The Reason I Can't Find My Love

by Locomotion

Chapter 3: Mistaken Actions

Applejack was feeling very pleased with herself as she made her way back to the farmhouse at Sweet Apple Acres with her coltfriend Caramel and her brother Big Macintosh. As was the case with practically the whole of Appleloosa, the three of them had been busy gathering the orchard's first apple crop of the year, and already they had managed to harvest nearly a tenth of the orchard in the space of a single morning.

“Not a bad start to the apple season, huh guys?” she mused. “At this rate, we should have this first crop done an' dusted by the end of the month.”

“Eeyup,” agreed Big Macintosh, succinct as ever.

“Yeah, we've been doing pretty well to get this far on our own,” put in Caramel with a smile. “If that had been any heavier, we'd have needed outside help in order to prevent a repeat of that one time when you overworked yourself, Applejack.”

The orange-coated mare looked away, feigning hurt feelings. “Well, at least Ah don't trip over mah own hooves mo' often than a moose on a sugar rush!” she scoffed.

Caramel stared in shock and stopped in his tracks. “No, Applejack, I didn't mean...” he began hastily; but he was instantly cut off as Applejack began to laugh.

“Cool it, Caramel, Ah was only foolin'!” she soothed heartily. “Ah knew you were only showin' concern fo' this mare.”

Caramel breathed a sigh of relief. “And there was I thinking I'd gone and upset you over the whole thing.”

“Ah pretty much had it comin' mah way anyway,” went on Applejack wryly. “If Twilight hadn't kept pesterin' me into lettin' others help with the harvest, some other pony would'a done so.”

“Freely translated: Ah would'a done so,” smirked Big Macintosh knowingly as he opened the front door. He had been the first to raise the issue of the harvest being too big for Applejack to manage alone, and was always quick to remind her if she became too big for her horseshoes.

“Yeah, whatever,” grunted Applejack, mildly annoyed by her brother's smugness. Caramel simply chuckled and followed the two farm ponies into the house.

Granny Smith had just finished baking some fresh apple turnovers for their lunch, and was in the middle of laying the table as the three ponies entered. “Howdy, y'all,” she announced. “Anypony hungry?”

“You bet!” smiled Caramel, eagerly taking his seat.

“Darn tootin'!” chipped in Applejack; but before she could even begin to follow Caramel's lead, something on the counter caught her attention. “Uh...were any o' us expectin' mail, Granny?”

“No,” the elderly mare replied, eyeing the unopened envelope that Applejack was referring to, “but that there Derpy mare did come over with a telegram fo' y'all shortly after ya went ta start work.”

Curious as to what the telegram was about, Applejack immediately opened it up and started reading. “Well Ah'll be...!”

“What's up, Applejack?” asked Caramel.

The orange-coated mare looked up. “It's from Braeburn. Says he's plannin' on movin' outta Appleloosa an' onto Sweet Apple Acres.”

Caramel and Big Macintosh exchanged bewildered glances. Both stallions knew Braeburn well enough to know how much Appleloosa had meant to him, ranking among its founding fathers as he did – and yet, after all the effort he had put into building this town, he was thinking of leaving it behind for good? “Seriously?” they blurted out in unison.

“So it seems,” replied Applejack.

“But why would Braeburn want to leave Appleloosa after all it's ever meant to him? That's what I don't understand,” objected Caramel, bemused.

“Y'all left Manehattan about five or six year ago,” Granny Smith pointed out.

“That's different, Mrs Smith,” argued Caramel. “Manehattan barely meant anything to me, especially after what happened with those suspended walkways and Brooklyn Dodger's death.”

“Well, Granny Smith does have a point,” countered Applejack. “After ya left Manehattan, y'all stumbled upon somethin'...or somepony, rather, who meant far mo' to ya than yo' old home ever could – an' if this telegram's anythin' ta go by, then Ah'd say Braeburn's...pretty much after the same thing.”

“What 'same thing'? I don't follow.”

“Wait just a minute!” exclaimed Big Macintosh. “This is about Miss Pinkie Pie, isn't it?

“Got it in one!” affirmed Applejack with a grin.

Only then did everything start to fall into place in Caramel's mind. Though he didn't know Braeburn as well as Applejack and Big Macintosh did, he knew from what few conversations the two had had, mostly during Apple Family reunions, that the golden-furred stallion had been holding a torch for Pinkie Pie for quite some time. It stood to reason, then, that the pink party animal would mean more to him than an Appleloosa the size of Canterlot.

“So...he's moving into Ponyville so he can be with Pinkie Pie?” he asked.

“Boy howdy he is, Caramel!”

“Ah – well that makes all the difference,” mused Caramel. “I tell you what, though, I bet Pinkie'll be delighted when she finds out. When do you plan on telling her?”

“Uh...probably not until shortly before he's due to arrive, Ah'm thinkin',” decided Applejack.

Caramel was taken aback. “Why not?”

“Well, it says in his telegram, an' Ah quote – 'Estimate arrival Ponyville three days from now, stop. Tell Pinkie Pie that Apple Family member is comin', but not who, stop,'” explained Applejack. “That leaves us plenty o' time ta let 'er know, even with all these apples that need harvestin'.”

The tan-furred stallion raised a concerned eyebrow. “Does it?” he asked uncertainly, trying to sound reasonable. “Because for all we know, Pinkie could be away dealing with some really important gig in...say, Delamare by the time Braeburn actually gets here.”

“Probably,” replied Applejack, unconvinced, “but Ah think it'd be mo' of a surprise if Ah leave it until just before he arrives. 'Sides, Ah doubt Pinkie's gonna be goin' anywhere within that kinda time frame.”

“Well......if you say so,” conceded Caramel doubtfully.

“But what Ah do need ta do before Braeburn gets here,” added Applejack, “is wire a reply an' tell 'im he's mo' than welcome ta move in with us – after we've eaten, that is.”

“And yo' sure y'all can get away with not tellin' Miss Pinkie about this until just before Braeburn gets 'ere?”

“Ah, stop worryin', Big Mac,” insisted Applejack. “Pinkie ain't goin' nowhere any time soon – we'll be fine!”

Naturally, neither Caramel nor Big Macintosh were quite so sure; but they were none too keen on getting into an argument with Applejack, so they simply kept it to themselves.

True to her word, once she and her family and coltfriend had finished lunch, Applejack headed straight off to the telegraph office to wire her reply to Braeburn. The message she sent off was short but simple:

BRAEBURN,

MORE THAN HAPPY TO HAVE YOU. WILL EXPECT YOU IN TWO DAYS.
APPLEJACK

That done, she rejoined Caramel and Big Macintosh at the orchard, and the three of them carried on harvesting apples for the rest of the day. But what the orange-coated mare couldn't know, even as they returned the carts and baskets to the barn and went to turn in for the night, was that a major setback to her and Braeburn's plans was already beginning to rear its ugly head...

---

The morning sun peeked over the horizon as yet another of Luna's star-speckled nights gave way to a brand new day. Its soft light seeped through the windows of Soarin and Rainbow Dash's bedroom and brushed gently against their faces, slowly lifting the two sleepy Pegasi out of the realms of the subconscious and into the real world once again.

As he gingerly came to, Soarin directed a warm, passionate yet bleary-eyed smile towards his loved one. “Morning, Dashie,” he murmured. “Sleep well?”

Rainbow Dash fondly returned the gesture. “Like a foal, babe,” she replied, softly nuzzling the side of her husband's head and wrapping her forelegs around his shoulders.

Soarin chuckled inwardly. Though he would never wish for his wife to change her ways, he still found it rather cute when she became so unusually cuddly – something which seemed to have become more and more frequent as her pregnancy had progressed. “Glad to hear it, honey,” he whispered, “glad to hear it.”

“And so you should be, Soar, seeing as how you actually gave me one!” joked Rainbow Dash heartily, this time causing Soarin to chuckle for real. She then gazed down at her bulging midsection, gingerly rubbing a hoof against it as her unborn foal gently shifted around in its sleep. Her smile faded at this point, and she let out a soft sigh.

“You okay?” asked Soarin.

Rainbow Dash paused. “Yeah, fine,” she mumbled; but Soarin could tell by the tone of her voice that she wasn't. After another brief silence, she glumly continued; “I just feel so fat and...ugly with this baby bump, that's all.”

Soarin frowned in dismay at the thought of his normally boastful wife putting herself down so strongly. “That's just silly, Dashie,” he retorted, placing a gentle, soothing hoof against her muzzle. “Just because you're with foal doesn't make you ugly – matter of fact, I still think it makes you look...well, kinda sexy.”

“What, me looking like I've swallowed a beach ball?! Yeah, right!” scoffed Rainbow Dash in disbelief.

“No, really,” insisted Soarin, softening his expression in an attempt to diffuse the pregnant mare's frustration as much as he could, “even when you started showing, I never found you any less attractive than you were before. Besides, unless I'm very much mistaken, I don't recall Scootaloo ever calling you...'fat', as you so strongly put it, so is there really any need for you to bully yourself over all this?”

“No......I guess not.” Rainbow Dash let out another sigh, much deeper than the last. “Yeah, maybe I am being a bit too harsh on myself. It's just...I just feel so...awkward, having to carry a foal inside of me wherever I go.”

“Take it easy, Dash,” comforted Soarin. “It'll all be worth it in the end. Just think – two more months, and we get to hold our foal for the first time!”

This was more than enough to change Rainbow Dash's tune. The notion of seeing her foal sleeping peacefully in her forelegs warmed her heart to such a degree that the soft smile returned to her face. She slowly leaned forward towards Soarin, and the two Pegasi engaged in a deep, passionate kiss that seemed to last for eternity. Even as they pulled away for air, the rainbow-maned mare continued to nuzzle against her husband with fond gratitude. “Thanks, Soarin. I guess I really needed that.”

“It's what I'm here for, love,” Soarin warmly reminded her. He then looked over her shoulder towards the clock on the far side of the bedroom; “You still feeling up to that Appleloosa trip?”

“With you around?” Rainbow Dash smirked. “I feel up to anything!”

“Then we'd better get a move on,” advised Soarin. “It's nearly half past nine; the train leaves in an hour.”

Rainbow Dash looked at the clock – and goggled when she noticed just how right Soarin was. “Sweet Celestia, you're right!” she exclaimed. “You'd better wake up Scootaloo and fly off to the train station; I'll go fetch Pinkie from the bakery!” and before Soarin could even think of anything else to say, the rainbow-maned Pegasus mare scooped up the saddlebag she had packed the night before and shot out of the window like a rocket. The two-tone blue stallion could only stare in amusement as he got out of bed and placed his own saddlebag over his withers.

“I don't know,” he thought aloud. “The way that mare seems to be acting right now, you'd think she couldn't decide whether to be exuberant or exhausted!” He paused for a few seconds, allowing himself a light chuckle before heading down the hallway towards Scootaloo's room.

Scootaloo was still slumbering away peacefully underneath her bed-covers as Soarin quietly opened the door and poked his head into the room. For almost the whole of the previous evening, she had been eagerly speculating what they would see and do when they arrived in Appleloosa, so it seemed a wonder to the older blue Pegasus that she had managed to get any sleep at all!

“Scootaloo,” he whispered, “it's time to get up.”

The orange-furred Pegasus filly yawned and cracked a sleepy eye open. “Morning, Soarin,” she mumbled, gingerly rubbing her eyes.

“Hullo, sport,” smiled Soarin. “You ready to go see some buffalo?”

Scootaloo sat up with a broad grin, immediately forgetting that she had only just woken up. “Are you kidding?! I can hardly wait!”

“Just as I thought,” chortled Soarin. “Well, if you're all set, we might as well go and catch our train. Rainbow Dash has already gone to fetch Pinkie Pie, and we're due to leave at 10:35.”

“Then let's go!” declared Scootaloo, jumping out of bed and slipping on her saddlebag. With that, the two Pegasi trotted enthusiastically downstairs and through the front door before taking off for Ponyville Central Station.

Comments

[Darth Redbeard]

5265031 they would've stopped you before the story was submitted.

[SageBrony07]

"Laughing" Oh no!! That is awesome. I do hope some how in this story when Pinkie and Braeburn are in the area, and looking for each other, It will be like one of those cartoon clips where they open and travel through doors in a hall way and only go around in circles. Great chapter. Thanks for the update. I'm favoriting this story. It promises to be a good one.

[Realm]