Secret

{Three Days Ago}

“Come on, we have to go around back,” Pinkie said as she bounced with excitement out of Sugarcube Corner.

Rainbow Dash silently followed her friend. Whatever Pinkie was up to, she sure was excited. Rainbow had seen excited Pinkie before. It wasn’t always a pretty sight; sometimes things just went too far. Like one time, when Pinkie  went on an overzealous pranking tirade. It took a river of tears from Fluttershy just to get Pinkie to realize it was time to stop. At least this time Dash would be there from the get-go to stop anything too crazy.

Pinkie led Dash to the back of the building. After fishing out a key from her mane, Pinkie unlocked the bulkhead and stood to the side. Dash went in, Pinkie following after and shutting the doors tight.

Dash stumbled at the bottom step, almost tripping over her hooves when she realized she was standing on the basement floor. “Ah! Pinkie, I can’t see anything. Where’s the light?”

“Opps. Sorry, Dashie.” Pinkie stood next to Dash and felt around for the light switch.

“Hey, watch it!”

“Sorry.” Pinkie giggled. “Hey, s-stop tickling! Ha-ha-ha-ha!”

“Pinkie, that’s my ear!”

“If I could just climb over…”

“What are you…”

With a click, the lights turned on. The two mares saw how tangled up they were with Pinkie barely balancing on Dash’s back and Dash’s tail somehow caught in Pinkie’s mane. They promptly fell over with a thud.

Pinkie stood and shook a bit of dizziness out of her eyes before helping her friend up. Dash stood and looked at the pink mare with just a hint of contempt. Any disdain faded as Dash looked into the face full of teeth that was Pinkie’s grin.

“You know, Pinkie, sometimes when you get really excited, your smile can be… kinda creepy…”

Pinkie laughed like that was one of the most delightful jokes she had ever heard. “Silly Dashie, smiles aren’t creepy, they’re fun!” Pinkie turned and bounced to the other side of the room.

“If you say so,” Dash muttered.

With Pinkie out of her face, Dash finally got a good look at the room. It was definitely a Pinkie Pie room. The walls were covered in bright colors. Stacks of streamers, confetti, party hats, and balloons sat in one area.  Two small tanks of helium stood next to three separate Party Cannons. Pictures that looked like a filly’s crayon drawings were scattered across one of the walls; calendars and lists of dates lined another.

The only thing that seemed out of place was a small area next to the stairs. Bags of flour lay on the floor. Spices, sugars, frosting, molasses, and various other such things were neatly organized on shelves.

The stairs they came down looked like the only way in or out of the basement except for a few small windows that had been covered up.

“So, what is all this?” Dash asked, trotting over to Pinkie.

“This is my super secret party planning room! The Cakes let me have it back when I was making the first Party Cannon prototype. They insisted that this was a much better place to test it than the kitchen upstairs and boy were they right!”

“Super secret party planning room?”

“Oh it’s okay, Dashie. I trust you to keep a secret. Besides, I super need your help with this one. We’re going to throw… the most awesome… super stupendous… biggest… bestest surprise party… for Applejack!” Pinkie said, jumping up and throwing confetti in the air.

Dash blinked a couple of times. “For Applejack? What for? I’m pretty sure it isn’t her birthday or anything.”

Pinkie giggled. “Nope. It’s not a birthday party, it’s a thank you party.”

Dash smirked. “A thank you party?”

“Yeah! Applejack’s been helping everypony for months now and she doesn’t even take bits for it! A thank you party is the least she deserves.”

Dash’s smirk turned into a full-blown smile. “Yeah! That sounds awesome! So what should I do?”

Pinkie pulled a large chalkboard over and drew a bunch of seemingly random X’s and O’s along with a rough drawing of a house labeled, Sweet Apple Acres. “Here’s the plan. I need Rainbow Dash, that’s you, running interference. Tomorrow, go and tell Applejack you want to talk again. The longer you distract her, the more time I have to talk to her family and get them on board. I’ll also need to find every other pony she’s ever helped. This operation will take a few days, at least, to pull off.”

Rainbow saluted. “You can count on me!”

“Good. For now, though, we need to enlist some help…”

{Present Day}

Applejack had some time to herself for once. Big Mac, for whatever reason, insisted she take time off from working and go into town for a while. She said she was fine, but Mac wouldn’t hear of it. “You need a break. You’re workin’ yourself to death.” Blah Blah Blah. Though he wasn’t really wrong about that.

There wasn’t exactly anything for her to do in town. There was no sign of Twilight, Rarity, or Fluttershy. The only pony left to try was… Pinkie. They had to talk at some point; Pinkie knew something, she had to. Though Applejack wasn’t about to go up and start yelling about it.

Applejack meandered through Ponyville, eventually making her way to Sugarcube Corner. She stood outside, staring at the front door. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the building, ready to go inside. As she reached out, the door opened from the inside and there in the doorway was her little sister.

“Oh! Hey, Applejack!” Applebloom said unusually loudly.

“Hey, Applebloom. Whatcha up to?”

“Uh, just stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“Sorry, can’t talk right now. I got, uh, crusading stuff to do today. Bye.”

“Wait…” Applejack said, but Applebloom had already run out of earshot. “Aw, whatever.” Applejack went inside Sugarcube Corner.

Pinkie stood behind the counter, wearing a big grin. “Goooooooooood morning, Applejack!”

“Mornin’, Pinkie.”

“What brings you here today?”

“Oh nothin’ really. Just, you know, takin’ a day off.”

Pinkie smiled a knowing smile before nonchalantly inspecting one of her hooves. “Oh? So, you have anything planned for the day?”

“Not really.” This conversation was going nowhere; Applejack needed to steer it on topic. “You know, it was my brother who said I should take a break today. Kinda odd for him. Don’t suppose you know anything, do you?”

Pinkie gulped, keeping it as subtle as she could, and kept her usual smile. “Me? Don’t be silly. Why would I know why?”

“Well, the two of you were havin’ quite a chat yesterday. Thought maybe you said somethin’ to him.”

“Oh, that. No… See, that was just, um… Mac just wanted a cup of flour.”

“Flour, huh? What for?”

“Uh, something about apple pies or something. I’m not really sure.” Pinkie felt a bead of sweat trickle down the back of her neck.

Applejack stared Pinkie down, but the party pony remained steadfast. Pinkie was a tough nut to crack, but Applejack had practice breaking some tough psychological shells with all the ponies she gave advice to. This case might need a little less subtlety though.

“Speakin’ of yesterday,” Applejack said, much to Pinkie’s relief. “I was talkin’ to Fluttershy before. She said she was lookin’ for Rainbow Dash and couldn’t find her. You heard anythin’ about that?”

Pinkie’s smile faded a bit.

“Seems kinda weird, right? It ain’t like Dash to just disappear for days.”

“I’m sure she’s fine though, right?” Pinkie asked, concern evident in her tone.

“Probably,” Applejack said before turning toward the exit. “Anyway, I don’t wanna hold you up any longer. I’ll probably just head back over to the farm.”

“The farm?! Why there?”

“I may be takin’ a break but I still got stuff to do, you know –” Applejack looked Pinkie in the eye “– hobbies. See ya later, Pinkie.”

“Yeah… See ya later, alligator.”

Applejack trotted slowly out of Sugarcube Corner and in the general direction of Sweet Apple Acres. After a short distance, she glanced inconspicuously from side to side trying to see behind her. Something glaringly pink in her peripheral vision stayed with her. Applejack furrowed her brow and smirked. Perfect; Pinkie had taken the bait.

Pinkie followed as close as she could behind Applejack, careful to stay out of sight. Applejack just couldn’t go back to the farm now, she just couldn’t; it would ruin everything! It was supposed to be Dash’s job to keep AJ busy, especially now. When Dash hadn’t reported back that first day, Pinkie sent Fluttershy to go find her. But she never thought Dash would still be missing.

Whatever Rainbow was up to, it was hopefully important. Now PInkie had to be the one to make sure AJ was in the right place at the right time. Maybe she wouldn’t go back to the farm right away. Maybe Pinkie could keep her off the trail without direct interference. Maybe they could still pull this off.

Applejack was, in fact, headed toward Sweet Apple Acres. But to Pinkie’s relief, she was taking her time with an indirect route.

Pinkie wondered what kind of hobbies Applejack had; she didn’t seem the type to even have a hobby. Between work, friends, family, and now her counseling, Applejack really couldn’t have had much free time on top of it all. That was all the more reason for this party to happen, though, and nothing would stand in its way.

Pinkie kept pace easily. Too easily. AJ moved slowly like she wanted to be followed, even taking extra time around corners. It wasn’t like the day before when Pinkie tracked AJ and Mac to the market. Then, she walked with purpose, quickly to her destination. Now it was more like she was wandering her way there.

Finally they came to Sweet Apple Acres. Pinkie bit one of her hooves nervously. Luckily Applejack didn’t go directly to the barn, or her home, or anywhere near it actually. She just went around the large property and out to a large field. It was pretty distant from the farm Pinkie knew.

The area looked like an old abandoned part of the farm. It was mostly grass with only a few withered trees and stumps that Pinkie could hide behind. There were a couple old buildings standing next to the Everfree Forest that looked like they were falling apart.

Applejack quickened her pace and entered an old barnhouse. Pinkie watched from afar, not quite sure what to do. She needed to keep track of Applejack for everything to go down right. But that wasn’t really doable if AJ was inside. She could go in and make up some excuse, maybe that would be easier.

After a minute of thinking and nervously trotting in place, Pinkie made up her mind; she peeked inside. She didn’t see Applejack anywhere, just an old barn with a few old bails of hay and a breaking down ladder covered in dust.

“Hello? Applejack?” Pinkie called as she entered the barn. “I’m on a break and thought we could hang out for a while. Maybe—”

Pinkie hit the ground with a thud when something fell on top of her. Before she could yell or talk or know what was happening, a wet rag was pressed into her muzzle. She struggled to no avail. A few short breaths through the rag and she passed out.

Pinkie slowly regained consciousness. She blinked profusely, trying to find even a small hint of light. Her muscles twitched as she tried to move, but she was tied up, hanging by her hooves, on a wall. Refusing to give in, she pulled and struggled at the ropes, but to no avail. Panic set in as her breathing quickened. Each intake of air brought a rancid odor, something she couldn’t identify.

“You ever have dreams, Pinkie?” a familiar voice asked.

It was Applejack. Pinkie could tell, even without sight. She relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.

“You ever have a nightmare you thought was real?” Applejack continued.

Pinkie giggled a bit nervously. “Okay. You got me. Ha ha, funny prank. You can let me down now.”

“This… isn’t a prank, Pinkie,” a weak voice said.

Pinkie’s eyes started to adjust to the darkness and she saw a figure hanging nearby on the adjacent wall. “Da-Dashie? Uh-ha! So this is where you’ve been.”

“Sometimes ponies don’t wake up from those dreams,” Applejack continued. “Sometimes they stay there, livin’ the nightmare forever.”

“Okay… You’re starting to scare me now.”

Applejack ran up to Pinkie, stood on her hind legs and slammed her right hoof on the wall next to Pinkie’s head. Pinkie flinched. The two stared at each other eye to eye. Applejack was missing her stetson. Her mane fell long and straight without its rubber band. There was a slightly crazed look in her eyes.

“You’re scared? Please, we both know the reason you’ve been followin’ me.”

“W-what?”

Applejack pulled away and sat down. “Still playin’ dumb huh? You must’ve figured it out. The missin’ ponies, Dash not comin’ right to ya like she always does after our talks. That was my mistake. I shouldn’t have taken Dash like that, but she just wouldn’t leave me alone! She just kept botherin’ me! She wouldn’t let up!”

AJ, fuming, hit one of Dash’s forelegs hard.

Dash winced in pain.

Tears fell from Pinkie’s eyes. “How can you do this?”

AJ calmed a bit and sat back down. “Chloroform. It’s funny, you read about it in books all the time. Never really thought it would work though.

“But that’s not what you meant is it? Still, it was easy. Way too damn easy. It started months ago when everypony started tellin’ me everything. They just kept comin’ to me and talkin’ and talkin’. It never ended! And was I ever allowed to talk? No! Not even my own family will listen. It’s just them and their stupid problems. ‘I don’t like my job.’ ’I don’t want to live at home.’ ‘I’m too scared to ask my special somepony on a date.’ ‘Will I ever get into the freaking Wonderbolts?!’”

Applejack glared at Dash for only a second. “And then it just happened. All at once. Like a parasprite that suddenly takes the town without warnin’. There was this one young stallion a while ago. He just would not shut up! I couldn’t even say one word. And he kept me there for hours. Hours! Just yammerin’ on about… I don’t even remember what. I couldn’t take it. And then… I hit him. I hit him again and again and again. Before I knew it, he was lyin’ on the ground, not breathin’.”

Pinkie was sobbing. No matter how hard she tried, the tears wouldn’t stop.

“It felt good,” Applejack continued, chuckling. “Just makin’ it all stop felt so good. I ditched his body in the Everfree Forest. I thought, at first, that would be the end of it, but time went by and ponies kept talkin’ more and more. I started wishin’ for that sweet feelin’ of freedom from it all. And then I did it again. I had a strategy this time though. Lucky for me, this old cellar isn’t used anymore; it’s too close to the forest. Nopony could hear them scream.

“Ha-ha! You would not believe the blood! I swear, sometimes it would look like I dyed my mane red. Can you imagine the look on Rarity’s face if I actually did that? She’d be all, ‘Oh goodness! What a fashion disaster! Ahh’.”

Applejack laughed. For a moment her laughter was the only sound in the room. Then, silence. The three mares stayed in the silence for a while, interrupted only by the occasional sob from Pinkie.

Applejack finally stood and walked to the door, retrieving her hat and hairband. “You best make yourself comfy, Pinkie. You’ll be here for a while.”

After locking the cellar doors behind her, Applejack stood for a moment and listened to the faint sound of her friend crying. AJ closed her eyes as if wincing from pain. She shook it off and walked away.

It was about time she got back to work. She tied her mane back, donned her hat, brushed herself off, and started the walk back to the farm. Something she liked about that old, open area, it was quiet. Nopony ever bothered going back there. There weren’t any animals making noise; even the creatures in the Everfree Forest stayed peaceful unless provoked.

Applejack looked at the clouds as she walked. Sometimes it just seemed perfect, even if it couldn’t last.

She reached the farm and realized that if she was going to be apple-bucking, she would need buckets. She headed for the barn and opened the door.

“SURPRISE!”

AJ jumped as streamers and confetti fell around her. “Huh? Wha—?”

There, packed in the barn, was everypony she knew. Her friends, family, ponies she counseled. The Cutie Mark Crusaders held up a giant drawing of AJ with the words, ‘Best Sister Ever!’ drawn underneath. Vinyl Scratch stood at the ready with her sound system in the back.

There were decorations everywhere including a large, ‘Thank You Applejack’ banner hanging from the ceiling. A table full of food stood on one side of the barn and a table full of gifts stood on the other.

Twilight walked over to AJ. “What do you think?”

“A— What?” Applejack stammered out.

“It’s a Thank You party. Pinkie and Dash have been planning it for days. We all wanted to thank you for everything you do, especially for talking with everypony when they need to.” Twilight looked around Applejack, checking to see if anypony was there. “I’m not sure where Pinkie or Dash are right now, though.”

Applejack just stood still, staring wide-eyed at all the ponies.

“Is something wrong?”

Applejack shook the shock off her face and smiled at her friend. “It’s nothin’. Just a bad dream.”