One Night At The Barn

“Braeburn! Wait!”

Braeburn turned around. Applejack was running after him.

“What’s wrong, cuz?”

She glared at him. What kind of game was this guy playing?

“Ya totally know what’s wrong! Nopony insults my friends…”

He didn’t seem to feel guilty at all. Especially she, the Element of Honesty, knew very well how ponies acted. If he knew about that? AJ wasn’t sure.

“Oh, that. It was nothin’ really. Must be still a bit stressed. Traveling is always a pain in the neck. I’m just glad to see you.”

“Brae, ah must insist: You gotta’ apologize to Pinkie Pie! The way you acted, tha’ wasn’t the friendly Braeburn ah’ve always known ‘n if Rarity was here, she would def’nitely tell ya that this isn’t the way to treat a mare. Or any mare! Pinkie even baked ya a pie…Hey! Are ya even lis’nin?”

“I totally am. Now what was that about Pinkie and her pie? Do you mean this one?”

Braeburn pulled out the almond pie out of his saddlebag. It was only now he noticed the tag; now it made sense to him. Pinkie Pie, the pink pony. The crazy, singing pony that you could almost make responsible for a war in his beloved town – this was the pony he had insulted. They both just stared silently at the pie. He decided to break the silence by offering her a piece of it. She then decided to shout at him.

“Now listen to me, dipshit! Ah’m gonna tell ya what’s on mah mind right now! Either ya gonna apologize to Pinkie or ya can get the buck off mah farm. Ain’t nopony insultin’ mah friends. Ever. Got that?”

She gazed down at her cousin, who seemed now to be three sizes smaller. A feeling of satisfaction rushed through her body. For so long she was the one being pushed around by Braeburn, but this one time the Element of Honesty struck back – being completely honest with him.

“...Yes, cuz.”

“Ya mean ‘Yes, Applejack’, right?”

“Yes…yes, Applejack.”

“Then come on! Sweet Apple Acres’ waitin’ for ya! Yeehaw!”

Applejack ran off with these words. Over her shoulder, she saw the still startled Braeburn, not moving an inch.

“And while you’re at it, invite Pinkie for pie this afternoon!”

***

When he arrived at Sugar Cube Corner, he was amazed by the foreign architecture and all the different materials the cake bakery building was made of – or better said, the sweets looked very life-like, even though they weren’t sweet, but actually woody, rock-hard, bone-dry…something along those lines. He stepped inside. The door jingle attracted both the attention of the customers and the shop owners. Running out of the store again as quick as he had entered it would have been a great idea right now if he didn’t have to do this for his cousin. When he asked for Pinkie, he was told to go upstairs. The next five minutes appeared to be the most awkward in his entire life.

***

“Ah’m awfully sorry, Pinkie. Ah know this wasn’t mah mistake, but ah want to apologize in the name of my cousin once more. Ya know he didn’t mean it that way.”

“Oh, don’t worry Applejack. I’m all fine! Another piece of pie?”

Pinkie grinned at Applejack the same way she always grinned at every pony. She looked better than ever, it was hard to tell that she had been angry or distressed before. Even her mane seemed extra-poofy – not a single sign of bad mood was visible.

“Thanks, sugarcube, but ah’m pretty sure Granny would rather eat one. I gotta run now, lots of things to organize. Thanks for comin’ either way. ‘S been a pleasure! Catch ya later!”

Left alone, Pinkie Pie, Braeburn and Granny Smith stared into their plates. The silence didn’t last long.

“Hey Braeburn, I just wondered…Applejack told me you don’t like visiting Ponyville and Mrs. Cake said she had never seen you before and Carrot Top said she had never seen you before either so I did some more investigations and asked a few ponies that might know things about you and I came to the conclusion that you desperately want to meet Big Macintosh, is that right and why is that so I mean you don’t have to tell me but what if this is all true? So what’s hanging, Chad?”

Braeburn didn’t dare to look up when he answered. He kept staring into his plate. Acting like the brave guy he was, Pinkie still managed to tickle his soft spot. Did this mare know practically everything? He wasn’t sure, but you could assume wild things when it came to interacting with this pink mare. The challenge now was not to blush and not to look up. Never look into a pony’s eyes in a state like this.

“Well, this ain’t entirely true, Pinkie Pie. I just thought that the festival was a nice occasion I could also combine with a family visit. And I like Ponyville, it’s a great town – I just don’t like traveling by train. Does that explain the matter?”

You could see the excitement in Pinkie’s face.

“Ooooooooooohh…I understand! Well, have fun then. I hope you won’t forget the wonderful times you’re gonna have here in Ponyville. Greet the others from me too. Hope you all enjoy yourselves!”

Slightly puzzled, Braeburn ate the last piece on his plate before rushing to the door. He didn’t even dare to ask Pinkie what that meant. He had a bad feeling about this. Did she know or not? How could she know? He decided to simply forget what just happened. All he knew right now is that he had to avoid this pony in the future.

***

The princess arrived after sunset as was planned. This wasn’t unusual, considering she was the Princess of the Night. Twilight welcomed her at the library before presenting all the work her and all the other Ponyvilians had done so far. Twilight felt very proud, not a single thing on her checklist was left undone. For once, the banner hadn’t been a disaster – they didn’t write “Welcome Princess Lu” on it, or, as they did last time, “Princess Celest”. Nopony had been wasting time watering the flowers – Twilight took care of this by telling certain ponies they should tell the ponies that do unnecessary tasks what they could do instead. Her well-thought-out system worked, much to the pleasure of the purple mare and the Princess.

At Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight showed Luna how she had been helping all day with decorations and cider production. There was plenty of cider pre-made already and more than Rainbow Dash could ever dream of still in production. Everypony would get enough cider to enjoy this time – provided that Pinkie was able to still her quenchless thirst. When the Princess demanded to try the first cup of cider, both decided to sit down on a hill and enjoy the view. The stars were shining bright, as they would be for the rest of the week. The weather ponies promised bright nights and lots of sunshine. In exchange, everypony knew it, they demanded cider. Rainbow Dash ended up being put in charge of lifting a few heavy barrels up to Cloudsdale. The help the weather ponies sent for her, three buff pegasi ready to help carrying the barrels, was declined by Rainbow Dash – she had to prove a point here, she had to lift the barrels herself. Of course she failed; she didn’t make it very far and had to admit she was beaten. When Twilight told the Princess about this, she couldn’t deny that she was amused by this little story.

“We certainly enjoy the stories you are telling us, Twilight Sparkle. Now we understand why our sister is enjoying these friendship reports of you and your friends.”

“Gee, thanks Princess. But these stories are not that great. You must have heard a lot of stories like these in your life so far. I’m not so special – I sometimes can hardly believe that Princess Celestia really did choose me to be her number one apprentice. It’s like a dream come true, but at the same time I always ask myself how many other ponies have been in my position. How many ponies the Princess must have met already in her life! I’m just one of this whole bunch of ponies that she might not even remember anymore one day, when I’m gone.”

She took a sip from her cider. One mug for each of them…just to test, of course.

“Forsooth, Twilight Sparkle. You tend to exaggerate a bit. Memories don’t always pass so quickly. We are convinced you’ll leave an impression on our beloved sister.” She also took a sip from her cider. “It’s true; one can really taste the quality and care of the Apple Family. We are impressed by this mug of cider. It’s a pleasure for us to be the star guest of this upcoming event if every barrel of cider is as good as this one.”

“I’m pretty sure it is, Princess. I’m not Applejack, but since I helped the Apple Family with the cider production I can tell you that we worked by the usual quality standards! Love in every mug!” She smiled at Luna; her smile revealing the satisfaction with the things she achieved and also some admiration aimed towards the Princess. “You know, Princess Luna…I was thinking about how well you are doing with all the difficulties after your banishment and how well you started to adjust to life after your return. When I first met you, you seemed so sad that you even wished to be back on the moon. I really loved how you didn’t give up though and how your subjects showed understanding and were considerate…and now, after so much time, you even are a star guest of a big event which is unique in Equestria; it will be visited by ponies from everywhere and I’ve never seen the moon being raised before! I feel so glad for you that you are doing this.”

“Twilight Sparkle!” The princess struck a truly royal pose. “We are oh so honored to not only be the star guest of this year’s Cider Festival, but as well pleasing Princess Celestia’s special student this way! A pony as unique as you deserves such things. And by Celestia’s beard, EVERYPONY SHALL KNOW THAT TWILIGHT SPARKLE IS A FRIENDLY, TALENTED, TRULY GIFTED, INQUISITIVE AND SMART MARE; HEREBY WE DECLARE THAT SHE IS THE SMARTEST PONY IN PONYVILLE!!!!!”

From afar, voices could be heard. At Sweet Apple Acres, lights turned on in every room. Twilight was still startled by the sudden impact the Royal Canterlot Voice had caused.

“Princess,” she whispered. “Please refrain from using the Royal Canterlot Voice! Especially at night! Other ponies are asleep!”

“We are awfully sorry, Twilight Sparkle. You have our apologies.”

Luna couldn’t repress a smile while she said that, so she covered her mouth with her hoof. They both ended up laughing, Twilight because she couldn’t understand a word of what just been said and the Princess because she just did something awkward again.

***