Apple Family Reunion

It was time for the Apple Family Reunion, and this year, Nick was in charge, of course, no one told him till the month before the reunion.

"What?! You're just now telling me this?!", Nick exclaimed, "I can't do this! Let AJ do it!"

"No way! I did it last year! I ain't gonna be doing this year too!", she denied.

"What? I always thought you wanted to do this kind of thing!", he said.

"That was before I found out how hard it was, and I've only done it twice! Besides, Granny wants you to do it, as a nice surprise for the parts of our family who haven't heard of you coming back!", she smiled.

"Don't worry, dearie, I already sent the invitations, you just have to plan the events!", grinned Granny, putting her hooves on his shoulders.

"Okay, I'll try. I want to have something EVERYONE will enjoy! Do we have a list of family members that are coming, or something?", he sighed.

"Right here, Nick!", Applebloom cheered, holding a long, LONG list, "Alright, there's Apple Fritter, Apple Bumpkin, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Red Gala, Caramel Apple, Baked Apples, Apple Strudel, Apple Tart, Apple Brioche..."

"All this is making me hungry, can we take a quick snack break?", Nick asked.

Applebloom glared before going on, "Apple Cinnamon Crisps, Apple Cider, Apple Cobbler, Apple Honey, Apple Munchies...Nick!"

"I'm sorry, that all just sounds so good! That's it! We'll have a big snack bar with everyone's favorite treats! Continue...", he sighed, sitting in a pool of drool, before he got his idea.

"Snack bar...got it!", she smiled, as she wrote his idea on a separate page, "Gala Appleby, Jonagold, Lavender Fritter, Peachy Sweet, Perfect Pie, Aunt Apple Brown Betty, Cousin Braeburn. Cousin Babs Seed, Cousin Goldie Delicious, Auntie Applesauce..."

This went on for an hour, until they were finally finished when Octavia got home from pre-school with the kids.

"What are you doing?", she asked.

"Planning the family reunion, excuse me for a minute, dear.", he smiled, kissing her cheek and headed outside.

Applejack watched in shock and awe as Nick set up the entire reunion in one day.

"I don't see what's so hard about this, AJ!", he grinned, skipping to the house.

The next month, before everyone showed up, Granny told Nick to hide in the barn, so as to surprise everyone.

When everyone came, Granny showed them to the barn, and opened the door, revealing Nick and his family, resulting in a big shout, "Nick!"

Everyone wanted to see Nick, they had missed him so much, that Big Mac had to quickly set up a "Hug the Braveheart" stand, just so everyone could hug him at least once. In fact, everything but the snack bar was put away, as everyone was more interested in their "Prodigal Apple".

"Nick! It's so good to see you! After all these years, we've really missed you, ya know!", Apple Fritter cheered, jumping on his back as Apple Bumpkin charged him with a hug screaming, "Nicky Wicky!"

"Your daughter is beautiful, Nick!",smiled Red Delicious, pulling Ananasrenette into a group hug with Golden Delicious.

"Yeah, she has that Apple Family Flare in her eyes, I like her!", agreed Golden Delicious.

"Thanks...I think...", grinned Ananasrenette.

"Awwww...they're so adorable!", Red Gala cooed, as she watched the kids play.

"Yeah, and they all have their father's eyes.", smiled Caramel.

"That one over there looks like Nick!", Baked Apples said excitedly, pointing to Tido, who was, once again, eating muffins.

"Braveheart, Tido Braveheart, please. It's dreadful when ponies say 'that one' , or 'the cutie pie over there', if you're going to talk about me, please do so with respect!", Tido groaned in his highbrow accent.

Everyone gasped, Apple Strudel broke the silence, "Awwww...he talked!"

"Do they all do that? Or is it just Sweet Little Tido?", Apple Tart asked.

"No, it's just him at the moment.", Nick smiled, having finally untangled himself from Apple Fritter and Apple Bumpkin, only to have more relatives cling to him.

"Awwww...that would have been cute.", Apple Brioche sighed.

"I can assume you're Braveheart's wife?", Auntie Applesauce asked, looking over Octavia.

"I'm his second wife, Octavia, his first wife, Ananasrenette's mother, died from a fatal injury in a train wreck.", Octavia explained.

"Oh my, poor Braveheart! I hope he's doing alright after all that!", Cousin Goldie Delicious exclaimed.

"When did he come back?", Apple Cinnamon Crisps asked Applejack.

"A couple years ago or so. We sent letters to everyone telling you about it, but I guess they got accidentally dropped in a lake by our mailmare.", Applejack sighed.

"Why did he leave?", Apple Cider asked, on her 4th glass of cider.

"Aww, you know he was real upset when Ma and Pa passed away, thinking it was all his fault.", she answered again with a sigh.

"What are their names?", Apple Cobbler asked, while she, Apple Honey, and Apple Munchies played with Tido's siblings.

"They're Doray, Mifa, Sola, and Tido.", smiled Nick.

The reunion lasted a whole week, before, as much as everyone hated to, it was time to say goodbye. The fillies and colts of the Apple Family really loved Nick, sobbing as they said their goodbyes.

"Hey...don't cry! I'll come and visit!", he told them.

"Ya promise?", a little colt sniffed.

"I promise.", he smiled, giving them all a big hug. Even the older ones cried.

"Now don't you run off again, ya hear, Nick?", cried Peachy Sweet, blowing her nose.

"I won't, Peachy.", he sighed, hugging her as she shook.

As Nick and Octavia climbed into bed at the end of the day, Octavia smiled, "I can't wait for next year."

"Neither can I...", Nick grinned, kissing his wife.