't know who you are, but Ah'm not scared of you!"

But that was a lie. She was scared. Due to nothing being seen outside once again, she closed the window, but this time she closed it slowly, nervously. She clearly had the jitters, and it caused her to forget to lock the window.

Applejack, frightened as a young filly, began to look around her house for something that could protect her. But something made her stop quickly. She wasn't sure why she stopped, exactly. She just felt funny.

"Best friends," Applejack heard whispered in her ear.

Instantly, the candle blew out. She was now in complete darkness.

Shaking, scared, and possibly not alone, Applejack trembled her way back to her candle. She opened the drawer of the end table where the candle was, pulled out a match, and re-lit the candle. She blew out the match, and threw it in a nearby garbage can. There was nopony in the room but her.

"C-come on, Applejack. T-there's nothing to be afraid about," she said while standing in the middle of the room, inspecting her surroundings.

Click. Clack. Clickclackclack.

The mare instantly stiffened up like a rock as she could hear the sound of the front door's handle turning. She quickly ran over to the door. Somepony was on the other side, trying desperately to open it.

She reached her hoof forward to open the door.

Pop.

The mare jumped as a hoof was pressed against the window of the door, just above her head.

"Ahhh!" she yelled out as she was sent back a few feet by fear.

"Hi! Good to see ya!" shouted the pony behind the door. "Open the door!"

The door handle continued to be played with as the pony tried to make its way in. Applejack was scared and alone, but she had to get to the end of it. She swallowed her fear and moved forward. Besides, she was sure now that she knew who it was.

She slowly reached forward one more time and opened the door herself, but only a crack.

"Heeeeey!" shouted a mare who stuck her face in the door from outside. "Good to see ya, best friend!"

Applejack's assumptions were right. "Pinkie Pie!" Applejack yelled out as she opened the door, revealing the wet-maned pink mare. "Why'd you try to scare me!"

"I didn't try to scare you," Pinkie defended. "I just wanted to come in and play. It's been soooo long since I've seen you last, best friend."

Applejack, still with door only half open, feeling scared out of her mind, looked back into the house, and then back to Pinkie. "Ah'm sorry, Pinkie, but Ah'm busy right now. And you saw me earlier today."

"Awwww," Pinkie said sadly once again. "You're always busy. What is it now?"

The mare, not really feeling up to having a guest at this point, replied, "Um... Ah've got some family stuff to do right now."

"But I'm your family now!" Pinkie responded, almost offended.

"Yes, yes you are!" Applejack said with sincerity, not wanting to hurt her friend again. Besides, her friend was now more unpredictable than ever. "But Ah'm busy right now. Ah need you to go home."

"But I'm your best friend," Pinkie responded with hope. "Wanna hang out? Huh? Huh huh huh?"

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Pinkie, Ah need you to go back home right now. Ah've got things to do."

"You never returned any of my calls!" Pinkie replied with a creepy smile.

"What calls? What're you talking about?"

"I shouted your name a few minutes ago. Twice."

Applejack recalled the time when she was sure she heard noises, and she now had confirmation. "Pinkie Pie, leave!" she said. "You need to go back home now. Ah have things to do!"

Pinkie's wet mane now went completely flat. "Come on, Applejack. Let me in," she said in a saddened tone. "I can help you."

"No! Ah have things to do by mahself!"

"Oh okay," Pinkie answered with a smile. "Oh yeah, yeah, no, I totally get it. You're busy. I'll see you later," she answered unconvincingly. Applejack slowly started to close the door. "Let me in," Pinkie whispered just as Applejack closed the door.

Applejack watched from the window as Pinkie left her front porch, and the farmer mare turned back around. She made her way back into her living room.

She sat back on her chair, trying to get a sense as to what was going on.

"That mare is crazier than Granny Smith when she drinks spiked cider," Applejack muttered to herself while shaking her head.

After a few seconds, her nerves were calmed a little. But it didn't last long, as she was startled once again by a bolt of lightning, and a figure pressed up against the sliding glass door.

"Pinkie Pie!" she shouted, now with frustration. "Go home! Now!"

"You don't look too busy to me!" Pinkie replied through the glass. The pink mare was now smiling, wide-eyed, and licking her lips. "Let me in, buddy," she continued while tapping on the glass. Her warm breaths fogged up the colder glass.

Applejack sighed out loud. "You just don't get it, do ya?" she said as she started to pull a cord with her mouth, closing the blinds on the sliding glass door.

Pinkie tried to pull the sliding glass door open, muttering, "Best friends," but it was locked.

Applejack fully closed the blinds. "See you tomorrow, Pinkie!" Applejack yelled out, hoping that the other mare would finally get the hint that she's not wanted right now.

Applejack waited for a few more seconds. There was no more noise. It appeared to have worked. Pinkie was gone.

The mare turned around to back to her chair.

But she soon stopped. She felt a shiver throughout her body. Her mind was starting to play tricks on her. She could hear the sound of filly laughter and whispers through the air. A wolf howled from the forest.

But the worst thing of all, was that something was behind her. Applejack noticed a shadow behind her own on the wall. She slowly turned around, awaiting her fate.

Applejack turned around and found herself face-to-face with Pinkie Pie once again, who was smiling maniacally.

"Hiya, best friend!"

"Pinkie! Ah told you to go home how many times?! How'd you even get in here!"

"Nothing will stop me from being with you," the crazy mare responded. "I'm your best friend. I'm your family! And I'll never leave your side."

Pinkie Pie wrapped her hooves around Applejack, and pulled her tightly for a hug. Pinkie licked the other mare on the cheek, causing Applejack to begin to shake with fear, not knowing what was about to happen. Her heart felt like it would leap out of her chest.

"Celestia, help me," Applejack whispered, fearing the worst.

"We're going to have some fun," Pinkie whispered in her ear as she started to drag the other mare away.

--------------------------------------

"Got any threes?"

"Go fish!"

"Darn it!" Applejack yelled out as she grabbed another card.

"Isn't this fun?" Pinkie Pie asked as the two of them played cards while sitting at the kitchen table.

"Well, Pinkie, Ah really wanted to have some quiet time," Applejack began. Pinkie's ears went down. "But Ah'm actually glad you came to visit. This is fun!" she finished. "Besides, Ah've been so busy, it's actually nice to unwind a little bit and have some fun with a good friend."

Pinkie Pie smiled from ear to ear. Applejack really was her best friend.

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