Dear Babs Seed, will ya come back for the holidays?

by Fluttercheer

Rating: everyone
Tags: Apple Bloom, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Slice of Life
Length: 1632

It's almost Hearth's Warming Eve. Apple Bloom misses her favourite cousin.

It's almost Hearth's Warming Eve. Apple Bloom misses her favourite cousin.

A short, somber story for the holidays, dedicated to Babs Seed. Missing, but never forgotten.

Cover art by Anonsbelle.

Published 2018-12-24 04:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-12-24 04:00:01 UTC

Chapter 1

Dear Babs Seed,

It's been a while, ain't it? Ah figured it's finally time to write you a letter again, after the last one from a month ago.
How are you doing, Babs? I'm doing fine, ah guess... Helping out on the farm has gotten harder lately what with helping other foals to get their cutie marks, and all. Ah, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are so busy with it, there are more and more foals with cutie mark problems these days. We have our hooves full with helping ponies realize who they are, so ah can't help with the harvests much anymore.
Ah feel bad for it... Mah sister and mah brother, even Granny, work so hard and now, they have to do even more because ah can barely help them anymore. It makes me think if Applejack is disappointed of me or, even hates me... She always expected mah cutie mark would be in apple farming or something similar... Now it ain't and ah think she doesn't like that.
She used to say how ah will run the farm one day, but now it looks like that ain't possible anymore and mah sister is bothered by it... What do you think, Babs? Ah bet ya cutie mark isn't what Aunt and Uncle Orange expected it to be, either. Were they ever disappointed of ya because they wanted ya to be something else than a mane stylist, Babs? Do they still love ya as much as they did before? Or has something changed about it?
I'm having a lot of bad dreams lately. Sweet Apple Acres ain't doing good in them... Sometimes, the farm is rotting away because I'm not there to help. Or ah try, but ah make everything worse when ah attempt to buck apples while helping a filly with a cutie mark problem at the same time. The nightmares aren't as worse as the ones ah had after ah heard about ya own cutie mark. No creepy shadow talking to me and nothing. But just a few nights ago, there was that dream with that giant apple...
Ah was just helping a blank flank and, somehow, ah thought her special talent could be apple bucking... So ah went to the farm with 'er and we started bucking. It went fine for a while but when she was lifting up one of the apples we brought down from the trees, it suddenly grew! It became bigger than a pony, almost as big as mah brother, and it had a mouth with sharp teeth! Then the blank flank turned into me, with cutie mark and everything, and she just disappeared. And the apple started to chase mah family, trying to eat them! Ah was waking up all soaked from that nightmare and ah couldn't sleep anymore until morning. I'm shaking just by thinking about it...
Anyway, don't worry too much about me, Babs. Princess Luna is helping with the nightmares, so I'm fine. She says ah need to talk with mah family about everything. Which... is really easier said than done. Ah didn't dare to bring it up yet... What if Applejack will be even more disappointed of me if ah do? Oh, no... I'm just worrying ya more, ain't ah? I'm sorry... Ah know ya have stuff to deal with, too, Babs. I'm not wanting to burden ya, ah bet ya just as busy with ya special talent as ah am with mine. Ah still hope ya can answer mah questions, though.
Anyway, Babs... I'm not just writing to vent about mah concerns and mah trouble to ya. Actually, something really important is happening soon! It's awesome and great and ya totally need to hear it!
Ya see, it's only a few weeks until Hearth's Warming Eve anymore now and we're getting ready for a good ol' celebration on Sweet Apple Acres. But this year...

–That's a pause for dramatic effect.–

…we'll be celebrating together with the Pies!

It's been such a long time already since Pinkie Pie found out she's an Apple... And so far, the Pies never came to celebrate with all of us here at Sweet Apple Acres. But this year, they're finally doing it! Marble, Limestone, Pinkie's parents and Maud... They're all coming to Ponyville, can ya imagine, Babs?!
Oh, ah can't wait to see Maud again! We have so much in common; she really likes apples, we dream about the same weird things and ya can have such deep conversations with her for hours! And just wait until ya hear her rock poems, they are so... uh, but ya know all of this, don't ya, Babs? Ah know ah already told ya about her in a letter a long time ago, but I'm just SO excited to spend time with Maud again!
Anyway, Babs, what I'm going for here is... well, ya see, ah want ya to come this year, too. After all, ya an Apple just as we are and ya still haven't met anypony from the Pie Family yet... Marble is really sweet. She reminds me a lot on ya, when we met for the first time here in Ponyville...
And then there's Limestone. She... also reminds me on that time, just, ya know... she can be a bit aggressive sometimes. Gee, now I'm sounding like I'm blaming ya for being a bully once... I'm sorry, Babs. Ah think ya would get along with them really well, is what ah want to say.
Marble's shy, so she might be scared of ya a little, she has a hard time getting to know to new ponies. But when she warmed up, she's being real chatty! And Limestone too, even though she's a bit harder to crack... Ya remember when ah told ya how she gets if somepony touches Holder's Boulder? Don't worry, she won't be bringing that huge thing all the way over to Ponyville, but she does have a bit of a short temper, ya know. But once ya got used to that, you'll see she can be a real softie! And she's very wise, she can explain anything with a metaphor, and ah bet she could help ya with any kind of problem ya have!
Doesn't that sound great?! I'd really love for ya to meet all of them! And also... Ya see, Babs, I... I'm really missing ya.
It's been so long since we've seen each other... I'll never forget how ah, Scoots and Sweetie visited ya in Manehattan just a month after we got our cutie marks. “The Great Cutie Quartet Celebration” is what we called the party, remember? Gosh, we were celebrating for almost three days straight without interruption! We did so many awesome things during that party, ah keep thinking about them! Even about those things Applejack shouldn't find out about... She still wouldn't like hearing about the firework accident in the second night. It took us almost the entire night to remove all those cake bits from the backyard, but it was the most fun ah ever had!
Ah would like to do this again, but now it's all just letters anymore... Ah can't believe we haven't seen each other for years now, Babs... Why do ya not come to Ponyville anymore?
Ever since the Apple Family Reunion, it's like ya avoid visiting like the plague. Ya were invited to come to the next reunion, too, but ya didn't. Why, Babs? It's almost like ya aren't allowed to come anymore... Do ya parents suddenly hate the Apple Family? If that's what it is, me and Applejack will give 'em a good ol' talking to until they let you come back. We ain't a bad family and we'll show 'em if they forbid ya to come!
But, if that isn't the reason... then... please come back for Hearth's Warming Eve, Babs. Ah don't know what's keeping ya from coming... but if ya still can, please do, Babs.
Ya know, ah often have to think about the last words we talked here on Sweet Apple Acres when ya left for Manehattan after the reunion. “Ah can't wait for the next reunion.”, “Me neither.”, “Ah mean, obviously we have to get together before then.”, “Obviously.” we said.
Ya said it's obvious... But it ain't so obvious for ya, right, Babs?
When ah think about these words, ah sometimes have to cry... It's so hard to imagine that ya have only been on Sweet Apple Acres twice, Babs.
Maybe it's because of me? Maybe ah never showed enough that ah care for ya, Babs? I'm not sure... But if ah didn't, I'm sorry. I love ya, Babs, ya mah favourite cousin and ya'll always stay mah favourite cousin, for all time. Ah hope ya know all that but, in case ya don't, ah wanted to make sure ya do, Babs.
Now, ah... ah don't know what else to say here anymore. Sure has been enough begging and crying for one letter, ain't it? And Applejack's probably going to call me for mah chores soon. But ah have to ask ya one more time before I'm ending this letter...

We have a big family celebration on Hearth's Warming Eve, the Apples and the Pies together on Sweet Apple Acres for the first time ever. And ya officially invited to come, Babs, because ya a member of the Apple Family. Applejack, Big Mac, Granny Smith and ah, we look forward to seeing you again so much. And ah know that the Pies will love ya just as much as we all do.
It's been a very long time and everypony is sad that we don't see ya anymore. So, please, Babs... come back for Hearth's Warming Eve, will ya? We're all waiting for ya.

In love,

Your cousin Apple Bloom