In My Future Life

by flutterJackdash

Chapter 3

I had not made it four strides before I was bowled over by a blur of grey and yellow. Together we rolled three times until the blur was unceremoniously launched into the air and landed with an unpleasant thud a short distance from where I lay. I picked myself up in haste, then cast a glance at the blur that had knocked me prone. She lay there grumbling, a mound of feathers and fur, grey with a yellow mane.

I approached her and made to help her up.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

“Aw nuts! I almost had that one too! Why can’t I ever get it right?” she whined, accepting my hoof and coming to her hooves, “Um, Thanks!”

“Almost had what?” I asked.

“Oh, that landing… I’m not so good at landings, but I think I was going to make that one… I was so sure!” she cried.

“To be fair, if I had not gotten in your way, I think you would have as well. I’m sorry about that.”

“Oh, no, it’s okay. You didn’t know, did you? Nope, I’ll bet you didn’t. I’m Ditzy Do! Who’re you?”

“I am called Tempest, it is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Do”

I noticed her eyes, brilliant yellow but misaligned. I worried that the crash had upset her vision, but she didn’t seem to take any notice so I didn’t pry.

“Ditzy, please! You’re new here, huh? Welcome to Ponyville~! Are you going to be here for a while?”

I blinked and stared at her for a moment. She was quiet and started to look self-conscious as I stared. She averted her eyes and closed them. I blinked again and finally found my voice.

“I’m sorry, have I offended you?”

“What? Oh, um, no. Well, I don’t think so? You’re just… you’re staring at me awful hard and I know my eyes are kinda odd but-”

“Forgive me, it was impolite of me to stare… but it was not your eyes which drew my attention. It was your question, I hadn’t considered it before.”

She tentatively opened her eyes and looked up at me, blinking and waiting for me to continue. Or I assumed she was.

“I don’t really know how I came to be here, but I have not yet met anyone unpleasant since I arrived. I am glad to have met you, Ditzy, and perhaps we can meet again sometime?”

She nodded, and a smile drew across her face and lit up her eyes. She extended a hoof, and I looked at it a moment before I realized it was a gesture of friendship, and I shook her hoof.

“That sounds great! Maybe we can be friends, too! You’ll make lots of them around here, I promise!” she said with a comforting level of cheer in her voice.

“Thank you, Ditzy. You’ve made me feel very welcome here,” I replied.

She smiled brightly, then stepped back.

“Okay, I’ve got to get back to work now! It was nice meeting you, don’t be a stranger!” she said as she gave her wings an experimental flap and hovered into the air. She gradually gained altitude and left me behind. I watched her fly off, and despite the awkwardness of her landing, her take-off was quite graceful.

I took a deep breath and refocused on the path that lay ahead of me. The market seemed to be the closest to me, and so I chose to go there first. It took not more than five minutes' walk to arrive at the assortment of kiosks and tents set up around the square. I recognized the orange mare in little time and approached her stall quietly. Before I could address her, I found myself accosted by a much younger pony, yellow in color with a red mane held up by a pink bow.

“Howdy Mister! You want an apple dontcha? I know ya do! You can’t resist a Sweet Apple Acres Apple! No sir!” she announced. I retreated a single step, and heard the orange mare snort and then giggle.

“Land sakes AB! Yer gonna scare away the customers ‘fore they ever get to buyin’ anything that way!” the orange mare said through a chuckle.

The little yellow pony folded her ears back and nodded, and I looked down at her.

“Miss, I would like one of your Sweet Apple Acres Apples, please,” I said.

The little pony brightened quickly and marched over to the stall. She stuck her tongue out at the older mare, who rolled her eyes and smiled at me. I approached the stall proper and eyed the various treats she had on display. Pies, tarts, crisps, and crumbles all attacked my olfactory senses without mercy and I found my appetite was broken open.

“You have a fine selection here, Miss.”

“Applejack,” she said, tipping her hat and nodding at me.

“Miss Applejack, then. Thank you for your help earlier, I appreciate it.”

“Just Applejack, if ya please. Ain’t much fer formalizin’”

I nodded my understanding and amended myself accordingly. After that, a bright red apple was placed on the stall before me and the young pony spoke up again.

“That’ll be 1 bit!”

“Ah, um… Right,” I replied, digging my snout into the pouch around my neck and pulling out one of the gold coins. I hoped that this was a bit as I placed it on the wooden counter of the stall, and the little pony smiled proudly.

“See! Ah made a sale!”

“Sure shootin’ ya did, Sugarcube!”

“Thank you, Miss…?”

“Ah’m Applebloom.”

“Thank you, Applebloom.”

“Yer welcome! Come again anytime!”

I nodded and took the apple in my mouth. I raised a hoof to it and gently held it in place as I took a bite of it. It was truly tender and sweet, a wonderful apple the likes of which I cannot say I had ever tasted before that moment.

“So, stranger, you ain’t told us yer name yet!”

“Oh, Forgive me, that was rude. I am called Tempest.”

“Well, Tempest… You rememberin’ anything yet?”

“I remember nothing about my arrival here, nor how to read. I tried some magic with Ms. Sparkle, but I found that it was dangerous.”

Applejack blinked and stared at me.

“Ah, that is… I have been asked to avoid practicing magic until she can figure out what went wrong,” I amended.

Applejack simply shrugged and nodded at me, then elected for a slight change of subject.

“So, what’s yer plans for the day?”

“I was thinking to head to Sugarcube Corner, thought perhaps I could enjoy one of their treats,” I replied.

The orange mare took a deep breath through her nose and exhaled through her mouth before she spoke again.

“Reminds me… Reckon I owe Pinkie an apology…,” she said quietly.

I stared for a moment, then raised an eyebrow.

“Ah… A.B.!,” she called, and the younger pony turned her head in response, “Keep an eye on the Apple stand, would ya? I’m gonna go with this feller to Sugarcube Corner n’see Pinkie Pie.”

Applebloom nodded and smiled, trotting up to the stall itself and taking up a position behind the counter as Applejack trotted around and up to me.

“Uh, Ah hope ya don’t mind?” she said by way of an apology.

“Not at all,” I replied, “But you had best lead the way since I don’t actually know where Sugarcube Corner is.”

Applejack nodded and turned on the spot, electing to head east along the cobblestone and out of the market.

We walked along in silence for only a short while before Applejack sighed and began to speak to me.

“You sure ain’t a nosey fella, are ya?” she asked.

“I… what?” I replied.

“It’s just that… Just about any other pony would be asking why Ah needed to apologize to Pinkie Pie er what happened between us er somesuch… You ain’t asked no such thing. Been dang respectful.”

“Respectful is uncommon?”

“Nah, that’s not what Ah mean. Hm. It’s just that Ah’m bein’ disrespectful just barging into yer day like Ah am and ya aren’t tryin’ to pry into mah business. I think I was wantin’ that, honest truth.”

“You were wanting me to pry?” I asked slowly.

“Somepony to talk to about it, yeah?” she replied casually, looking up at me. I nodded my understanding.

“Very well, What happened between you and Ms. Pie?”

Applejack chuckled at first, then shook her head and smiled, looking straight ahead again as she spoke. “had a bit of a spat… See this here time ‘o year’s not the best fer me. Next month we’ll be celebratin’ my baby sister’s birthday and the day mama died all at once, again… and in three days, the day that daddy was gone.”

“I reckon Pinkie Pie had it in her head a party would help me to feel better, and Ah know she didn’t mean no harm by it. I lost mah temper and I had a good yell at her, said some things Ah shouldn’ta never said. I’m hopin’ she can forgive me, but then this is Pinkie Pie we’re talkin’ about. She don’t hold grudges, Ah don’t think she knows what a grudge even is.

I listened and nodded where appropriate. I stared ahead, walking side by side with Applejack as we spoke.

“Losing parents is very difficult, I know. Burying them is never easy to do, and saying goodbye seems almost impossible,” the words tasted off coming out, clumsy and disorganized, “I, ah, that is, I’m sorry for your losses.”

“Ain’t gotta get awkward around it,” she retorted quietly.

“I am… trying to relate, actually. I have buried many, I have had to say goodbye more times than I care to remember. I know the pain of it, and wanted you to know you weren’t alone.”

Applejack nodded in reply, closing her eyes for a moment and taking in a deep, shuddering breathing before she spoke again.

“Ah’m sorry too, that you’ve hurt like that…,” she said, quietly.

“It is no longer relevant,” I replied before thinking and pinched my eyes shut as soon as I realized how cold it sounded.

Either Applejack didn’t notice or she didn’t care, but when she spoke next it was about me.

“S’pose that’s why ya never smile?” she asked, approaching the topic with care.

“I never smile?” I replied, somewhat incredulous. It wasn’t untrue, though, was it? I couldn’t recall a moment since I had awoken when I had actually smiled, even if good things had happened and I had met some very nice individuals in that time. A smile is something that had remained stubbornly absent from my features.

“Jus’ sayin’... We’re headin’ on over ta see Pinkie Pie, and if’n ya think you’ll get away without smilin’ for that mare then you are sorely mistaken,” she said with no small amount of mirth. I blinked, unsure of her meaning but a little concerned nevertheless.

“So, what did you say to her?” I asked, cutting through the distracted talk and off-topic banter, but mostly just distracting from the topic of myself.

“Ah told her she didn’t have a lick of sense… What’d she know about this sorta pain? This kinda loss? Told her she was a dang foal and to keep her parties to herself,” she replied, looking down at the ground and closing her eyes. The look on her face spoke of the pain she felt inside for the words she had said to her friend, it was no small amount of guilt.

“All said while you are, yourself, in pain. While the words themselves aren’t excusable, they are understandable. I doubt this Pinkie Pie took much offense.”

Applejack shook her head and chuckled at the thought. I didn’t feel sure of what she found amusing, but a chuckle was a pleasant response and I was glad for it.

“Nah, yer right there… She prolly didn’t take much offense at mah foalish outburst, but that don’t mean it didn’t sting, right?”

“True, you are right.”

“Heh, sure am,” she said with a soft giggle that broke the tension very swiftly. Our continued pace brought us into the commercial district of Ponyville in minutes, and a tall pink building stood above the rest and seemed to glow and vibrate with a pent up and inexhaustible energy that invited everyone to join the fun. I was fascinated by this building.

“Come on then, it’s just there,” Applejack stated as she moved towards that very building I had first taken notice of. I followed her, the two of us breaking into a gallop and covering the small distance in little time at all. I found myself ahead of Applejack, and at the door before she was. I shrugged to myself and held the door open for it.

Applejack smiled at me and nodded her thanks as she trotted through into the building proper and I entered the building after her. The first thing I noticed upon entering was the heavy scent of sugary things permeating the air and threatening to chokehold anything unpleasant into non-existence. The second thing was the clean counters and display cases filled with cakes, pies, tarts, crumbles, or other confectioneries besides that all clambered for attention from tastebuds. A tall, lanky, yellow stallion with a message of orange mane under a paper hat stood behind a counter with a register and glared at the sight of Applejack.

Applejack, for her part, was tentative but determined as she approached the counter.

“Is Pinkie Pie here, Mr. Cake?”

The stallion looked down at her, frowning. He didn’t chase her out, which was good. He didn’t get a chance to reply before a blue mare with a pink mane came out of a door that led to a back room, kissed him on the cheek, and smiled at Applejack. Just like that his glare was gone, replaced by a small smile and no anger.

“Hello, Applejack,” said the mare, quiet and firm.