Two hours until the party.

Every Sunday morning when you were young, your father would give you four bits and let you go down to the candy shop to buy yourself a treat. It was a tradition that started with his father’s father and had continued on through the years. But you didn’t care about family history or tradition, you were a young pony who only knew that every Sunday morning meant that you would get to buy candy and not have to share with anypony else. When you were young what could be better than not having to share something? You shared toys, and food, and everything else but to have something that you didn’t have to share was like being told you didn’t have to take a bath.

One day, your father dropped you off and told you he would be back after he met with a distributor. This was your first time being alone in the candy store by yourself, so today you felt extra grown up. For the first time, you could choose whatever candy you wanted without your father’s subtle hints of disproval. Although you never let it dissuade you in the past, your father always had something to say about what you choose at the store. At first it was hints like “Are you sure you want that” and “I suppose that’s good.” Perhaps this is why you became so apathetic to making personal choices when you grew older.

At first you would protest and claim that, yes this was indeed what you wanted. After several trips like that your father stopped speaking up but still weighed in with his two cents through grunts and coughs each time you looked at something. But today, today you didn’t have to worry about all that. Your father was busy and you were alone to choose whatever candy you wanted. No grunts when you looked at a pack of sugar covered seeds, no coughing when you ogled a wad of chocolate marshmallows, and certainly no sighs when you choose to get a big piece of salt water taffy. No, today you were, for lack of better words, a pony in a candy shop.

As you stepped into the store your nose immediately begins to tingle with the smell of sugar and the euphoric rush of freedom. You prance happily down the aisle, looking around at all the candy just ripe for the picking. Chocó-bombs and sugar snaps, ginger cakes and mint crisps, all of them were available for you and you alone. It was a virtual paradise for you, your own paradise where no one could tell you otherwise.

Then you saw it.

There it was, high up on a shelf, the candy that children told stories about on the playground. The “Minty-jelly-razzle-dazzle- Chocolate bar”, that candy that was supposed to be so sweet, so delicious that one bite would make you hyper for a week. Ponies claimed that eating an entire one would give you super speed, or that it was made from the happiest thoughts in the world; the usual legends that young ponies made up to impress each other. But legend or not, you knew that you had to have that candy; you WANTED that candy, wanted it more than all the birthdays and winter wrap-ups combined. It was yours, it had your name on it, it was made to be eaten by you! Nothing was going to stand in your way! Come hell or high water that candy bar, that oh so delicious and sweet candy bar was going to be yours; Celestia help any pony or anything that stood in your way! It was your destiny!

Destiny, that is, until you saw the price.

Immediately your heart took a dive and landed in the shallowest part of your gut. There, written on a piece of red paper in bold black marker were the words. “Ten bits per bar.” You looked into the money pouch your father had given you and counted out the usual four bits that was your allotted candy money.  Curses! Curse your father and his stingy penny pinching. Because of him you were six bits short of the ultimate candy confection. If only there was some way, some way that you could get the candy without having to pay, some way of obtaining things for free. If only there was some method of getting what you wanted without someone knowing of it…

You looked over at the store clerk who was sitting behind the counter, leafing through a paper. There was no way he could see you from his angle, but you could easily see him. The candy was a good several feet above you, but a nearby stepping stool could easily remedy that problem. You give the clerk a quick look, finding that they had now lain their head down on the counter for an impromptu nap. Taking this as a sign you quickly but quietly retrieve the stepping stool, positioning it under the shelves just right. Once you were sure, you climbed up the stool and stood on the last rung, rearing up on your hind legs.  It took a bit of fancy balancing, and a couple of close calls, but after a couple minutes you managed to nudge one of the candy bars out of its box and firmly clasped it between your hooves.

At long last, the delicious treat was yours! Triumph! Victory! Against all odds you have overcome every obstacle thrown at you and now you emerged triumphant! For a moment, you simply gazed and the wrapping; Dark brown with a gold trim around the top and bottom, with shiny red wording. Just the packaging alone looked delicious! You could hardly wait to taste the candy itself. Slowly and carefully as not to accidentally fall or wake up the shop keep, you climbed down the stepping stool and back up against the nearest standing display and quickly unwrapped your delectable treasure.

The first bite was euphoric. Your mind was filled with fireworks, and the flavors danced a dance of joy and wonder on your palette.  You had never tasted anything so delicious in your life and you were almost sad to take another bite out of this delectable treat from the god’s above. But your young stomach soon betrayed your heart, and you took another bite, then another, and then another. Soon the bar was gone; all that remained was melted chocolate on your hooves and around your lips.

Satiated and happy, you laid back against the display that was responsible for hiding you from the clerks view. Your belly bulged with sweet goodness, and your mind entertained the idea that you could now brag to all the other colts and fillies on the playground about how you had eaten the most wonderful candy bar in the history of Equestria. Nothing could ruin this moment; nothing could take away the feeling of happiness that danced in your young soul. Nothing that is, except for the shop keeper who had woken up from his nap and walked around the store, only to find you where you were; a wrapper stuck to your hoof and chocolate on your face.

“Ummm… My daddy can pay for it?”

The shop keeper just frowned.

Indeed, your father did pay for the candy, but it was you who paid for your transgressions, mainly in the form of chores, a hoof written essay, and sweeping out the candy store for a month. But none of that compared to the painfully guilty talk that your father gave you on the carriage ride home.

“There are things in this world that a Noir never does! And stealing is by far the most important! Do you have any idea how valuable and influential our name is? Do you!? Just imagine what would happen to our business if someone were to find out that my child was no more than a common thief! You would ruin us! Your mother would be devastated! Is that what you want? To devastate your poor mother!? Well, I hope that candy was worth it, because it is the last piece of candy you will EVER have in your life! I don’t care how old you get, by the time your punishment is over you will NEVER want to have another piece of candy again! I am simply outraged, OUTRAGED that my foal would dare to do such a thing! Have you no shame? No sense of decency!? And further more….”

Your father’s cutie mark may have been an elegant bottle of wine, but you were almost certain that his special talent was making others feel bad. That night, you were sentenced to your room without supper. You had crawled into your bed and began to cry your little eyes out when you heard a knock at your door. Not wanting to see anyone, you refused to respond. Against your silent protest however, the door opened, and in walked your father carrying a bowl of soup. Though you couldn’t see it, your father was looking at the quivering lump on your bed with an expression of regret. His normally coiffed mane was shaggy, his bow-tie was undone and his vest was opened, as well as his white dress shirt. With a sigh, he walked over to you and sat down on the bed, setting the bowl of soup on your night table.

“You know… when I was your age, I stole a book from the local book store. It was my favorite series, about a pony that traveled through time in a blue box. I didn’t have the money to afford it at the time, but I figured that with so many extra copies, the shop owner wouldn’t miss one. But when I got home, your grandfather surprised me with a copy of the same book that he had purchased the day before. I felt so bad that I immediately broke down and told him what happened.”

You were still hurt, but your father’s story intrigued you. Without emerging from underneath the blanket you said “Did he yell at you?”

Your father shook his head and sighed. “No, but I wish he did. He simply took the book from me and said that he was very disappointed in me. That was it. No punishment, no stern lecture, he even let me keep the book he got me. But just that word, “disappointed”, made me feel so bad that I wish he did yell at me.”

You felt a hoof gently stoke where your head would be. “I was so upset that I vowed to never, ever steal again. But today, I did something even worse than steal. I yelled at my own foal.”

You poked your head out from the sheet, looking at your father as he looked down at you. “I thought you didn’t love me any more…”

Your father sighed. “I know, and for that I am truly sorry. In reality I was just disappointed with you, but I forgot how bad I felt when I stole. Instead I went right to the yelling and ended up hurting you.”

You sniff and wipe your eyes. “I didn’t mean to make you angry…”

“I know, I know. But you have to understand that stealing isn’t nice. Ponies work hard to make a living, and when you steal, you are stealing some of their lively hood. It’s like, if someone took a bouquet of flowers from your mother without asking. Do you understand?”

You nod. “I'm sorry daddy.”

You hug your father’s leg as he leans over and kisses your forehead. “I know. I’m sorry to. I brought you some soup if you’re hungry. Tomorrow we will go down to the store and you can apologize to the shop keeper, ok?”

You nod, then climb out from the covers of your bed and trot over to a small box on your book case. Inside the box marked “Book Money” you removed the ten bits you had had saved up for the new book you wanted about a pony named “Doctor”.

“Do you think he would be mad if I tried to pay for the candy now?”

Your father smiled and shook his head. “I think he would be very happy for it.”

Since that day, you had never stolen anything. No matter how bad you wanted something, you would always pay for it, even if it meant doing extra chores around the home in order to make a few extra bits. You prided yourself on being a (somewhat) honest pony who abides the law. Your father’s words had been imprinted on your soul, and anytime you thought that someone wouldn’t miss something, you instantly thought back to what he said about your mother, and quickly paid for said item. Yes, you were an honest, virtuous pony who had never stolen anything ever again.

At least, not intentionally that is.

As you sat at the end of a long wooden table, with Applejack giving you a death like glare from the other side, you wonder if that record was about to be shattered. It had been twenty minutes since she last spoke to you. After her outburst and a round of intense swearing, Twilight had Escorted Applejack out of the barn for a quick chat. After a couple minutes of hushed whispers, and swearing your name, Applejack came back in and begrudgingly apologized for her behavior, inviting you and Twilight inside for a glass of apple cider. But after a painful ten minutes of simply sitting around a table with no pony talking and Applejac'ks glowering, you began to wonder if her apology was actually sincere.

“So… This is good cider… what kind of apples did you use?” You broke the silence much to Twilight's relief. You had hoped that by asking about her profession that she would warm up to you.

“Golden Delicious.” Applejack quickly downed her glass of cider and immediately poured herself another. “Which coincidentally was mah pet name for Rainbow.”

“Applejack!” Twilight quickly whipped a hoof back and forth across the neck, signaling for her friend to drop the subject. “Ix Nay on the ainbow –ray ash-day!”

“Um… I can speak pig Latin…” Twilight sighs at your admittance.

“Oh really now? Well then, how about this?” Applejack leaned over across the table and looked you in the eye. “Uck-fay ou-Yay.”

Twilight slapped a hoof against her face as you leaned forward to. “Our-yay Other-may”

Before you could as so much as smirk, you felt the hard sting of a hoof connect with your cheek, sending you reeling from the chair and onto the ground.  You didn’t know what was worse: The shock f being hit, or the amount of pain you felt. Applejack leaped on to the table and stood on her hind legs, rage burning in her eyes.

“Oh it’s go time now, partner!” With that, she leaped from the table and slammed her body into you, sitting on your stomach and pummeling you with her forelegs.  Her blows were sporadic with no real aim or focus, but the power behind them was enough to make your head spin. One particular punch landed against your jaw, leaving you with a sharp pain that soared through your head and left you with the coppery taste of blood in your mouth. Even with your head ringing, you could hear the panicked shouts of Twilight as she tried to break you two up.

“C’mon! What’s the matter huh? You to “civilized” to hit back!?”

“Normally I would ever hit a lady, but in this case, I’ll make an exception!” You manage to get your forelegs up and try to push Applejack off you. Instead, a punch to the chest causes you to lose force and end up jabbing Applejack in the chest; an awkward move that forces her to stop her assault as she looks down at your hooves in shock.

“Why you cheeky bastard! One mare aint good enough for ya, huh? Gotta go coppin a feel off-a all the others? You make me sick!”

But before you can explain, Applejack lands another punch that squarely hits you on your left eye, causing you to see only stars for the next few seconds, followed by the wind escaping your lungs as the angry country pony lands another punch to the gut.

Twilight’s shouts and pleas had long since stopped. Blocking the assault of hooves, you managed to turn your head to see Twilight run up next to you, followed by a big, red stallion that you knew to be Applejack’s Brother, big Macintosh. In a surprising display of strength, the stallion effortlessly wrapped his forelimbs around his sister and pulled her off from on top of you.

“Damn you Macintosh! You let me down this minute!” Applejack continued to assault the air, punching and kicking as her brother dragged her away from you. Twilight took the opportunity to rush over by your side and look you over.

“Oh my goodness, don’t move! Wait, can you move!? Are you ok?”

You cough up a bit of blood from the cut inside your mouth. “I don’t know… am I dead?”

Twilight sighed in relief. “You’re talking and aware. I don’t think your dead.”

“Oh… well I feel like I am.” You roll over onto your stomach and try to stand, your legs wobbling but obeying for the most part. Everything hurts; from the flats of your hooves to the tip of your ears aches in pain. Your lip is slip, a cut in your mouth stung persistently, and you couldn’t open one of your eyes.

“You look awful….” Twilight cooed as she placed a hoof on your shoulder, but pulled away when you winced.

“I feel awful…” You touch your eye and instantly pull it away when you realize how swollen it is. “Well… I guess Applejack did her job… I am defiantly stalled now.”

Upon instruction you take a seat as Big Macintosh returns carrying a buck of water, a wet rag, and several wraps of bandages.

“Ah jus’ want to apologize fer mah sister’s behavior.”

“Apology accepted” You sit still as the stallion begins to administer treatment to your wounds.

“She don’t mean nothing by it, ah promise ya that much. She just… really loved Rainbow is all.” You wince again as he washes some dried blood from a cut on your head.

“You uh… you mind tellin me about that? I mean, I didn’t purposely steal Rainbow from your sister, but I still feel bad… I want to know where all this –Ow!- anger is coming from.”

Big Mac sighed as he placed a couple of butterfly bandages on your head to help close the wound. “Ya’ll gots to understand that, as a filly, Applejack had a lot of trouble comin to terms with her sexuality and what not. Now our parents were acceptin as any parents could be, and loved Applejack to death. But some ponies didn't have the same mindset, and Applejack became the target for their ignorance because of it. When other ponies began to date and such, she missed out on all of that due to ridicule.”

You let out a short whine as Macintosh touches a slit on one of your ears. “Hmm… this is gonna need stitches. Wait here while ah go get the proper necessities. “ Big Mac stood up and walked out of the room, leaving you and Twilight alone.

“Are you ok?”

You nod. “Yeah… Hurt, but I’ll be alright.” You peer into the bucket of water that Macintosh brought with him, analyzing your reflection. One eye is purple and swollen shut, your lip is caked with dried blood, your ear stings from the slit near the tip, and numerous bruises decorate your body.

“You're not… going to go after Applejack are you?” Twilight looked at you with a worried expression in her eyes.

“Shaking your head, you look down at your hooves and sigh. “I don’t even know the full story. Maybe I did steal Rainbow Dash from her. If that’s the case, and I was in her hooves, then I would probably do the same thing.” You sigh again, closing your eyes trying to clear your head. “I can’t blame her until I know the full story.”

“That’s pretty noble of ya.”

You turn your head towards the open doorway, where Big Macintosh stood with Applejack, and a rather old, lime green pony. Feebly, the elder matron of the apple family walked over to you, a needle and spool of thread in her mouth. Pulling up a stool, she sits herself down next to you and looked at your ear through a pair of spectacles that sat almost on the end of her nose.

“Alright dearie… I’m no nurse Red Heart, but I’ve sewn my fair share of wounds here on this farm. This won’t take more than a few moments. Sit tight and try not to squirm, you’re going to feel a bit of a sting.” She runs the string between her lips and proceeds to thread the needle. You take a deep breath and wince as the cold tip of the metal needle penetrates your ear, then back out before going through to the other side. The process hurt, but it was nothing that you couldn’t deal with. Twilight however looked as if she was growing pale.

“You.. Ow!... You alright?”

Twilight nods. “Yeah… Yeah I’m fine…” She smiles, but her words come out a bit breathlessly.

Trying to ignore the stinging, you look over and see Applejack sit down at the table you all had gathered around earlier, as her brother began to clean some flecks of blood from her nose.

“Did… Did I do that?”

Applejack Nods. “Ya got a mean left hook there.”

“Sorry…” As per your usual routine when you feel bad, your ears begin to fall, only to immediately prick back up when you feel a sharp tugging in the stitches.

Applejack sighed and pushed her brother’s attempts to clean here away, climbed down from her seat and walked over to you.

“Ah know what ya must be thinking of me right now… And ya have every right to do so. Ah lost mah temper, and ah let it out on you. Ah know ah don’t deserve it, but if’n ya would forgive me, ah would might appreciate it.”

Granny smith cuts the excess string with her teeth as you look at Applejack, who is now looking at you with her hat held against her chest, and large green eyes that pleaded for forgiveness. Just as you were sure of her anger, you were sure that this emotion was sincere.

“You hit me in the eye, split my ear open, and hit me in the gut. Now, I can forgive all that, that’s no problem. But before I do, before I can do anything, I have to know: Why did you do it?”

Applejack looked around the room .”Ah thought ah heard you tellin him, Macintosh?”

Macintosh was busing emptying out the bucket of water when he turned around and shrugged. “Figured it was better if’n yall told him yer’self, seeing as how it’s not mah story to tell anyhow.”

Applejack sighed then looked back at you and Twilight. “Alright then… park yall’s rears in a seat, this is gonna be a bit of a story.”

You’re already sitting, but Twilight pulls up a stool and sits herself next to her friend; the two of them looking at you. She places a hoof on Applejacks back in a reassuring gesture; smiling at her and whispering that it was  “Okay”.  The orange pony sighed and nodded in agreement before turning back to you.

“It was… about six months ago when Dash and ah started datin. Ahm sure Macintosh already told ya that I always had trouble with mah sexuality and what not, But Dash was the first mare ah ever dated. Fer awhile things were great between us. Ahm not gonna go into details here, but we got to know each other pretty well.”

Applejack blushed, obviously thinking of some steamy moment between her and the pegasus. You shift in your seat, trying not to read too much into what Applejack is saying.

“Then one day, about a couple of weeks ago, Rainbow Dash came to me with a confession. She said that she wasn’t really into mares. She said that she had always been teased for her appearance , callin her a “Filly Fooler” and such. She that, because of the remarks, she decided to see if there was any merit to what they were saying; maybe all the rumors and whispers were true. She knew how ah felt about her and thought that maybe startin a relationship with a friend would be better then seekin out another mare all together. At first ah was hurt…. But ah couldn’t stay angry at mah best friend fer long. But, after findin out that she was getting involved with another pony, another pegasus fer that matter, well… ah began to wonder if someone may have “influenced” her decision. When ah learned that she was puttin on a party fer ya, well.. I just got so darn angry! Ah let mah emotions get the best of me, and I ended up hurtin someone very close to ah dear friend of mine… and fer that I truly apologize.”

The was silent after Applejack finished speaking. All eyes were on you, waiting for your verdict: guilty, or not guilty? After a few moments of mental deliberation, you hang your head dejectedly. “Just to recap: You blamed me for stealing Rainbow, beat me up, I have stitches in my ear, and you expect me to forgive you, just like that?”

Applejack looks away from your gaze, sighing. “Well… when ya put it like that ah guess…”

“You’re forgiven.”

With a gasp of astonishment, Applejack turned to you. Eyes wipe and mouth slightly agape, she could barely form a sentence. “Wha…wha-wah-wah… Why? Ah mean, ahm grateful and everythin… But why?”

Coming off the stool you had been sitting on, you stretch yourself out, Trying to work some feeling into your sore and stiff limbs. “Because… if I thought someone stole my…Ow!... My significant other from me, I would be pretty mad to.”

Twilight and Applejack exchange bewildered looks with one another. You were so calm, so cool and collected with your decision, that both of them were left speechless. No stress, no mess; just a simple “I forgive you.” Applejack blinked a few times before speaking.

“Ahm sorry… but that’s it? Why aren’t you madder?”

“Because,” you say as you crack your neck, “I'm not the one who is going to be pissed off when they see me.”

“Then who….” Twilight’s voice trailed off as she realized what you meant. She turned to Applejack, her face blank as she came to the same conclusion.

“Rainbow's gonna kill me…”

Next Chapter: The journey ( Countdown Part 3) Estimated time remaining: 27 Minutes