//------------------------------// // Pinkie Apple Pie // Story: My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria // by Codex92 //------------------------------// The early morning sun rose in the distance as the rays warmed the ground on the autumn day. Sora crossed off another day off the calendar as Halloween/Nightmare Night would soon arrive, that time of year to dress up, scare others, and eat free candy until they get cavities. The Apples were all downstairs in the dining room and eating breakfast as Apple Bloom was excited for the holiday to come. "Ah have the perfect plan to go to every house in Ponyville for me and the girls and get lots of candy for this year," the filly said. "We'll get piles of candy in record time and eat it all before the night ends!" "And risk getting a stomach ache," Sora added. "Trust me. I did that one year when I was your age, and I was in bed puking my guts out, and all the candy in my stomach was wasted." Suddenly, someone at the door began knocking. "I'll see who that is." Sora stood up from his seat and approached the front door to see Pinkie Pie on the other side with her usual big smile. "Hey, honorary Apple relative cousin!" "Uhh, what?" Pinkie glomped the teen, having no clue what she was even talking about. Sora pulled her off of him and tapped his hoof against her forehead. "Mind giving me an explanation as to why you said that before you say whatever you say?" "I gotta show you and the Apples what I just discovered at the library! And it's all about 'Genie-ology'!" The earth pony bounded inside and gathered the Apple family out into the living room. Sora wondered what Pinkie was so excited about, and to his and the earth pony family's surprise, Pinkie Pie might be related to the Apples by a distant generation. "Oh...That explained what you opened up with earlier. And I think you meant to say 'Genealogy'." "This is amazin'!" Apple Bloom cheered. "Ah have another sister!" "Actually, you have a fourth cousin twice removed by a fifth cousin, but that's almost like a sister!" Pinkie exclaimed. "...Uhh, is that really how that works?" Sora asked in confusion. "I don't know how family trees work." "This is the best family ever!" Apple Bloom bounced on the sofa, but she jumped too hard and caused a spring to shoot out from the cushion underneath her, sending her flying over to Sora as he caught her. "Sure is, and you're gonna love bein' an Apple, Pinkie. Sora might be an honorary brother to Mac, Apple Bloom, and mahself, but he's still family," Applejack said. "Cool! I've never had a brother before!" Pinkie hugged Sora again, once again pushed away by him. "Yeah, I don't think a distant cousin a certain amount of times actually constitutes to us all being your siblings," Sora said, momentarily scratching his head as he tried to figure out if what he said was true or not. "Besides him, ya got the playful Apple." Applejack pointed to Apple Bloom as she now bounced around on a beach ball, slamming into the wall and landing in a daze. "The strong one." "Eeyup!" Big Macintosh said, lifting up a heavy piece of furniture in one hoof. "Uhh, who can carry several buckets filled with apples and stop a runaway cart from crashing into a barn?" Sora asked as the earth pony stallion leered at him. "You have the muscles, but I have the strength." Big Mac threw the heavy couch at the teen, quickly catching it without any strain before it hit the wall of the house. "And point proven." "Ok, two strong Apples," Applejack corrected, trying to avoid having any of the family fight in front of their possibly new distant cousin. "And ya got Granny Smith, who knows everythin' about everythin'!" "A Ponyville snail can hibernate for up to forty-eight moons!" the older mare stated. "Who knew?" Pinkie asked as she was astounded by the somewhat pointless bit of information given by the elder Apple. "And then there's me, makin' sure everythin' on the farm's organized." After introducing the traits of her family and honorary pegasus brother, Applejack began to wonder from who in the Apple family Pinkie was related with. "Though, where exactly did ya find out about bein' related to us?" "I was down at the library with Twilight and Riku after I broke in on their little smooching break, and Twilight was looking a 'Genanopoly'!" Pinkie pulled out a scroll and rolled it out, the paper stretching out of the living room, past the door, and stopping somewhere outside. "And it's riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-" Pinkie began backing up as she kept her eyes on the many names on her family tree, taking in a deep breath as the Apples followed her. "-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight here!" She pointed at the name, the other ponies seeing the name "Applesauce", though the last part of it seemed a bit smudged. "You're related to someone named Applesauce?" "Yup! Applesauce of the Apple family lineage is a fourth cousin twice removed of the Pie family!" Pinkie said. "Well, Ah can see the part about our great, great auntie Applesauce and fourth cousin twice removed part, but are ya sure this says Pie?" Applejack asked as she pointed at the smudged out name. "Yeah, that parts a bit on the smudgy side, but I just know in my heart it has to be true!" Pinkie was about to tackle hug Sora, but he was prepared this time, keeping her a leg's length away from him. "Wait, Pinkie. What if that smudge actually says some other name?" he asked. "I don't think you should get your hopes too high before we all know that it's true about you being an Apple." "Sora's right," Granny Smith said. "And Ah think cousin Goldie Delicious can help us find out. Her cabin is practically an Apple family history museum." "Granny's right. And Goldie Delicious doesn't live all that far away." Applejack looked at her family, all of them thinking the exact same thing she was. "Y'all know what that means?" "Family road trip!" the Apples cheered. As the Apple family, sans Sora, began packing up the cart for the family road trip to Goldie Delicious's cabin, Sora looked over Pinkie Pie's family tree and the smudged name next to "Applesauce". "Oh boy. If Twilight saw a genealogic family tree was ruined when she had this for who know how long, she will flip." Since Pinkie had left earlier to pack up her belongings for the road ahead, Sora kept a hold on the scroll for her until she got back. He wasn't going to need much on a small road trip to other family, heading out of the house, only to stop as he reached the door. "Ok. That's a lot of stuff." Big Macintosh seemed to have packed the entire farm house in the old cart, almost like they were going to be moving to Goldie Delicious's home instead of a small visit. Letting out a heavy sigh, he walked over to the Apple family wagon, unsure if he should help pull or hover over them to avoid having it crumble on them. "Has anypony seen mah travelin' bonnet?" Granny Smith asked as she wore said bonnet. "Uhh, Granny, I think you're wearing it," Sora said. "No Ah ain't!" she huffed. "...Ok then..." Deciding to leave Granny to herself, the Keyblade wielder headed over to the older Apple siblings to see if they needed any help packing. "So...We moving or taking a road trip?" "Well, Big Mac thought it would be a good idea to be prepared for any situation," Applejack said nervously while the older brother nodded. "This thing's a bit rickety." Sora touched the old cart, almost feeling some of it give way with all the heavy stuff inside, but it still stayed together. "You sure this thing can handle the weight?" "Eeyup," Big Mac said. "And you seriously think we need we all need every single thing inside the house, including the kitchen sink?" Sora asked. "Eeyup," the stallion said with a bit more annoyance. "And you can pull all this without breaking your back?" he asked, only further angering the earth pony. "Eeyup!" Big Mac said as he groaned in irritation. "...You still peeved at me for my amount of strength?" Sora questioned, a bit concerned with his surrogate older brother's jealous anger toward him. "Alright, Mac, let's not start anythin'," Applejack said, pushing her older brother back before he wound up fighting against the stronger pegasus. "Look, Ah don't want any of us bickerin' or fightin' with each other with Pinkie joinin' us. If she really is family to us, we need to show her how great a family we are and not disappoint her. So, for the whole trip, can we try and not rip each others' throats out or do anythin' stupid?" "With my track record with things going wrong when I think it's all good, I make no promises." Applejack rolled her eyes, taking that as a yes, then looked at her brother to have his agreement. The red stallion sighed and grumbled. "Eeyup..." "Hey guys!" Pinkie bounced along as she arrived at the farm with her saddlebags filled with her various travel supplies. "Ready to go? Because I'm all ready!" "Alright! Let's get a move on, everypony!" Big Macintosh hitched himself to the cart as the others got on board, Sora and Applejack helping Granny Smith climb inside. The group set off out of Ponyville and on the dirt road, off to a relative of the Apples to prove if Pinkie Pie was indeed a blood related Apple. They saw vast open fields with some trees strewn about the grassland, some of the objects in the cart clanking into a rhythmic tune. Sora could tell a song was about to come up, and the rest of the family knew it too as Applejack and Granny Smith clapped along with the clattering pots and pans as the real music arrived. "Come on, Apples!" Applejack said. "Y'all know this one!" "Hot diggity!" Granny cheered. Sora and Apple Bloom joined in as Applejack hollered, Big Mac stepping to the beat as he continued to pull the carriage. "Eeyup." [Applejack] We travel the road of generations Joined by a common bond We sing our song 'cross the pony nation From Equestria and beyond Apple Bloom, Applejack, and Sora leapt out of the cart and walked alongside Big Mac, all four of them dancing in sync even as they continued walking along the road toward their destination. [Apple Bloom and Applejack] We're Apples forever, Apples together We're family, but so much more It suddenly began to storm over the traveling ponies, but Applejack and Apple Bloom grabbed some umbrellas to shield Pinkie and Granny Smith from the rain. Sora cleared away the clouds as the two Apple sisters made an apple core shape using the two red umbrellas. No matter what comes, we will face the weather We're Apples to the core "Eeyup," Big Mac said at the end of the chorus. [Apple Bloom] There's no place that I'd rather be Then travelin' with my family [Sora] Friends all around come to join and see As we sing out across the land The siblings and Sora returned up front with Big Mac and danced again, Pinkie sitting on the pile of belongings as she was already beginning to enjoy being with the best family she could be a part of. [Apple Bloom, Applejack, Sora, Big Mac] We're Apples forever, Apples together We're family, but so much more No matter what comes, we will face the weather We're Apples to the core "Eeyup!" Sora said, mimicking the elder Apple sibling after blowing back the blustering winds that tried to push the family back and off course. [Granny Smith] We're peas in a pod, we're thick as thieves Any cliche you can throw at me We're here for each other, through thick and thin You're always welcome with your Apple kin Wheeee! As the family surrounded Pinkie, even Big Mac despite the cart moving, the new possible Apple unable to stop her grin from growing any wider as she joined in. [Pinkie Pie] You're more fun than the color pink Or balloons flying over your favorite drink The love I feel here is swim, not sink As we party across this land "All right!" the others cheered, Granny Smith remaining in the cart as Pinkie joined the other Apples and Sora back at the front of the cart. [All] We're Apples forever, Apples together We're family but so much more No matter what comes, we will face the weather We're Apples to the core! "Eeyup!" As the song ended and the Apples got back into the cart, their ride unfortunately couldn't take the weight anymore and fell apart. As the wagon crashed, the ponies in the cart fell out or had the hundreds of items Big Macintosh stored fall on top of them. Sora dug himself out of the pile, feeling a crick in his back as he pulled himself out, finding the kitchen sink the older stallion had stuffed into the now collapsed wagon. "I was actually joking about the kitchen sink thing," he said as he rubbed his back. "I didn't think he'd actually stuff one in there." "Big Mac, Ah thought ya told us that-" Applejack stopped, remembering Pinkie Pie was with them before putting the blame on the stallion, even though it was his fault he overstuffed the cart with everything in their house. "Uhh, I mean, not that Ah'm blamin' ya or anythin', because we don't blame family, but Ah thought ya said all of this wasn't going to be heavy." The stallion knew full well she was blaming him, leering at his sister angrily. "And Big Mac did all this because his masculinity was challenged by my strength, so I'm also to blame for the cart getting broken." Sora looked at the broken cart, the wheels shattered to pieces and with no one able to repair them. "Well, too bad there weren't any wheels he packed along." "How are we gonna get to Goldie Delicious now?" Apple Bloom asked. "Ah don't know, but Ah don't see how we can go back either," Granny Smith said. "We're closer to cousin Goldie's than home." Pinkie gasped as she noticed the river nearby. "I have an idea: Family river trip!" "As good of an idea that is, Pinkie, we don't have a raft," Applejack said. "About the only thing that wasn't packed." Big Mac growled and kept his glare on Applejack, Sora quickly intervening as he got between them. "We could probably use the cart!" he suggested. "Most of it's still intact, and if we can find something to glue some of the broken pieces together that can hold while on the water, it could work!" He leaned over to Big Mac and whispered to him. "Did you at least bring something adhesive along with all the junk?" Before the stallion could retaliate against the pegasus for reminding him of his overpacking, Granny Smith spoke up before violence broke out. "That sounds like a great idea! Why, back in the old days, we used the sap of the sugar pine trees to glue things together!" The elder mare creakily walked over to one of the nearby trees, grabbing some fresh tree sap in her hoof. "Let's glue up this broken up jalopy and build us a raft!" "Whoo hoo! Family raft building!" Pinkie cheered. It took a little time, but they managed to craft a raft with the broken down wagon with the tree sap, along with some vines and rope as an extra precaution to hold it together. The Apples and Pinkie packed up their belongings, every single one of them, jumped in, and Sora pushed it into the river. Thankfully, the poorly made raft stayed afloat as it cruised down the river, following the current in the same direction they had been traveling in. At least Big Macintosh's overpacking was somewhat helpful as he packed life vests for the earth ponies, but the red stallion wore a duck floatie around his neck. "If only we had ourselves some paddles, we could ride the river a bit faster. But, lounging down a lazy river in a large raft isn't all that bad either." Sora landed down on the raft and reclined on the pile of unneeded travel gear. "Say cheese!" Pinkie said, holding a camera and catching Sora off guard as she snapped his picture. "Ooh! That's going in the scrapbook!" She pulled out a book out of her bags and glued the surprised expression of Sora in with several others on the cart before it crashed. He didn't even see a camera on her when they started or sang, and yet she captured photos of them all, even one where they all wore pirate outfits in the middle of the song when Granny Smith sang. "Pinkie, when did you even get the time to make all this?" Sora asked. She put the scrapbook away and stared at the teen with a serious expression. "Sora, when you're family-" Pinkie leaned too close and bumped her snout against his. "-you make the time!" "...I want to ask how you managed to make a scrapbook while we were all in the middle of a song, but I'm just gonna go with that." Pinkie suddenly grabbed him and placed him between the Apple family for a photo op. "Say 'soaked'!" Highly confused by the oddest thing to say when getting a picture taken, a wave behind them splashed down over the Apples and Sora, drenching them as Pinkie caught the hilarious memory. Minutes passed by as the ponies relaxed on the raft as they floated down to reach Goldie Delicious's home. Applejack manned the steering wheel while the others lounged around or told some stories. Up ahead, the Element of Honesty's eyes widened as she saw a branching pathway down the river. "Somepony tell me that the map didn't get wet," Applejack said. "Ah'm gonna need it right about now." Sora and Apple Bloom began searching for it in the pile of useless travel supplies. They both grabbed it and pulled it out, holding onto one end of the rolled up map. "Found it!" they both said, the two of them looking at each other. "Ah wanna give it to Applejack," Apple Bloom said, pulling on the map. "Ah'm bored and don't know what to do." "Apple Bloom, just give me the map," Sora argued as he tugged the map over to him. "No! Ah found it first!" She tugged it hard back toward her, both ponies growling as they tried to pull it away from each other. "Just give it to me!" As they continued their tug-of-war, Apple Bloom pulled hard, the map slipping out of Sora's grip as it flew over the raft. They both scrambled to try and catch it, but it landed in the river, the map being nabbed by a fish, then the fish getting snatched up by an eagle. Sora and Apple Bloom hung over the edge and watched as the map flew away, Pinkie taking a picture of the eagle as a memento. The two glared at each other, blaming the other for not letting them give them the map. "Now look what you've done!" they exclaimed, the filly talking the Keyblade wielder as they wound up wrestling on the raft. Applejack and Big Mac quickly intervened, thankful to see Pinkie too preoccupied with something else as they broke Sora and Apple Bloom's fight. "Alright, enough of that!" Applejack said, tugging both ponies ears down. "Either one of ya should have just brought the map to me. No fightin', no bickerin', nothin'. Did y'all forget we're tryin' to show Pinkie Pie we're a good family?" "I found the map first," the two ponies said simultaneously, earning another sharp tug by the farm mare. "Say 'best siblings ever'!" Pinkie exclaimed, the three Apple siblings and surrogate pegasus brother smiled and sat up as Pinkie took a picture, going back to frowning and glaring at each other the moment she turned around. "Oh, don't y'all worry about nothin'," Granny Smith assured. "Ah've been down this river and remember it like the back of mah hoof." The elder Apple grabbed the wheel and began to steer the raft down to the right path on the three-way crossroad in the river. "Uhh, are ya sure ya know where we're goin', Granny?" "Does a June bug like to hide in a tree?" she asked, the others having no idea if they can. "I have no idea," Sora said. "Well, Ah do! And Ah now we're supposed to be headin' southeast." They continued following down the river, reaching what appeared to be a cave they were about to pass through. "Is this route supposed to lead us to a cave?" Applejack asked." "Don't ya worry, child. The scariest cave in all of Equestria's down the other way," Granny said calmly. "S-S-Scariest cave in Equestria?" Apple Bloom immediately clutched her hooves around Sora's leg in fright. "Oh yes. It's filled with creatures that'll eat ya soon as they look at ya." Pinkie began to grow excited at the prospect of getting pictures of the creepiest monsters in all of Equestria. "Ok, I think the Heartless can be more terrifying than any monster I've ever met or imagined," Sora said. "And you're highly positive this isn't that very cave you're describing?" "Sora, Ah thought ya knew better than to question your elder ponies!" The Keyblade wielder was about to retort, only for Applejack to smack him upside the head, darting her eyes toward Pinkie to remind him not to cause a scene like he almost did ticking Big Mac off and getting in a fight with Apple Bloom. He rolled his eyes, finding it impossible to keep the Apple family the perfect family they claimed to be when no one family is really all that perfect, lowing his head as he apologized to Granny Smith. "You're right, Granny. Sorry for questioning your wisdom." "Thank ya kindly. Now, all y'all just sit back and leave the steerin' to Granny Smith." Applejack and Big Mac huddled around Sora like Apple Bloom, even Pinkie Pie, though she did it because of the fun of being frightened. The raft slowly flowed into the cave, and so far, nothing happened. "See? Told ya there were no-" Suddenly, a roaring sound rang out in the cave, spooking the Apple siblings while Pinkie began taking pictures. "Got it!" Another roar, the Apples screamed louder as they clutched onto Sora tighter. "Oh, come on. These things aren't terrifying. I've seen scary creatures in-" Sora paused as a screech rang out as something latched onto his face. "AHHH! What was that!? It's hugging my face! It's gonna eat me! GET IT OFF!" Unfortunately, since his surrogate brother and sisters were holding his limbs down tightly to his side, Sora couldn't swipe whatever landed on his face as he panicked. Eventually, the raft exited the cave on the other side. Pinkie hummed merrily, not even slightly disturbed by what was inside with the pictures she took. The others, however, were horrified: Granny Smith stared dumbly with her mouth hung open, the Apple siblings clutching Sora tightly as they shook in fear, and Sora's face was obscured by a larger than average bat that smacked into his face as it flew down at him. The teen shook his head, shaking the ditsy bat off his face, his muzzle slightly scratched up as the bat had scratched him while he freaked out. "Guess that was the scariest cave in Equestria..." The younger ponies, except for Pinkie, leered at Granny Smith for steering them toward it. "But, Ah knew that all along! Ah meant to take us through there! Unexpected adventure is good for the soul!" "Yeah. Kind of like my life a couple years back. And it wasn't all that great." Sora pushed the Apple siblings off of him and approached the wheel. "I'll get us to Goldie Delicious's safer since I can fly and see farther ahead up in the air. Just give me the wheel." "Ah know where Ah'm goin'!" Granny shouted. "No, Ah'm steerin'!" Applejack said as she grabbed the wheel. "Ah'm gonna get us there in one piece, and we don't need any air support to follow a simple river!" "Applejack, for goodness sake, just give me the wheel!" Sora grabbed the wheel as he and the two mares began fighting over who will commandeer the raft. "We wouldn't have gone through that cave if ya and Apple Bloom didn't fight over the map and drop it in the river!" Applejack shouted. "Well we wouldn't have done that if Big Mac didn't overpack the jalopy!" Apple Bloom complained. "Eey-HEY!" Big Mac took offense to his little sister's complaint, which wouldn't have happened if he wasn't overshadowed by the skinny and powerful pegasus that was a part of their family. "Exactly, so from now on, Ah'm in charge of everythin'!" The whole family began arguing, Pinkie somehow still oblivious to the fighting as they began fighting over the steering wheel. In their struggle, they managed to snap the wheel off and tossed it behind them, landing in the river. A duck surfaced under the wheel, wearing the giant piece like an accessory, only for it to be snatched up by the same eagle from before. "Hey! That's the same eagle from earlier!" Pinkie said, taking another picture of it. "How weird is that!?" Sora's blood boiled, finally having enough trying to not fight, but Applejack's plan was clearly not going to work, even if Pinkie's oblivious to everything going on. "Alright, that's it! I can't take this anymore! Clearly, this isn't going to work!" He stood at the front of the raft and faced the Apples. "I may have a good connection with my own mom when I was younger, but I was always causing so much trouble and we always argued over things! There's no way this family, or any other family, can be one hundred percent perfect! If we were, then we'd all end up being the same: boring, dull, and be exactly the same!" Applejack was about to yell at Sora for blurting out the whole point of their road trip was for Pinkie's sake as a part of the Apple family, only for her and her family to stare in shock at what was behind the pegasus. "Uhh...Sora?" His ears twitched, hearing the sound of rushing water behind him, his anger turning into a blank stare. "...Don't tell me. We're about to go over a huge waterfall." "Eeyup," Big Mac said with a nod. "Sharp rocks at the bottom?" Sora asked. "Probably?" Applejack said, unsure of herself. "...Bring it on." As the raft got closer to the edge of the massive waterfall, Pinkie squealed as she readied her camera. "This will be perfect for the scrapbook!" she said excitedly, the raft tipping over and began its rapid descent down the falls. As the Apples screamed in terror, Pinkie snapped pictures of them with her in it, catching their scared expressions individually while doing something random with each pony. As she was about to take a picture of Sora, the teen leapt off and flew down. "Hey, you moved, Sora!" "Not now, Pinkie!" Sora quickly summoned his Keyblade, casting a very large, magic draining Aeroga spell around the raft, the large barrier of wind flowing around them to try to slow its descent. He quickly got underneath and pushed it up, flapping his wings hard to get it to slow down more as he guided it away from the base of the waterfall. With all of the heavy stuff inside, along with five ponies, the spell and his own strength barely stopped it as they plummeted to the water. Thankfully, there weren't any sharp rocks, the raft landing hard in the river, Sora taking a deep breath before he plunged hooves first into the water. The raft was pretty buoyant and quickly floated back up to the surface while the Keyblade wielder sunk a bit deeper, swimming back up before his lungs began to burn. He breached the surface and breathed, coughing a little as he shook his wet mane. "Ugh...Deja vu. Only I didn't wake up in the middle of the water like last time..." The raft was safe, and so the the others, just a bit wet and shaken up. There was one pony missing, and that was Pinkie Pie. He looked up and saw her floating down on some balloons she somehow had on her, the teen not questioning it as she landed on the top of the wet pile of junk. Unfortunately, her extra weight caused the raft to cave in and sink, sending the Apple family back in the water, along with her as her balloons popped. "Of course. What was I expecting?" After climbing out of the river and tiredly walking back on the road, they finally reached Goldie Delicious's home. They managed to salvage what little they could have grabbed of their belongings before the river swept most of it away, the Apples and Sora thankful to end this horrible trip. Pinkie was the only one who was still smiling, enjoying the ride across the road, the river, and all the horrible travesties that befell upon them. "Hooray! We made it to Goldie Delcious's's's's's!" Pinkie bounded up to the door ahead of the others, grabbing a piece of paper that was taped to the door. "Hey, guys! There's a note here!" She began reading it, giggling randomly as she seemed to have read it to herself. "Uhh, mind tellin' us what it says, Pinkie?" "Oh, sorry! I didn't even read it yet. I was just looking at how pretty the paper is." Sora fell over in exasperation, wondering if it'll get too annoying to always shrug off Pinkie's behavior as just being herself. "Anyway, it says she's run off to do some errands and will be home soon! This is perfect! I have just enough time to get myself more scrapbook paper!" Pinkie bounded off down the road, no idea where she could get more scrapbook paper in the middle of nowhere, but it didn't matter to the others. They wound up failing to show Pinkie they were the best family ever with their squabbling and fighting, and their road trip turned out to be a disaster. "Ah can't believe Pinkie saw us like that," Applejack said with a sigh. "We all ended up fightin', and Ah tore off the wheel." "Well, that all wasn't your fault, Applejack," Granny said. "If mah stubborn streak didn't get a hold of me, Ah would have let you or Sora take the wheel." "It was all mah fault the map got into the river and hauled away by that eagle," Apple Bloom said. "Ah should have just let Sora give it to Applejack." "And Ah shouldn't have overpacked the cart out of mah jealousy against Sora to prove Ah'm the stronger Apple," Big Mac said, still a surprise to Sora to hear the stallion say more than just a couple words every now and then. "I'm also to blame for...some of the things that happened as well," Sora said. "Guess things are gonna be a bit hard when Pinkie tells us how bad of a family we are." "Are you kidding!?" Pinkie asked, the others looking at her with her new stacks of paper. "You guys are the best family ever!" "After we were fightin' the whole dang trip?" Applejack questioned. "We started out as one big unit and fell apart." "Well, yeah. Sora said no families are always perfect before the fun waterfall ride, but look at you now! You guys are still one big unit, despite the bad stuff that happened!" The Apples and Sora looked at each other, highly surprised to hear Pinkie Pie making her point spot on. "You guys are more than family. You're best friends too, and I couldn't be anymore excited to being an Apple!" "...Wow. When Pinkie's right, I'm afraid the world would fall upside down," Sora said with a light chuckle. "And we want ya to be an Apple just like Sora is!" Apple Bloom said. "Yay!" The ponies all gathered together in a group hug, an elder orange earth pony mare with white hair, carrying a few cats in her saddlebags walking down the road as she spotted them. "Whew. Now that's how you do an errand," she said, her cats randomly mewling or purring as she approached them. "Hello. Who are you all?" "We're Apples!" Pinkie said. "Well, we think we're all Apples," Applejack corrected. "Y'all must be Goldie Delicious. See, we're here to find out if Pinkie's our fourth cousin twice removed." "Hmm..." Goldie looked over at Sora, seeing a pegasus among the earth pony family. "And what about this youngin'?" "Honorary Apple family relative," Sora said. "I help them out with their farm and I'm like family to them." "Oh, good. We could use a little variation in our gene pool," Goldie said with a laugh. "Let's see if we can solve this genealogy mystery." The mare walked up to her door, but as she opened it, there seemed to have been something behind it that could barely open. "Oops, sorry. If I had known I would be having guests, I would have tidied up a little. Gimmie a minute and squeeze on through." Goldie managed to squeeze through the small crack she was able to make through the door, unknowingly squeezing her cats in her bags as she made it inside. They heard stuff moving around inside, along with several cat noises while tossing out some stuff outside the window. After about a minute, she opened the door for them, but as the visitors got a look inside, it was a huge mess with Apple family mementos and dozens of cats. Sora's jaw dropped at the amount of felines this old mare had, even owning a cheetah. "Oh...my...gosh...She's a crazy cat lady. With a meat eating cheetah right there!" he whispered. "Why does she have a cheetah!?" "Whoop, be careful where you step," Goldie warned as Applejack tried to step inside, nearly walking over an old pair of horseshoes. "Those belonged to your great-great-great-great uncle Apple Tart." While being mindful of where they step, avoiding stepping on historical Apple family items and other unmentionable, Goldie Delicious began searching for the Apple family's genealogy book. After blowing away some dust that was shaped like a kitten, she found the book under a pile of others, grabbing it and miraculously keeping the stack standing as they also rested on another book beside it. "Here we are. This here's the complete record of our family tree." As she opened the book up and began searching, the cats began to crowd around Sora, being very wary of them after confronting Ahuizotl and his cat minions, especially with all the cute and cuddly looking ones more than the sleeping cheetah on the other side of the room. "Go away, please. I'm not much of a cat pony after I almost got mauled by a leopard a few years ago in a jungle." "Ah! Here it is!" Goldie said, finding Pinkie's supposed Apple ancestor Applesauce. "Oh dear..." "What? Am I not an Apple after all?" Pinkie asked. "Well, that's just it. I have no idea. The page is all smudged." Shocked, Sora looked at the page, and right by Applesauce's name, it was smudged just like the genealogy scroll he had that had Pinkie's family tree. "Oh come on!" he exclaimed. "What are the chances of that happening!? We came all this way for nothing!" "Don't worry about it, Sora," Pinkie sadly said. "I'm just a little disappointed that I'll probably never know for sure if I'm really an Apple or not." "Well, Ah know," Applejack said. "Ah know for sure that doesn't matter what that book says or doesn't say. After puttin' up with us on the trip here, it's obvious you're an Apple to the core, just like Sora." The rest of the family agreed, including Sora after coming all this way to wind up back at square one. "You guys are the best family ever!" Pinkie pulled everyone in as her tail held up the camera, now farther across the room. "Say 'best family hug ever'!" "Best family hug ever!" everyone said as Pinkie took the picture of all six of them smiling for the camera together. While Pinkie was busy going over her scrapbook, Big Macintosh hitched himself up to Goldie Delicious's wagon she let them use for their trip back home. "Thanks for the wagon, Goldie! We'll see ya later!" "Y'all sure you don't want any of these Apple family heirlooms to take back home with you?" Goldie asked as she pointed to the large pile of historical objects outside her home. "Nope," Big Mac said, not wanting to cause another situation with a broken wagon. The mare shrugged and waved, seeing them off as they traveled down the road back home, the music picking up again for the reprise of the song they sang earlier. [All] We're Apples forever, Apples together We're family, but so much more No matter what comes, we will face the weather We're Apples to the core! "Eeyup!" Sora and Big Mac said simultaneously. After making it back home to Sweet Apple Acres as evening was about to begin, Applejack grabbed the journal at the Golden Oak Library to record today's crazy journey. "This is sure gonna be an adventure to look back on. Ah think Ah'll write how bein' a good family isn't always about bein' perfect all the time." "Yup. Families have their flaws and get into a lot of arguments or fights, but if they can get through those rough patches and forgive each other for mistakes, then that's the true definition of a perfect family," Sora added. "And don't forget about mentionin' how friends can also feel like your family too." The Apples, Sora, and Pinkie agreed with Apple Bloom. "...But, Ah think Ah should write it all out. Ah can make it sound more excitin'." "Well, Ah have a history of storytellin'," Granny Smith said, Sora rolling his eyes as the bickering began again. Big Macintosh grabbed the pen and was about to write down in the journal, only to be stopped by his grandmother. "Hey, what do ya think you're doin', Big Mac!?" "Ah'll write it down," he stated, only for Applejack to swipe the pen from him. "Ah'm the Element of Harmony in this family, so Ah will write it all down!" Soon, the Apples began talking over each other and argued. "Hey, look at me!" Pinkie said as she began to bounce over to the bickering earth pony family. "I'm part of the Apple family too! Argue, argue, argue! Bicker bicker, argue bickery bicker arg!" Sora laughed and shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "Ah, family. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." He became a part of the group and randomly argued about different things like Pinkie was, their journal entry will have to wait until they all decided to stop fighting and later forgive each other for their argument.