Chapter 14: Warming Up to AJ

(Dante POV)

Goddamn, this task took forever, but we did it. The whole fuckin orchard was harvested. Twilight, used her telekinesis to lift the apples from the tree to the buckets. Rainbow Dash took buckets and airlifted them to the barn. Rarity and Spike nursed AJ back to health while we harvested the apples. I did the heavy lifting by pulling the cart full of most of the harvest and Pinkie? Well...she led any pest that was eating the stray apples on the trees out of the farm.

I placed the empty cart outside the barn door and undid the harness on the cart. I wiped my brow and took a swig of Hard Apple Cider. I asked Big Mac if it was okay to drink them and he didn’t mind. The girls know how much I can drink before I get hammered. About 10 of the ciders are enough to give me a buzz and I’ve only drank 6, so I don’t feel anything amiss.

Applejack was awake for the past couple hours, resting in the hammock, drinking her pain off with my coat on the hanger next to her. I walked over to the girls to check on AJ.

“Hey,” I hesitantly said, “Are you feeling okay?”

“Not exactly 100% sugar cube, but thank you for helping me.”

“AJ, I know you have your pride, but you gotta know where to draw the line. If it affects your health, cognitive thought, and overall rational decision, you will need to reach out for help.”

Her head hung low as I lectured her, I could tell she knew she fucked up multiple times over a single day.

“I’m sorry everypony,” she said, “I was way in over mah head; I was a hard-ass about it and I should’ve reached out, but my pride got the better of me. I feel awful for everything and I feel like I don’t deserve forgiveness.”

“Applejack,” Twilight said, placing her hand on her friend’s shoulder.

“AJ, we’re your friends,” I reminded her, “We’re always a call away if you’re in a jam.”

“Thanks, Dante.”

“We need to look out for each other; you are the Elements of Harmony, the paragons of friendship. Equestria will be royally fucked if anything happens to us, and that’s putting it lightly.”

“Hey, I have an idea to cheer AJ up!” Pinks offered.

“Let’s hear it, I bet it’s something awesome like a good restaurant like McColt’s!” Dashie suggests.

“Again with the fast food?” Rarity cringes, “It’s very unhealthy and I’m on a diet.”

“They sell salads too, Rar.”

“But, if that’s what AJ wants, then I’ll have to consider putting the diet off for one night.”

“But what about the farmhouse here?” Spike suggested, “Granny Smith’s always the best cook and her apple pies are to DIE for!”

“Um, I was just wondering...if…” Flutters’ voice trailed off, catching my attention.

“Where would you like to go?” I asked her.

“Would the cafe work?”

“The banquet tables are reservation-only, darling,” Rarity pointed out, “I remember my cousin’s marriage banquet; he had to get one month in advance.”

“So that’s out of the question,” Twilight scratched “cafe” off her list.

“Uh, guys?” Pinkie cut back into the conversation, “I was thinking of sugarcube corner.”

“They have some good pizza,” I brought up, making eyes look in my direction.

“Is it always pizza, sundaes, and booze with you?” Dashie asked with a raised eyebrow.

“What? Can’t a guy have simple tastes?”

Dashie and Spike shook their heads while Rarity and Twilight rolled their eyes before going back onto the subject.

“So what’s it going to be AJ?” Twilight asked the puzzled farm mare.

“Ahm goin with Sugarcube Corner,” she concluded.

“I’m paying,” I said with a raised finger in the air, “Reason one, I still have reward money from the Ursa Minor incident and reason two; I want to be more like a gentleman.”

The whole group nodded and stated voices of unanimous agreement.

“Well,” Twilight said, “Are we ready to head out?”

“YES!” everypony said.

“Then let’s go!” Rainbow smiled, flying off like a shot bullet.

“You guys go on ahead,” AJ said, “Dante and I’ll catch up.”

The moment the group got out of eyesight, AJ pulled me into a hug.

“Thank you, Dante,” she softly said, burrowing her head into my shoulder, “What you said really meant something to me.”

“I meant it because, without you girls, I’m just a drunk that hunts demons,” I stated, “I’ve lost too many friends over the years and I can’t stand losing another one from pushing herself too far.”

Tears formed in her eyes, clenching me tighter.

“That’s how my dad died,” she choked up, “It was summer, while mah mom was pregnant with Apple Bloom. He was harvestin the apples from the orchard. It was the hottest day of the year. Mom tried to reason with him, bet he insisted on working through the heat wave, saying he’s tougher than refined steel. He collapsed from heat stroke and exhaustion. We called for a doctor to have him taken to the hospital, but...but...he was...dead on arrival.”

I held her close, fighting back tears.

“It tore mom up to the point she went into labor with Apple Bloom and she...she died during foal birth. I don’t blame her for mom’s death and I don’t blame dad for it all either.”

“He thought he could accomplish it all by himself and you were days away from the deadline?”

She quietly nodded at my answer, softly sobbing.

“It’s a good thing I met you while you were in this funk,” I said, choking, “If you were in a heatwave while pulling that stunt, you could’ve ended up like your dad. I’m surprised you lived through all those times you acted the way you did, but I’m glad we were able to put a stop to this before it got any worse.”

“I’m glad yer here, Dante.”

“Heh, you’re not the first; all of you girls’ praise make it hard for me to have a modest appreciation of what I have in life. Tell ya, what? The girls are waiting for us; dinner’s on me.”

“Alright; enough feelin sorry fer myself. From now on, if I need help, I’ll know which demi-demon manly stallion to ask fer help.”

I smiled and nodded in approval.

“Let’s go get some grub, yeah?”

She nodded and followed me off the farm.

As we arrived over to Sugarcube Corner, we spotted the pink apocalypse hopping in place. I swear; that girl is constantly in a sugar rush. Pinkie zipped over to us with a smile on her face to rival the Joker.

“So, watchas talk about?” Pinkie asked.

“I’m sure you know,” I told her, knowing that she knew thanks to her Pinkie Sense (trademarked).

“So, silly-nillies, everypony is inside, shall we have a good lunch?”

“Sure thing, Pinkie,” AJ nodded with a smile on her face.

We entered the little sweet shop to see our friends waiting in a round booth in the corner, the moment we were seen, we were greeted with warm hellos and hugs. I tried my best not to blush or bleed from the nose when I got hugged; I didn’t really want to be pervy right now, especially when a friend is in need of cheering up. Pinkie dashed off into the kitchen the moment AJ and I scootched into our seats. Seconds later, Pinkie returned to the booth with a double-decked cake of sorts. It was a yellow-colored cake with pink frosting on the outer bottom layer, adorned with marzipan fruits on the top. Just looking at this thing is making me curious.

“Since this cake is still in development, I was wondering if you guys could try this out before we finalize the recipe,” Pinkie explained.

“You know, just looking at it is making me curious, what’s in it?” I asked, wondering if the cake could weigh a lot. That could turn Rarity off, concerning her “diet.”

“Oh, that’s easy,” she said with a snap of her fingers, “Pink half-pound cake with a meringue mix for the inside, add the mascarpone cheese and decorated with marzipan fruits and frosting. We’re still developing the cake and there seems to be something missing, but nevertheless, it tastes good.”

“I’m curious,” Twilight pondered, “What is the name of this cake?”

“That’s the best part!” Pinkie added, “We don’t give our creations names until we complete the recipe and perfect it! But my bits are on a name I had an idea for, but I’ll save that for another day. Without any further ado, LET’S DIG IN!”

I took a bite of the cake and felt the flavor vibrate my body. The girls stared at me when I made a few funny noises.

“Are you alright, darling?” Rarity asked, “You made the same sound when you were in the V.I.P. room.”

My face grew flushed as I noticed a sly look from Dashie.

“Getting turned on by this cake, are we?” she said in a flirtatious tone.

“No, No!” I quickly said after I swallowed my mouthful, “It’s just delicious; that’s all.”

“I put a little extra something in that cake,” Pinkie explained, “Do you know what it is, Danni?”

I was afraid to ask, but my curious mind said NOPE.avi.

“What?” I said slowly.

“Aphrodisiacs!”

“Oh...my,” Flutters blushed.

The name made Twilight choke a bit on her drink, while Rarity looked at Pinkie with a surprised look on her face. Rainbow laughed so hard, she fell out of her seat and Applejack blushed a dark orange. I quickly covered my crotch the moment I noticed Pinkie staring at it.

“T-that’s a dirty trick!” I flustered, “No pun intended.”

After a few awkward moments, the drug wore off and everypony calmed down, the cake was gone and everypony seemed satisfied with the dessert.

“Y’know,” I said, “When it’s said and done, I think that this cake that your bosses are making will turn out amazing.”

“Thanks, Danni!” Pinkie gleamed, “I hope so because of the competition in only-”

Before she could finish her sentence, she started shivering violently. Her spastic twitching caused concerns from the whole group.

“What is it, Pinkie?” Dash asked, slightly sweating.

The front door was swung open and I saw Mayor Mare running over towards our booth.

“I apologize if I’m causing a disturbance,” she bowed, “But we have an emergency!”

I got out of my seat and approached her.

“What’s the problem?” I asked.

“I’ll give you the full details when we get to the town hall, but in short; There are a few dozen ponies missing and we need you to find them!”

I turned to the girls before heading out.

“Sorry to cut this short ladies, but duty calls.”

(Third Person POV)

On top of a rooftop across the street, a mysterious pony stood there with a slightly smaller acquaintance with him. She wore the same clothes as him and bore the same emblem on their hoods. The dark blue heart with holes. They watched as the front door of Sugarcube Corner swung open where the Mayor and Dante stepped out into the afternoon sun.

They kept their eyes on the two walking down the path to town hall before the female spoke.

“So this is the one,” she pointed out, “What’s HQ’s next move?”

“He will take care of this one.”

“Are you so sure?”

“He’s got an ace in his sleeve; best we should see how he will kill this next one.”

They both vanished in a bright green light with no trace of them left behind.

Author's Note

It seems that personal problems are a running theme for me.

Family disputes, mental problems and dealing with the fact that one of my friends from High School passed away from a drug overdose. I have no clue when or how the opioid epidemic will be resolved, but it's causing too much grief.

Anyways, enough negative emotions. Up next is "Back in the Game! A Date With Rainbow Dash!"