The Story
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No Pony Else Was In The Room Where It Happened. . .

The Story

Applejack was walking through Ponyville pulling a cartload of apples. She was in a cheerful mood as she made her way towards the Apple Family's farm stand, where she looked forward to selling Sweet Apple Acre's finest, fresh, crisp, juicy apples to the good ponies of the town.

And then Strawberry Sunrise came her way.

Applejack's smile was immediately replaced by an irritated grimace. She groaned and rolled her eyes, hoping that the Pegasus would simply walk by and not make eye contact with her. Unfortunately, today didn't seem to be Applejack's day, as the Pegasus was headed in the same direction she was going in.

The red haired, yellow coated Pegasus trotted busily forward. Strawberry turned sharply, attempting to cut ahead of Applejack. However, the Earth Pony wouldn't have any of that, and she picked up the pace a bit and did her best to turn sharply. This wasn't an easy feat, considering the fact that Applejack was hauling a cart full of apples. Nevertheless, she pulled it off, and the two ponies ended up bumping into each other, side to side.

"Excuse you," Strawberry spat irately at Applejack as the pair continued walking forwards, looked like they were joined at the hips.

Applejack cut her eyes at Strawberry and said, "Ah've got a load of apples to sell, and you've got a lot of nerve getting in the way of Sweet Apple Acres' business!"

Strawberry glared back at Applejack and said, "Well, for your information, I have a real load of produce to sell. See these saddle bags I'm wearing? They're filled with delicious strawberries that I grew myself, and I'm pretty sure strawberries take precedence over wagons filled with garbage."

Applejack ground her teeth and said, "Yer treadin' on dangerous ground, Sunrise!"

Strawberry feigned ignorance and said, "Oh, Applejack! I'm surprised! I thought Honesty was your thing? Why does the truth offend you so much?"

Applejack shoved Strawberry to one side and turned to give her the strongest death glare she could muster. "Ah'm loosin' mah patience with you and your sickeningly sweet strawberries! If you've got any sense in that head of yours, you'll apologize right now!"

After stumbling a bit from the initial shove, Strawberry stood up straight and said defiantly, "I apologize that your family has been wasting their lives growing those tasteless abominations."

Applejack stared blankly at Strawberry at first, then she broke Starlight Glimmer's anger record as she roared back in response, "WHAT DO YA KNOW ABOUT WASTING LIVES! YA HAVE NO LIFE! YOU GROW STRAWBERRIES!"

"I have no life because I grow strawberries?! Sweet Celestia, you're an idiot!"

"It takes brains to grow apples! ANY IDIOT CAN GROW STRAWBERRIES!"

"YOU MUST HAVE MEALYWORMS IN THAT TINY THING YOU CALL YOUR BRAIN, TOO!"

"GET OUT OF MAH FACE!"

"GLADLY! I CAN SMELL YOUR FOUL APPLE-BREATH!"

"AT LEAST AH'M NOT ROTTING MAH TEETH OUT WITH THOSE SUAGR BOMBS YOU CALL STRAWBERRIES!"

"GO BUCK A TREE!"

"AH'D RATHER BUCK YOUR FACE!"

That seemed to be enough to get Strawberry Sunrise to fly off. Fast. She decided to fly into the market from a different direction a little later, as to avoid the furious apple farmer.

Applejack huffed and puffed as she stomped off towards the market, ignoring all the ponies that were staring at her as she pulled her load along. Unknown to her, however, her own little sister Applebloom had witnessed the entire thing. The little filly had wanted to retrieve a book from Princess Twilight's library before heading to the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse, but the fiery scene between her sister and Strawberry Sunshine had definitely distracted her.

Applebloom stood in shock at the ugly scene, going over it in her mind several times as she sensed a grave familiarity within the clash between apples and strawberries. When it finally came to her, first her eyes widened, then she dug a forehoof into the ground determinedly. At that moment, she decided that she would do something about this. Applebloom then turned and walked off back towards the clubhouse.

Unknown to Applebloom, her two best friends, who had been in the midst of heading towards the clubhouse, had also witnessed the shouting match between Applejack and Strawberry.

"Wow," Sweetie Belle said in shock.

Scootaloo nodded and said, "Aw man, I was so sure that they were gonna start pounding each other."

Sweetie Belle turned to Scootaloo and gasped, "You didn't want them to, did you?!"

Scootaloo rolled her eyes and said, "No! I just thought they would. I mean, come on! Didn't you hear those insults! They were totally brutal!"

Sweetie Belle huffed and said, "Can we please just head over and meet up with Applebloom"

Scootaloo nodded her head excitedly and said, "Yeah. We can see what Applebloom knows about this."

Sweetie Belle just groaned.

When Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle entered the clubhouse, they found Applebloom pacing the floor in deep thought.

"Hey, Applebloom! Did you see that big fight Applejack and Strawberry Sunrise had!?" Scootaloo asked quickly.

"Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle shouted in disapproval.

"What? It was a big deal!" Scootaloo said in her defense.

Applebloom stopped pacing and nodded. "It's okay. Ah saw the whole thing. This sure ain't good."

Scootaloo frowned and said, "That Strawberry is suck a jerk. Always talking about how apples are horrible and stuff."

"That doesn't mean it's okay for them to fight!" Sweetie Belle argued.

"Sweetie's right," Applebloom said, "This whole thing stinks. Applejack shouldn't fight her like that. Not after we found out about what that feud with the Pear family did."

Sweetie Belle nodded and smiled a little. "Yeah. . . I've met your grandpa, Applebloom. He's nice."

"Now that he realized how stupid it is to feud with somepony," Applebloom said, "Ah'm just glad Ah was able to end it."

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow and said, "You ended it?"

Applebloom smiled sheepishly and said, "Kinda. Well, Ah go the end started when Ah brought home that jar of pear butter. Anyways, after seeing Applejack and Strawberry fight like that, Ah figured that if Ah can end one feud without realizing it. . ." Applebloom's smile then became confident and bold as she concluded, ". . .then Ah can definitely stop this feud from getting any worse!"

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged glances. They were slightly confused by Applebloom's enthusiasm compared to the task she intended to undertake.

Sweetie Belle turned to her Earth Pony friend and said, "Um, are you sure you can pull that off, Applebloom?"

Scootaloo chuckled nervously and said, "Yeah, er, I'm pretty sure Applejack and Strawberry hate each other's guts."

Applebloom shrugged and said, "So did the Apples and Pears."

"But didn't it takes years and years for that feud to end?" Sweetie Belle posed.

"But this feud is just between two ponies right now," Applebloom said, "Trust me, Ah can do this. Ah just need a little time to come up with a plan to get them together."

"They'll never be able to talk to each other without getting angry," Scootaloo said.

"They just need a little attitude adjustment," Applebloom explained, "They just need to. . . well. . ." Applebloom thought for a moment, then she said, ". . . Talk less? Smile more?"

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle just stared at her.

Applebloom huffed and said, "Look, Ah just need some time alone to think about this. Could you girls maybe get some food to-go from Hay Burger? Ah'm sure Ah'll have something by the time ya'll get back."

Scootaloo smirked and said, "If you can pull that off, then your food's on me."

"Deal!" Applebloom said with a grin as she and the Pegasus shared a hoof bump.

Some time later, the two fillies were walking back up the path to the clubhouse after their trip to Hay Burger. Sweetie Belle carried the three bags of food with her magic as the pair approached the treehouse.

"I'm a little worried," Sweetie Belle said admittedly.

"Why?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well, remember the last time we left Applebloom alone for a while? Back when we went off to do our own things?" Sweetie Belle asked tentatively.

Scootaloo frowned and said, "Yeah. . . she kinda went a little. . . crazy."

The pair walked up to the front of the clubhouse. They noticed that the curtains weren't closed and sunlight was streaming in. That was a good sign. Then the fillies walked up the steps and entered the clubhouse.

Applebloom was sitting with her back to the door, facing a mid-sized corkboard covered with crayon drawings, photographs, and index cards all connected with thumbtacks and string.

Sweetie Belle leaned over to Scootaloo and said quietly, "Well, it doesn't look that bad."

Applebloom happened to hear her, and she turned around to see her friends. Thankfully, Applebloom looked genuinely happy and held together at the moment.

"Heya girls! You're just in time! And by the way, Scoots, Ah win the bet! Ah've got the perfect plan to bring Applejack and Strawberry together!" Applebloom said cheerfully.

"Seriously!?" Scootaloo exclaimed in disbelief, "After that huge blow up they had?"

"Eyup!" Applebloom said in perfect imitation of her big brother, "But first, which one of those bags is mine? Ah'm starved!"

Applebloom held out her right forehoof, and Sweetie Belle levitated one of the bags onto it. Applebloom immediately stuck her head into the bag and came back up with a hay burger in her mouth. She noisily ate in a manner only slightly less sloppy than Princess Twilight, dropping the bag on the floor with the intention at going for the hay fries inside later. She swallowed, burped, and then started to explain her scheme in an excited manner, indicating various parts of the filled up corkboard along the way.

"Okay, okay. So here's the thing. The problem is that Applejack doesn't like strawberries, and Strawberry Sunrise doesn't like apples. But that shouldn't matter! They should be able to hate the fruit but like the farmer. There's way more to both of 'em than just apples and strawberries. They just need to be able to see that."

Scootaloo quickly interjected and said, "But how can they do that when they keep insulting apples and strawberries whenever they see each other?"

Applebloom waved her forehoof and said, "Ah was gettin' to that! What they need is someplace neutral where they can talk it out. Not apple territory, and not strawberry territory neither."

Sweetie Belle nodded her head slowly and said, "Okaaaay. . . so what territory did you have in mind?"

Applebloom just smiled and pointed at a photo of an elderly tan stallion with white hair.

"Pear territory," she replied.

". . .so if you could help Applejack and Strawberry Sunrise make peace with each other, it would be just dandy," Applebloom concluded.

At the moment, the filly was sitting on the couch in Grand Pear's living room. The stallion himself was sitting comfortably in an armchair nearby. Grand Pear tapped his chin in thought before answering.

"Well darling, I gotta say that it's awfully sweet of you to want to stop two ponies from fighting like this," he said.

Applebloom just smiled bashfully.

"But I don't know if I'm the right pony for this," Grand Pear said, "Don't you think that you ought to talk to Granny Smith?"

Applebloom shook her head and said, "Ah thought about it, but then Ah figured that she'd probably just scold the hay out of her, and Ah don't think that would help much. Ah need you to just kinda. . . get 'em talking friendly."

"Hmm. . ." Grand Pear said thoughtfully.

Applebloom looked at Grand Pear with her eyes extra big and said, "Please grandpa! Ah've nowhere else to turn!"

Grand Pear turned his head slightly and said, "Ah no, don't you go looking at me like that. And don't you worry, of course I'll help you."

Applebloom smiled with all the warmth and good feelings of a hot apple fritter and said, "Aw, thank you, thank you! You're the greatest!"

Grand Pear shook his head humbly and said, "I'm just and old stallion trying to help a sweet little filly do some good. Anyways, from what you've told me, I think I've already got an idea on how to pull this off. I'll just get 'em talking over a nice dinner. I've never heard of a pony with a full belly getting angry at anything."

"Great!" Applebloom said cheerfully, but then she tensed up a bit and asked nervously, "Wait. . . Strawberry Sunrise likes pears, right?"

"Let's just say that she's never walked away from my stand with anything but a smile on her face," Grand Pear said with a smile.

After a rather miserable start to her day, Applejack found the rest of it to be quite good. She had sold most of her stock, and was pulling her cart back towards Sweet Apple Acres, all the while trying her best to not think about a certain Pegasus she thoroughly despised.

"A-ha! Applejack! Glad I caught you!" a voice called out.

Applejack turned to see Grand Pear making his way towards her. Applejack smiled kindly and said, "Howdy there, Grand Pear. Always good to see you around nowadays. Need me for anything?"

The old stallion looked Applejack in the eye for a moment, then he sighed and said, "Applejack, I've made plenty of mistakes. Heck, I've made some pretty big whoppers, haven't I?"

Applejack nodded slowly, not entirely sure where he was going with this.

Grand Pear fidgeted uncomfortably, then he said, "Well, when older ponies make mistakes, it's so the young ones can learn from them and not repeat those mistakes."

Applejack blinked. "Beg pardon?" she said.

Grand Pear huffed and said, "Fine. I'll just say it. You need to set things right with Strawberry."

"NO!"

Grand Pear flinched back slightly at Applejack's outburst.

Applejack immediately regretted it and sighed. "Ah'm sorry," she said, "But that mare is just so dang impossible!"

"Applejack, please," Grand Pear said gently, "We just ended one feud. Are you really gonna start another?"

Applejack frowned and said with certainty, "This ain't the same thing. That Sunrise is just so arrogant and rude-."

"So were Granny and I," Grand Pear replied.

"You don't understand," Applejack said in frustration, "She insulted mah family! She said we was wasting our lives!"

Grand Pear actually chuckled and said, "Is that all she said? That's nothing! You should hear some of the things I said about the Apples back in my day!"

"But-."

"And correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you say some pretty nasty things back?" Grand Pear asked with a slightly judgmental tone.

Applejack was silent at this. She found herself going back over the shouting match from earlier, and she couldn't help but feel slightly ashamed of herself.

"Dang it, Ah sunk to her level, didn't Ah?" she thought to herself.

"Look, Applejack," Grand Pear said in a more kindly tone, "I know you hate her, but let's hear what she has to say."

"She won't sit and talk with me," Applejack replied miserably.

Grand Pear smiled and said, "Actually, she agreed to it."

"Say what now?" Applejack said as she leaned forward a bit.

"I invited her over to dinner so the three of us could talk things out. No apple or strawberry dishes will be served. The menu, the time, the place, the seating; I'm taking care of it all," Grand Pear explained.

Applejack was wracked with disbelief as she gaped at her grandfather with wide eyes. "But. . .but. . .but why would she even agree to this?"

"I mentioned that our little meeting could lead to a grand new business proposition that could put some extra bits in both of your saddlebags," Grand Pear said with a wink.

This definitely caught Applejack's attention. "What do ya mean? What kind? What?"

"You'll see," was all Grand Pear said, "Now, you go on ahead home and tell Granny Smith that you won't be home for dinner on account of a sudden, off-the-map, Friendship Mission. Strawberry and I will see you at 6:00. And please don't be late. I'm sure all of us really do want this go perfectly. No one really likes to fight, do they?"

Applejack shook her head and said, "No, Ah suppose they don't. Ah'll go along with this, and Ah hope it turns out alright."

Grand Pear patted Applejack on the back and said cheerfully, "With the right attitude, I'm sure it will. See you then!"

A few minutes after the two ponies parted ways to return to their homes, thought hit Applejack like a lightning bolt.

"How the hay did Grand Pear know about our Friendship Missions? Or the map?!"

Grand Pear had everything very well timed to go off without a hitch. When Applejack arrived, Strawberry Sunrise was already there. The two rivals had just enough time to tentatively greet each other before the meal Grand Pear had been preparing was ready to serve.

Applejack and Strawberry sat across from each other at the kitchen table, eyeing each other unpleasantly as Grand Pear set down plates of food before them. The two mares both took a bite from their arugula and pear salads, mostly to take their minds and attention off the mare across from them and to break up the awkwardness.

Applejack's eyes lit up at the taste and said, "Well, Ah'll be. You sure can cook, Grand Pear."

Strawberry was equally impressed by the food and said, "I agree. The vinaigrette you used is marvelous! Is that maple syrup in there? Simply marvelous!"

Grand Pear smiled as the mares continued eating, and he said, "Well, thank you for your compliments. It's good to see you two agreeing on something, isn't it?"

Both mares froze at this revelation and stared at each other in stunned silence. Then, Applejack remarked, "Hmph! Well, that don't mean nothin'. You just made somethin' anypony would like-."

"Oh, no you don't, granddaughter," Grand Pear said knowingly, "You can't deny it. You two aren't as different as you think."

"Oh, we are so different!" Strawberry argued, "She is so obsessed with those tasteless red and green filth balls-."

"Those are fightin' words!" Applejack shouted furiously.

Grand Pear stood up and raised his voice a bit to regain the mares' attention, "Indeed, they are! So, how about we use different ones. Strawberry, why do you like strawberries?"

"Because apples-."

"I didn't ask you about apples, I asked you about strawberries! Now, answer my question, if you please," Grand Pear said sternly.

Strawberry nodded, and she said, "Well, fine then. And I beg your pardon, sir. You see, strawberries have this amazing sweetness right off the runner. No need to cook them, they're just so sweet and red and beautiful. Like jewels, or candy! Nature's candy! And they practically melt in your mouth as you chew them! They're not hard, they're soft and tender and fills your mouth with flavor."

Grand Pear nodded, "Okay then." He then turned to Applejack and said, "Now, why do you like apples. And don't you say a thing about strawberries!"

Applejack replied without hesitation, "Apples are sweet, but not super sweet. Right off the tree, they have kind of a balance of sweet and fresh. Some types have a nice refreshing tartness to 'em. They also got a wonderful crunch to 'em. And if you want them sweeter, ya just cook 'em into a pie, or a fritter, or applesauce-."

"Ah-ha!" Grand Pear said suddenly, "That's the answer! Sauce!"

"Sauce?" both mares echoed in confusion.

Grand Pear nodded sagely and said, "As I told each of you earlier, I arranged this dinner so that you two could come to a business arrangement. Right?"

The mares nodded.

"Now," Grand Pear began, "Strawberry, you mentioned amazing sweetness that is soft and fills a pony's mouth with flavor. Applejack, you mentioned freshness, tartness, and a sweetness that comes from cooking into sauce. So, how about we join one fruit with another in a place where they aren't so different, and put some bits into both of your saddlebags. It's simple. After you two get the recipe working, Strawberry will buy the apples from Applejack, and then Strawberry will sell the product at a profit. It's a clear win for both of you."

The mares looked at Grand Pear, then they both went into a state of deep thought.

"Oh, come now," Grand Pear impatiently, "What's not to like about something that possesses all the strengths of both fruits?"

"Hmmm," Applejack said slowly, then she looked over at Strawberry Sunrise, who was looking downward in thought. Truth be told, Applejack no longer wanted to fight with her, especially after how Grand Pear had set her straight earlier. The last thing she wanted to do was repeat the mistakes of her grandparents. That being said, she'd have much rather simply ignored Strawberry for the rest of her life, but the events of this dinner had provided a slightly different option.

". . .Maybe all apples need to be appetizing to me is help from some strawberries?" Strawberry Sunrise asked slowly as she met Applejack's gaze.

The ghost of an insult within Strawberry's words stung a bit, but Applejack forced herself to ignore it and said with a forced smile, "Yeah. . . let's just say that."

The dinner turned out to be very successful. The delicious meal Grand Pear had prepared, combined with the idea of scoring a new source of bits, had everyone in high spirits. The two mares even managed to genuinely smile at each other several times as they bounced around ideas of how to create this new product. By the time the meal was over, the pair had already agreed to meet again tomorrow at Strawberry's house to cook up the first batch.

And so, tomorrow came and went, and the day after soon arrived. It was on that day that Strawberry Sunrise brought something new to the market: strawberry applesauce.

After a few free samples, the Pegasus soon found her stand empty of jars, and her saddlebags filled with bits, much to her delight.

A short distance away, Grand Pear and Applebloom watched with delight.

"I knew that this would work out," Grand Pear said confidently, "Mostly because in their eyes, they both got more than they gave and got what they wanted. Applejack got someone else to buy her apples, and Strawberry got a way get more ponies excited for her strawberries."

Grand Pear then turned to Applebloom and said, "But I gotta ask, why exactly were you so determined to see those two make up and talk friendly? What exactly did you want from all this?"

Applebloom closed her eyes and thought for a moment, then she opened her eyes looked over at Strawberry Sunrise and Applejack, who were having a friendly chat about how great it was that the strawberry applesauce had become such a hit.

"Ah. . . just wanted to be like Ma," Applebloom said quietly, "In a way, she was the one who really brought the Apples and Pears together. You could say it kinda started when she and Pa got married. But ah guess. . . well. . . Ah wanted to be here to see it happen. Ya know, to actually see them make peace. 'Cause, that's not. . . not something Ma. . ."

Applebloom began to quiver slightly as her voice trailed off. Grand Pear noticed the filly's trembling, and he also understood what Applebloom was trying to say. So, the old stallion moved in close to his youngest granddaughter and gently embraced her with a foreleg.

Tears began to form in Applebloom eyes, even as she smiled proudly, and she said one last time, "I just had to be here when it happened."