The Heart's Shell

“I can’t wait to see the rest of my friends again!” Pinkie happily squealed.

Pinkie Pie and Applejack with the rest of the Apple family were heading back to the train station to hop on the next train to Ponyville.

“Neither can I. I bet they’ve missed us for the few days we’ve been gone” Applejack replied.

“I wonder if anything interesting has happened since we’ve been gone”

“Who cares, I want to find out what Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo did for Hearth’s Warming. I did manage to get presents for them” Applebloom interrupted. She showed the presents to her sister.

“Why, Applebloom. That’s mighty fine artwork you have there” Applejack commented.

“What are they exactly?” Pinkie asked.

“They’re different ideas of cutie marks engraved in stone. I’m sure the others would love them!” Applebloom replied.

Pinkie and Applejack were confused.

“But don’t you guys already have your cutie marks?” Pinkie asked again. “I mean, I threw an entire Cute-ceañera for you two months ago!”

“Well yeah, I know. But these are different options for other colts and fillies that still need to get their cutie marks. Because after all, our special talents are helping other colts and fillies get their cutie marks. I had it especially engraved in stone because that was the only option I could find because face it. We were surrounded by rocks for 2 days” Applebloom replied. Pinkie Pie gasped.

“Presents! I completely forgot!” she squealed.

“Forgot about what?” Applejack asked.

“We promised the others to get presents too, but we didn’t have time to do that! Now we’re going into Ponyville with no presents for them!”

“Whoa, Pinkie. Calm down. Before we come and visit them, maybe we can stop in one of the Ponyville shops and get them something quickly”

“That sounds like a good idea”

The ponies jumped aboard the train. Applebloom, Granny Smith and Big Mac were sitting in spot, and Applejack and Pinkie Pie were sitting in another spot on the opposite side of the carriage. Pinkie was thinking. Something that she didn’t do often. She was looking at the rest of Applejack’s family with concern.

“Is anything the matter Pinkie?” Applejack asked.

“Applejack can I talk to you about something, in an empty carriage?”

“Uh, ok”

Applejack was confused as Pinkie pushed her into the next carriage along so they wouldn’t be heard. No pony else was in this one which was good for them.

“So, Pinkie. What do you want to chat to me about?” Applejack asked. Pinkie sighed.

“You know. Ever since I’ve known you, something has always been bugging me”

“Oh, and what might that be?”

“You know that in your family you have your granny, your big brother and your little sister right?”

“Yeah?”

“And in my family, I have my three sisters and my parents”

“Yeah?”

Pinkie sighed again.

“What’s bugging me is that I have never seen your parents before. I mean, where were they?”

Applejack froze. Her heart was beating rapidly.

“Oh, that’s what you wanted to talk about?” Applejack asked, forcing a smile.

“I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but, I really want to meet them at some point. You never talk about them at all, but if it’s a touchy subject then I can withdraw my question”

“No. It’s ok Pinkie. It’s not too touchy at all. In fact, that’s a pretty good question”

“It is, phew”

“You see, my parents travelled a lot. My father, Blue Core, was a blue stallion with a light blue mane. He was Granny Smith’s son. He got his talent with eating apples so quickly he could spit out the core in a second. He met my mother, Pink lady, which coincidently was another name for an apple. She had a purple coat with a light pink mane. She was good at advertising. Together, they started having a business together. Ponies were so impressed with their success that they got offered a full payin’ job. Then my mother fell pregnant with Big Mac, but she kept going with my father. Then they had me, and I hardly saw them.

‘Then, after I got my cutie mark, they were offered this huge job offer to sell apples all across Equestria. That’s when I never saw them again. Even to this day, they’re still selling apples in distant lands. They do write me letters and send me postcards every so often. And they take photos of their travels. But other than that, I haven’t heard what they sound like in a long time. They did say that they were sorry they couldn’t make it, and promised to do so next year. If they can finally take a break that is. But the truth is, I don’t know when I’m going to see my parents again”

Pinkie Pie looked sadly at the floor.

“I’m sorry about your parents. I mean having a job so busy they can’t even see you. I feel so sorry for them and you”

“That’s ok. But does that answer your question?”

“I guess. They must have really loved you, no matter what you did right?”

“Of course they did. I was an apple, and they were very proud of that. Why do you ask?”

Pinkie sighed again and stared out of the window.

“You see. I never really felt like I belonged in the pie family. We were a family that harvested rocks of course, but for some reason, I didn’t like it at all. The rest of my family didn’t feel the same way though. Every single day I was working at the rock farm I hated it. I didn’t know what the point was, harvesting rocks. I didn’t want that to be my destiny. But when Rainbow Dash performed her sonic rainboom, then I realised what I was supposed to do. What was my destiny; to make other ponies smile and laugh with me. But even after I threw that party for my family, they knew that they were destined to still harvest rocks. I thought deep down that they didn’t think that I would be good enough. That I got a cutie mark that wasn’t to do with rocks, it broke me inside. Were they going to treat me any differently because of that? Would they be disappointed in me? Lucky for you Applejack, your talent still has to do with apples. But, after I kept doubting myself, I ran away”

“You did what?”

“I ran away from my own family and found a place that would be worthy of my talent; Ponyville. But I had nowhere to stay. I was just a filly and I had run away from my own family. But then the Cakes took me in and looked after me to this day. They would be what you would refer to as an ‘adoptive’ family. But every single day, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go and visit my family. I was worried that they would be ashamed of me if I came across them again. It did take some courage until I finally stood up to them. And to make matters worse, the day I ran away was Hearth’s Warming Eve. I abandoned them just like that because I had so much doubt in myself”

“Pinkie Pie! Your family wouldn’t think any different of you if you were just being yourself. I bet they would have missed you when you ran away. After you brought laughter and smiles to your own home, you leave them just like that? Didn’t you think that they would miss you?”

“I know now that I regret running away, but at the time, I was scared. My family was really strict. I felt like I didn’t really belong”

Applejack walked over to Pinkie Pie and put her hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder.

“You should really appreciate your family. Because, like me, you don’t know what you have until it’s gone”

“I guess you’re right”

Suddenly, the train stopped in Canterlot. Pinkie perked back up to her cheery self again.

“Hey, Applejack, this is our chance!”

“Our chance for what?”

“Duh. Our chance to get presents for our friends! It’s not likely that they’ll be in Canterlot”

“Probably not”

“What do you suppose we do now?” Rarity asked Twilight. They had just walked out of the store that Madam Cleos was looking after. They had to find out who sent the watch, but they had no luck finding out in the end.

“I don’t know. It’s still bugging me that we don’t know who sent the watch or what wish Rainbow wished for” Twilight replied.

“I don’t think it matters that much, darling”

“But it does. Whatever Rainbow wished for must have made her happy. I just want to know what that is”

“We really shouldn’t be digging into our friend’s privacy”

“We aren’t; I just care about her safety. I’m worried about that magical force. I’m worried about everything”

“How could you be worried about everything?” a familiar pink earth pony said. It was Pinkie Pie and Applejack. Twilight and Rarity were both startled by their sudden appearance.

“Pinkie Pie, Applejack. What are you two doing here?” Twilight asked, surprised.

“Applejack and I were doing some last minute shopping in Canterlot for you guys. Then we were going to go on the next train back to Ponyville” Pinkie replied. “And what are you and Rarity doing here?”

“Oh, nothing really. We were just visiting” Twilight replied.

“That’s nice to ‘ear” Applejack responded. “The train to Ponyville doesn’t leave for another 2 hours. Maybe it would be nice if we hung out a bit”

“Sorry. But we’re in a bit of a…”

“We’d love to” Rarity interrupted. “I’d love to hear about your time at the rock farm and how the Apples and Pies got along”

“Sweet! Let’s go to a café and talk there!” Pinkie Pie replied pushing the other mares in the general direction of where the cafes were.

“I really think we needed to continue our research” Twilight whispered.

“Not really. We haven’t seen our friends in a couple of days. The research can wait” Rarity whispered back.

“I was really sad when the Apples were leaving, but then they came back because of a special surprise I left for them on the train. Then with their strength, they were able to help us carry Houlders boulder all the way up the hill! Then we decided next time we do that, we should deliberately toss it down then push it back up again! We’ll make an Apple/Pie tradition!” Pinkie Pie explained. Twilight and Rarity were stoked. They realized that the Apples and the Pies had to overcome their differences to fully enjoy themselves.

“That was a touching story, darlings” Rarity replied. “I’m so glad that things were ok in the end”

“Now that we’ve talked about what happened to us, why don’t you two tell us what happened whilst we were away?”

Twilight flinched when she heard that sentence. Suddenly Rarity and Twilight felt a bit uneasy.

“Oh no!” Pinkie responded. “Was there a Zompony apocalypse whilst we’ve been gone?” The other mares blinked.

“Not exactly, it’s not as extreme as that either” Twilight replied.

“What happened, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

“Well you see. We had the Hearth’s Warming party at Fluttershy’s cottage. Then we heard from Spike that there was a black shadowy figure coming out of Rainbow Dash’s fireplace. We went to check up on her, but she didn’t notice anything. But then something appeared out of nowhere. A watch. The next day, Rarity and I saw Rainbow Dash happy but we couldn’t figure out why. Then I came to the conclusion that the watch was to blame. So we went off to Canterlot to find more information about the watch. Madam Cleos told us that the watch has magical wishing powers and it wasn’t a pony who sent it. But we don’t know what Rainbow wished for or who sent the watch. And that’s why we were here” Twilight replied.

“So let me get this straight. Rainbow got a watch for Hearth's Warming, and you two were in Canterlot trying to find out who it was sent by and what wish she made from it?” Applejack asked. Twilight and Rarity nodded their heads in agreement.

“And you said what she wished for made her happy again?” Pinkie asked.

“That’s correct” Twilight replied.

“I think I might have a slight idea of what she wished for” Applejack responded.

“You do?” Rarity asked.

“Remember why she was sad in the first place? I’m thinking that that same thing has made her happy” Applejack replied.

“That makes no sense” Rarity responded. “How can something that had made her sad make her happy again?”

“Not the actual pony, but the circumstance. And being in that same position myself, I know what that feels like. But unlike Rainbow, I can never have the happiness she has”

“Stop talking in riddles, Applejack!” Twilight interrupted. “What exactly do you mean by that? The circumstance? Do you know what Rainbow could’ve wished for?” Applejack thought about it for a second.

“Well, ya see Twilight” Applejack started, but hesitated. She suddenly heard screaming in her mind. It was the voices of a stallion and a mare, falling to their deaths. Quickly, she put her hooves to her ears to block out the internal noise.

“Applejack? Are you ok, darling” Rarity asked. Applejack couldn’t hear anything else now, just those screams, and only she could hear them. Then Applejack shuddered and gently put her head on top of her arms.

“Applejack? What’s gotten into you?” Twilight asked, trying to comfort the shaking mare.

“Mum…. Dad…. I’m…. Sorry” Applejack eventually uttered. Twilight and Pinkie were confused, but Rarity knew exactly what was going on.

“Applejack, what do your parents have to do with Rainbow Dash?” Rarity asked, but she was not successful in getting a response.

“She must still be sad about her parents and how they never see her because they’ve been travelling a lot because of their job and they still are” Pinkie responded.

“What?”

Then Applejack lifted her head, tears were coming out.

“Y’all don’t understand!” Applejack shouted, she put her head back into her arms “you’ll never understand what I’m going through. Therefore, you’ll never know what Rainbow Dash is going through”

Rarity, Pinkie and Twilight looked at Applejack with concern.

“Come on, Applejack” Twilight finally said. “Maybe we should head back to Ponyville now”

Applejack wiped the rest of her tears away.

“Yeah. Let’s do that” she sniffed.

“Enough crying Applejack, we want Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash to see you smile when you get to Ponyville” Pinkie Pie replied.

“That’s right. I don’t know what came over me” Applejack replied back.

The four mares happily made their way to the train station. Their train to Ponyville wasn’t leaving for another 15 minutes, but they noticed that another train had just entered Canterlot from Ponyville. Two mares came off the train. It was Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, and they looked worried. Rainbow had Tank in her bag. They looked like they were in a rush. The others noticed this too and ran directly towards them.

“Fluttershy, what are you doing here?” she asked. Fluttershy hung her head trying to catch her breath.

“I have some bad news” she said. The ponies’ smiles disappeared. They knew whatever she was going to say couldn’t be good. They noticed that Tank was with Rainbow Dash when he was supposed to be hibernating. Of course that would cause suspicion for Twilight. But whatever Fluttershy had to say had to have been about Tank and why he wasn’t hibernating.

Maybe, Twilight would finally uncover what happened to Tank and if he was the reason Rainbow Dash was so happy. But whatever that watch did, Twilight thought, now it has backfired. Something has gone wrong…