“Surprise!”

Applejack stopped mid-step at the chorus of voices that greeted her as she stepped into Sugarcube Corner before glancing back over her shoulder. “I think you got the wrong pony.”

“Nope!” Pinkie Pie said as she bounded over to her friend, putting a hoof over her withers as she drug her inside. “This party really is for you!”

“What for?”

“We simply thought you seemed a bit under the weather this morning, and thought we would do a little something to show we cared,” Rarity said, smiling.

“Aw, shucks. You didn’t need to do nothin’.” Applejack stepped over to the nearest table, glancing dubiously at the tray of cookies on top. “Are these… tombstones? They ain’t left over from Nightmare Night, are they?”

“Nope! Made ‘em fresh for you just this afternoon!” Pinkie Pie smiled brightly.

“Well, they’re uh, real nice,” Applejack said, picking one up and eyeing it for a moment before she bit into it, her face brightening. “But they sure taste good. Bit morbid though, don’t ya think?”

“Nah. What would be really morbid would be dead ponies!”

“Er, right.” Applejack glanced over at Twilight. “Does any of this make a lick of sense to you?”

Twilight smiled gently, stepping up to put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Sorry, Applejack. We were just worried about you.”

“Was I really that bad this mornin’?”

Twilight and Rarity exchanged a glance.

“Shoot, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was so short with y’all.”

“It wasn’t any trouble at all, darling. Though I must admit, I’m a bit surprised you didn’t tell us why. We would have understood.”

Applejack chuckled. “Well, I figured after all the shoutin’ I did at Apple Bloom and her friends for tracking in tree sap all over the house and makin’ em scrape the floors there weren’t nothin’ more to tell.”

“There… isn’t anything else that is bothering you?” Rarity asked uncertainly.

“Alright, now I’m worried,” Applejack said, glancing between her three friends. “What’d I miss?”

Rarity’s ears fell. “You mean you really don’t know?”

“Know what?”

Twilight looked away. “I uhm… went through the death records at City Hall and I found your dad’s death certificate.”

Applejack’s jaw fell open. “You mean y’all didn’t realize that my pa was dead? Rarity, you lived here in Ponyville!”

“Of course I knew he was dead, darling! The date had just… slipped my mind, that’s all.”

“The date?” Applejack scrunched her snout.

“Today’s the tenth anniversary of his death, isn’t it?” Twilight asked quietly.

“It is?” Applejack tilted her head. “Well, I’ll be darned. Sure is.” She picked up another cookie to stick into her mouth, her loud chewing the only sound in the room.

Applejack looked at her silent friends. “What?”

“You mean you forgot?” Rarity shrieked.

“It ain’t like I got it marked on the calendar or nothin’. That happened like ten years ago.” Applejack glanced up at the brim of her hat. “Well, ‘xactly ten years ago, apparently.”

Twilight stepped forward. “Well, a lot of ponies are sad on days that remind them of dead ponies.”

Applejack shrugged. “Way I figure it, ain’t no reason to pick out a day to be sad on. ‘Sides, like my pa always used to say, no point in feelin’ bad ‘bout things you can’t change. ‘Tain’t like feelin’ sad’s gonna bring him back, and it ain’t like he ain’t gone every other day of the year, neither.”

“Really? That sounds like something Granny Pie would have said!” Pinkie Pie said as she bounced over to the far side of the table.

“Then she was a wise pony,” Applejack said, bobbing her head. “Pa always used to say, don’t have no regrets, ‘cause there ain’t no point in carryin’ the extra weight when you’re plowin’ the field.” She paused. “Ma used to say the same thing, too. And then give pa a little poke in the ribs.”

Rarity coughed.

Twilight smiled. “Wow. Your dad sounded like a really great pony.”

“Sure was. Told me he never had a regret in his life,” Applejack said as she retrieved her cookie from the tray.

“Not a single one?” Twilight asked, tilting her head.

Applejack paused with her cookie halfway to her mouth. “Now that you mention it, there was one thing he mentioned when he was lyin’ in bed in the hospital.”

“What was that?" Rarity asked hesitantly.

Applejack smirked as she put the cookie in her mouth and began to chew. “Havin’ a tree fall on him.”