An Apple a Day
Hey Connie. Hope you're doing okay.
Wish you'll tell me if you are or not.
I know I messed up.
I guess I miss you. ...
Yesterday, when I said "I guess" I mean I do miss you.
"Hope you're not mistaking your phone for a tennis ball ... tennis ball? Really Universe?"
A rather tough time for the young universe, as he kept sending text after text to see how Connie was doing. Unfortunately for him, even after a day of trying, it just was leaving him with nothing to go off of. He hadn't heard a thing out of Connie in days, and while the Pony Tones were a nice little piece of fun, it didn't last very long for him. How was Connie? Did she not want to be with him anymore? Well if there was something he can count on, it was that Priyanka and Doug were probably worried sick right now for their daughter. It may not be the first time Connie ran off, but that didn't make the fact any better.
Steven was over at AJ's barn while he was looking over his latest texts, the last one not really so good to his eyes. He would send another one if reception existed in Equestria the way it did for Earth, and as he was, Steven had failed to really notice that Applejack was having a little bit of trouble. She, Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh were busy as bees in setting some things up, and AJ was trying her hardest to get a banner up on the barn door. Not so easy on a rickety ladder.
"Hey, sugarcube, mind lending me a hoof down there?" AJ called.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, coming!" Steven said, putting his phone away for a moment and holding the ladder still. With the support, AJ got the banner up and fixed, hammering in the last nail to keep the banner up and good. The banner itself mainly showed green or red apples lined up in a row. It wasn't exactly Rarity-style perfect, but for the pony, it's good enough. AJ slid down the ladder and hopped right off, backing up and seeing the banner. The banner was slightly lob-sided to the right, but to the farm mare, so long as it didn't fall into anyone, it was fine as is.
"Phew. This is gonna be the best family get-together we've had yet. Think so, Steven? ... Steven?" AJ looked around for a bit, only to see Steven sitting back down on his piece of hay bale, trying to think on what reply to send next. K, clearly something was wrong with him, and unlike Pinkie or Rarity, Applejack wasn't gonna let this off so easy.
"Alright, Steven, what's up?"
"Huh? Nothing."
"Steven, you know that's not true. I've been seeing ya mopin' since you got here. Now come on," AJ insisted, more firmly this time. Steven didn't want to tell her and clammed up, but the more AJ waited, the more Steven felt himself relent.
"... I screwed up, big time."
"Screwed up? Screwed up what?"
"I did something I shouldn't have, and now Connie's mad at me. I just want to know if she's okay, and that I'm sorry," Steven explained. It wasn't detailed, but summed up the situation best. AJ took a glance over at Steven's phone, and seeing message after message left on his phone. She had only vaguely been told how they work, and seeing so many of these left her a little puzzled.
"By golly, Steven, how long as this been goin on?"
"Most of those were from yesterday," Steven simply said. AJ started to put two and two together now. Clearly Steven's main worry was over Connie, and all these messages said he was about as worried as a snake in a mongoose den. Eventually, AJ placed her hoof on the phone, and pushed it down so Steven was looking at her.
"Now, hold on there, maybe you should take your mind off of all this for a while."
"What? But what if -"
"Steven. I know yer worried about Connie, and all that, but you constantly plaguing her with these messages isn't gonna help. Play it cool, and give her some time to put her word in, ok? Who knows, maybe it's not as bad as you think," AJ advised. Steven felt guilty all over again for these messages, but all the same AJ did had a point. He'd been worried up and down ever since Connie had taken off, and he'd been a nervous wreck about her since. For his own sake, and possibly even hers, maybe he should try to ease up a little bit. Before this could continue on, suddenly they both then heard a crash off nearby, just to find Big Mac there in a little bit of a heap. Somepony left a stray towel on the ground from wiping some windows, and guess somepony forgot to pick it up. And now the red stallion had a bit of a mess of apple buckets to pick up. AJ and Steven went over to him.
"You alright, Big Mac? You're not hurt, are you?" Steven immediately asked. Big Mac felt a little embarrassed.
"Eeyup, and Nnope," Big Mac replied, shaking off a apple bucket from his head. AJ flipped it over.
"Well, guess we're setting up the apple bobbin here. Get the apples in the buckets would ya, Steven?"
"Oh, sure, ok," Steven said, immediately grabbing two apples at a time and getting them into the buckets alongside Big Mac. AJ allowed them some space, backing up until she was right by Granny Smith, who was holding an egg bucket from the chicken coop, and a small calling card inside it.
"How's it goin out here, youngin? Get dem buckets settin up yet?" Granny asked.
"Handling that right now," AJ said, pointing a hoof to the event setting up not too far away. The old green mare was plenty good with it, but she could already tell something was up between Steven and AJ. But then a smirk came on her face.
"Hey, why don't ya go and get the barn sweeped up?" Granny Smith said.
"Alrigh, I'm on it," AJ replied, trotting off to do just that. Granny Smith looked over to Steven, and went off over to them, getting a few apples and tossing them into one of the buckets herself.
"Well, howdy there, Stevie. Been doin a good job helpin us set up," Granny said.
"Oh, well thank you mam," Steven said, continuing to get more apples into the bucket until it was filled up. There was still a few more buckets to go though, Big Mac already starting on his own bucket.
"So is this a yearly thing for you?"
"You bet your horseshoes it is! All the Apple clan comin together for a good ol' fashion hang out. Haven't seem some of em in years," Granny Smith answered, even showing Steven a little calling card she'd been working on, which she had with her. Steven just nodded and went back to work.
"Well, I hope you all have a good time," Steven simply said. He just wasn't in the mood right now to go and have a party plan. Eventually, all the apples were placed in all the buckets, the activity all set up.
"Ok, so what else is there?"
"Eh, we can take it from here, young sprout, y'all can head on back now," Granny said.
"You sure? I can help AJ sweep, o-or Apple Bloom set up the pies."
"It's fine, we got this. Thanks for your help, Steven," Granny insisted. Steven just sighed.
"Yeah, ok. Hope you have fun," Steven said, as he began to turn and check his phone again. As his back was turned to her, Granny Smith, ever so quietly and carefully, slipped the calling card into Steven's back pocket just before he began to go, Steven not even noticing the move on him. He was too pre-occupied anyway. Big Macintosh did notice though, but he didn't say anything when Granny Smith gave him a wink.
~~~~~~
Well, it took Steven a while, but he did eventually get himself back home to the Beach House, at the moment by himself, and with nothing better to do, decided to do the dishes. However, his mind pre-occupied didn't make him focus properly, and instead of spraying the liquid soap, he was just rubbing the plate with the bottle like it was a bar of soap. AJ told him not to worry so much, but -
*vibrate*
"AH!" Steven gasped, throwing the soap and plate out of sight before attempting to reach his phone. However, before he could, he quickly stopped himself.
"No! Play it cool," Steven told himself. He did pick up the phone, but instead he had a "cool" look to his eyes, looking away as if it was no big deal. Yeah, not exactly what Applejack meant. Steven quickly picked up, hoping to the stars and back that it was who he thought it would be, and who he hoped it would be. However ...
I'm just gonna assume by your silence that you're entangled within the immersive koala lore of the show. Did you get to the part where Koala Princess and Kanga-Roofus kiss?
Ronaldo. The guy had lent him a little something called Koala princess sometime ago, and apparently he'd wanted to check in on him. Steven had never been mad to get a message if this was any other exception. All Steven did was groan, and place the phone down aside of him. It was then that he heard the Warp Pad go off, seeing Garnet come in. She wasn't alone though, as Tiger's Eye, Rhodonite, Padparadscha and the Rutile Twins were with her.
"Oh, so this is the Temple? I thought it would be a lot bigger," Tiger's Eye said as she looked around.
"You make bases out of wood now? what happened to all the metal?" Rhodonite asked.
"This is only the Beach house for Steven," Garnet answered.
"What a small, cute Temple," Padparadscha commented. Steven just ignored them as they were given a look around the place, but they surely noticed Steven pretty quickly.
"Hey, Steven, how's it going?"
"I'm fine," Steven simply answered, reaching for another dish to clean that up, this time actually grabbing a sponge this time and wiping it down.
"So is this all of the Temple, or just one small room for it?" asked left Rutile
"It's my room," Steven replied.
"Oh. Well, nice place you got here," said right Rutile. Steven felt quiet, but then he began to feel something pull out of his back pocket. He turned around and found Padparadscha had pulled it out and looked it over in her usual slow way.
"What's this?" she finally asked. Steven went down as the others looked over the calling card. Rhodonite was the one who said it though before Padparadscha could.
"You're invited to the Apple Family get-together."
"I am?" Steven wondered allowed, looking at the message. It didn't say his name, but the Apple Family told him that it was mainly their invitation to members of the family. Why would he get one of these exactly? Garnet went over and checked it out herself as well.
"... Steven? Why don't you take us and the Off-Colors to the get-together? It sounds like a fun experience," Garnet suggested. Steven already had to set things up for the get-together, but he never planned on actually going to it. But then again, what else should he do? Taking the phone, and checking it one more time, he got out his warp key and opened it up good as new.
"So, any reason why we're going? Something in the future that would be important for us to be there?" Rhodonite asked.
"No. I just want Steven to be happy," Garnet simply replied. Eh, good enough.
~~~~~~
The family gathering was now in full swing. Steven stayed plenty quiet with what was happening around him, but that didn't mean that nothing got his attention. The entire area of Sweet Apple Acres was bustling with activity. Over by the barn was the biggest piece of activity going on at the moment, most of said activity including dancing, chatting and socializing. As far as the ponies went, there was quite a lot of them, easily over twenty strong. Hard to believe all of these ponies are from a single family tree, many a pony showing some sign of Apple Family goodness, namely on their flanks with their Cutie Marks being some sort of Apple.
It wasn't just the barn itself bustling, plenty of other areas of the acre had a lot of activity as well. Amongst these things included a lot of family traditions: apple bobbing, some races, a pie eating contest, and a number of others admittedly more suited for a carnival or fair. With all of this, everypony there was happy to be there, be it either seeing some old relatives, meeting new ones, or catching up with one another. Steven felt like a sore thumb in this crowd, the phone cradling in his hands and waiting for that one text call, that one moment when he'll figure out if Connie was indeed alright or not. It'll be a while to get this nervous wreck out of his system, but with the Crystal Gems and Off-Colors all there and happy, he might as well keep his little issues to himself. Yes, he was sad, but he didn't want to spread that to the rest of the group, especially during an event like this.
For the Apple Family's main hosts, AJ was surely happy to see so many familiar faces going about the farm, and it actually took the farm mare a moment or two before she took notice of the Crystal Gems over by the front gate.
"Howdy there! Glad y'all could make it," AJ said, trotting over to the group and waving a hoof.
"Hey there! So is this ALL of the Apple Family?" Amethyst asked, looking around her. Fillies, colts, mares and stallions were simply everywhere, again hard to believe it being apart of the same tree.
"Well most of em. Some couldn't make it unfortunately," AJ said bummed out.
"How many are here?" Amethyst asked.
"Eh, O, twenty five give we take," Applejack answered. They may not know much about families of the organic variety, but dang that's a ton of family members for anyone and anything! As they were chatting, Granny Smith walked on over to see the group of Gems there, Fluorite being the first Gem to catch her eye.
"Hello there, young pony."
"Young pony? Hahaha, funny. So you'd be dem Off Colors, are ya?" Granny asked.
"That's us," said left Rutile.
"Twenty Five's a lot of family," Padparadscha said.
"Oh this isn't even all the family. If I'd got my way there'd be all fifty seven in the Apple Clan!"
"Fifty seven?!" Gasped Rhodonite. Granny Smith snickered.
"Yeah, and I bet there's some even I dun know about yet. Please to meet ya, youngin," Granny said, hoof shaking Rhodonite's hand. Well take their friendly gestures when one can.
"Young?" The rutile twins shared a little chuckle on that gesture. Everypony knows by now that they were easily over 1000 years old at this point, which wasn't too bad for a Gem but ancient for any other animal.
"So, how about we start this with some good introduction? You want to get to know the Apple Family?" AJ asked. Nice, but Garnet denied it.
"We'd be here a while," Garnet said.
"Eh, that's true. So, let's try some activities instead then," AJ decided. Now that was something they can do.
"Alrighty, while you do that, I er um... Ah pony feathers! I'd forget my mane if it weren't attached to my head!" Granny replied, walking away to join the others. A little giggle got out from the twins, but soon Rutiles left and right peeked off to see Steven still worrying over his little bit of electronic messengering. Still no word, and still no reception unfortunately.
"Come on Steven," said Left Rutile.
"Let's have some fun," added right Rutile, both twins going on into the event. All Steven did was sigh, and simply went off to join up with the others. Granny smith saw him go off and she couldn't help but snicker to herself.
"Oh, I'm such a wily old coot."
.......
In little time, the group dispersed and began to have their own fun with the get-together of the Apple Family. As the event went on, the Apple Family got comfortable with the Gems being there, and even if they weren't technically apart of the family they made them feel very welcome, even fi they looked so different. Steven tried to have his fun, though it mainly was because he couldn't really talk to Connie over the phone anyway. All the same, seeing the other Gems going around and having their fun did at least make him feel a little bit better, even if for a moment.
Eventually Steven looked over to one part of the events, seeing Amethyst joining the ponies in a pie eating contest. Though contest might not be the right word, as Amethyst finished off her single pie in one quick gulp.
Looking away from her, Steven saw Fluorite giving rides to some of the younger fillies and colts, the gentle giant enjoying the sweet young children having a good time with her.
"Hey, Steven, come here!"
Steven snapped back to reality for a moment on the shared voice, looking over to the Rutile Twins standing by the Apple Bobbing buckets.
"What's up, Rutile?"
"They want us to join on this Equestrian custom, but ..." left Rutile began to explain.
"We're not entirely sure how it works," finished right Rutile. Steven and the twins looked over to the other ponies, who were making it all look fairly easy.
"It's not that hard, all you have to do is drunk your head into the water and pull out an apple," Steven said, summing it up and pointing to the bucket as another pony finished up with a total of eight apples pulled out. Seemed simple enough, and by the looks of it, they weren't allowed to use anything else aside from their mouths, so the twins had to figure this out as they went into position.
"Like this?" the twins asked.
"You got it. AND GO!"
On the starting whistle, the twins tried to copy what the first pony did, though only one side went in, the right side a little more hesitant than the left, and grabbing the apples was a bit of a rough effort. Eventually, both twins glanced to eachother and then decided to use both mouths. No one can say that they can't use two mouths, right? So, both the twins went on and quickly pulled out apple after apple until another whistle called for them to stop. Though, Steven had to make them stop first. Total apples? ... Actually, seven.
"Well, good try anyway guys," Steven said, giving them a pat on the back. They may have not won, but who really could blame the first-timers? Besides, the Rutile twins weren't too upset with it anyway, and were having a good time with the experience.
.......
"....... you're going to prepare for a song?" Padparadscha asked.
Most of the activity for the get-together may be outside, but in the barn, there was just as much preparation as to clearing up the barn for a stage to be set up. Big Mac and Apple Bloom were mainly the ones doing such, though they did get some help from Paula Red when it came to setting up the stage., which in this case was a wagon. Tiger's Eye and Padparadscha were watching them getting prepared with their curiosity.
"Yeah, it's our turn to be doing the singing this year. We got a traveling theme planned, so we got to get the feel right, right big Mac?"
"Eeyup," Big Mac replied. He and Paula Red got the wagon in the right spot, right at the back of the barn, facing to left of the door. They weren't planning on going anywhere, but set up in a way that it would probably roll right out the door. Paula and Big Mac did a brohoof once done, and Tiger's Eye, Padparadscha, and Apple Bloom went on over to the wagon.
"Maybe this song thing will get Steven out of his slump," Tiger's Eye said, looking back outside the barn. Steven was doing some other activities, in this case doing some crafts with some of the younger fillies and colts.
"What's eatin him?"
"Dunno. Somethin about a arm, or something?" Tiger's Eye said, though honestly she didn't had too much information to go off of.
"Our song's gonna cheer him up in no time," Apple Bloom said, the mare trotting over. Padparadscha and Tiger's Eye had no real idea what kind of slump Steven's in, Tiger's Eye scratching her head. Her own curiosity got the better of her, and she began to head over towards Steven. Padparadscha wondered what Tiger's Eye was up to, and trailed behind. Steven heard the Gem coming over to him, but he tried to keep himself pre-occupied with his own little bit of arts and crafts.
"Hey. So ... what'chu doing?"
"Making some art," Steven simply replied. It honestly didn't look too impressive, just a circle made up of some apple seeds and dried up noodles. It really wasn't too much.
"That looks a lot like that girl Connie, doesn't it?"
Oh Celestia, it did! Steven groaned and flipped the plate over, blocking the image from his brain.
".. I think maybe I should go for a walk," Steve said, getting up to his feet. However, Tiger's Eye wasn't going to let him get away from her so easily, and she hopped over him, and landed in his way.
"Tell me what's wrong."
"Nothing's wrong, don't worry," Steven said, trying to get passed. However, Tiger's Eye kept getting in his way, jumping side to side on all fours, and keeping her eyes on him like a big cat would.
"What're you doing?" Steven asked, eyebrow raised.
"I'm not letting you go off yet. Besides, they're about to sing in there, and Apple Bloom said it'll make you smile, so come on let's go," Tiger's Eye insisted, pushing Steven off towards the barn for the little presentation. Steven felt silly being pushed like this, but at the moment it wasn't going to go well for him either way with his problem.
.......
Well, sometime later, and activity at the barn itself was getting a bit crowded. It was almost time for the singing show to begin, and many of the Gems were already over by the building, waiting for the show to start. However, this wasn't without problems, as Steven was still hoping to get some sort of reception while he was here. This has gone on for long enough.
"Come on. Can't you give it another shot?" asked AJ.
"What are we supposed to do? He just doesn't want to talk about it," said Amethyst.
"If Steven won't talk to us, then the help we can give him is limited," Garnet said.
"Well, I got some idea of it ... what happened again?" Tiger's Eye questioned.
"White Diamond sent an alien creature to capture Steven. She threatened to re-release the Cluster and destroy the planet if he didn't give himself up. He did. Then we beat it." Garnet finished her last statement with a adjustment of her glasses.
"Soooo what's the problem? He's fine, we're here, that ... thing's taken care of."
"I know, I know. ... I think I do. I just hope Steven finds happiness soon," Garnet sighed. It was sad since Connie had left, and even Garnet can't fully pinpoint when the girl would come back either. And even then ... if she'll actually talk to Steven directly. Garnet had the idea down, but she wasn't going to force it out of him, nor just bring it up for Steven's sake. It would be better for him to say so himself.
"Did he say anything to you?" asked Amethyst to Tiger's Eye.
"Not enough to say the full problem. Look, someone else talk to him before he collapses or something. Someone tell him Connie's fine and we'll meet her soon."
"That would be lying," AJ stated.
"To make him feel better. What, you got any better idea?"
"That's enough. ... Pearl. Take Steven home," Garnet decided, as hard as it was to say. Clearly Steven was not in the right mind for any of it right now.
"Me?" Pearl asked. Garnet simply nodded. Pearl just sighed, and began to walk over to him. They really were hoping this would be good, but in the end it just wasn't really working out for him.
"Whelp, dang it. Connie, wherever you are, please get back home so this can end," Tiger's Eye sighed. A rude statement, but yeah, Steven's worry over Connie would end if he could meet up with her again, just to make sure who's alright in the end. They all simply watched as Pearl rested her arm on Steven's shoulder, the kid looking up to her. Eventually after some small chat, Steven and Pearl both began to head off home. So much for another song to cheer the guy up.
.......
Eventually, both Pearl and Steven got themselves back home. Pearl simply kept quiet, walking Steven back over to bed. It was getting very late anyway.
"There, there, Steven. Everything will be fine, I'm sure. now you just get tidied up, and head off to bed," Pearl advised. Steven didn't really answer her, but then.
*beep**beep*
"Connie?!" Steven gasped, quickly checking his phone. Yet ...
Steven! When I didn't hear back from you, I was sure a nefarious plot was afoot.
Steven could feel his hands tremble.
"COME ON!!!"
In a fit of rage, Steven had enough and threw his phone square on the couch. All day worrying, and it wasn't even her after all day!
"Steven!" Pearl said, but one look on his face told Pearl that Steven was going through a lot on his mind. Sure he looked upset, but behind those eyes he was hurting. Pearl and Steven locked eyes for a moment, and without another word, Pearl took Steven's phone off the couch, and kept it with her inside her stone, much like a tractor beam.
"Pearl, don't -"
"Steven."
Steven stopped himself, seeing Pearl actually acting a bit more stern with him.
"Steven. I know you're worried about Connie. What happened with White Diamond, it isn't your fault. Perhaps it is best if she's out on her own for a while, it's probably her way of coping with the situation. I mean, she did just come out from the hospital," Pearl attempted to make a joke out of it, but it was clearly not working, even after Pearl chuckled at it.
"OK, bad joke. W-What I mean is that -"
"Ok, Pearl, Steven needs alone time now. ... You just go back to the party," Steven said, as he walked on upstairs and toss the covers over his head.
"Steven, I -" Pearl halted herself when her hand met her mouth. She got that removed, but she didn't speak anymore. Well, time does heal some wounds, and Pearl could only hope that Steven would be healed up over time.
"I'm sorry. ... Well, sweet dreams," Pearl replied. Without another word, silent Pearl went on out, and the sound of the Warp Pad signified her exit. Steven had the lights turned off, and all he did was lay there and looked out the window. He was curled up in the blankets enough to when only his eyes could be seen looking out. It was a clear night, but that didn't help him. Despite all of his questions, there was only one he had left that was the biggest one of all, one he just can't figure out. ...
"Do you hate me, Connie? ..."
Poor. Poor Steven. ... 
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8710791
Yeah, that was the one thing that always bothered me with SU: Steven doesn't HAVE to be in every situation for the world to move forward. MLP moved to different characters and didn't focus all on Twilight, and look just how much more we got compared to SU. Not that I hate the SU show for it, but I'm just saying. One reason why I wanted to write this in the first place among other things ^^
RAGH!!! *Grabs head in frustration and sympathy* This is one of the most sympathetic moments that drives me to tears! WAHH!!
8711645
*hugs you* there there, it'll be okay
8711769
*sniffs* Thanks...
I think I know where Connie went. There's only one place where she goes when she needs time away to think for herself! To a certain location seen earlier in the season. To visit someone who knows her better than anyone else. Perhaps they should check there first.
Come to think of it, Connie left before she found out she's half gem now. That's going to be an interesting revelation when she finds out.
Meanwhile, as big as the gem family might be now, AJ still has more. Twice as more in fact. And it seems that Granny was trying to get Steven to lighten up. Enjoy himself. And beings did get to enjoy themselves. Only it wasn't Steven. He was too wrapped up in himself to see the chance to move on. Heck, AJ even called him out on the clingy parts of his actions of late.
And it is interesting seeing the VERY different take on Gemcation here, what with Pearl even taking away his phone. Wow. Didn't expect that.
8716234
well let's face it, you can't outnumber the apples. x3
And as unexpected as Pearl taking steven's phone away would be, sometimes that's a must to take someone away from their troubles. A wake-up call per say
Every day life of a teenager in love. I have so many songs that would mach this situation.
8717965
x3 I see. Got some examples?
8718322
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-Xvgv92GBc
8718650
nice x3
8719139
Thank you! Here is a random song that could be a normal day in Beach City for a normal kid.
8719624
x3