Ponyville wasn't acting incredibly out of the ordinary. The sun shone brightly, Celestia's light smothering the land in joviality. The clouds, positioned meticulously by pegasi, cast shade over just the right places. The day was tranquil, cool, and simple -- just as most ponies liked.
Pinkie liked all the days in Ponyville, though. She had always been happy, wherever she went, and everywhere she would go. Pinkie liked to think of all kinds of things, but most of all, she loved to think of nothing. Not to say that Pinkie was dumb, or thoughtless, but that she had found that it was easier for her to be cheerful when she didn't think about it. And, when she was happy, other ponies were happier, and when other ponies were happy it made Pinkie happy. That was why Pinkie didn't think too much of where she was going as she bounced all over Ponyville, making the lives of others brighter wherever she went.
Of course, not paying attention to where one is going has certain downsides. Pinkie realized this, and always made certain to apologize whenever she bounced into anything.
"Oops! Sorry Applejack! Silly me, I should really watch where I'm going one of these days!"
Pinkie looked about her, observing her immediate surroundings quickly. She was on the bridge, and Applejack was hitched to her apple cart. She must have been about to set up for the market! Pinkie loved the market, it was always so, so much fun! Pinkie also saw that Applejack was saying something. She love love loved Applejack, just like all of her friends, so she made sure to listen.
"--Mah hat! Pinkie Pie, quick, grab mah hat!"
Oh no! She must have knocked off Applejack's hat! Quickly looking up, she saw the hat, caught by the wind, slowly wafting above the Ponyville river. The Ponyville river wasn't very wide -- a fast flowing river that was only half a meter deep could sweep a small pony away, though. That was more than enough to sweep a hat away! Pinkie Pie would have to jump to get the hat, now!
"I'msorryApplejackI'llgetit!"
Pinkie Pie knew a lot of things, and one of those things was that while not thinking was great, thinking quickly could help ponies, and ponies that you help are even happier than ones who see you happy! Not to mention, Pinkie knew that Applejack's hat was special to her, so Pinkie leaped at it. Her little pink legs curled like miniature pink springs, and she jumped as high as she could to grab the Stetson in her teeth.
Even as she cleared the ground, however, she realized that she should have thought faster. If she caught Applejack's hat, she'd just end up dragging it into the river, and that would ruin it! Pinkie's mind clocked to overdrive, whirring almost audibly as she searched for a solution. As she reached the hat, she realized that grabbing the hat was the best that she could do. If she didn't, it's fall in the river anyways, but if she snagged it then she would at least have it with her. Clenching it in her jaws, she was suddenly overcome with a sensory overload.
As a baker, Pinkie's sense of taste was very well developed. Being Pinkie certainly helped, too. This hat tasted like lots of things. She tasted layer upon layer of dirt, applied with care over the years, as this hat weathered them all. Like the rings of a tree, she tasted every year of dirt, intermingled with the sticky taste of the apples that the hat's owners had knocked off the countless trees for generations. She tasted kind ponies and harsh ponies, smart ponies and dull ponies, strong ponies and weak ponies... But most of all, she tasted the years beyond count, a hat with age unfathomable. And she tasted Apples. She tasted Apples, the Apples, all of the Apples all together. Pinkie Pie realized something; this hat was not Applejack's. It was the Apple Family's, and was a hat that would never belong to anypony -- it belonged to itself.
And as Pinkie neared the river, she realized something else. The Ponyville river was a meter deep, and she was a small pony.
A crash jolted through the air as Pinkie and the Hat landed in the water. Fighting the current, Pinkie fought to keep the Hat above the water. As the light blue water drove Pinkie into a rock, she gasped, the air nearly knocked out of her. She wasn't going to give up her struggle, though. Rolling in the water, Pinkie pushed down hard on the offending rock. Pinkie tumbled forward in the water, the Hat repeatedly dunked in the unforgiving liquid.
No! Pinkie thought. This hat needs to get back to Applejack! She needs this hat to be her! It's the Apple Hat! Kicking out her legs to seek purchase, she found the ground. Turning forward so that she presented less surface area to the current, she held steady in the river. Then, turning quickly, she bounded out of the center of the river, towards shallower waters. Rolling under the sudden current once more, she dug into the ground and charged at the shore. Finding purchase, she stumbled out of the current onto the bank.
"Pinkie Pie! Pinkie Pie, are you alright?" Applejack shouted, expediently pulling her cart down the other end of the bridge, spilling apples right and left as the two-wheeled, rickety cart bounced up and down. "Pinkie Pie?" Applejack repeated her question, voice as drenched in concern as Pinkie was with water.
Pinkie just lay on the ground, sobbing. Finally responding to her friend's repeated calls, she mumbled something.
As Applejack saw Pinkie speak, she sighed in relief. "Pinkie, you down-right scared me! I was worried about you! Can yah stand up, are you alright? Yah can move, can't yah?"
Pinkie let out with a bawl, tears streaming from her eyes as she sobbed.
"Pinkie!" Applejack shouted, voice cracking in fear. "Don't worry, I'll go get somepony to help, the hospital's nearby!"
"I'm s-s-soooo sorry!" Pinkie broke out, sniffling terribly. "I k-killed it! It's broken!"
"What's killed? What's broken? Did you break a bone? Don't worry, I'll be--" Applejack cut herself off as she finally saw her Stetson, laying out in front of Pinkie. It might have been able to survive one soaking, but when Pinkie had tumbled with the rocks, a big tear had formed on the top of the hat, where Pinkie had been holding it. The following combination of movement and water immersion had spread the wear on the already damaged hat, tearing it clean in half. Smiling gently at Pinkie, Applejack unhitched herself from her cart, walked over to her sobbing friend, and sat down beside the prone pink pony.
"I'm s-sorry, Applejack." Pinkie whispered. "I'm sorry, it's ruined. I'd understand if you n-n-never wanted to b-be my friend again."
"Sugarcube, Ah'm just glad you're alright." Applejack said. "Ah was worried that you were ruined." she chuckled. "Ah'd never forgive you if you hurt yourself gettin' mah hat for me."
Pinkie Pie looked up, pouting. "You w-wouldn't?"
"Course Ah would!" Applejack wrestled her friend into a hug. "Ah'd just never forgive mahself, that's all."
Pinkie giggled for a second, and then remembered the circumstances. Then, she lodged a stammered, sniffley protest.
"But-- I-- your hat! I broke your hat, I broke the Hat, it's completely unfixable! It was an Apple Family heirloom! Aren't you mad at me?"
Applejack pulled Pinkie off the ground. "How'd you know that it was an Apple Family heirloom? I got it from mah Pa, who got it from Granny Smith, who got it from... darned if I know." Applejack reminisced.
"It t-tasted funny."
Applejack opened her mouth as if to argue for a second, but then shook her head. "You really are a mystery, aren't you Pinkie? Come on, let's get you somewhere to dry off, before you get a cold. Y're already sniffling, an' Ah don't want you getting sick on account of a hat."
"I'm a mystery? What about you? I just destroyed a family relic, and you're not even upset!"
"Pinkie." Applejack said flatly, turning to look at the baker. "It was just a hat. That's all it is, in the end. All it would be. A hat. Now c'mon, I'm sure Twi has a fire going, and if she doesn't Spike can light one up for you."
Following her friend, Pinkie watched as Applejack hitched herself to the cart, and began to trudge towards the library -- away from the market. Stopping herself before she said anything, Pinkie Pie shook her head. It was just Applejack, being Applejack.
