Spike: Hey, bronies and pegasisters! I'm here to tell you about DiscordantPrincess' newest story here...I think you're going to like it!

Aww, thanks, Spikey! (huggles) Yep, here's another "Ratti in Ponyville" story. This one takes place right after "A Talk Under the Apple Tree." Dedicated to Cellenia (who gave me the story idea), FairyTales And Pixie Dust, and ShiningShadow1965. Enjoy, everyone!

It was a beautiful day in the town of Ponyville. At Sweet Apple Acres, the Apple family was wrapping up their family reunion and everypony was on their way back to their homes. Once everypony was gone, the family that lived at Sweet Apple Acres cleaned up around their farmyard. Helping them was Padraic Ratigan, a gray earth pony with a neatly trimmed black mane and tail, gold eyes and a cutie mark of a pi symbol, who had attended the reunion as a guest of the Sweet Apple Acres family.

Once they were done, Applejack, an orange earth pony with a yellow mane and tail tied with red bands, green eyes, freckles, a cutie mark of three red apples and a cowgirl hat, went up to her friend. "Thanks a heap for helpin' to clean up, Paddy sugar," she told him. "You're a real pal, ya know that, right?"

Ratigan smiled. "My pleasure, Applejack. It's the least I could do after you so kindly invited me to your reunion. Well, I'd better be heading back." He turned to leave.

"Hold your horses there, sonny boy," Granny Smith, Applejack's grandmother, called to him. The green earth mare smiled. "Why don't cha stay around a while? You've earned yourself a cup of fresh-pressed Sweet Apple Acres cider."

"Thank you, Mrs. Smith, that sounds lovely."

Granny Smith smiled at her granddaughter. "Applejack, honey, why don't cha take your little coltfriend here into the house for some cider?"

Applejack and Ratigan both blushed. She said "He ain't my coltfriend" exactly at the same time he said "I'm not her coltfriend." Then, Applejack smiled. "C'mon, I'll take ya inside." She led him into the house as Granny Smith smiled. "Too bad they ain't together. They'd make a cute couple."

Once they were in the kitchen, Applejack broke out a barrel of cider and poured two cups, handing one to Ratigan. "Thank you."

"I'm sorry 'bout that "coltfriend" comment Granny made back there, sugar cube," Applejack apologized. "I keep tellin' 'er time an' time again that you're with Rarity, but she don't listen to me."

"No need to apologize, it was actually kind of cute." Ratigan took a sip of his cider. "Mmm. This is EXQUISITE!"

Applejack beamed. "Thank you kindly. It was my great-great-granddaddy's recipe, but my pa perfected it." Right after saying the word "pa," she became quiet and sullen.

Ratigan tried to figure out what to say next. "Your parents…they're…passed on, aren't they?"

Applejack nodded sadly. "Eeyup."

"My condolences."

"Thanks."

"What happened to them?" Ratigan saw the pained look on the younger mare's face. "I'm sorry, I've overstepped, haven't I?"

"Nah, you ain't overstepped, it's a natural question." Applejack sighed. "It happened a while back, not too long after Apple Bloom was born. My ma and pa were travellin' salesponies. They went around Equestria sellin' our goods. One night, they went on the road to Las Pegasus. Granny Smith tried to tell 'em to cancel, since the weather team had planned a big storm that night, but they didn't listen. They figured that if they left early enough, they'd reach Las Pegasus before the storm hit. They were wrong. Police found their bodies under an overturned tree. They'd both been crushed to death." She started to tear up. "We never had the heart to tell Apple Bloom what had happened to 'em until recently. Poor filly was devastated for weeks! She was too scared to go near a tree for a long time. She kept sayin' that she didn't want 'em to fall on her, like that tree had fallen on Ma and Pa." She broke down crying, her head resting on the kitchen table.

Ratigan stroked the mare's mane. "There, there, my dear. I know exactly how you feel."

"Ya do?"

"Oh, yes. You see, I too lost my parents when I was very young."

"What happened? I mean, if ya wanna tell me, that is. Ya don't hafta if ya don't wanna."

"No, it's fine. I was five years old, and we were living in a small town outside of Canterlot. My mother, a baker who often went into the city to sell her wares, had several loafs of bread in the oven. I…I don't even necessarily know HOW it happened, I was so young, but all of a sudden the kitchen was on fire. My mother got caught under a fallen beam and couldn't move, and my father wouldn't leave her side until she was freed. They told me to run out of the house as fast as I could. I wanted to stay with them, but they told me to run. So I ran. I ran out of the house. My coat was scorched, and I was having some trouble breathing from inhaling smoke. Our neighbors ran over to help, but by the time they organized anything, it was too late. My parents were both gone. I was taken into the Canterlot orphanage shortly after, and there I spent the year from Tartarus until Princess Celestia found me and took me in."

Applejack nuzzled her friend's head. "That's real rough, sugar. D'ya remember anythin' 'bout them?"

Ratigan shook his head. "Not much. I was so young, and besides it was so very long ago. But I do remember helping my mother baking. I was convinced for a while that my special talent would be cooking like her, so I tried to create new recipes for her to sell. Needless to say, it was a good thing that my special talent turned out to be mathematics." That got both ponies laughing.

"Is that part of the reason ya bought all my goodies at the Grand Gallopin' Gala?" Applejack asked. "Because the baked goods reminded ya of your ma?"

"I never thought about it that way, but yes, I suppose that WAS part of the reason…also, because I wanted to support you in your quest to earn money for your family." Ratigan smiled. "Everypony should strive to help out his family, because you never know how long you'll have them for." He sighed. "What about you? Do YOU have any memories of your parents?"

"Sure do. Tons of 'em…'course, they haven't been gone as long as your folks have been, so that's natural. I guess my favorite memory is how I got this hat." She took off her hat. "I was a little filly, an' I had just gotten my cutie mark. Pa was headin' out to Coltcinnati to sell some goods. Ma didn't go 'cause she had Apple Bloom growin' in her belly. I was real sad; I didn't want Pa to go. I pleaded with 'im not to leave up until the hour before he left. Pa understood my feelings, but he had to go to earn money for the family. But before he left, he gave me this hat…his old hat, so that whenever I wore it I'd remember that he'd never leave me forever and that he loved me."

"That's a beautiful story."

"Thanks. It ain't a fancy one, but it's mine." Applejack put the hat back on her head. "Can I be honest with ya, Paddy?"

"Seeing as you ARE the Element of Honesty, I'd think that you would be," Ratigan replied.

"When I first saw ya at the Grand Gallopin' Gala with Rarity, all dressed up in your fancy clothes and talkin' with your educated words an' such, I thought you were just another Canterlot snob, like that smarmy Prince Blueblood or somethin'. But then I get to talkin' with ya, and each time I do I learn somethin' new 'bout ya that makes me realize what a foal I was for thinkin' such cruel thoughts 'bout ya. You ain't some stuck-up jerk; you're nice and helpful and friendly, an' you care a whole lot 'bout Rarity and all of us. You're a mighty fine fella, Padraic Ratigan."

Ratigan smiled. "Thank you, Applejack. That means a lot. And you're a mighty fine mare."

"Thank you kindly." She held up her cup of cider. "To bein' mighty fine."

Ratigan lifted his cup and clinked it against hers. "Here, here."

GAH, why do I keep writing stories that make me want to huggle these ponies so much?! Aw, c'mere you two! (huggles AJ and Ratti)

Hmm, could Granny Smith be onto something? Could there be a hint of Applegan-ness in this story...nah, they're just pals. And my grandmother was the same, she kept trying to set me up with all my guy friends, whether or not they had girlfriends or not.

Bah, I has no idea how old Ratti is in canon, but in my GMD stories I always put him around fifty, so I'll stick with that here. As for the Mane Six, I think they're supposed to be somewhere between 18 and 22, but don't quote me on that.

Thanks for reading, y'all! Please R&R!

All my best, DiscordantPrincess.