"Bye, Granny!" Applejack said as she grabbed two lunch sacks, which held her and Flim's lunches. "Ah'm gonna see some friends!" She lied through her teeth, and she felt awful about it. Well, I would be lying to someone no matter what I say...
Granny smiled. "Well, alright. Make sure to be back by six, dearie."
Applejack nodded. "Yep, no later! See ya!" She replied as she stepped out of the barn. It was currently noon, and Big Mac was still bucking the trees. He was catching up on the work he couldn't do yesterday. Applejack trotted out of the farm and started to make her way into the woods. As she did, she heard the sound of air cutting above her. She knew exactly who that was. She ducked down, hoping she wouldn't be spotted.
"Hey, AJ!"
Too late for that... Applejack thought to herself. She looked up to see Rainbow Dash hovering just above her.
"Oh, hey, RD!"
"What are you doin' out? You're normally working all day!" She replied. Applejack snorted.
"Well, if Ah didn't work all day, y'all wouldn't get nearly as much cider," she said with a sly smirk. Rainbow's eyes widened.
"Uh... actually... it's okay that you work all day. Don't think I was criticizing you or anything."
Applejack chuckled. "Alright, then, Dash. And ta answer your question, Ah'm havin' myself a picnic."
Rainbow raised a brow. "Why? You have no one to talk to, so that would just be boring."
Applejack's ears folded back. "Oh well. It's nice scenery."
Rainbow flicked her hair. "Yeah, I guess. I would totally join you if I didn't have to go to practice."
Applejack looked to Rainbow in confusion. "Wait... were y'all startin' late today or somethin'?"
Rainbow nodded. "Uh, yeah! It's our first day back after our break!"
Applejack nodded. "Ah, right. Well, you should get goin' then."
Dash smiled. "Yep! See ya!" She said as she shattered an air cone, firing towards the Wonderbolt compound. Applejack chuckled as she made her way to the woods.
"Hello?" Applejack called out as she stepped inside, being careful to not step on poison ivy or anything of the sort. She walked a few more steps before reaching an open area, spotting Flim sitting on the grass. His ears perked at her hoofsteps.
"Ah, there you are."
Applejack nodded. "Yep, here Ah am. Ah have some food for us, too," she said, handing him a sack. He looked to her.
"Really?"
Applejack nodded. "Don't sweat it. I knew ya probably didn't have too much money or anythin', and we have an overload of zap apple jam."
Flim smiled. "Well, alright. Thanks, I guess."
Applejack chuckled. "No problem. Now, tell me about your problems as we eat."
Flim's ear flicked. "Why do I have to share personal stuff? Can't you just show me how to be somewhat decent and then I'll be on my way?"
Applejack took a bite of her sandwich. "Openin' up is relievin', trust me. I won't be able ta teach ya much unless ya tell me what's been goin' on."
Flim sighed before finishing his sandwich. "Well... uh... great sandwich, by the way."
"Thanks, but y'all are derailin'," she said, earning an agitated look from him.
"Uh... fine, whatever, you win. So... after the whole Gladmane thing, my brother and I were thinking of a new idea. Something to earn instant revenue, since that was something we didn't have. So, my brother had the brilliant idea of being travelling psychics and telling ponies stuff for bits. All in all, it's a smart idea."
Applejack raised a brow as she nodded. "Go on."
"...Well, we started it, and told the ponies who paid a bunch of positive stuff about the future. They looked delighted, and paid us a lot of money. We were able to buy ourselves a grand amount of food and were considering living off of this little job.
"But... my brother started thinking of ways to earn more money, considering he always envisioned himself being rich and wasn't going to give up on his dream. He came up with the idea of telling ponies that we would be able to speak to the dead and tell them things their dead relatives or friends said. His plan was to attract ponies who had lost loved ones to make them think they could actually reach out to them.
"I supported it at first, but as I saw him fake his visions to those poor ponies... it felt so wrong. Some were in tears, others hugged us... it seemed like they believed what we said. For a while now, I had regretted the things the two of us had done in the past, but never mentioned any of it in fear of losing my brother and not being able to provide for myself. Now, however, was different. This kept me up at nights. One night, I decided to talk with him about it.
"He got mad at me and started yelling, angry that I would disagree with an idea that was making us quick cash. I asked if he would think of something else we could do instead, but he said that money making doesn't take my 'sensitive feelings' into account. I knew I couldn't bear it anymore, and in a rash decision, I ran away from him. We haven't spoken to each other since.
"After a day or two of reflecting... I realized I need a job. I then realized that I would have to ditch the lying conman behavior, which I'm perfectly fine with. I then knew I had to have someone teach me common job skills and how to be a good pony, and so that's how I ended up here."
Applejack blinked. "Wow."
Flim looked up at her. "What?"
"That's... quite a story. And for ya to realize what y'all was doin' was wrong... must've taken a lot of courage and integrity. You're actually not as bad as ya think."
Flim shook his head. "Nah, come on. I'm still a liar and know it will be hard to break from my old tendencies. I built my life around lying to ponies, and I know I can't do that with a professional career."
Applejack blinked and thought for a moment. She then smiled. "Ah have an idea!"
Flim raised a brow. "What?"
Applejack put her lunch sack to the side. "What if y'all worked at Sweet Apple Acres? Help can always be useful on the farm, and that way you'll be learnin' and gettin' paid a fair amount!"
Flim shook his head. "I appreciate the offer, but I would rather work someplace in my hometown, Baltimare. My mother is very sick, and is running out of funds to fund her own medical procedures. This is another reason I want an actual job; to help take care of her. My brother never wanted to give his money to her because he is quite selfish."
Applejack's eyes widened. "Ah'm terribly sorry, Flim, and Ah agree ya should work in Baltimare ta be near her. And... Ah don't think ya need too much help from me. You're a good pony on the inside. Just a bit of work with honesty and y'all will be good to go. Ah can even help pay for your train fees to Baltimare if ya want."
Flim blinked. "Thank you. And that is... very kind of you. I might have to take you up on that offer."
Applejack nodded. "Of course!" She moved her hoof in a circle on the grass. "Now... let's teach ya a bit about honesty, alright?"
"...What would ya do if ya found 500 bits on the ground?"
"Take them," he said without any hesitation. Applejack shook her head.
"That's not a good idea. The one who dropped 'em might really need 'em for somethin'. Turn it into authorities or ask around if ponies dropped it. This is something called empathy."
Flim sighed. "I'm not too good with that, I'm afraid..."
Applejack shrugged. "Well, ya at least have some empathy ta feel bad about lyin' to ponies about bein' able ta talk to the dead. Empathy is puttin' yourself in other ponies' hooves. What if you were the one who dropped the bits? Would ya want someone to keep it for themselves, or turn it into authorities so you can get it back?"
Flim blinked. "Uh..."
Applejack smirked. "Exactly. Don't do to others what ya wouldn't want done to yourself." She looked up at the sky. "Ah would say it's about 2:30. Do ya want to continue, or have ya had enough for one day?"
Flim thought. "I dunno. I guess now would be a good time for my midday nap."
Applejack chuckled. "Alright. So... Ah'll see ya tomorrow?"
Flim nodded. "Yeah. Noon preferably."
Applejack nodded. "Ah'll see what Ah can do."
Applejack and Big Mac walked towards the east side of the farm, looking up at the trees. They were desperately trying to find wings or hear a chittering sound that might expose the bats.
"Are ya sure ya heard somethin' yesterday?" Big Mac asked.
Applejack nodded. "Positive."
Big Mac nodded and squinted, looking into the trees. He then took a step back.
"...Ah see one, Applejack," he said. Applejack creeped forward and peered up the tree, instantly spotting many vampire fruit bats resting on branches. Some saw her and hissed, while others ate apples. Applejack immediately started bucking the tree.
"Come on now! Shoo!" She yelled, causing the bats to fly away... though, sadly, they traveled to another tree only about thirty feet away and took shelter in there. Applejack let out a loud groan.
"Cider season is in a week! We're not gonna have enough apples ta make enough cider unless we can get these varmits outta here!"
Big Mac inspected the tree, seeing how the apples hanging from the branches were all eaten and dark. "We need ta find some way to get rid of 'em again. How did y'all do it last time?"
Applejack thought. "Well, we tried to use Fluttershy's stare. Twilight tried castin' a spell on the apples to deter the bats but failed, turnin' Flutters into one instead. This time, we'll probably have more luck usin' the stare."
Big Mac nodded. "Bring 'er over tomorrow."
"Alright. Let's just hope there's still some apples alive tomorrow..."