Secret

There is a time in everypony’s life when she is told something that should not be repeated. Words and ideas that need to be said but can’t be. Many ponies are unable to keep such things all to themselves. Perhaps it’s the knowing something others do not, or the feeling of liberation when telling, but all too often telling a secret is not a question of if, but  a question of when.

Some consider keeping a secret nothing more than a form of lying. For one mare, a lie is something despicable, something reviled that simply should not happen. But as she has come to learn, a lie and a secret are not the same. Secrets can be kept without the need of a lie; rather, lying only made it easier to keep the secret.

Applejack became, slowly at first, a keeper of secrets. Ponies could trust her word like nopony else. That sweet release that came with talking about their problems was always met with a kind, non-judgmental smile.

At a glance she didn’t seem the type to play counselor, and maybe at first that was true enough, but the kind of release that comes from talking about one's problems is a self perpetuating thing. All it took was a few ponies confiding in her and soon half the town wanted a private session.

Applejack sat in her family orchard. A red maned mare named Roseluck with a cream coat and a flower cutie mark sat in front of her. They were alone, nothing but apple trees surrounding them as they talked.

“...So I guess what I’m asking is... What should I do?” Rose asked.

Applejack adjusted her hat and breathed deeply. “Well, if you really feel like you’re suffocatin’ with your family around all the time, move. I mean, you are definitely old enough to live on your own right?”

Rose shifted her weight and fidgeted. She looked to the side of Applejack, not wanting to meet her eyes. “I–I guess... Yeah I know I can move out but...”

Applejack smiled and put a hoof to Rose’s shoulder. “Listen, Sugarcube, if you’re worried about livin’ on your own, don’t be. You’ve got friends to help you; you won’t be alone. Besides, you don’t have to move far away or nothin’. If you still want to be close to ‘em you could probably find someplace nearby, maybe even next door. Then you can have your space and your family.”

Rose smiled and, after a moment of silence, stood. “Thanks. That really helped.”

Applejack stood and brushed some dirt off her legs. “It’s no big—”

Rose hugged Applejack, cutting her off. “Really though. Thanks.”

Applejack put a hoof over Rose and patted her on the back a couple times. Rose broke the hug and waved goodbye as she walked away. Applejack kept a smile on and waved as she watched her friend leave.

Applejack let her smile fade once Rose was out of sight. She sighed, turned, and walked toward her family's barn. A bead of sweat fell over her face. She quickly lifted her hat and wiped the sweat away. Several barrels full of rainwater were grouped together just outside the barn. Applejack tossed her hat aside, lifted one of the barrel lids, and splashed the water on her face to cool off. Though she knew it wasn’t really the heat that was making her sweat.

“Hey, AJ!” a voice called.

Applejack looked around. There was nopony there. The voice was close but Applejack couldn’t pinpoint a location.

“Up here.”

Applejack craned her head straight up, squinting to keep the sun out of her eyes. Rainbow Dash’s head peeked over the roof of the barn. Dash smiled and waved before jumping off the roof, floating down, and landing next to her friend.

Applejack wiped her face to dry off. “Mornin’, Dash.”

Dash mindlessly kicked one of her forelegs against the dirt. “So... whatcha up to?”

“Well I was tryin’ to get some work done. A lot of ponies have been wantin’ to talk today, though.” Applejack firmly placed her stetson back on her head and adjusted it.

Dash rubbed the back of her neck and forced a smile. “Heh-heh, yeah. I bet that kinda gets annoying after awhile huh?”

Applejack smiled coyly and looked her friend right in the eye. “You need to talk, Dash? Again?”

Dash smiled wide in response.

Applejack chuckled and started walking into the secluded barn. “Come on then, we can talk privately in here.”

Dash trotted happily after her friend.

A stallion awoke to a sharp cry of pain. Not his own cry, another pony somewhere near him. The cries were muffled and continued in short bursts, each one accompanied by some kind of bludgeoning noise.

He was in a dark room, too dark to make out any useful detail. Only a few flickering candle lights kept the stallion from being totally blind. He tried to get up but found that his limbs were tied down, each one pulled by ropes in a different direction. A rope around his neck and one around his tail prevented any movement as he lay, stomach down, on the floor. He tried to yell, but something in his mouth gagged him and stopped his voice.

The stallion’s eyes darted back and forth. He started hyperventilating through his nostrils. He still heard the smothered screams next to him. His whole body started shaking with little tremors. What was happening?! Where was he?! Why was he here?!

The screams stopped. There was no sound in the room except for the stallion’s own labored breathing. A hoof clopping against the floor made the stallion’s eyes widen. Another clop. And another. They came slowly, but grew louder with each step.

A hoof on his spine, just below his neck, made the stallion jump. His captor leaned in. Their heads were right next to each other but he couldn’t discern a face. All he could see was a long, straight, light-red, mane draped over his eyes.

The captor whispered something in his ear. He was too panicked to understand what was said, but he did understand one thing, the voice was female. It was a mare that kidnaped him.

She lifted her head away and put all her weight down on the stallion’s spine. He cried out, mimicking the muffled screams he heard before, as his backbone cracked. The mare twisted her hoof, pressing deeper. Tears rolled down the stallions face through closed eyes. The mare waited, letting her victim sob and struggle to breathe.

Questions were all that came to the stallion’s mind. Who was doing this?! Why?! Did he do something wrong?! Was this all a sick joke?! He wished he was a unicorn or a pegasus, maybe then he’d be able to get out.

These thoughts were interrupted. Something was poking his back; something sharp; a knife. His eyes flung open, pupils shaking with fear. He clenched his jaw on the gag as pressure slowly built on his back against the tip of the knife. Finally, the knife broke the skin. It slid into his body.

The stallion thrashed around with a burst of adrenaline. That only made things worse. The ropes held him tight. Each jerking motion only served to drive the knife farther in. He could feel it puncture his lung. He tried to take a breath, but only felt pain. He coughed. A small amount of blood seeped through the gag. Then everything went black.

Rainbow Dash flew through the air, a smile on her face. She flew more for the fun of it than to get anywhere, taking her time to feel the wind in her mane. Right then, nothing could make her feel down. She was, quite literally in fact, high as a kite. Talking her problems out with Applejack had that effect on her. It had that effect on everypony, really.

A sudden grumbling in Dash’s stomach broke her trance. She stopped and hovered, rubbing her belly to try and sedate the hunger pain. With that plan failing, she looked around for the nearest place to grab a bite. Why didn’t she think to bum an apple while at the farm? No matter, there were plenty of places to go for food.

Sugarcube Corner. Dash wasn’t really in the mood for sweets but a blueberry muffin sounded good. It was also a good excuse to visit more of her friends.

Dash walked into the shop. A bell above the door rang. Pinkie Pie bounced into the front of the store and widened an already big smile when she saw Dash.

“Hi, Dashie! Wow, you have the most perfectest timing ever! I was just thinking about something and I thought ‘Hmm, I should go look for Rainbow Dash, I bet she could help me,’ and here you are!” Pinkie closed in on her friend, inching her face closer until their muzzles were almost touching. “So, you wanna help me? Wanna? Wanna? Wanna?”

Dash pulled her head back and walked around Pinkie. “Uh, yeah, sure thing. But can I get some food first? I’m kinda hungry.”

“Sure.” Pinkie skipped back behind the counter and started pulling food options out. “I’ve got freshly baked cupcakes. Or how about some yummy chocolate-chip-banana-nut cookies. Or maybe a strawberry truffle cake.”

Dash looked at her options with disinterest.

“Hmm,” Pinkie said, rubbing her chin. “Oh, I know! How about my new Extreme Sweet And Sour Chimmy-Cherry-Chonga With Hot Sauce.”

Dash raised an eyebrow. Even for Pinkie that one sounded a little odd, then again maybe it could work if you liked hot sauce. “Uh, maybe next time, Pinkie. I’ll just have blueberry muffin.”

“Okey dokey lokey.” With a quick duck and bob, Pinkie produced a muffin and set it on the counter. “That’ll be three bits.”

Dash grabbed her morsel and took a bite. “Thanks. Put it on my tab.”

Pinkie pulled out a slip of paper from the cash register, grabbed a pencil, and marked the price down. “Let’s see… carry the one, divide by pi, multiply by the quantum speed of an aerodynamic rainbow, and you owe… fifty-six bits?! Geez, Dashie, you know you have to pay sometime right?”

Dash smiled nervously. “Heh, is it that much already?”

Pinkie narrowed her eyes and glared skeptically at Dash.

“Don’t worry I’ll pay!”

Pinkie narrowed her eyes further.

“Really. I’ll have it for you the next time I come by, promise.”

“Pinkie Promise?”

“Pinkie Promise.”

“Okey dokey,” Pinkie said, snapping back into a cheerful grin. “Hey look, it’s break time. Lets go eat together.”

Dash sighed lightly, a bit relieved that Pinkie wasn’t angry or anything. She followed Pinkie into the back of the store and sat at a table. Pinkie grabbed a bag out of her refrigerator and unwrapped it. Apparently her lunch was one of the Extreme Cherry-Chongas she was talking about and, from the way she proceeded to douse it in hot sauce, the name seemed perfectly suitable.

Dash wolfed down large bites of her muffin taking no time to savor any of it. The hunger from in her stomach demanded to be dealt with immediately.

“Whoa, slow down, speedy pants,” Pinkie said. “You don’t want to choke on it!”

Dash gulped down what was in her mouth and took a break from chewing. “Sorry. I haven’t eaten anything today, I was sorta busy this morning.” She took a sip of water to wash down the muffin.

“Talking about stuff with Applejack?” Pinkie said, nonchalantly taking a bite of food.

Dash coughed on her water. “Wha— how’d you know?”

Pinkie put down her Cherry-Chonga and giggled. “Silly Dash, you always come here for food after talking with AJ. It’s like a weekly thing now. Though we should really eat together more often like this.”

Dash’s face contorted in thought. She didn’t remember going to Sugarcube Corner specifically after every talk. Then again that would explain her racking up a bill so fast without realizing it. Was she really that predictable?

Dash rubbed the back of her neck and focused her eyes on something uninteresting to the side. She smiled awkwardly and shifted her body slightly.

“Aw, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Dash,” Pinkie said, noticing her friend’s sudden uease. “Lots of ponies talk with AJ.”

Dash quickly straightened her posture. “I’m not embarrassed.” Though Dash wasn’t really sure if that was entirely true. She kept up appearances anyway. “So I guess you talk to her too, huh?”

“Me? Oh, no no no,” Pinkie said shaking her head. “Well, I mean, I do talk to her, but not like, talk to her talk to her. She already helps so~o many ponies, I wouldn’t want to bother her. Besides, I’m good on my own.” Pinkie wore a big toothy smile to make her point clear.

It was a little surprising to hear that, especially from a pony who likes to talk as much as Pinkie Pie. Talking with Applejack really was one of the biggest stress reducers for a lot of ponies. How Pinkie managed her stress on her own and never once let it show to anypony seemed like such a miracle. Whatever Pinkie’s secret to unparalleled happiness was worked for her to an almost insane degree. That thought was enough to bring a grin to Dash’s face; Pinkie’s happiness was kind of infectious that way.

“So what do you two talk about anyway?” Pinkie asked before taking a big bite of cherries.

Dash’s grin faded. She remained silent.

Pinkie waved her forelegs in the air nervously. “Oh, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to! I was just curious but if it’s a secret I totally understand!”

“Actually, have you heard the rumors about the missing ponies?”

A rare, non-smile expression formed on Pinkie’s face. “Missing ponies?”

“Yeah. They say there’ve been a few ponies who just disappeared and nopony knows where they went or why.”

“Hmm, maybe they just went away on vacation.”

“Yeah... maybe.”

The pair ate the rest of their lunches in silence.

Dash broke the silence after swallowing the last bite of her muffin. “So, what was that thing you needed help with?”

Pinkie looked up at her friend and smiled. Her toothy grin grew to an almost creepy extent. “Come on, I’ll show you. It’s in the basement.”