Reminiscing

I open the door to Sugar Cube Corners to see Mrs. and Mr. Cake, Pinkie Pie, and even the cute li'l Cake Twins rushin' around the shop, cooking up all sorts of sweets, and all while rushin'. "Hey, Pinkie Pie!" I say first.

"Hey! Did you need something?" she asks me while putting a few cakes away and getting out the ingridents for many more.

I nod, but point to Mrs. Cake, who probably don't even know I'm here right now. "Yeah, I wanted to-"

"Sorry, Applebloom, but we're really busy right now. Even the twins and Gummy are helping us, and even that's not enough," Pinkie sighs while mixing two bowls at once.

I smile. "I'm always free to help you if you need it. Would you like my help?"

Pinkie Pie wiped off a bit of sweat, and while triple-taskin', answered, "Always!"

She hands me a bowl, a few ingredients, and a recipe for apple pie. I already know how to bake apple pies 'cause I do it at home with Applejack and Big Mac to help the family business along. As quickly as possible, I start to whip up nothin' short of a great pie. In a few minutes, I'm almost done with the pie. All I gotta do is put it in the oven. Which I do.

I take it out and start workin' on another pie, when I realize I'm here to listen to stories for a small moment, not to help some friends who needed it. Although, it does feel nice to help out every once in a while. I decide to speak up and let everypony know my real reason for coming here. "Pinkie Pie, it's real fun to help y'all out, and I do wanna do even more for y'all, but I came here for somethin' else."

"Really?" Pinkie asks, looking up for the first time today. I nod. "Did you have something you wanted to order? Because I can get that to you in a jiffy!"

"Uh, actually, no," I answer her. "I wanted to hear a story about my mother. I was hopin' Mrs. Cake would be free, but I guess not. I'll come back another day, when ya'll aren't so busy." Mrs. Cake must've heard me say her name, 'cause she makes a slight sound and looks up from her mixing bowl. "Did you need me? I nod vigorously, but begin to doubt my decision for a minute. "But y'all seem pretty busy today. I can help if you need it, but I'll come back another day so I don't get in your way too much."

"No, no, it's quite alright dear. Now, what can I help you with?" she asks me while putting her materials down.

I smile. "Well, if you have time to talk to me and relax, then I guess I won't waste it while I still got it. I was hoping you could tell me a story about my mom, specifically the one that includes Dad's, um, passing."

She looks rather shocked to hear me say this, but I think she's fine with sharing the story with me. "Alright, if that's what you want."

I start baking cupcakes, to help her business along while she tells me the story I want. Oh, and just trust me, I've improved with my baking now. She thinks. "Where should I start?"

"Well," I start, "I want to know what Mother was doing the whole time Father was suffering."

She nods. "Buttercup was always working on the farm, with your father and granny. And, they had already had two foals, a little filly named Applejack, and her older brother, Big Macintosh. Currently, she had one more due. She and Bright Mac had agreed on the name Applebloom." The names make me smile.

"But due to the new foal, she wasn't able to help around the farm as much anymore. Meaning Bright Mac had to work more to get more pay, and soon, he'd worked himself to the bone. He later became so tired that he died. I remember just walking to the farm one day to cheer him up but instead found a lifeless body. It devastated me, but of course, it devastated your mother even more.

"After your father had certainly gone, your mother had started eating less, doing less. Only Big Macintosh and Granny Smith were old enough to help her out. Soon enough, Applebloom had been born and Buttercup was feeling much better. But unfortunately, Bright Mac wasn't.

"He was feeling as sick as, if not worse than, ever before. Burnt Oak, your father's best friend, and I whipped up a cake to help cheer the Apple Family up, but it didn't help because by then, your father had perished. Forever. Over the course of about three days, we all tried and helped her feel better about losing him. By the third day, the big hole in all of our hearts that he had filled before was only a small scar. Even your mother, who was taking it the worse, had healed slightly. So the next day, I decided to try and cheer her up with another cake. But then I arrived to see a similar sight to the one I had four days ago: Buttercup was dead."

We both wince once she says that word. She even hesitates to say it, but I did want the story, so I now feel guilty about asking for it, about making her say the word. It's silence between us, and it's hard to take, so I start adding ingredients to the cupcakes at my hooves to pass the time.

"I eventually discovered that there was suicide involved. She'd jumped from the pole at the front of the barn, where Applejack often jumps from to feed her pigs. Except she'd tied the rope around her neck, to choke herself."

My eyes widen in shock. It's so hard to believe, yet it makes so much sense. I look to Mrs. Cake, who is deep in thought with tears, just like me.

"When I found she'd hurt herself like this, I was not only devastated, I was angry. Partly angry that Buttercup had terminated her life and left her friends and family suffering, slightly angry that Granny Smith wasn't able to help her daughter-in-law when she needed it, but most of all, angry that I had to witness any of this. And especially to feel this.

"Over time, the anger faded, replaced with a few other feelings, before I'd finally come to just accept the fact that Pear Butter was gone, just like her husband. I grew more distant with the Apples, and I wish I hadn't. But I was still rather close to your family, Applebloom, enough to watch the children mature. The best part was that they came every month or so to sell their Apple products.

"But it was impossible to forget Buttercup, and the impact she had on me and so many others. To think she's gone forever..."

I choke on my words as I see small tears slip from her eyes. My own tears start forming as well, before I decide to walk over to her and rest a hoof on her shoulder, comforting her. "I- I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you get emotional. I- I just wanted..."

She shakes her head. "Don't be. I never realized how much that bothered me, how much I needed to let it out. Besides, the pain has almost sedated by now. Thanks for the break, sweetheart."

I nod, thinking about the next pony I want to visit today. I slip the cupcake tray I was unconciously working on into the oven, turn the heat up, and it starts to bake. With a smile, I exit, wave, and close the door to Sugarcube Corners.