It was about only an hour after Applejack's...
Act, let's call it.
Me and her were in the barn, sitting next to one another, me still thinking on what to say. I started forming my words when there was a knock on the barn.
"AJ? Jason? You here?" Oz asked.
We got up and opened the barn to see Oz and Sunset.
"Hey, what's up?" I asked them.
"I need to pick up my brother. The juvenile schools are either evacuating or locking down. Lucky for us, my brother's complex is releasing their students. We need a ride, Sunset's car isn't large enough, and I can't drive." Oz said.
"Sure thing." AJ said.
So me, AJ, and Oz went into AJ's pickup-- which, yes, had four seats. Sunset had to stay behind, due to a seat being needed for Oz's brother.
"I'll show you the way." Oz said, pulling out his phone.
Oz showed us the location, and AJ marked it on her GPS. We started driving out of the barn and entered the highway out of the city.
"So, your brother, huh?" I asked.
"Yeah. Our parents aren't so... well, bright. I told them that military school was probably the worst idea for him, but they didn't listen..." Oz said.
"Wait, who were you're parents?" AJ asked.
Oz was silent, clearly not wanting to answer the question.
"Okay, sorry to ask." AJ said as she kept driving.
"It's alright, it's just... We've never talked for a few years, and... now I need to make room for my little brother. Well, 'little', he's about Apple Bloom's age." Oz said.
AJ had a sudden look of shame.
"Shoot, I'm sorry, I didn't meant to--"
"We're here." AJ said.
Oz looked up and sure enough, there was a large complex with fences all around. Oz quickly opened the door and started attempting to run, almost falling at doing so.
"AJ, you stay here." I said as I went out to help him.
"Thanks." He said as we started heading inside.
When we entered, we saw about 30 children behind a booth. All Oz did was stumble forward.
"Name?" The guard asked.
"Oz." He said.
The guard went through the list to see nothing.
"Try my legal name." Oz said as he handed the guard his registration.
The guard glanced at the card and handed it back. He then got up and went to the booth.
"HEY, TURNER! YOU BROTHER'S HERE!" He hollered.
Turner?
Tim...
Sure enough, the first thing I saw was that iconic pink hat as he paced forward with a satchel, his buck teeth gone.
"Tim. Nice to see you again, man." Oz said.
All Tim did was walk by.
"Tim!" I called out.
He stopped and turned around.
"We went out this way, my... girlfriend's waiting with her truck." I said.
Tim looked at me like I had 2 heads.
"Shit, not Trixie, I promise!" I said.
Tim seemed to calm down and we all headed out to the truck, Oz still falling behind. We opened the door and saw AJ, looking at Tim in confusion.
"Applejack, meet Timmy Turner. Tim, meet Applejack." I said.
Tim nodded as he hopped in the back. Oz went next to him, and I rode shotgun, next to AJ.
"Where're we droppin' y'all off?" AJ asked.
"My place, I already talked to our parents, they said I could watch him." Oz said.
She nodded and started heading off.
The awkward silence quickly fell, as me and AJ started blushing whenever we glanced to say something to each other, Oz had no clue what to say to Tim, and Tim seemed either too traumatized, or to broken to say anything. I decided to attempt a conversation.
"So what's gonna happen now?" I asked anyone willing to answer.
"We bunker down, me and Sunset're stocking up right now. How're you two preparing?" Oz asked.
"We're fortifying the farm." AJ said.
Oz chuckled.
"The whole farm? Hmm. Right out of the Walking Dead's pages." Oz said.
We kept driving until we reached Sunset's house. The two then exited the car. Oz limped to the window.
"Thanks." He said.
"Sure." I said as AJ started the engine.
"The military won't handle this. The whole farm is too much to handle. Just the four of you on that large farm?" He asked.
"We'll make it work, it's her family." I said.
"How about your's?" Oz asked.
We didn't say a word as Oz headed inside and me and AJ drove off.
"He has a point, Applejack. You, me, your brother, defending the farm alone?" I asked her.
"We'll make it work, Jason." AJ said.
"I know, it's just..." I stopped.
"What is it?" AJ asked.
"Turn the truck around." I said.
"What, why?" AJ asked.
"There's something I gotta do before it's too late." I said.
"Jason, what is it?" AJ asked sternly.
I stopped, took a breath...
"We need to go to Gardenia." I said.
"Whoa, whoa, there. Your ma doesn't want you there." AJ said.
"I know, but this might be the only chance I have to knowing what my mom's been hiding from me." I said.
"Jason, I wanna help you, I do. But your ma has her reasons, some I don't know. But have you ever considered that maybe the truth might just be too much?" AJ asked.
"AJ, you never told a lie in your life, and I'd take the cold truth over a lie." I said.
We were still driving back to the farm.
"I'll talk to my mom, okay? I'm sorry, I didn't want you to get invol--"
We were stopped by a car parked outside the farm.
We parked and quickly ran down to see the red-haired girl from Gardenia with my mom alongside her.
"It's alright, my mom knows her." I said, trying to calm her nerves a bit.
She nodded and we started coming into their view. By the time we made it down, the sun was starting to set.
"Hey, mom." I said.
"Hey. I don't think you two properly met. Bloom, this is Jason. Jason, Bloom." She said.
"Nice to meet you. Mom, we gotta talk." I said.
"Yeah, we do. But not about whatever you're think about." Mom said.
"What do we have to talk about?" I asked them.
Bloom steeped aside.
"We're offering you a place at Red Fountain, a form of training camp. We're long prepared for an attack like the one that's coming." Bloom said.