Ch 9: The Best Laid Plans
Raising a Human in Equestria
Chapter Nine: The Best Laid Plans
“Uh, hello?”
There was was absolute silence at the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres. The ponies that gathered to gossip and share exaggerated tales were speechless, some of them for the first time. Johnny remained still and remained on top of Harry, the bear gave him a feeling a safety. Angel Bunny glared at the crowd with great dislike but even he knew not to make a sudden movement, but that didn't stop him from thinking of nasty plots to unleash. No one dared to move, Everyone was waiting for the other to make the first move. Twilight felt the tension in the air as it grew thicker and thicker with each passing moment. She knew that she had act quick before things erupted beyond her control.
“Attention everyone!” she shouted in an effort to grab the crowd’s attention. Only a few of them paid attention to her. Twilight groaned in frustration. During her studies she discovered that there was a spell once used by Princess Celestia and Luna to amplify their voices when they wanted to command authority. It had fallen out of practice over time, but Twilight felt that the moment was right to test out the spell. She lit her horn and spoke, “ATTENTION EVERYONE!”
Twilight now knew why the spell had fallen out of use but it did sure managed to grab the crowd’s complete attention. It’s hard to ignore a loud booming voice that could rupture your ears, especially when it sends a shockwave that shakes the air and ground. “Sorry about that,” she apologized in her normal voice, “but I need your attention. I know that you have many questions and I shall answer what I can. First of all Applejack is not pregnant, nor does she have a foal. Secondly, allow me to introduce you to Johnny. He is the youngest member of the Apple family, in other words, he is Applejack’s little brother. He’s is the very one that you were all gossiping about.”
Some of members of the crowd looked ashamed, others looked at Johnny with great interest, but the majority simply looked confused. “What is he?” asked a pony. Her question was followed by murmurs of agreement.
Twilight had to think quickly with a response. In truth she had no idea what Johnny was but she wasn’t going to tell the crowd that Johnny was an alien. She decided that it was best to play it safe. “I already told you, he’s a member of the Apple family. They adopted him years ago.”
“Then how come we never seen him before?” asked stallion that looked hurt about the fact that Apple family would keep such a thing a secret. “I never even heard the Apples talk about him before either.”
It wasn’t Twilight that answered but rather Big Mac, “Because we were afraid about how you ponies would react when you saw him.” He took a long glance at the crowd; none of them were frightened about Johnny’s appearance. Some of them even looked hurt or irritated at the reason they were left in the dark. “Clearly we were wrong.”
Big Mac’s comment sparked a flood of questions and comments among the crowd. Twilight couldn’t even comprehend half of them. Yes the questions kept flooding. “QUIET!” Twilight’s amplified voice boomed over the crowd. “Look I know that you have a lot of questions but please give us some time and space. So much has happened over the past week and I’m sure that the Apple family is under a lot a stress at the moment.”
“She’s right,” said Rainbow, “Big Mac is injured at the moment. Applejack is burned out from trying to do all the work around the farm. They both need some rest so if you can all just leave now and never come back, it will be awesome.”
“What Rainbow means,” said Twilight while giving the pegasus a glare, “Is that please give us some time to recover from this past week. Three days will be enough. I promise you that we will have the answers to your questions then.”
“Well that seems fine,” said a pony. The rest of the members of the crowd talked to each other and the majority voiced their agreement to her suggestion.
“Good, we shall call a town meeting in three days. Until then I ask for you to please have some courtesy and give the Apple family much needed space for them to recover.”
Some of the members of the crowd parted and went on their way back to Ponyville. Yet others remained. “But I want answers now!” a mare shouted.
“You heard Twilight,” Rainbow Dash shouted at the crowd. “We will answer your questions in three days. Until then scram!” She flew over them, giving them intimidating stares. “Well go on, move. Shoo! Scram and don’t come back until three days!” The ponies grunting agreed and left, though some of them didn’t look happy with being asked to leave in a rude manner.
Once the last pony was out of sight, Rainbow Dash gave a deep breath of relief. “That could have gone much worse. That was some nice thinking Twi.”
“Don’t thank me just yet,” said Twilight. “I only just bought us time. We have three days to make a case for Johnny.”
“Well yeah, but that would be a breeze,” Rainbow Dash boasted as she took off the ground. “Those ponies will be in awe with Johnny’s awesomeness they won’t know what hit them. Of course he had me as a mentor.” She scooped down and grabbed Johnny, “Hold on tight squirt,” and few toward the farm with Johnny in her arms and Angel Bunny holding tight to Johnny’s tunic..
“The way you’re talking,” said Big Mac after a while, “It’s like Johnny is being put on trial.”
“In a way, he is,” responded Twilight, “He’s going to be presented in front the entire town. All those ponies are going to be judging them. But from the reactions of the ponies just now, all I can guess is that they don’t know how to react to him. That’s good, if they have no prejudice against him, then we can persuade the town to accept him.”
“Do you think that would work?”
“Yes, if we can convince just a small portion of the crowd then we are good,” said Twilight. “But we have five years’ worth of questions to answer for and only three days to come up with an answer.”
“You know, this wasn’t how ah pictured Johnny being revealed to the townsfolk. Ah thought that some pony would spot him just like you did. Depending on how that pony reacted then we could slowly introduce Johnny to more ponies and he’ll eventually blend with Ponyville. Well that’s not the case now, is it?”
“That’s actually a reasonable idea,” admitted Twilight, “But yet sadly that is not the case. We have what we have and have to work with that.”
Harry the bear roared. It was then when Twilight noticed that she was standing close to a bear, much closer than what her nature guidebook called a safe distance. “Don’t mind Harry,” said Big Mac, “He’s a nice fellow but I guess that I better hurry and start gutting the fish.”
“Do what?” Twilight asked for clarification.
“Gut the fish,” explained Big Mac. “Fish spoil real quickly so we have to gut them so they can last longer. We use the guts to make fertilizer.”
“So Johnny does need meat in his diet then?” asked Twilight. Thought she was sure of the fact it didn’t do much harm to ask for more conformation.
“From what we can tell from his teeth and Fluttershy, yes, he needs meat in his diet. Is that a problem?” Big Mac asked rather defensively.
“No of course not, from what I gathered Johnny is an omnivore. It’s nothing strange really, we ponies have are omnivores too, our modern diet is definitely not completely vegetarian. The issue with Johnny and other omnivores is that there body needs certain nutrients that they can’t produce and can be found in meat and animal products.” Twilight said now reaching lecture mode. “Actually that’s something that we have to look into. What does he eat and even more does his diet include milk and eggs in addition to fish?”
“Johnny can eat most of what ponies eat. However he can’t eat hay, we learnt that the hard way. But yes, he does eat eggs and drink milk, most ponies do that too.”
“So he can’t eat hay… maybe it has to do something with his digestive system?” Twilight thought out loud, “So much we don’t know that it’s irritating. This is why I want Johnny to go through medical exams and tests. So we can learn more about him and makes sure he’s healthy. What if milk, eggs, and fish are not enough to cover his needs? Then we could look into nutrition supplements that we can add to his diet.”
“Well, it’s for his own health,” said Big Mac a hint of hesitation in his voice. “Ah, as the eldest Apple sibling, give you permission to perform tests and exams on Jonathan Apple so as long as you keep his safety I account.”
“The last thing I want to do is hurt him,” said Twilight. “Well, I need to go back to the library. I have to come up with a schedule for the next three days that makes the most of the little time we have. Have a good afternoon Big McIntosh; I shall be here first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Call me Big Mac,” the stallion replied, “All my friends and family call me that.” With that they parted ways, Big Mac and Harry went inside Sweet Apple Acres to start the smelly task of gutting that days catch.
Dawn of the First Day: Three days until Judgment Day
Apple Bloom yawned loudly. She had no idea why she was up so early. School did not start until next month and even then she wouldn’t be up at this time. She rested her head on the coffee table along with Johnny who was also doing the same. Spike was fast asleep and snoring rather loudly. It was around six in the morning and Big McIntosh and Granny Smith were wide awake chatting with that new unicorn, Twilight Sparkle. Apple Bloom had no idea what to think about Twilight Sparkle. She seemed a decent enough pony at the Apple family reunion last week.
“Is Applejack awake?” Twilight asked.
“Ah knocked at her door an’ opened it,” said Apple Bloom groggily. “She’s awake for sure, didn’t hesitate to kick me out.”
“Something’s wrong with Applejack alright. I have this itchy feeling about it!”
Johnny and Apple Bloom nearly leaped into the air. Pinkie Pie had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and was now sitting in the couch in between them. “Pinkie Pie, where’d ya’ come from?” asked Johnny who was now recovering from the shock.
“Through the front door, it was unlocked,” said Pinkie Pie like her sudden appearance was completely normal.
“But how did you manage to sneak in unnoticed and place yourself between us?” asked Apple Bloom.
“They don’t call me hide-and-seek champion for nothing,” said Pinkie Pie. “But if you really want to learn the secret and ancient concealment and vanishing arts, Pinkie sensei can teach you the noble art of hide-and-seek.”
Johnny and Apple Bloom stared at each other and shared the same look of confusion. They had no idea what Pinkie Pie was talking about. They simply dismissed it as Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. Twilight however took down mental notes and was now sure that one of these days she had to investigate Pinkie Pie’s unusual abilities.
“Well then,” said Twilight, “I hope you got the message on why we are gathering here.”
“Nope!” Pinkie responded rather cheerfully. “Rainbow Dash just flew into my room and told me that there was an emergency meeting at Sweet Apple Acres. I came as soon as I could, but not without bring a batch of breakfast muffins!” Pinkie Pie pulled out a large silver platter with a wide assortment of muffins. They were still rather warm and the fresh aroma of the baked goods was enough to wake up the sleepy dragon.
“I guess I’ll have to tell you when everyone is here then,” said Twilight.
Fifteen minutes passed before Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash arrived. It took another thirty minutes for Rarity to arrive. “I’ve heard the most outrageous rumors and gossip,” Rarity said as took a chair, “What is exactly going on? Don’t tell me that the rumors are true?”
Twilight told the girls everything she knew about the past few days and the incident that had occurred the previous day. When the girls heard that a group of ponies had actually seen Johnny their reactions were mixed though they were better than what she expected. Johnny however began shaking and was being comforted with a tight hug from Pinkie Pie
“It comes down to this. We have only three days until the town meeting. That means that we have less than seventy hours to prepare a case for Johnny in front of Ponyville.”
“Well what are we supposed to do?” asked Rarity. “How do we convince all of Ponyville that Johnny is a sweet boy that isn’t a threat? Also, where is Applejack? Shouldn’t she be here?”
“Don’t ya worry none’ bout her,” said Granny Smith, “Ya have enough ta worry about. I’ll talk to Applejack soon enough an’ knock some sense into that girl.”
“Well pertaining your first question,” said Twilight, “We don’t exactly have convince everypony, only just some.”
“How many?” asked Rainbow Dash in voice that sounded more forceful than she intended.
“I don’t know,” said Twilight. “Maybe half of them or it’s less than that. I’m not a psychologist; I’ve only read books on the subject. But I do know that ponies as a whole have a herd mentality that is very evident when it comes to crowd. Ponies are easily influenced by their peers and surroundings. That’s why we don’t have to convince every pony in the crowd. If we convince just a few ponies, then there is a chance that they will convince their peers. Of course this can also work the other way, so that’s why we need to come with a strong case.”
“What exactly do you have in mind?” Rarity asked.
“I’m thinking about learning everything I can and present a lecture…”
“Come on Twi,” Rainbow Dash said in irritation, “Not everyone is an egghead like you. We want the ponies to accept Johnny, not bore them to sleep. I say that we pull something straight from Rarity’ book and put on something dramatic that will hit them right in the heart and straight at their feels.”
“Excuse me?” said Rarity indignantly.
“I think that we should stick to the facts instead of manipulating ponies by using their emotions.” replied Twilight.
“Why can’t we do both?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“I agree with Pinkie Pie,” said Fluttershy. “We can make strong emotional argument and support it with facts.”
“I guess that works,” said Twilight, “Now that we got that out of the way, we have so much to do and so little time. I need to have your schedules for the next three days so I can arrange times to interview each of you and we’ll take it from there.”
…
The rest of the morning proceeded with Twilight making a schedule for the next three days. The rest of the girls, sans Pinkie Pie, left and continued on with their daily routine. Twilight proceeded to have a lengthy interview with Pinkie Pie followed with another interview with Big McIntosh. By the time she was finished with the interview with the eldest Apple sibling, it was lunch time.
Johnny was unsure what he thought about Twilight. While he knew that she meant him no harm, he couldn’t help but feel intimidated by the mare. He didn’t feel any better after lunch as he found himself sitting in the same room as her as she looked over a stack of books, notes, and various other documents. His only comfort was that Big McIntosh was sitting next to him in the room.
“Well,” Twilight said with an apologetic look. “I know that I haven’t exactly given you the best impression when we met, but I want to tell you that I don’t want to bring you any harm. In fact, I want to help you. As you know, you were seen by a crowd of ponies yesterday and they have never seen someone well like you. Right now they have a lot questions and we are trying coming up with the answers. If all goes well, then you will be able to come out of hiding and enjoy life as a member of community. Does that sound good?”
“I... guess?” Johnny answered hesitantly.
“You have nothing to worry about,” said Twilight in reassuring voice. “Your brother will be by your side the whole time and if there is a question that you don’t want to answer, you can just say so. We’ll skip it and I won’t force you to answer it, okay?”
Johnny noded that he understood.
“Good,” said Twilight with relief, “We can begin.”
Twilight began with a series of basic questions about Johnny’s favorite things such as his favorite color (green) or flavor of ice cream (cookies and cream). The questions then progressed to Johnny’s hobbies and daily schedule which Johnny talked about with enthusiasm. Their question session was interrupted when Rainbow Dash arrived that afternoon.
“That’s enough questions for now,” said Twilight. “So how about we take a short break?” Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash, “So what were their responses?”
“Well the doctor said that he would be glad to give Johnny a basic medical exam, but he told me that some of his equipment it too big to bring here. The pedra-pedri-attic or whatever said the same thing. We have to take Johnny to them.”
“But we can’t do that,” said Twilight in frustration, “Well not without having him seen. It’s not like we can sneak in into Ponyville General without him being seen.”
“Yes we can!”
Everyone in the room jumped in shock. Pinkie Pie was sitting on a chair next to them.
“Pinkie,” gasped Twilight once she caught her breath, “You startled me. What are you doing here? I thought you left after the interview.”
“Nope!” said Pinkie, “I never left Sweet Apple Acres. I was helping out in the south field. It’s still applebuck season and someone needs to pick those apples. But enough about me, let’s focus on you! So you were talking about having to sneak Johnny into the hospital without him being seen?”
“Yes, I’m thinking that best opportunity would be during the night,” said Twilight.
“And have him spend the night there?” Pinkie asked indignantly. “While I’m all in favor of sleepover parties, the hospital is one of the worse places to have a sleepover. They make you keep all quiet, the food is terrible and they won’t even let you make s’mores. They say it’s fire hazard to keep an open flame.”
“Pinkie!” shouted Twilight in frustration. “This isn’t about sleepovers; this is about taking Johnny to the hospital so he can get a physical examination so we can learn about his body structure. Right now the issue is how to take Johnny there without being seen. I can’t teleport him there and it would take too long to come up with an invisibility spell or potion.”
“I can do that!” shouted Pinkie Pie.
“You can make an invisibility potion?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Nope, but if you want to be sneaky-sneaky with Johnny, then I’m the pony for that job!”
“Are you telling me that you can escort Johnny to the hospital without being seen by anypony?” asked an astonished Twilight.
“Yep,” Pinkie chimed.
Twilight took a deep breath; while she was skeptical, she decided to give Pinkie the benefit of the doubt. “Okay Pinkie, I trust you. But can I have your word that you will take this seriously?”
Pinkie Pie made strange gestures as she recited, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
Seeing the confused look on Twilight’s face made Rainbow Dash chuckle before she explained the situation to her, “Pinkie Pie just made a Pinkie promise. It’s pretty much guaranteed that Pinkie will keep her word. Nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise.”
“That’s right,” Pinkie shouted. “No pony breaks a Pinkie promise. NOPONY! Tell me when and where and I’ll have Johnny there on time and unseen or else my name isn’t Pinkamena Diane Pie!”
“Pinkamena?” muttered Twilight.
“Please dont’ call me that.”
...
It took a while for Twilight to finally agreed with the plan to have Pinkie Pie escort Johnny. She made a mental note to study Pinkie Pie’s abilities when she had the time. Twilight’s interview with Rainbow dash turned out to be the longest one so far. By the time they were done it was dinner time. After the instance of Granny Smith, Twilight left Sweet Apple Acre with at a full stomach. As she trotted on the path towards town, Twilight didn't notice that she was being watched by a pair of weary eyes.
Applejack stood in silence in her dark room as she watched Twilight fade in the distance. She had no idea what to think of that mare. She wanted to hate her, scream at her, blame her for all her current problems, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so. Once Twilight faded in the distance, Applejack returned to her bed and delicately held a small picture frame in her hooves. She stared at the old photograph in silence until she fell asleep, dreaming of days and memories long gone.
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o_O huh?
That summary is so bad it puts me off even looking at the first chapter.
I guess English isn't your first language? You should mention it.
Good to see you updating, though you might want to get an editor, there are a lot of grammar errors.
5936262
Dammit
Wooh!
I sense a Majora's Mask reference here...
Post this online on some cloud open editing thing, like piratepad, or dome other github esque program where readers can make and mark and fix mistakes that you can then clone into the master copy and replace the chapter.
Have you considered getting an editor? Even the best writers tend to partner up with an editor if they can help it, and most of them will work for free.
5936276
5937942
5938298
I apologize for quality of the chapter. You would think that after the feedback from the previous two chapters it would be enough to convince me. When most of the comments you are about errors rather than the actual story...well obviously something is wrong. I shall make effort to find an extensive editor for future chapters.
For the record, i have failed English twice and Spanish was my first language. Dont know why this is relivant but just throwing it out.
[feelsbadman.jpg]
5938567
It is relevant. Learning another language is hard: Very hard. Not only does letting us know that Spanish is your first language help justify the errors, but it also helps us know why certain kinds of mistakes are made.
Check out this group. This is what they're all about.
Oh boy.... Sorry applejack
5939041
Will do that for the next chapter.
Yay, update! Nicely done.
I think you mean "done". "Dune" means like sand dune, or the source of the Spice.
5939856
Yeah, but in this case that was a typo.
5939979
...okay?
The Doctor will see you now.
I'm so happy to see this update.
Well, at least AJ got some much needed sleep.
5940022
I didn't meant to be rude. I know that that the word was supposed to be "done" but it i accidentally typed "u" instead of "o". Normally when I publish a chapter I constantly go over it to see I can find any mistakes I might have looked over. But the thing here is that I'm not the one publishing the chapters so it's hard for me to make changes once the the chapter is up.
I'm enjoying this a lot.
*Goes through story withdraw*
Will the doctor he meets have a blue box by chance?
6262129
Nope. But that doesn't mean that he may have a cameo latter.
I like it And im looking forward to more
stayclassy
in an early chapter a 'should johnny have magic' question was posted and the majority said he should. im just curious if you know what magic he has, because i believe a humans magic should be something about dominating other animals or our intelligence/imagination for inventions
So interesting, at least Twilight never thought to WRITE about Johnny to the princess this entire time.
6827534
actually she did but was told not to out of fear.
6635794 Those are good ideas, but personally I think Human magic should be something like the Elder Scrolls series. That, or manipulating the elements.
7002823 Or a combination of both our ideas cos magic
7003656 Good idea.
7003656
7004125
Johnny's magic will be a mixed blessing. While it may be of use to him it comes with price. I won't got into details. I have not abandon this story and have rewritten chapter ten multiple times and even yet an unable to come up with something that I am satisfied.
Right now my writing in halt as my computer burned out and am waiting for the replacement parts to arrive.
7012378 So it will be like the magic of the Red Priests from A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones. He will have the power, but must make a sacrifice to earn it. Is that what you're talking about? And I hope your new parts arrive soon.
I will now take off my hat and mourn over this dead story
10/10 would cry again
7811962
I would too I if I wore hats often.
7012378
Im guessing this is completely dead?
"I don't Know what's going to happen :)"
I dont know why...but that phrase always makes me cringe...
I just wish this story would be continued by someone. The story is simply AMAZING....
Oh my god that’s funny
MAKE MORE CHAPTERS
MAKE MORE CHAPTERS
MAKE MORE CHAPTERS
MAKE MORE CHAPTERS
MAKE MORE CHAPTERS
9176162
I join you :)
MAKE MORE CHAPTERS !
MAKE MORE CHAPTERS !!
MAKE MORE CHAPTERS !!!
MAKE MORE CHAPTERS !!!!
MAKE MORE CHAPTERS !!!!!
Please.
:)
Make more please. I'm lovin this
More chapters please.
why FOR YEARS ): ): ): ): ): ): ): ): ): ):
Update?
well it is canceled, soooo not gonna happen. at least they gave us that much most leave it incomplete
oi get of your ass and do more chapters
10700453
+
10710098
?
Why does good stories like this have be cancelled and given up on
oi continue it
#ContinueTheStory