Unlikely Hero

With an exhausted sigh, Tim sat down on the large oak stump that the family used for splitting firewood next to the old wood shed behind the farmhouse. With two hands, he turned the ax over in his hands, looking the blade over, staring at its dull, rusted finish. The cool night air chilled his skin through his sweat soaked shirt as a soft breeze filtered through the orchard behind him. He had no clue how long he had been swinging the ax, splitting the enormous stack of firewood he discovered on his long, slow walk around the acreage. He turned to the newly split and stacked rows of wood, stacked as high as he was tall and filling the shed to capacity. Running out of room under the shed, he had started stacking rows along the sides and back of the small building- if there wasn’t two winter’s worth of wood split and stacked there now, there was three. He continued to look at the ax blade, his mind going back to the thoughts he was trying to avoid. He sighed again, the events of earlier in the evening replaying in his mind…

After a mere second or two of feeling the farm girl’s lips on his, his eyes shot open and he put his hands to the woman’s shoulders, gently pushing her away from him. She pulled away and opened her eyes as well, a tinge of fear tainting her sparkling, emerald orbs. Applejack’s eyes darted back and forth as she gazed down into Tim’s and she looked down in worry at the man.

“Ah’m… Ah’m sorry… Ah just thought that ya… Ah mean we,…” Applejack moved her hand to her hat, picking it up and slowly putting it back atop her golden blonde hair. She rose and backed to a corner post of the ring, raising a hand and covering her face, shaking her head back and forth. Tim stood as well, running a hand through his short hair before turning his face away from Applejack, starring at the far wall and putting a hand to his chin, gripping his beard firmly and stroking it in thought. His mind was going at full speed and he still could not process what exactly just happened. Yes, he felt something when it came to the amazon of a farm girl standing across from him- the way she carried herself, her work ethic, her strength, the way her and her family had took him in and cared for him, her looks… He now turned to face her, seeing her hanging her head, one hand over her face and one hand resting on her firm, muscular hip. He looked her image over and exhaled hard through his nose; from the top of her Stetson-topped head to the tips of her unpainted but manicured toes, he found the woman beautiful; he couldn’t deny that every curve of her body, each freckle dotting her skin, the sway of her hips and the sound of her voice drew his attention to her. But something inside him, inside his heart, wouldn’t let him continue with the kiss.

“Applejack, I-“ he began, only to be interrupted by the woman quickly walking up to him, gently resting her hands on his shoulders and looking into his eyes.

“Ah didn’t mean ta push myself on ya like that… Ah aint sure what came over me. After all ya said at Twi’s place an’ us talkin’ by the pond an’ ya takin’ mah hand an’ walkin’ back to the library, Ah… Ah just… Hell, Ah dunno what Ah was thinkin!” She let go of him, turned and walked away, crawling out the ring through the ropes and back to the couch, picking up her boots in one hand and bringing the other back to her forehead. Shaking her head, she made her way to the barn’s door, pushing it open and taking a single step outside.

“Please, don’t think ill of me, Tim… Ah’m sorry.” She said softly as she walked out of the barn, leaving the door hanging open, letting the last bits of light from the setting sun fall onto the gym’s floor. Tim stood there for minutes that seemed like hours before climbing out of the ring, pulling on his boots, shirt and hat before exiting the building, walking in the opposite direction of the house.

Tim then stood from his seat and turned, forcibly swinging the ax downward, embedding it deep into the top of the stump. Kicking the few scraps of kindling and bark that remained of the now split pile of wood; he began to walk again, this time heading around the house and down the path that lead off the farm. He slipped his hands into his jean pockets and slowly made his way along the path towards the main road into town. He once again got lost in his thoughts, both of the present and the past, as he walked with no real destination in mind.

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The oranges, reds and pinks of the rising sun greeted Tim’s eyes as he found himself walking past the ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ sign at the edge of the small town. He looked around, noticing very few others out at this early of an hour getting ready for the day. Just down the road a short ways, he saw what appeared to be a uniquely designed bakery; the building reminded him of a giant gingerbread house and the smells he could now pick up on the breeze were a delicious, blended aroma of all sorts of baked goods. Walking closer to the sweet smelling building, he noticed a trio of figures moving about inside, apparently getting ready for the morning crowd. Alongside a tall and slender man with brown hair jutting out from under a small chef’s cap and a short, plump woman with swirling, two-toned pink hair wearing a fluffy blue dress, he saw a familiar bright pink blur bouncing around the room as she set out tray after tray into the glass display cases. As Tim neared the door, the woman in the blue dress noticed him and smiled, walking to the door and flipping the ‘closed’ sign to ‘open’. Pushing the door open, she waved to Tim and called to him, “Welcome to Sugarcube Corner! Come on in, we’re just opening…” Tim shot the woman a brief smile as he stepped into the building.

“Heya, Tim! It’s sooo good to see you!” Pinkie Pie said as she ran up and wrapped the man in a short but tight hug, not even giving him a chance to take his hands out of his pockets. As the girl let go of him, Tim gave her a half-hearted smile and nodded. Before he could open his mouth to greet her in return, the girl quirked a brow up at him and put her face directly in front of his, looking up at him and staring hard into his eyes. She looked back and forth from his left eye to his right and back again multiple times, squinting her bright blue eyes hard at him as if she was studying him. She pursed her lips and slowly backed away from Tim as he gave the girl a questioning look. Pinkie the turned abruptly, grabbed two pastries from a nearby tray and handed them to Tim, locking eyes with him once again.

“Mr. and Mrs. Cake! I need to step out for a sec and talk to my friend here. We’ll be right back!” With that, she grabbed Tim’s arm and began to pull him behind her out the door as the man and woman working the counter simply smiled as they waved the pink haired ball of energy off. “Okay, Pinkie!” they shouted in unison as the door of the bakery closed behind Tim and the weird acting girl.

Out on the street, Pinkie Pie continued to pull Tim along away from the building and further into town. After a couple dozen feet or so, she stopped and turned, standing directly in Tim’s path and stared up at him again, her eyes now serious and piercing. Without looking down, she took one of the pastries from the man’s hand and brought it to her mouth. Taking a big bite out of what turned out to be a cheese Danish, she never took her eyes off of his as she slowly chewed and swallowed. “What happened, huh?” the girl said as she took another bite of her breakfast and put a hand on her hip.

Tim shook his head a bit in surprise at the pink haired girl. For someone who seemed so young and carefree the last time he saw her, she now looked at him with what seemed like intelligence and determination beyond her years. Tim blinked at her a few times and shook his head, not knowing how the girl knew that something was deeply troubling him. He knew he had to look like hell- he had been up for a little more than 26 hours and had spent the entire night walking and chopping wood. Thinking on it for a moment, it must have been written all over his face that something was bothering him. He looked around and saw a bench just past Pinkie.

“Well, let’s take a seat and I’ll tell you what’s up.” He said to the girl as he walked past her. She nodded and followed him, the pair taking a seat on the bench together. Pinkie turned in her seat a bit, crossing one leg over the other and facing Tim, continuing to eat her pastry. Tim looked down and took note of the Danish in his hand. How this girl knew he favored blueberries, he didn’t know, but he took a bite and chewed the delicious morsel. It was probably the best tasting pastry he had ever had the pleasure of biting into. Tim and Pinkie finished their treats, and both turned to look at one another. Pinkie raised a brow as Tim sighed, thinking of where to begin this conversation. Deciding to just bite the bullet, Tim took the route of telling the short and simple version.

“After dinner last night, me and Big Mac went out to their barn-turned-gym and boxed for a little bit. Then Applejack showed up… Then we were alone… Then she kissed me… And I didn’t kiss her back.” He looked down into his hands. “Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to- damn, I really wanted to- but I just couldn’t. Things got a little awkward and she left. I walked around the farm a bit, found a few things to kill some time an’ try to clear my head, and then I ended up just walking again and found myself in town. Now I’m sitting here with you. That was a great Danish, by the way… Blueberries are my favorite.”

Pinkie smirked a bit, nodding her head at Tim. “I thought you were a blueberry kind of guy… and I knew something happened between you and AJ…” she closed one eye and tapped her temple with her index finger. “Pinkie Sense- a blessing and a curse,” she smiled before shifting in her seat. “So, ya didn’t kiss AJ back ‘cuz you still love your wife an awful lot, right? And it felt wrong, even though its super-duper obvious you two go together like sprinkles and cupcakes, Riiight? Aaaaand you’re worried you’ll let her down if you do get closer to her, Riiiiight?” With each sentence she spoke, the girl leaned closer and closer to Tim, and now Pinkie Pie was leaning her face real close to Tim’s, a brow raised and one eye opened surprisingly wide, starring the man down. He had tilted himself as far away from the girl as the bench would let him and was staring back at the girl wide-eyed. He put a hand to her shoulder and gently pushed her back to her side of the bench. Sitting back up more comfortably, he removed his hat at rubbed his head.

“Y-yeah, pretty much.” He said, putting his cap back on and crossing his arms in front of his chest. He looked at the pink-haired detective and shook his head slightly. “Ya know, I didn’t really come here with plans on talking to anyone about it… I aint sure how you figured all that out like that, but ya hit the nail on the head, Pinkie.” He looked up at the now blue sky, the morning sun warming the cool air. He sighed, his eyes catching sight of a stray, wispy cloud now floating into view. “I do think Applejack is something else, and I am worried that I might let her down in some way if I let myself get close to her. I still miss my wife something fierce, but when I look at Applejack, it stirs up something deep down inside of me. I hadn’t meant to lead her on or nothin’ and I sure as hell didn’t have any plans of us kissin’,.. Damn it, Pinkie, I feel like shit after seein’ her react the way she did after all that last night…” he shook his head, still looking up at the sky. “But I aint just worried about letting her down, I’m worried about letting all yall down… This trip coming up, tryin’ to help yall track down Luna and Celestia, figuring out who is behind all of it…” Tim grunted and looked back to Pinkie Pie, who was listening to him intently. “It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything like this, and I’m nervous ‘bout it all. And with this situation with her thrown in on top of everything, It’s making things worse.”

Pinkie Pie nodded, closed her eyes and thought for a moment. She reached over and patted Tim on his shoulder. She opened her bright blue eyes, looked to Tim and smiled. “I got faith in ya, Tim!” she exclaimed, her shout a little louder than expected, shattering the tranquility of the peaceful morning. “I listened to you at the library, ya know,… Sounds to me there isn’t anything you can’t handle, be it big ol’ meanies or little ol’ Applejack!” she laughed a bit at her own comment, causing Tim to raise a brow at her. “There’s something inside you that led Twilight to you, and I know that there’s something deep inside that rough and tough exterior of yours that knows it, too. I can sense these things, and the Pinkie Sense doesn’t lie!” She smiled wide and sat taller in her seat, beaming with confidence in her statement. Tim just shook his head again.

“I’m glad one of has faith in me,” he said, slowly standing from his spot on the bench. He looked up and down the road, spotting the large tree that was the library. Pinkie Pie stood up beside him, noticing what he was looking at. She then slapped him on his back, rocking him forward an inch or two. “We all got faith in you, especially Twilight. Oh! I stopped by the library last night and Spike told me she was packed and ready to go, and Rarity said she had Ms. Pommel coming into town to take over her shop until further notice, soooo…” Tim looked down at the girl as she grabbed his arm once again and started pulling him down the street toward the tree library. “Let’s go see if she’s heard from Dashie and Fluttershy so we can get down to business!” Before he knew it, the girl was almost dragging him down the street to the large tree.

“TWILIGHT! WE’RE HEEEEERE!” Pinkie shouted as she pushed the front door open with a slam, startling both the dark skinned intellectual and her young assistant. Twilight shouted in response, knocking over her ink well as papers flew into the air. Spike quickly pulled a rag from his back pocket and got started cleaning the ink from the table before it could reach the floor.

“WHAA! Pinkie Pie! This is a LIBRARY, no yelling! Especially at this hour of the morning!” Twilight then noticed her energetic friend had Tim in tow behind her. “Tim, glad to see you… have you and Applejack completed your preparations for our journey? I was planning on coming by Sweet Apple Acres later this morning to let you know that the rest of the girls have made arrangements and are ready to board a train to Canterlot whenever you two are packed to go.” She looked at the man a little closer as she collected her papers and restacked them before her, noticing he was covered in dirt and splinters of wood, not to mention his face looked long and weary. “Is everything alright, Tim?” she asked, as she stood and walked up to him and Pinkie.

“I’ve been worse,” Tim stated, shrugging his shoulders, “just been doin’ some work around the farm early this morning.” He noticed Pinkie Pie cutting her eyes sideways at him, but chose to ignore it. “Best of my knowledge, ‘bout everything around the farm is caught up and set for Big Mac to handle things well enough while we’re gone. Shouldn’t take either of us too long to get packed, how soon ya wanting to head out?” He asked, watching as Twilight went to a desk and pulled and envelope from the top drawer. She pulled out a paper and studied it for a moment before turning back to Tim and Pinkie.

“Well, the train schedule shows the last departure for Canterlot to be at about 7pm tonight, and I have already gotten word back from my sister-in-law Princess Cadence that she has made arrangements for us to stay at the castle whenever we chose to arrive. So,” she looked directly at Tim, then to Pinkie Pie before speaking again, “maybe we could catch the last train tonight, perhaps? If that is fine with you and Applejack, that is.”

“Hmm,” Tim looked to the floor in thought, nodding in approval. “Shouldn’t be a problem. I guess I can head on back to the farm and let her know. Meet ya here about 6:30 this evening, or so?” Twilight nodded, smiling at the man.

“Sounds great, Tim. I’ll go speak with Rarity and Rainbow Dash and let them know we will be leaving tonight. Also, I will send word to Princess Cadence and let her know we shall be arriving on the last train tonight. Pinkie Pie, do you mind going to Fluttershy’s cottage and letting her know of our updated plans?”

“Abso-tootley-lutely! No prob, Twilight! I can go right now!” Pinkie Pie turned to Tim, looking up at him. “Unless you want me to walk back to Sweet Apple Acres with you and talk to AJ?” Twilight looked at the pair with a raised brow, not knowing the duo’s previous conversation. Tim simply raised a hand and shook his head side to side.

“Naw, I think I got it,… I’ll just walk on back by myself, take me a little while to think about things a bit more. Thank ya, though, Pinkie. Twilight, I’ll be seein’ ya.” Shaking the librarian’s hand, Tim turned to leave the room with Pinkie Pie close on his heels after she gave a farewell hug to Twilight. The pair walked out the door and stood in the street for a moment, Tim staring down the road in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

“Remember, Tim,” Pinkie said as she patted him on the shoulder once more, causing the man to turn and face her. “You can handle anything; you can do anything- we have faith in you! Don’t worry about Applejack, she’s a whole lot like you… She can handle anything that comes her way! You two will be a-okay in no time.” Tim smiled down at the grinning girl and then watched as she skipped off down the road, stopping briefly to turn and wave goodbye to him. He waved back before turning and slowly starting his walk back to the farm.

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Knowing that Applejack or Big Macintosh wouldn’t be at the house when he arrived back on the farm, Tim headed around back and made his way to the large, red barn. He had taken his time on his walk back from town, and figured it was creeping up on noon. He knew the two hard workers would still be handling their chores and set out to try and find Applejack to tell her about his short conversation with Twilight. He entered the building and sure enough, he found the pair of farmers repairing a wheel on one of the older carts used around the farm. He started walking across the floor toward the cart and was noticed by Big Mac, who nodded to him before nudging his sister with his shoulder. When Applejack looked to Big Mac, he motioned his head in Tim’s direction, causing the blonde to turn and face Tim as well. She quickly stood, wiped her hands on the back of her jeans and approached him.

“Uh, hey, Tim,… Ah, um, we missed you at breakfast this mornin’… Mac saw the firewood ya busted up, ya musta got up a good while before us to have gotten all that cut and stacked… Thanks for that.” Applejack looked at Tim from under the brim of her Stetson, sliding her hands into her pockets, seeming to be waiting for an answer from the man.

“No problem,... Never made it to bed last night, felt like burning the midnight oil and get something done ‘round here. Headed for town close to sunup, ended up speakin’ to Twilight.” Tim said as he looked back into Applejack’s eyes, still feeling awkward about what transpired between them last night. “She said the rest of the group is ready to head on out to Canterlot whenever we are. She asked if we could be packed and at the train station to catch the 7 o’clock train out of town. I told her it shouldn’t be a problem, but I needed to ask you first.”

Applejack slowly nodded her head up and down in agreement. She removed her hands from her jean pockets and rested them on her hips, now looking around the barn and back to Big Mac who was still working on the cart behind her. “Sounds good to me,” the woman began. “Ah’ve already had a bag packed and ready to go sittin’ at the foot of mah bed. Guess Ah need to go and talk to Granny and Bloom right quick. Ya good ta finish that up by yerself, Mac?”

“Eyuup,” was all the man said as he stood up and went to the workbench to grab a different wrench to work on the wheel’s hub. Applejack looked back at Tim and smiled at him softly before taking a step past him and towards the barn door.

“That settles that,” she said, “Ah’m gonna holler at Granny fer a bit if ya wanna go ahead and start getting a few things together.” Applejack then looked the man up and down, noticing how dirty his clothes were and how he was in need of a good shower. She smiled a bit more at Tim and sported a small hint of playfulness in her eyes. “Ya might wanna get yerself cleaned up a bit if we’re gonna be headed to tha castle this evenin’- ya look like hell, suga’cube… Ah can only image what Rarity would say havin’ ta be stuck in a train car with ya fer a few hours.” She gave a short chuckle as Tim looked down at his clothes and laughed as well.

“Yeah, I’ll get right on that.” Tim said as he and Applejack both walked out of the barn and headed for the house.

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After a long, hot shower and getting himself dressed, Tim stood in the guest room of the farmhouse and looked at the stack of clothes he had laid out on the bed. Deciding the few changes of clothes he had selected was more than enough, he turned to the closet and pulled down his pack from the high shelf. Setting the pack down on the bed next to his clothes and began removing the few items he had placed inside. Reaching into the main compartment of the bag, he pulled out the large leather belt from inside.

He unclasped the belt and passed it around his waist, putting the heavy object that hung from it on his right side. Securing the buckle, he ran his right hand down to the holster and gripped the rosewood handle of his Ruger .44 magnum revolver. He drew the pistol from its holster and aimed it out the window, bringing his left hand up and cupping the bottom of the grip and his opposite hand together and looking down the sights. Tim grinned just a little, enjoying the feel of the cold steel in his hands. He lowered the firearm and used his thumb to open the loading port to the rear of the gun’s frame. Slowly spinning the six-shot cylinder, he was satisfied seeing the chambers were still fully loaded, just as he left them. He then gave the cylinder a fast brush of his fingers, causing it to spin and click rapidly. He then closed the port with his thumb and holstered the thing, undoing the belt and holding it out in front of him. Just as he rolled the belt back up around the Ruger’s holster and slid the bundle back into his pack, he heard a faint knock at the bedroom door.

“Come on in,” he said as he began putting his clothes into his pack, hiding the revolver under a pair or two of jeans. He turned to see Applejack standing there, a large burgundy backpack slung over one shoulder and the thumb of one hand in her one of her jean’s belt loops. He shoved the rest of his clothes into his pack and zipped it up, taking both straps in one hand and holding it at his side.

“Well, ya ‘bout ready ta go? Reckon we can swing by Pinkie’s work an’ grab a bite ta eat before we make it to the library.” She adjusted the straps of her backpack on her shoulder and took a step backwards out of the room, now leaning against the doorframe’s casing. Tim shouldered his own pack, then grabbed his ball cap off of the bed and pulled it down on his head.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Tim said to Applejack as he met her at the door and stood there, motioning with his hand for her to lead the way. “After you, miss,” he said with a smile, locking eyes with the blonde before him. Applejack smiled at him, leaving her position against the wall and proceeding down the hall and to the stairs. Tim pulled the door of the bedroom shut behind him and followed Applejack out of the house and onto the lawn. They both stopped and stood side by side at the foot of the stairs, turning to look to each other. Tim and Applejack locked eyes for a moment, both just standing there and showing no real emotion. After a few short seconds, Applejack smiled, leaning towards Tim and bumping into his shoulder with hers before starting off on their walk into the town of Ponyville.