Chapter 11: A Wonderful Hearth's Warming (part 2)
Ch 11: A Wonderful Hearth’s Warming (Part 2)
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Babs chatted excitedly as they walked at the front of the group down the busy Manehattan street. Behind them, Soarin’ and Applejack talked while they kept an eye on the foals, calling out for them to wait every so often.
“Thanks again for lettin’ the Crusaders come along,” said Applejack. She reached a hoof up to hold on to her hat as a cold gust of wind blew past. “They don’t get a lot of chances to see Babs and Ah know it means a lot to ‘em.”
“No problem. The more the merrier. We couldn’t have picked a better day to visit my mom, either.”
Applejack gave him an odd look, pulling the zipper on her coat up higher. “If you say so.”
Soarin’ laughed. “No, I didn’t mean in terms of the weather,” he clarified, pulling up the collar of his aviator jacket. “I meant that today’s a good day to visit because of what happens today.”
“What’s that?”
“Oh, you’ll see,” he replied with a cryptic twinkle in his eye.
The blue pegasus guided the group through the snowy streets. With Hearth’s Warming less than a week away, every store, stall and home they passed was bedecked with lights and decorations. Many stores’ windows were smudged by crusader hooves and noses as the foals gawked at the various displays.
The long walk through the city finally led the five ponies to an elementary school on the east side. Its windows were darkened, the school having been closed during winter break.
“What’a we doin’ at my school?” Babs asked.
“This is your school?” Sweetie asked. “It’s so big.”
“Yup. And we’re on vacation, so I really don’t wanna be spendin’ any time here.”
“Don’t worry, we won’t be here long,” Soarin’ assured her. “We just need to help somepony get some stuff before we head over to see my mom.”
“What kinda stuff?” asked Applejack.
“Oh, there he is,” Soarin’ exclaimed excitedly.
The fillies and the pregnant mare looked in the direction Soarin’ was pointing to see a pegasus stallion coming up the school’s front walk. His yellow-tinged, off-white coat was partially covered by a leather flight jacket, the wooly collar pulled up to protect his neck. He regarded the group with a confused stare as he approached, but his confusion faded to recognition when he saw Soarin’ waving to him.
“Son of a one-eyed Cerberus. The prodigal son returns,” he bellowed, the crows’ feet around his eyes lengthening with his grin.
“Hey, Pyro,” Soarin’ greeted, walking up and giving the older stallion a hoof bump. Turning, he introduced the others. “I want you to meet some friends of mine. This is Applejack, her sister Apple Bloom, her cousin Babs, and her friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.”
The females each greeted Pyro in kind, Applejack and Apple Bloom waving, Scootaloo and Babs nodding and Sweetie giving a little curtsy.
“Girls, this is Pyro, Spitfire’s dad.”
The older stallion rolled his eyes. “Spitfire’s dad,” he repeated, the resonant bass of his voice taking a begrudging tone. He ran a hoof through his flaming orange and red mane. “Seems like that’s the only thing anypony has to say about me these days. ‘Hey aren’t you Spitfire’s old stallion?’, they always ask me. Gets a little irritating after a while.”
“Don’t worry,” Soarin’ assured him. “I’m sure a stallion with your many…many, many loooong years of experience has plenty of good things ponies can say about him.”
Pyro glared. “Watch it, boy. I may be getting on in years, but my guard training is still as sharp as ever. I can whip your fancy fly-boy Wonderbolt butt any time, any place.”
“At least the ‘Bolts have fashion sense,” Soarin’ jibed playfully in return. “The Guard just walks around in a tin can. We’re more photogenic than you stone-faces, too.”
“What’s photo…genic,” Apple Bloom asked.
Sweetie Belle perked up. “It means that somepony looks good in a photograph.”
Pyro shrugged. “Bah. I’ve always noticed that mares like a stallion in any kind of uniform. Am I right, Applejack?” He gave her a crooked grin and winked at her.
The orange mare shrugged in return. “Eh, Ah never really cared much about stuff like that.”
“My sister does,” Sweetie piped up. “She says a uniform can emphasize all the right places. Whenever a stallion comes in for a suit, she makes sure to take measurements all over him.”
An awkward silence followed, eventually broken when Pyro cleared his throat.
“So, um, do you have anything fun planned with the ladies today, Soarin’?”
“Actually, that’s why I brought them here. I was wondering if you needed any help for your show today.”
The off-white stallion grinned. “Do I ever! No one could make it today, so I thought I’d have to do it all on my own.”
“Well you’ve got some help now.” The blue stallion gave a meek salute, his posture slightly cowered and spoke in a timid voice. “P-private Pansy reporting for d-duty, sir.”
The older stallion laughed. “How about you girls? Want to be the founders of Equestria and pass out some toys.”
The four cutie mark crusaders voiced their approval in a cacophony of jumps and cheering squeals.
“Can I be Princess Platinum?” Sweetie squeaked.
“I wanna be Commander Hurricane!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
Pyro chuckled. “Sorry, kid,” he said, tussling the filly’s mane. “I do Commander Hurricane every year.”
“Awww.”
“Tell you what, Scoots. You can be the narrator if you want,” Soarin’ offered.
The orange pegasus smiled again. “OK!”
“Ah can be Chancellor Puddin’ head.” Apple Bloom shouted, bouncing in place. “And Babs can be Smart Cookie.”
“Guess that leaves me as Clover the Clever,” said Applejack. “Hope you got a fake horn Ah can use.”
Pyro laughed. “Come on, let’s go inside out of the cold and see what our costume situation is like.”
The off-white pegasus fished a set of keys from the pocket of his coat and unlocked the school doors. The group followed him through the long, dark hallways to the school theatre.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo gaped in awe. “Whoa.”
“This is your school theatre, Babs?” Apple Bloom asked.
Scootaloo galloped up one of the isles to the higher-level seats. “It’s huge!”
“You even have an orchestra pit,” Sweetie shouted from over by the stage, looking down into the pit.
The group went to a room backstage filled with costumes. The fillies ohh’ed and ahh’d, looking through the racks of clothes until they found the ones they liked for their respective parts.
Soarin’ and Pyro both found matching sets of plastic armor and Applejack went with a burlap hood and found a fake horn. Sweetie Belle found a beautiful pink dress and tiara and then helped Scootaloo with her costume. The orange filly didn’t like the idea of wearing puffy sleeves and a funny hat like Spike did when he played the narrator, so Sweetie helped her find an outfit that she liked that wouldn’t stand out too much from the other costumes. When they were done, Scootaloo had a light brown tailcoat with matching fedora and a white dress shirt.
When the six of them had their costumes assembled, Pyro grabbed some scripts and led the group to where a large cart was stored in the school carriage garage.
“What’s this for?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“This,” Pyro explained as he put the scripts in the back, “is a bunch of old toys and clothes that the school’s been collecting.”
Babs gasped. “Aw yeah. Me and my sista gave away some of our old dolls and stuff that didn’t fit us anymore.”
“Are we takin’ it somewhere?” asked Apple Bloom as she hopped up in the front and looked in.
Soarin’ interrupted before Pyro had a chance to explain. “You’ll see,” he said in a sing-song voice, the mischievous look coming back to his eye.
“Aw come on, Soarin’, you’ve been saying that all day,” Scootaloo whined, her wings twitching in agitation. “Just tell us where we’re going.”
“Just trust me, Scoots, it’s much better if you see it.”
Relenting, the fillies and Applejack piled into the front of the cart and Soarin’ and Pyro pulled it through the streets of Manehattan toward the southeast docks.
They soon came upon a large brick building at the end of a route that took them down several side streets. The structure looked old and was decorated with a mish-mash of slightly used decorations that looked like they had come from several different houses.
“What is this place, Soarin’?” Sweetie asked.
The pegasus stallions pulled the cart to the front of the building and Pyro unhitched himself to go inside for a moment. Soarin’ gestured his hoof in an encompassing arc covering the building. “Ladies, welcome to the Evergreen Homeless Shelter.”
Before any of the cart’s passengers could offer a reaction, Pyro bolted out the door shouting, “Here they come!”
Apple Bloom leaned over the edge of the cart. “What’s goin’ on?”
“All right, everypony, you’re the founders of Equestria. Remember to act like your character. And don’t forget to smile!” Soarin’ announced, unhitching himself.
Just then the front doors of the building burst open, releasing a tidal wave of about thirty or forty cheering foals that ran over to the cart. They hollered and cheered as they gathered around the cart, looks of joy and elation on their faces as they eyed the cart’s contents. Behind them a group of a dozen or so adults slowly exited the building, some carrying smaller foals on their backs, all watching the scene with warm smiles.
A few of the foals ignored the cart altogether, instead setting their sights on Pyro. They tackled the stallion to the ground, pinning him. He playfully struggled against them, managing to get up and gently shake a few off, but eventually he was overcome and reduced to raucous laughter as the foals wrestled him to the ground.
A few of the older foals beamed even brighter when they saw Soarin’, waving and shouting for his attention. The blue stallion took to the air, doing circles around the cart as a few foals chased him, some of the young pegasi buzzing their wings and hovering or flying to try and catch him.
The Crusaders and Applejack gaped in awe at the swarm of youngsters. A few of the younger fillies waved enthusiastically at Sweetie Belle, excited to see Princess Platinum. The white filly immediately fell into character, waving her hoof daintily like she had seen the Princesses do. The others took her cue and followed along, waving and greeting the foals in whatever way they thought their character would.
“ATTEN-TION!” Pyro’s voice boomed over the cacophony. The older foals stopped what they were doing and stood straight, offering a mix of sloppy and wrong-hoofed salutes. The younger ones continued to run and yell and cheer, slowly quieting down as the off-white stallion continued. “At ease, troops. Hail and well met. My companions and I have traveled long and far looking for a place to leave the vast wealth of toys and clothes we have in yonder cart. Know where we can take it?”
The foals erupted into cheering and waving, the overwhelming opinion being that they should have the contents of the cart.
Pyro pressed a hoof to his chin thoughtfully. “Hmmm. I’m not sure, Private Pansy. I think they’re telling us to dump it off the docks.”
The foals shouted louder, insisting that was not what they said and pleading the cart not be dumped.
“I think you’re right, Commander,” Soarin’ said. “Are you sayin’ we should throw it in the ocean?” he asked the group.
The foals shouted even louder, some of the adults good-naturedly joining in the insistence that the cart not be disposed of.
“Oh, for heaven sakes, you two,” shouted a light blue mare as she weaved her way to the cart. “Stop teasing them so. They’ve been waiting on the edge of their hooves all day for you. Oliver,” she addressed one of the older colts, placing a hoof on his withers. “Why don’t you gather a few of the others and help carry those goodies inside.”
“Yes, Gramma,” the youngster replied, gesturing to a few other fillies and colts and heading toward the wagon. A small number of the adults followed behind and began to help with unloading bags and boxes.
“Now don’t you go opening any of those yet,” the blue mare shouted after them. “The grown-ups need to make sure that everypony will get something that they want.” She ran a hoof through her mane, which was a navy blue so dark it almost looked black and streaked with silver near her ears, sighing wistfully.
Turning, she regarded the two stallions with a warm smile and gave Soarin’ a hug. “Mmmm. Hello, Soarin’.”
The blue stallion returned the hug, reveling in the warmth and closeness with the mare. “Hey, mom.”
“How have you been?” she asked, breaking the hug. “Let me look at you.” Looking her son up and down, the mare chuckled softly.
“What?” Soarin’ asked, oblivious.
“Oh, nothing. You just always look so silly in that plastic armor.”
Soarin’ laughed. “Yeah. Too bad Private Pansy wasn’t a Wonderbolt, huh?”
The blue mare laughed in reply. “Yes, quite a pity.”
She looked past her son to where the Crusaders and Applejack were helping to unload the last of the donations. “Is this Applejack?”
The orange mare perked her ears at hearing her name. “Yes, ma’am. Miss, uh…”
The other mare waved a dismissive hoof. “Mercy, honey. But some ponies call me Gramma. Why, you’re even prettier than I pictured you from Soarin’s description.”
“Soarin’ wrote to you about me?”
“Of course. He’s mentioned you in all his letters. I feel like I know you already.”
Soarin’, in a perfect embodiment of the character he was dressed as, let out an embarrassed ‘eep’, his face turning redder than a tomato.
“And you must be Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo,” the mare continued.
“Yes ma’m,” Sweetie Belle proudly confirmed. “And this is Apple Bloom’s cousin Babs.”
“Well, I’m very pleased to meet all of you.”
“Hey, Sweetie,” Scootaloo called from Mercy’s side, pointing at the round bread cut into three pieces emblazoned on her flank. “Maybe she can help us get a flatbread-baking cutie mark.”
“Didn’t we try fer that one last month?” Apple Bloom wondered.
“No, no,” the orange filly shook her head. “Those were pancakes.”
“Well, at least they were supposed to be,” Sweetie added. “I think we made a mistake somewhere between adding the frosting and using the wire sponge.”
Mercy laughed. “Well, that sounds like an interesting story. Though, flatbread isn’t quite what my cutie mark means. But there will be plenty of time to talk about that later. Come along inside, all of you. We can chat while I make dinner.”
“You mean while we help you make dinner,” Pyro corrected her.
The earth pony sighed and rolled her eyes. “Oh, all right. While we make dinner.”
The group went through the doors to the homeless shelter and into a large area with tiled flooring. Long tables and benches were lined up in three rows that spanned the length of the room and an opening on one wall looked into a kitchen area.
“Where’d all the foals go?” asked Apple Bloom, noting the lack of most of the youngsters that had been outside. Some of the adults were chatting in small groups at the tables or helping to stack and organize bags and boxes of donations, but the foals were nowhere to be found.
“We’ve got a big, empty lot out back,” Mercy explained. “The foals like to run around and play in it.” She looked at the crusaders. “The four of you are more than welcome to go out and play with them if you like.”
The four crusaders simultaneously unleashed their most pleading and adorable faces upon Applejack. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom’s grins spread across their faces. Sweetie Belle opted for more of a pouty look, her big doe eyes sparkling as her lower lip jutted out. Babs had more of a frowny face look than Sweetie’s, but no less adorable.
The orange mare waved a hoof towards the back door. “Go on.”
The four fillies cheered and began to gallop outside.
“Don’t get your costumes dirty,” Pyro shouted after them. “We’re doing the play later this evening.”
“Oh, don’t worry, Pyro. I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Mercy assured him with a pat on the shoulder. “Come on now. We’ve got hungry ponies to feed.”
A few volunteers were already working to make dinner in the kitchen. Mercy set everyone to a task. The blue mare was a blur as she dashed around the kitchen, stirring the four pots of stew on the stove, dicing vegetables and dashing out into the main area every so often to see to some other task.
“How come there are so many foals here, Mercy?” Applejack asked as she crossed the room to the pantry.
“Not all of their parents are here at the moment. We watch a lot of the foals while their parents are out working or looking for work.”
Applejack opened the pantry door and gawked in the open doorway for a few seconds, staring at the shelves overstuffed with all manner of dry and canned goods. “Whoa, nelly.”
Mercy smiled as she passed on her way to cut a few carrots. “We were very fortunate this year. The ponies of Manehattan really came through for us.”
“Ah guess,” Applejack agreed. “This pantry’s stuffed fuller’n Big Macintosh after Hearth’s Warmin’ dinner. Was all of this donated?”
“Most of it,” the blue mare replied. “Some is bought with proceeds from the thrift shop that we run over on Bridle Street. Oh, could you grab one of those bags of oranges, dear? We’ll be having some with dinner.”
Applejack obeyed, grinning when she saw the label on the bag. “Hey, these are from mah Aunt and Uncle Orange’s farm.”
Mercy’s eyes widened. “Really? Julius and Clementine Orange are your Aunt and Uncle?”
“Yup,” the orange mare confirmed proudly.
Mercy’s smile grew. “You make sure and give those two a big hug next time you see them for me, ‘kay? They’re responsible for almost all of the fruit you see in that pantry. A lot of ponies have been helped because of them.”
Applejack smiled and went back to her place slicing bread on the counter next to the stove. “How do you keep a big place like this runnin’ on just donations all by yourself?”
“Oh please, dear, I only coordinate things. We have a lot of good ponies that-“
“Bull hockey,” Pyro interrupted as he took the bag of oranges to the counter on Mercy’s other side and pulled out an orange peeler. “Don’t believe a word she says, Applejack. The only reason this place is still standing is because of Mercy’s hard work.”
The other volunteers in the room murmured their agreement.
Mercy blushed, moving to stir the stew and staring down into the pot as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. “Oh, stop it.”
“You know I’m right,” Pyro said, following her and placing a wing on her shoulder. “You’re an amazing mare and you deserve at least some credit for-“
“Pyro, would you mind tasting this?” she said, quickly shoving a spoonful of the stew in his mouth. The off-white stallion made a few muffled ‘mmmph’ sounds of protest, then fell silent, humming in content at how the stew tasted.
Soarin’ chuckled, watching the scene play out. His mother had always been modest about what she did.
“Stir,” the light blue mare ordered Pyro, moving to grab the oranges herself. Setting them on the counter next to Applejack, she set herself to peeling them. “So, honey, Soarin’ tells me you’re going to be a mother.”
Applejack’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh he did, did he?” She gave Soarin’ a mild glare.
The blue stallion grinned sheepishly. “What? I tell her everything.”
“Don’t worry, dear,” Mercy assured her. “I would have known anyway even if he hadn’t told me. Being a mother myself, you learn to pick up on these things. Why, you’re practically glowing. How far along are you?”
“Few months,” Applejack murmured, keeping her eyes on the bread.
“Have you thought of any names yet?”
“A couple,” the orange mare replied. “Got a whole heap’a suggestions from the family, but not many are really stickin’ out.”
The other mare nodded. “Picking names is always hard. Don’t worry, though. You’ve still got some time.” She placed a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder, turning to look the other mare in the eye. “You know, if you need anything, I’d be more than happy to help.”
Applejack smiled. “Ah know. Soarin’ mentioned your offer. Ah think Ah’m good in terms of a crib, since Ah can use Apple Bloom’s old one. Might need things like bottles, though.”
“Actually, I was talking about needing somepony to talk to,” Mercy clarified. “What you’re going through is a very hard thing and no pony should have to do it alone. If you ever want to talk or if you have any questions, just drop me a line.”
The farmer nodded, then leaned in close and whispered, “Got any pictures’a Soarin’ in those ducky pajamas?”
Mercy giggled and nodded. “Yes I do.”
“And you won’t be seeing them,” Soarin’ barked from the other counter.
Both mares giggled and Mercy leaned closer so Soarin’ wouldn’t hear.
“Don’t worry, I’ll show you later.”
-SWA-
A warm, festive glow fell from windows and freshly-lit street lamps as the hustle and bustle of the work day tucked itself in to make way for the dazzling night. A light snow fell, the flakes dancing in little circles before nestling into their places on the ground or on rooftops for the night.
Soarin’ walked at the edge of the sidewalk closest to the street, allowing room for the other three ponies walking on his right.
“That was so much fun!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, wobbling on Soarin’s back for a moment as she raised her front hooves into the air excitedly. She regained her balance after a moment. “Those foals looked so happy watching us perform.”
“Ah know,” Apple Bloom agreed, sitting on Pyro’s back at the other side of the group.
“How about you, Babs?” said Soarin, looking to the filly sitting behind Apple Bloom. “Did you have fun?”
“Yeah,” Babs replied, sounding like she was far off, deep in thought.
“What’s wrong?” Sweetie asked her.
“Nothin’. Just…a lotta those kids…I’ve seen ‘em at my school. I didn’t know they were…ya’know.”
Mercy slowed her pace next to Pyro so she could look the brown filly in the eye. “It’s not a dirty word, sweetheart,” she said, a soft smile on her face. “Nor does it change who they really are. They’re still the same foals that you see walking around at school. Some of them could even be really good friends if you gave them the chance.”
“Hey, that’s a great idea, Mercy,” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Babs, you can ask some of ‘em if they wanna be Crusaders.”
Sweetie Belle gasped. “That’s a really good idea, right Scootaloo?”
The orange filly mumbled something from where she dozed behind the white filly on Soarin’s back.
Sweetie Belle giggled. “I think that’s a ‘yes.”
As the group continued down the street, one by one, the four fillies riding Pyro and Soarin’ grew more bleary-eyed. Eventually, the stallions’ swaying motion lulled the fillies to sleep. The adults walked on, making light conversation as they went for a little while until Mercy struck up a conversation with Applejack.
“You’re rather quiet, dear. Something wrong?”
The orange mare shook her head. “Nah, just thinkin’.”
The other earth pony nodded. “You’re worried about the baby.”
Applejack gave her a quizzical look. “Yeah. How’d you guess?”
“It was all I ever thought about,” Mercy replied. “Having a baby changes everything and you can never really go back to how things used to be. It feels like you’re being thrust into a whole new world and you’ll never be able to see the old one again.”
Applejack watched the other mare with rapt attention, a slight hint of fear in her eyes.
“I can tell you that it will get better, though,” Mercy assured her. “Especially if you have a strong support system of other ponies to help you.”
Applejack let out a soft smile. “Ah got no shortage’a that.”
“Good. That support can make all the difference in the world.”
The orange mare’s smile widened a little more. “It sure can. Mah family’s always been there to weather through any storm with me. And the girls and me have been together for years.”
The group soon reached the Orange’s apartment suite. Applejack had wanted to visit with them and made arrangements for herself and the crusaders to spend the night. Soon the crusaders were in bed and Applejack and her Aunt and Uncle were bidding Mercy, Pyro, and Soarin’ good night. Soarin’ agreed to meet Applejack and the Crusaders the next morning to head back to Ponyville.
After another long walk through the cold Manehattan streets, the three ponies arrived at Mercy’s apartment. Soarin’ went inside to hang his coat up and Mercy bid Pyro goodbye at the door.
Soarin’ took a seat on the couch in his mother’s living room, knowing she would want to talk and catch up for a while before going to bed. He ran over different ways to broach the subject of quitting his job in his head, nothing sounding quite right.
His thoughts were broken as his mother entered the room, a warm smile on her muzzle. Her eyes had a slightly glazed and out of it look to them and Soarin’ wondered if she would just want to go to bed.
The light blue mare shook her head, however, snapping herself out of her daze and making her way over to the kitchen.
“Would you like some hot cocoa, honey?” she asked.
“Sure,” he replied.
Silence reigned as she put the kettle on the stove and took a seat on the sofa next to him.
“So, what’s been going on with you?” she asked. “How are things going at work?”
“They’re, uh, good. I mean, that is to say…uh…” he stammered. His mind raced as he tried to find a way to talk to her.
“Mom,” he began, “what do you think of Applejack?”
“Oh, I think she’s just wonderful, Soarin’,” Mercy replied, pretending she didn’t notice the subject change.
“Yeah,” he replied glancing out the window on the other side of the room. “Yeah, she is.”
“Though I am curious. If you like her so much, why have you not asked her out yet?”
Soarin’ sputtered. “Mom!”
“What?”
“How…how did?” he stammered.
The mare gave her son a loving smile and patted him on the cheek. “I’m your mother. I know everything. It’s plainly obvious you’re interested.”
“It…it is?”
“Mmm hmmm. You’ve been giving her looks all evening. That and, well…”
“What?”
“When she used that lovely upper city accent to play the part of Clover the Clever, your wings looked like they were going to pull a muscle.”
“Mooooooom!” Soarin’ whined, hiding his burning face in his hooves.
She chuckled, then her tone went a little more serious. “But really, I’ve never seen you act like that around a mare. You’ve always been mister confident. Why the change? It looked to me like you were walking on eggshells around her.”
Soarin’ sighed and looked his mother in the eye. He smiled, thanking his lucky stars that she was always so supportive. All his doubts and worries about telling her faded away, knowing that she would be there for him no matter what.
Taking another deep breath, the former Wonderbolt told her everything. He told her about meeting Applejack, how she accepted him for who he was, not what he was right off the bat. He told her how Clover had left Applejack and how angry it had made him, how he had gotten angry and frustrated and quit when he couldn’t get the time off to help her. She listened to every word, not interrupting or saying anything until he had finished telling his story.
“Well,” she said when he was done. “That’s quite the predicament.”
The kettle began to whistle and Mercy got up to make the cocoa.
Soarin’ got up and followed her. “Did I do the right thing, mom?”
“Soarin’,” she replied softly, “if you’re asking me to confirm your life choices for you, I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed.” She paused to pour the hot water into two mugs. “Only you can decide if what you’re doing is the right thing. I can’t do that for you. But I will say that I am very proud of you.”
“Really?”
“Yes. While it was rather rash, you did what you thought was right.” She stirred a few spoonfuls of mix into the water and dropped a few marshmallows in each, then handed him one of the mugs. “Only time will tell if you’ve made the right choice.”
The two of them moved back over to the couch and sat down, blowing on their drinks to cool them.
“Did Applejack take the news well or have you not told her?” Mercy asked.
Soarin’ stared down into his mug, watching the marshmallows bob in the hot liquid. “No, I didn’t tell her yet. I’ve been trying to find the right time.”
Mercy dared a sip of her hot chocolate, finding it still just a little too hot. “You’ve been staying with her for a few months now, Soarin’. If the right moment hasn’t come along, you’re going to have to make your own moment. The mare needs to know. If you want a relationship with her to work, you need to start with being honest or it won’t go very far.”
“I know. Don’t worry, I’ll tell her, I promise.” he replied, taking a swig from his drink.
“Good. And speaking of honesty, I would have appreciated a little more from you.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I should have told you about all of this sooner.”
“Not just that. If you were worried about me, you should have said something instead of sending Pyro.”
Soarin’s eyes widened slightly despite his attempts to keep a poker face. “What do you mean?”
His mother gave him a half-lidded stare. “Please, Soarin’, I may be getting old, but I’m far from senile just yet. You asked Pyro to spy on me didn’t you?”
The blue stallion nervously tapped on his mug. “Well, y’know, not exactly. I mean, I may have mentioned that I was a little worried about you being all by yourself out here and asked him to stop by, maybe help you at the shelter every now and again. But he definitely wasn’t supposed to spy!”
Mercy chuckled. “Well, thank you for your concern. Truth be told, I’m actually quite happy that he’s been coming around to visit. He’s been very helpful at the shelter and even here around the apartment. He fixed that squeaky spot over by the stove and that leaky faucet in the bathroom.”
“So, you’re not mad?”
“No. Just please stop worrying about me. I’m the one who’s supposed to worry about you.” She poked him in the chest to emphasize her point. “You just worry about wooing Applejack.”
The blue stallion laughed. “OK, mom.”
They both sipped at their drinks for a while, chatting about this and that. When both mugs were empty they got up to go get ready for bed
“Hey, mom? Thanks. Y’know for always being so supportive and being there when I need you. I feel a lot better about all this stuff with Applejack.”
“Happy to help, dear,” she replied. “I just want you to be happy.”
“I am,” he whispered, wrapping a hoof around her and pulling her into a hug.
“Besides,” she whispered as she returned the hug, “if the two of you do wind up together, I’ll get the two-for-one-special of a daughter and a grandchild, and you know how much I love a good bargain.”
Both ponies burst out laughing.
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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This is painfully adorable...
Lovely, I was missing this story. I am hoping to finally see a good Soarin/Applejack story that actually finish, and this one has the most promise.
Here's hoping Soarin' finds the guts to tell AJ before she ends up finding out from someone or somewhere else, 'cause that would really torpedo a relationship.
3072028 Clearly then, you need to read Earth and Sky.
This story is one of my favorites because it takes on a different angle than other SoarinJack stories out there. EaS is great with its setting and this has the potential for something great of its own. I want to see this finished and I expect painful sorrow, heart-crushing feels and scenes so adoradle you'll get warm fuzzy feelings inside you and you'll get a heart attack.
That's what makes this a good read. You want them to be together but everything is built up so that AJ would likely be furious at Soarin for lying to her in the first place and quitting his job as a Bolt. I'm gonna cringe at that scene and yet I want to read it because of some bizarre reason.
All of the feels.. I hope Soarin's confession will go over well, but... I'm worried about how she'll react to him lying to her. Either way, I want this to work!
3072028
Read "Love, Loss and Apples" That's a really good one and it's completed
Ooh, still no SoarinJack!! But I have faith in you - you finally added Part 2!
Soarin you better listen to your mother, don't let her get away
3072028>>3072257>>3072750
If I can have your attention please: Soaring Apple that is a group I started for SoarinJack, currently 21 stories archived.
Th reference was something as close to generosity as donations, wasn't it?
3081952
Nope.
The reference was Oliver. Oliver is a colt at the orphanage in Love, Loss and Apples that Apple Bloom gets a crush on.
3082590 Shoot, but it was sorta referenced something close to the orphanage...
beautiful chapter!
Evergreen Homeless Shelter = Evergreen Orphanage
That was the first thing I spotted I love that story.
Oh and a really like this one two
-Doublesims
Arrg
The waiting is killing me this is too awesome to wait for
MY HEART
TOO MUCH CUTENESS
BEST CHAPTER YET
img0.derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/6/8/343312.jpg
My shipping goggles are registering a background ship… looks like… yes, confirmed backgroud ship for Mercy and Pyro. (I'm assuming at this point that Pyro's wife is no longer in the picture.)
> click link to Love, Loss and Apples
Nuuuuuuuu…
Edit:
Found Love, Loss and Apples. Looks like the one you linked may have been a plagiarized copy.
Ok so it looks like soarin Applejack the cmc and babes seed went to Manhattan to visit his mother but first they went to the school and it looks like they volunteer for the shelter and it looks like pyro Spitfires father is helping out and it was really nice of them to do this for the kids and for the homeless and it looks like soarin mom name Mercy is helping out as well but she's also in charge of the thing she forgave some tips about being a single mother to Applejack that things are going to be hard but she will never be alone she has family and friends to support her all the way which is true and after a while soarin told his mom about what happened after a couple of months about Applejack being pregnant Clover leaving and quitting the Wonderbolts all he has to do is tell Applejack what really happened over there but it's sweet to see a mother and son having a conversation like that