The Hat
She left me. After all we’d been through, she just left me.
I was tossed away with the rest of the refuse, like she had never wanted me all along. I knew this not to be true, kept telling myself that she was coming back, that it was all a mistake. I tried not to face the truth, but it was plain to see. I may not have eyes, but I see everything. I had long prepared myself for just such an occasion. It is the fate of my kind, we clothing. But still, I never imagined it would be so easy, so casual. It was like she hadn’t cared for me at all.
She even found a replacement right then and there. In less than a heartbeat, another hat adorned her perfect head, fitting just as snug as I once did. I admit more than twinge of jealousy when I saw them together, like they were meant for one another all along. I used to be that special to her. She couldn’t go anywhere without me. I was the friend she never knew she had, her silent companion.
She left me…my dear, sweet Applejack.
I remember when we first met. Her mother, my previous pony, had carried with me pride wherever she went. I remember the day she’d gone into labor. I had been sitting on the counter of the room, the nurse mare tending to her every need. I recall every cry, every exertion as she attempted to bring Applejack into this world. When the moment came, I remember swelling with pride and staring awestruck at the beautiful bouncing baby foal. She was mine as much as her mother’s. Sweet Celestia how I loved her. From the moment her mother placed me on her tiny head as if she knew of the special relationship that would develop between us, I knew where my destiny lay. It was with Applejack, this perfect creature.
My little pony.
I’d been a precious family heirloom, passed down from one Apple to the next. I’ve sat on so many heads that the scent of apples will forever be a part of my fabric, my being. The day Applejack was finally old enough to wear me properly, without me sliding over her eyes, she was just a filly, barely entering marehood. It was difficult at first, her mother having died not long before. But I carried within me a piece of each pony that wore me, a piece of their soul. Applejack, I think, knew this to be true. She could feel her mother’s spirit in me as sure as feel her blood coursing through her veins. When she put me on her head it was like having her parents there, the two ponies whom I’ve had so many wonderful times with. They were with me, and thus, they were with Applejack. We were inseparable ever since.
Oh, I remember those early days, before the tragic accident that claimed her parents’ lives. Applejack was ever the little firecracker. She was so small and rambunctious, always galloping this way and that, getting into mischief. Peace was a luxury in the Apple House when Applejack was awake.
And how her parents loved her for it. She, like her big brother before her, was the apple of their eye, their reason for living. The Apples loved their foals with every fiber of their being and I, being a part of that family, loved them in turn. I’ve watched entire generations come and go. I’ve attended birthday parties, cutsieneras, weddings, and funerals. I’ve been there for all the good times and the bad. I was a piece of history, and oh how I wish could talk, to tell the world the story of this wonderful e family of earth ponies.
Despite all the memories, all the heads I’ve sat on, I knew there was something special about Applejack. She was destined for things far greater than her parents or myself could ever hope for. I was there the day she met Princess Twilight Sparkle, the day she and her friends defeated Discord and Nightmare Moon. I’ve seen her battle timberwolves and bugbears and shadows and creature too foul to imagine…always brave, always charging into battle without the slightest hesitation.
This is what I treasured most about Applejack—her bravery. Such courage in the face of adversity! Of all the Apples I’ve had the pleasure to call my pony, none were more fearless or more reliable in a pinch than that stunning young mare. If there was one flaw in her it was that she was too modest. No…what am I saying. Her modesty was yet another trait I loved about her. She was the perfect companion. The best of all possible friends.
And then…she left me.
I understand that I’m old. I know that I’m all tattered and beat up, hardly the strapping furbishing I was the day I was made. Still…I did not expect to be discarded so easily. She didn’t even flinch, my dear Applejack, when Rarity took me off her head and disposed of me inside the trash bin. I’ve come to expect such behavior from the unicorn. She may love clothing, but she doesn’t see us as part of the family.
The Apples on the other hoof…I loved Applejack, just like I loved those who came before her and would have loved those after.
And she just left me.
Forgotten. Unwanted. Replaced.
It began to rain all of a sudden. NowI’m cold and wet. I lie here abandoned by the pony I had cared about more than any other. I am a family lineage. I know the story of a hundred earth ponies dating back to before the founding of Ponyville. I was there when it was first settled. I am a piece of history. Now history is all I am.
I had a family.
I had a companion.
No more.
She left me…just like that.
Goodbye…my little pony…
End
Author's Note
Colt Note: Hello there, everypony. This isn’t my first rodeo, as it were, into fanfiction. This is, however, my first FIM fiction.After watching “Made in Manehattan” it kind of bothered me how AJ just let go of her hat the way she did. Sometimes clothing is more than cloth and stitchings. It’s a part of someone’s character. You’d think at the very least, Rarity could have stitched it back together once they got back to Ponyville.
So this short story is in loving memory of Applejack’s hat, a silent character for four and half seasons. Rest in Peace.
