Strawberry Serenade

by AugieDog

4: Blossoms

Sprawled on the sofa with her mother's strawberry-embroidered comforter covering her face, Sunrise knew for an incontrovertible fact that she was an idiot. Of course, that knowledge wasn't useful in any way, shape, or form. But recognizing it, she felt, was marginally better than not recognizing it...

She'd had a vague hope after she'd barreled through the front door, slammed it shut behind herself, and tumbled onto the sofa that she might hear a light knocking and Braeburn calling gently through the mail slot, It's okay! I don't care that you're a nasty, vindictive, sanctimonious jerk—

But even in her fantasy, she would shout, "Well, you should care! And here's why!" She would then loudly and carefully list all her various faults and would conclude by stating the plain and simple fact that Braeburn really shouldn't want anything to do with her.

Five times she restarted and ran through this scenario, and each time, her imaginary self ended up driving him away just as thoroughly as her real self had. Because by then it had become painfully obvious that he wasn't going to be knocking on her door, that he'd evidently wised up, taken the advice she'd given him at the restaurant, and had gotten back on the train to Appleloosa just the way she'd wanted him to.

It was for the best.

And she was a complete and total idiot.

She was just considering maybe piling the actual sofa cushions on top of herself as well as the blanket when somepony did start knocking at the door. It was more a pounding than a knocking, actually, and as she sat up, the quilt still draping down over her head and shoulders, a hard-toned mare's voice shouted, "Strawberry Sunrise! You open this door right this gol-durned minute, or I swear to my Granny Smith, there won't be nothing left of it but kindling!"

"Applejack!" another mare exclaimed, her voice more familiar, a bit higher, and nowhere near as murderous. "We agreed that I would do the talking, did we not?"

"We didn't do nothing of the sort! I only went looking for you 'cause I couldn't recollect where this low-down polecat of a pony lived!"

"There's no need for name-calling! Strawberry's a bit of a, well, an acquired taste, one might say, but I certainly wouldn't call her a polecat!" That was Rarity, all right: Sunrise couldn't imagine any other pony in this town sticking up for her like that.

"A snake in the grass, then!" The whole house rattled when Applejack smacked the door this time, and Sunrise dragged herself to her hooves, shook the comforter off, and plodded into the entryway. "A wasp and a hornet and a big ol' horsefly all rolled into one! One solid, total, and unadulterated—!"

"Bitch?" Sunrise asked, pulling the door open and glaring at the two ponies. "Is that the word you're looking for, maybe?"

"It ain't!" Applejack stomped a hoof. "It's a pure insult to every female dog I've ever known to use that word for the likes of you!"

Nasty comebacks galloped unbridled through Sunrise's head, but she pushed them all away. "Fine! 'Polecat' it is, then! Now get off my front stoop!"

She stepped back to slam the door, but Rarity practically leaped across the threshold. "Strawberry, wait! What in the wide, wide world of Equestria is this all about?" She shot a sour glance over her shoulder. "Applejack dragged me out of my workroom gibbering about you and her cousin, but that doesn't make any sense! No sense at all!"

"Exactly!" Sunrise shouted at the same time as Applejack, but when Applejack stopped to blink, Sunrise forced herself to go on. "Braeburn deserves the best, most beautiful, sweetest, and gentlest mare the world has ever known, not some bitter, thoughtless, useless—" her throat constricted, but the words wouldn't stop "—mean, dried-up, awful..." And she only stopped then because she ran out of breath.

Her gaze had gotten blurry; gritting her teeth, she wiped her eyes, blinked, and found that she was looking at the entryway carpet. Taking a shaky breath, she raised her head—

And the other two were staring at her like she'd sprouted a horn. "Land sakes," Applejack said more quietly than Sunrise had ever heard the farmpony speak. "You got it bad, don'tcha?"

Not trusting her voice, Sunrise just nodded.

Rarity's eyes shimmered. "And Braeburn came all the way from Appleloosa just to surprise you, didn't he?"

Again, Sunrise could only nod.

Applejack reared back, grabbed her hat, and slammed it to the ground. "Consarn it!" She aimed a front hoof at Sunrise like it was a dagger. "You answer me true, then, Strawberry Sunrise! What's your intentions toward my cousin Braeburn?"

"Intentions?" Sure enough, her voice cracked; Sunrise cleared her throat and tried to sort through the jumble in her head. "Well, he saved my life and completely messed it up at the same time. I mean, he pulls me out of this flashflood, we talk for a couple hours, and the next thing I know, I'm having a real conversation with my brother for the first time in maybe two decades! I'm taking time off work, and I never take time off work! It's just—" She pulled in another breath. "He's this great guy and I'd like to get to know him better and it looks like maybe he feels the same and he's just so gorgeous!" Her face went hot. "Uhh, I mean—"

"'Sall right, sugar cube." Applejack's smile stretched a little tight over her muzzle, but it was still a smile. "If'n he weren't such a close relation, I'd likely be up paying court at Cousin Red's place, too." She turned to Rarity. "Reckon we can get Twilight to help?"

"I should say so!" Rarity wiped the trickle of mascara from the corner of her eye. "It's everypony's duty to help steady the course of true love!"

"Love?" A lot more than just Sunrise's face started heating up. "Look, I don't know if I'd go that far. I mean, I only met him two days ago, and—"

"'Sall right," Applejack said again. "Whenever she gets wound up, you just gotta let her go." She grabbed her hat from the ground with her teeth and flipped it up to land perfectly between her ears. "But let's get on over to the castle and get this whole thing started."

"Started?" Sunrise had to wince; was she a parrot suddenly, repeating everything everypony said? Shaking her head, she planted her hooves more firmly in the entryway carpet. "Okay, I'm going to need to know what's going on before I set hoof outside this house."

"Love!" Rarity practically sang. "We shall call upon the very powers of the cosmos itself to bring your two hearts together!"

Sunrise blinked at her, then turned to Applejack. Applejack rolled her eyes. "Ain't another train to Appleloosa till four o'clock this afternoon. We wanna get there afore Braeburn, so we'll hafta have Twilight magic us over."

As much as Sunrise wanted to repeat several of Applejack's words, she forced herself not to. "Still not getting it here," she said, refusing to let herself hope.

Applejack sighed. "Twilight'll transport you and me down to Appleloosa, and we'll have the better part of a day to wrastle Cousin Red into letting you court Braeburn." She gave a sideways smile. "Good thing you're as ornery as you are, Strawberry, 'cause I reckon we're gonna need ev'ry ounce we can muster."

Wings shooting out, Sunrise leaped into the air, dove through the door, and hovered over Applejack and Rarity. "Then what're we just standing around here for?" she shouted.

Rarity let loose with an almost maniacal laugh, Applejack's "Yee-haw!" echoing from the houses up and down the street. They both wheeled and began galloping toward Princess Twilight's castle, and Sunrise swooped into place above them, her whole body lighter than it had ever been before.

---

Staring out the window, Braeburn found himself wondering what it'd be like to just get out here, just hop off the end of the train, tumble down the embankment into the sand, and start walking under that big blue sky toward the desert's horizon, wavery in the afternoon heat. This particular stretch of land was empty as an unpacked crate, and he was feeling more'n a little that way himself.

Go home, she'd said, and those two little words, hardly taking up half a breath between 'em, had just clawed right into his chest and tore out every living part he'd had tucked away up in there.

Not that this was the first time he'd had a mare reject him, of course. Sure, he was the one who usually broke things off when it turned out she wanted a trophy instead of a coltfriend, but sometimes he'd just be getting to know whatever pony he was dating when Red'd call him into her office to tell him that the mare had decided things weren't working out.

And he'd blink and nod and get back to his chores, and pretty quick, there'd be another mare fluttering her eyelashes at him in town or in Red's office, and the whole thing'd start again. There was always more mares, it seemed, all pretty much cute and smart and friendly and whatever—

But none of 'em was her.

And now, even she wasn't her.

Braeburn shifted in his seat, pretty sure that last thought hadn't made a licka sense. He knew what he meant, though. Sunrise didn't want nothing to do with him—or rather, didn't want him to have nothing to do with her 'cause she didn't think he could really want to have anything to do with her.

Which got his teeth clenching more'n a little. Why was it so many ponies keep telling him that what he wanted wasn't what he wanted? Sure, he weren't the sharpest plow in the field, but he weren't exactly dumb as a box of frogs neither! First Pappy, then his aunts and uncles, then Red and Sheriff Silverstar and pretty much ev'rypony in Appleloosa, they all reckoned they knew him better'n he did himself!

Though if he was being honest, he had to admit they sometimes did. Too many times in the past when Red had given in and let him try one of his ideas, he'd turned out wrong and she'd turned out right. So it wasn't like they kept him on a short leash to be mean or anything.

Blowing out a breath took all his anger with it, his shoulders loosening. He slumped against the window and watched the buttes appear to the east the way they did just before the tracks came into the depot. It wasn't like he had a bad life. He just needed to be more careful or less willful or better at understanding what things were truly doable and what things just plain weren't.

The conductor came through the car announcing the station, and Braeburn gathered his saddlebag from under the seat. Managing expectations, Red called it when she had her little half glasses on. Mind his 'P's and 'Q's, and maybe she'd let him start going out with the night patrol again someday...

The train rattled and shook and ground to a halt, Braeburn nodding to the other ponies on board and letting them get off first. He weren't in any hurry, after all.

Stepping off the train last, he started for the end of the platform when a very familiar clearing of throat folded his ears. He snapped his head over to see his sister standing in front of a luggage cart while beside her—

"Cousin Applejack?" He blinked, then joy bubbled over inside his chest. Because standing next to AJ— "Sunrise!" And he couldn't keep from galloping over, his hooves light and dancing underneath him.

The looks on the three mares' faces made him check his rush a mite: Sunrise had pinked up cuter'n any pony had a right to be; AJ was glancing toward Red with as smug a grin as Braeburn had ever seen; and Red, though she was a head taller'n the other two, broader of chest and bigger all 'round, she suddenly looked like a filly who'd gotten herself lost at the county fair.

"There you go," AJ more purred than said. "Might be you see what we mean 'bout how Braeburn feels now."

Red's eyes narrowed, and just about all the softness vanished from her expression. "Braeburn?" she asked in the tone she always used when she was about to tell him in exact detail how and why he'd fouled things up. "You know this Strawberry Sunrise?"

"I—" He swallowed, but Sunrise's warm, solid gaze fixed on him somehow made his breath more regular. "I pulled her outta the crick during the storm Monday, and we spent the night together."

"You what?" Red's stomp shook the whole station.

Braeburn winced. "Not like that! We was wrapped up in blankets with a pot-belly stove between us!" He glared at her, then turned to look at Sunrise some more. "She told me I needed to do what made me happy." This time, he let about half a glare sharpen his features. "But when I tried to tell her that being with her made me happy, she said I was too good for her and told me to go home." Puffing the glare away, he took another step toward Sunrise. "So what're you doing here? And how'd you get here afore me?"

Her grin lit up the whole station. "Apparently, it pays to have friends," she said, and she nudged AJ in the ribs with an elbow. AJ snorted a laugh, but ev'rything about Sunrise got real serious real quick. "I made a mistake back in Ponyville, Braeburn." Her mouth went sideways, and she pointed a half-glare of her own in Red's direction. "It's not my place to be telling you what you ought to be doing with your life, and if you'd like to spend some of your time getting to know me—" She took a step toward him, and Braeburn caught his breath at the shimmer in her eyes. "I'd like to spend some time getting to know you."

Off in his peripheral vision, he saw Red shifting from hoof to hoof, but he was only paying attention to the mare in front of him. "I—" Her voice wavered. "I don't know how this'll work exactly. I mean, this land out here is perfect strawberry country. I could probably convince my brother Roan to let me set up a field, try selling Appleloosa's farmers on the idea of strawberries by, y'know, getting to know them and letting them get to know me, take things slow and easy, be friendly, that sort of thing." She swallowed, her gaze flitting from side to side when he took another step toward her. "That's some advice I got from somepony once, at any rate."

Feeling like his whole body was smiling, Braeburn took one last step, bent down, and touched his lips to hers. She made a little squeaking noise, raised her head, met his lips more firmly, and Braeburn kinda lost track of things for a while after that.

Finally, though, he had to come up for air, but Sunrise took her own one more step forward, tucking her head against the side of his neck. "It's the 'be friendly' part that's got me a little worried," she murmured.

He couldn't help chuckling at that. "You're a natural," he said. "Trust me." Looking past where AJ stood grinning, he fixed on where Red stood scowling. "And it just so happens my family's got some property that'd be perfect."

"Bray," Red growled.

"It's my land, too, Sis, and there's spots that're sitting fallow right now, ain't there?" He stroked a hoof along Sunrise's back, his heart pounding even harder when she shivered. "And if anypony can make it work, it's this pony right here."

Sunrise shifted against his chest, and this time, he was the one shivering. "It'll be entirely risk free for you, Ms. Gravenstein," she said. "But if it works out, you'll be in for a share of the profits. I can have paperwork here tomorrow with all the details. Shall we say noon in your office?"

The twitch at the corner of Red's eye told Braeburn she was annoyed, but the glint there said she was smelling bits. "Fine," she said after a long, long moment. "Tomorrow at noon." She turned and started down the platform. "Best you start calling me 'Red,' too, I reckon."

AJ smacked the floor and gave out a hoot, and Braeburn looked down at the beautiful mare cuddled up against him. "Well, now, Strawberry Sunrise. Looks like you made yourself a sale."

"Y'know?" She licked her lips. "Not really interested in that right now." She stretched her neck up, and he bent down to meet her halfway.

Comments

[AugieDog]

Which ends it:

Until they develop some mutant strawberry/apple hybrid that attempts to take over Equestria...

Mike

[howard035]

I was wondering how you'd tie it up so neatly in only a few thousand words. You clever bastard, you sent in Applejack, who cleaves the Gordian Knot of complex emotional misunderstandings.

[Chadbane]

8267430
Darn it! First Han Solo's son, now Strawberry's and Braeburns!

[AugieDog]

8271962

That was one of the first moments I pictured when I came up with this idea: Applejack throwing her hat on the ground, allowing herself one "Consarn it!" and then setting out to do what she could to make this whole thing work.

8272171

I'm seeing:

A red and black alicorn...

Mike

[Godiswithus3]

I enjoyed this very, VERY much.

[FanOfMostEverything]

This was truly delightful, a wonderful combination of character exploration and romance. Thank you for it, and best of luck in the contest.

8267430
Gives a whole new meaning to the term "Red Menace."

[AugieDog]

8287613
8288793

Thanks, folks!

Mike

[Trinary]

This was a very nice, very solid story!

[Dafaddah]

That there was some mighty fine shippin'!

[ShiningNova]

Super adorable story. I love a good crack ship but this is a great crack ship.

Great job

[AugieDog]

8295552
8298178
8303851

Thanks, folks!

Now I just hafta rewrite it with various nature spirits--brownies, sprites, and pixies, for instance--instead of ponies, and I've got an original fic I can try shopping around!

Mike

[djthomp]

That was fun.

[AugieDog]

8338444

Thanks!

I tried to do some things with giving Sunrise a lot of the traditionally male parts of the romance--she's the traveler and the talker and the grouch with a carefully hidden heart of gold--and Braeburn a lot of the traditionally female parts--he's the headstrong local beauty, slightly flighty but overflowing with kindness--and I like how that turned out...

Mike

[Softy8088]

we'll have the better part of a day to wrastle Cousin Red into letting you court Braeburn.

I can almost get behind Braeburn being bossed around by his sister and not getting to go on night patrols, that being a source of plot-relevant angst, but having somepony else making the decision of who he is and isn't allowed to date and nopony seeing anything wrong with that, is just downright painful. If it's meant to be "charmingly old-fashioned", then it's about as charming as mentioning separate drinking fountains and certain ponies not being allowed on golf courses. Reversing the historical gender roles doesn't really make it work; it's just uncomfortable and distracting.

It's a great story otherwise, though. As far as crack ships go, this is an intriguing one, based on A.J. being the one degree of separation. The buildup was well-paced. The ending was a little too quick, and I think some storytelling opportunity was lost. I liked the way Braeburn's side of the narration was done in his speaking style. Strawberry's character is well-done; it's rare to see the inside of the mind of a jerk. (And it's decently accurate -- I speak from first-hand knowledge.) And in a technical sense, the writing is top-notch. I think Applejack is presented as a little too hot-headed and assholish, and combined with the thing with Red I mentioned before, it makes the Apples as a whole look worse than I like to think they are.

[AugieDog]

8341640

It's not meant to be:

Charmingly old-fashioned. It's just meant to be just plain old-fashioned. If I hadn't run up against the contest deadline, I would've had Strawberry raise more of a stink about it, but I didn't get a chance to give the whole thing a last pass, alas...

8343379

Thanks!

I had fun writing it!

Mike

[Rune Soldier Dan]

A bizarre and glorious ship. Loved how you took two one-note characters and made them human.

[Yoshifan30]

Well it looks like strawberry Sunrise admitted that she is falling in love with Braeburn even though they only met each other for only 2 days but somehow his charm really got her badly and even Applejack and Rarity helped her out with that Braeburn went home heartbroken knowing that she doesn't even cares about him but when he got to the train station he meet up with a sister Applejack and even strawberry sunrise and they finally admitted they love each other this was a pretty sweet story keep up the good work

[Yoshifan30]

[shore]

Big fan of this story, nice one!

[Voidwalker]

Well, wasn't that a ride.
So as far as I understood it, this was written within the limitations of a contest. I'm not entirely sure if that contest set limitations 'only' for the available time frame, or for the word count as well. Either way, I know that working under such conditions requires making some concessions.
As was mentioned by other commenters before: The writing is top-notch. Really impressive stuff, with very immersive details. Like Braeburns speech patterns bleeding into the text. Loved that detail.
I did think that Sunrise's turn was too fast. It was a little jarring for me, at least. I can hand-wave it to a certain degree, but even then, it still stands out a little. I mean, they did imply she 'got it really badly' and falling in love like that might provoke such heel turns, but still. It was a little harsh. That said, this basically just amounts to a nitpick, compared to the quality on display otherwise. With this exception, the pacing was just fantastic. They actually shared some time, we as the readers got to know them a little, the chemistry was actually really good...
I almost dismissed this story, without reading it. And I'm a little ashamed to say: The reason for that was simply the thought 'I don't know these two, I don't know if I care about these two'. But you're a talented storyteller. You made me care. That's a quality I don't automatically assume is present. I'm glad I gave it a go. I had a good time with it.

Thank you for writing!

[AugieDog]

11447868

Thanks!

Yeah, the contest had a limit of 15,000 words, so I couldn't've squeezed in any more scenes...

Mike