Seasons

by I_Regret_Nothing

Chapter Four.

Author's Note:

Spoiler warning: this chapter is a follow-up to "The Perfect Pear", episode 13 of season 7, which has not yet aired in the United States. The episode has aired in other countries, so be aware that this contains references to canon you may not have seen yet for yourself.

Anyway: this is not the chapter I expected to release next, but this episode might be one of my favorites, and imagining Rarity's reaction to Applejack's news (as well as digging a little deeper into Applejack's own feelings) was too good of an opportunity to pass up. This chapter is also more dramatic than previous entries.

The next few chapters will also bounce around the timeline; I'm not spinning an overall narrative or plot so much as keeping mostly-fluff content in one continuous story. So for good or bad, there really isn't an endgame to this fanfic. It's just intended to be comfy slice of life/romance, which I'm happy with.

Some housekeeping things: I'm bad at titling things like stories and chapters, so I'll just number chapters from now on. Also, the dating system will be changed from A.D. (After Discord) to A.N.M. (After Nightmare Moon) to give me a hard thousand-year mark to work with when making dorky timelines.

Again, I apologize for the lack of updates, and have explained some things concerning the inactivity in this blog post. Thank you for your patience and encouragement!

1006 A.N.M., Spring

Rarity hummed happily as she trotted gracefully to the door. It was closing time at the Carousel Boutique, and she’d done a brisk business today; market days were always busy, but nearly half a dozen unicorns had placed a group order that would keep her busy for the week.

The cohorts were regular customers, but usually in the Canterlot shop. Lemon Hearts, Minuette, Twinkleshine, and a nervous Moon Dancer were in Ponyville visiting Lyra Heartstrings, and they wanted custom dresses to celebrate some anniversary. Lyra promised to deliver a sixth pony’s measurements later to complete the order, but divulged no details. Rarity always respected clients’ confidentiality, though she had her suspicions of who Lyra had in mind.

She had just turned the “open” sign to “closed” and was preparing to lock the door when a familiar orange coat caught her eye.

“Woah, girl,” Applejack called out, cantering up the street, “Rarity, Ah’ve got big news!”

Rarity blinked and held the door open, raising an eyebrow and flicking her ears expectantly. Applejack came to a stop just outside the doorway, pausing to whip the dust from her flanks and clean her hooves on a stiff-haired brush set by the threshold.

It was a small gesture, but it still brought a small smile to Rarity’s face after all these years. Applejack’s consideration for her marefriend’s business was appreciated; muddy hoofprints were quite the turn-off to would-be customers.

Applejack followed her inside, Rarity shutting the door behind them with her magic. They walked together past the well-dressed ponyquins, some still wearing designs created by Rarity’s fashion show contestants from a few moons prior. Rarity struggled to keep up with Applejack’s excited storytelling, which intrigued her - it wasn’t like the farmer to gush like this.

“... so after we visited Goldie Delicious - ya remember her from th’ reunion? - we tracked down Burnt Oak, my Pa’s foalhood friend. He hasn’t come ‘round much, but he was a mighty big help on th’ farm back in th’ day. Ain’t seen him in quite a while, though, but Big Mac was awful glad ta see him. So after he told us about all the foalish things Pa did courtin’ Ma, we hustled on over ta Sugarcube Corner, an’ it turns out Missus Cake used ta call herself Chiffon Swirl…”

Rarity grinned sheepishly and stopped Applejack’s mouth with a hoof. She couldn’t hold the torrent of emotional explanation for long, so spoke quickly, “Applejack, darling, I cannot keep up. This is about your parents?”

The muffled earth pony nodded frantically.

“Well, that is quite exciting!” Rarity exclaimed, though she still did not move her hoof. “I will brew some tea while you collect your thoughts.” Applejack stepped back and began to speak again, but Rarity cut her off. “Lots of sugar in yours, I know.”

Applejack’s energy was infectious. She tried to chat politely while Rarity prepared the tea, but Rarity could tell the goings-on around the boutique did not quite draw the farmer’s interest. Still, minutes later they sat together at the kitchen table and Rarity beckoned for Applejack to begin her story.

“So there was a new pony at market today,” she began cautiously.

“I’ve heard,” Rarity replied, encouraging Applejack to go on, “some of my customers spoke highly of his pear jams.”

“Yeah,” Applejack said flatly, “his pears.” Was that a hint of long-buried tension? “Ah guess Grand Pear ain’t new to Ponyville, but he was new to me. He’s my Grandpa. My Grandpa Grand Pear, like Apple Bloom called him.”

“So your mother was a Pear,” Rarity responded thoughtfully, assembling a Punnett square in her mind, “making you half of a pear, and half of an apple.”

Applejack spread her forelegs wide in shared surprise. “Ah reckon so! And Ah never knew it. Ma always went by Buttercup aroun’ town, but her first name was Pear Butter.”

“I never knew that,” Rarity mused, nodding for Applejack to continue. The cowpony obliged.

“Ah don’t know that ya ever met ‘em,” Applejack went on, “ya didn’t move here ‘til after the accident.” Her voice was becoming strained, and Rarity was quick to put a supporting hoof over Applejack’s. A thin smile put Applejack back on track.

“But anyway,” she breathed deeply, “Granny has never been too forthcomin’ ‘bout Ma and Pa. So me, Apple Bloom, an’ Big Mac made a visit to aunt Goldie Delicious.”

“I thought she was a cousin? The pony who smells like cats?”

“She might be both,” Applejack admitted, eyeing Opalescence’s litter box, “but she might even be on the Pear side of this family tree. Or the Pie side, if there is one. It’s got a bunch of branches, an’ some grow close together.” Something glinted in Applejack’s green eyes upon mentioning that tree. “Either way, she filled us in on the Apple family feud with the Pears.

“But that’s all Goldie Delicious could tell us. Like I said earlier, we came back to town an’ found Burnt Oak’s firewood stand at the market. He an’ Pa were tight like me an’ Dash growin’ up. This one time, they were plow-racin’, an’ Pa broke Grand Pear’s water silo…”

Rarity sat patiently and listened, entranced, as Applejack relayed the story of her parents’ secretive courtship. It was a story not unlike some of Rarity’s favorite stage romances. Burnt Oak played the part of a level-headed counsel to Bright McIntosh. Mrs. Cake - then Chiffon Swirl - was a conspirator in the conflict between Buttercup's heart and her mind. With the help of their best friends, the star-crossed lovers mostly kept their trysts away from prying eyes.

After a while, Applejack paused to drink her tea. She found her voice again and continued, “They loved each other, Rares. They truly did. Ma even wrote him a love song - Ah’m gonna go through their things up in the attic an’ the sheet music someday, if she wrote it down at all.”

“I didn’t know your mother was a musician,” Rarity observed, then asked: “did she teach you?”

“Just the guitar,” Applejack answered, “Ah figured the bass an’ the fiddle on mah own. An’ the banjo.

“But they married without telling anypony,” she said sadly, “nopony but Mayor Mare, who did the ceremony. An’ Burnt Oak an’ Missus Cake their best ponies. Granny an’ Grand Pear didn’t even know ‘til the vows were said.”

“And he made her choose,” Rarity guessed, grappling with the realization, “Grand Pear made her choose her family.”

Applejack was quiet for a moment, eyes shut. “He did.”

They sat together, contemplative. Rarity squeezed Applejack’s hoof and the pained earth pony squeezed back, then moved closer to share an embrace. Applejack was not prone to such public affection, and Rarity relished it.

But it still stung. “I can’t imagine,” Rarity began.

“Neither can I,” Applejack confessed.

“How could you forgive him?”

Applejack swallowed. “He asked.”

Rarity stared, dumbfounded. Emotions ran through her in a flash. She settled on shock, choosing it before anger could convince her.

“How? How could you forgive him? As if it were so easy?”

“It ain’t easy, Rares,” Applejack answered in a small voice, “it never is, except with family.”

Rarity was quiet again. She focused on her breathing, knowing how flushed her face had gotten.

Applejack took the opportunity to again lead the conversation. “Grand Pear did us wrong, an’ he did Ma wrong most of all. But he knows that,” she started deeply into Rarity’s eyes, looking for something. Confirmation? Approval? “He knows what he did to his daughter, an’ to us, an’ me givin’ him a hard time for it won’t make things better.” It won’t bring Ma back.

It was a lot to take in. They sat there together as the tea cooled and stars began to shine through the setting sunlight outside.

“Grand Pear is all Ah’ve got left of Ma,” Applejack said slowly, choosing her words thoughtfully, “an’ Ah want him here in Ponyville. Ah want him here with my family. Ah want us together again.”

“I can respect that,” Rarity offered helpfully.

Applejack stared out the window. “But ya don’t forgive him.”

“No,” Rarity said quickly, “I don’t understand him, Applejack. Not yet. I can’t fathom doing what he did, much less to my own daughter.” She paused to breathe and gather her thoughts, “I haven’t even met him, but I’ll give him a chance. If you want him in your life, I will respect that. Maybe someday he can find a place in my life, too.”

“In our life?” asked Applejack.

Rarity smiled and nuzzled her marefriend. “Of course, darling.”

The tension left Applejack’s shoulders and she exhaled deeply. Minutes passed in silence, each of them contemplative, before Applejack shrugged off of Rarity and grinned, eyes shining.

“C’mon with me, over to th’ west orchard. There’s some trees ya need ta see.”

Comments

[I_Regret_Nothing]

8219660
Thank you! Very sorry for the delay, I haven't had consistent internet access to get much written and published. Hopefully will get that taken care of in the next month or so once I get the money together.
8256908
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[Rose Quill]

Very nice!

[Applety]

OOOH! So happy to see this update!!! <3 And this was super sweet!

[394VikingPinkiePie]

You really tugged at my heart settings with this chapter... It was pretty emotional and the way each of them analysed their feelings in regards to gran pear's actions spoke volumes of their personalities and perspectives on that issue.

And also:

It was a small gesture, but it still brought a small smile to Rarity’s face after all these years. Applejack’s consideration for her marefriend’s business was appreciated; muddy hoofprints were quite the turn-off to would-be customers.

D'aww i love how caring applejack is to rarity!