//------------------------------//
// Applebuck Season 
// Story: Just a Walk in Equestria (JaWiE), Volume 1 
// by Warden of Monsters 
//------------------------------//

I never get over how different these ponies are from humans yet so alike in a few ways that just blindside you. Take Bon Bon, one minute I think she was ready to cut off something of me for the sake of secrecy, and the next she's having me move in with her. Seriously, she took one look at my clubhouse shelter, and told me to pack my things. It makes sense though. I mean that clubhouse was in pretty bad shape to start with so I'm not too upset about moving out before Show Stoppers rolls around. Plus Bonbon's house makes for a nice base of operations until we can get a better option. Not to mention when Lyra is staying in Canterlot we can discuss our plans freely.
And for those of you who are curious, Lyra is kinda fascinated by hands, yes. But she's not as bad about it as I have seen in a lot of fan works. I swear though I catch her staring at me sometimes, and I think it is making Bon Bon rethink having me around. Cubby likes the both of them though, and the feeling seems to be mutual.

All in all... Living with a couple of lesbians is not what it's cracked up to be. I mean for the love of Luna's ink-splashed backside could these two be any more obvious?! If I had a Bit for every time they bumped rumps I could have my own house, no, my own mansion built. But speaking of money...

I'm out headed for the local newspaper the Ponyville Gazette in look of work. I love the written word a lot so I figured I could get a commission for writing columns it would put a little money in my pocket. I really want a place of my own though, I'm tired of having to stoop to get into my front door. Maybe I could earn Bits writing actual novels, there are some great fanfics in the MLP fanbase that these ponies might enjoy. Too bad I don't know books like Past Sins word for word.

That's when the ground starts shaking. Frowning I see ponies diving for the cover of houses, and Pinkie vibrating with the ground.

"H-h-h-h-e-e-e-e-y-y-y-y th-th-th-i-i-i-s-s-s m-m-m-a-a-a-k-k-e-s m-m-m-y-y-y v-v-v-v-oi-oi-oi-ce-ce-ce s-s-s-ou-ou-ou-n-n-n-d-d-d s-s-s-i-i-i-ll-ll-ll-y-y-y!"

I blink, and look in the direction of the sound of lots of pounding hooves. "…Must be Applebuck Season," I say to myself as a stampede of cattle appear on the horizon. But I know how this one all turns out so I make my way towards the newspaper office to submit one of my columns to the editor.

As I leave the post office ten minutes later I spot Twilight, and she trots over with a smile. "Hey," She says brightly. "Fluttershy told me about what you said to her... Thanks for that."

"You're welcome," I say with a nod.

Glancing around she asks me more quietly, "So... Anything I need to know recently?"

I shake my head with a soft smile. "Just... Keep an eye out for Applejack okay? She's stubborn, and Big Mac is too hurt to work his part this Applebucking Season. Just don't give up on her."

She blinks, "Okay... So...?"

I roll my eyes with a chuckle, "Nothing really major until after the Gala, alright? You got this Twilight Sparkle."

She nods slowly with an uncertain smile, and trots off. I watch her go then power-walk all the way home to find Bonbon with my bag open in front of her... and she's trying to pick the lock to my gun case. Quickly I snatch it away from her, "Just what do you think you're doing?!"

She meets my glare with a calm stare. "What's in there? Some kind of weapon?"

"As a matter of fact yes," I snap at her. "One too advanced, and too deadly to let it fall into the hooves of anypony."

She stands, and squares her shoulders, "I'm not a foal Harley, you should know that as a monster hunter I should be able to handle any materials you have with delicacy. Now are you going to show me what's in the box?"

"No," I say firmly. "Because frankly anypony even knowing about such a weapon... Equestria should never be exposed to it. Ever. Am I understood?"

She looks me over with furrowed eyebrows, "…Are you even going to tell me what kind of weapon it is?"

"The kind that can kill before you have time to blink," I snap as I shove it back into my bag. "By the way, we're in the middle of another episode now. At some point soon... Sugarcube Corner is going to be giving out free muffin samples. Be sure you get one, I'll take care of Applejack."

That should teach her not to go snooping through my things.

Blinking she asks, "That's it? Well... Alright then. What are you going to do?"

I stare at my hand as I stand again, "…I need to experiment with my magic some, figure out why it was so limited back when you captured me. The spell that gave me these powers was supposed to bring my thoughts into reality."

"Oh that's an easy one," she says with a roll of her eyes. "I once had to break a curse like that on a pony, we sealed it away in a book Celestia hid someplace."

"You don't say," I mutter.

Nodding she continues, "Maybe your case is different, but with this pony his abilities were limited to his knowledge. For example he was a shoemaker so he was very good with sewing, and forging metal so he was able to summon binding ribbons, and swords. But when he tried to make a brick wall he just ended up making a wall of powdered minerals, and sand."

"Makes sense," I muse. "I mean i have no idea how cloth is made so summoning new clothes is just thread since I know how string is made. I bet if I looked back at that suit i wore on the Summer Sun Celebration the threads would just be fused back together..."

"Sounds like you have some homework to do," Bon Bon says as she starts packing a basket. "I promised Lyra I'd take her on a picnic this week. If you need me we'll be by the lake."

"Have fun," I say with a wave. Then I go hunting around for a paper, and pencil to make a list of topics I might need to know about.

It's the next day, and I have my list rolled up in my pocket. I walk with Rarity towards the crowd assembled out in front of town hall to honor Applejack, and can't quite seem to wipe a grin off my face. I can't help laughing quietly as Twilight gets increasingly frustrated from constant interruptions from her friends, and even grin as Applejack makes her waythrough the crowd with apples in her baskets. Twilight raises an eyebrow to me as Applejack, and Pinkie play with their reflections in the trophy, and I nod once. After Applejack has left with it I take out my list, and Twilight assures me that she can have the books on the materials I listed delivered to Bon Bon's house. Afterwards I head over to the boutique with Rarity so she can show me how cloth is made along with different colors of dye.

"So Harley how has life been treating you? Sweetie Belle adores playing with Cubby though Opal is of a different opinion."

"Cats will never get along until they have the pecking order down pat," I laugh. "And life has been treating me well thanks for asking."

"Well I'm glad to hear that," Rarity says with a smile as she sorts between bundles of fabric in her collection. "Certainly I was starting to worry about you, but since you're getting so cozy I needn't have worried."

I frown at that, "Worried?"

"Well you are the only human in Equestria so it was only natural for you to get lonely eventually," Rarity says. "I had my doubts, but held on to hope you would find a special somepony who could-"

"Hold up," I say quickly. "You don't seriously think that Bon Bon, and I are...?"

"Oh goodness no darling," Rarity says quickly. I heave a sigh of relief before she finishes, "I've seen how you, and Lyra steal glances at one another though..."

Blushing furiously I protest, "I'm not dating anypony! Honestly!"

Rarity folds her ears back as she cuts a strip off a roll of white cloth. "Oh… Well then, silly me... Did you have someone special back home?"

Rubbing my cheeks I say, "No... Nobody like that. I played the part of the friendzoned shoulder to cry on a bit too well for any sort of committed relagionship to last."

"Ah I see, you are he who wears his heart on his sleeves," she says with a few tsks of her tongue. "Well I'm sure you'll-"

"Rarity," I say with a soft smile. "I'm not making any illusions about ever getting back to my world. And looking for a relationship here would be weird considering the species barrier."

"That doesn't mean you should condemn yourself to solitude," Rarity pouts at me.

With a facepalm I ask, "Can we please just drop the subject?" She obliges as she shows me in great detail how fabric is woven, but I can tell this discussion is far from over.

The next few days are rather peaceful for me. I pass my time reading these manuals, which is difficult for me since anything non-fiction loves to fuck with my ADHD so I quickly lose interest in it. But I force myself to memorize it, knowing i might forget it later on. Luckily when I use magic I don't appear to need to have every single detail in the forefront of my mind. I study lots of things in this time period from how metal reacts when forging to the chemical reactions of soap when exposed to moisture. It's extremely tedious, but I pressure on, pacing myself since I don't have to learn it all in one day the gala is still months off after all.

Speaking of, my tickets come in the mail while working on making bread with my magic. Somehow food still seems to be beyond my abilities, not that I'd eat it anyways. These powers I have are supposed to corrupt a person after all so who can tell if the food can even be trusted? At any rate I have two tickets to the Gala, and a package from Celestia. Opening it I find a book with a letter taped to the front.

Dear Harley,
I thought it would be prudent to have a quick means of staying in touch with you should something come up. This book is enchanted to put anything you write here into its sister book in my study, and for security I added an extra enchantment so that only the owner of this book can read the words written within. The spell will acknowledge the first to touch it directly as the owner. If you are not the first then I'm sure Teilight Sparkle can help you reset the spell as needed.
If you could, please write to me when you get this book so I know it has reached you. I wish you best of luck in your efforts.
Sincerey,
Princess Celestia of Equestria

I smile as I hold up the plain brown leatherbound book. It has a buckle over the cover so the small belt connected to the back can hold it closed. So I look around, grab a pencil, and sit down to write.

"Dear Princess Celestia,
Your gift is most appreciated, and well received. Everything is going fine here in Ponyville though soon it will hardly be a sleepy little town anymore. Not to worry though, your student will be able to handle it all without my help.
Sweetie Drops, and I have started our preparations to start a homefront for our efforts, and discussing possible recruits who could prove invaluable in the skirmishes to come. I am alo learning the extent of the powers I recieved from the book you sealed away, so far there are no negative side effects. I'm not sure what to make of that, but I'm grateful for it.
Rest assured I will keep you posted should anything need to be brought to your attention, and will keep a close eye on Twilight Sparkle."

Pausing a worry comes to me, and I start writing while I chew my bottom lip.

"If I may, how is Princess Luna? I have been a bit worried for her sake as I know the... steps she will take to come to terms with her guilt from her past transgressions. I jst wanted to make sure she wasn't trapped in depression, I've seen all too often what happens when someone lets depression get the better of them, and I can't stand to think of Luna suffering like that. If there is anything I can do to help either of you then please let me know.
Yours Truly,
Harley"

Setting the pencil down I rub my forehead as I remember the Tantabus from the Season 5 episode "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep." I could count off on both hands the number of girlfriends I've had that cut themselves to deal with stress, or depression... Thinking of the similar principals implied there really makes my heart hurt, thinking of Luna locking herself in her bedroom to wallow in her guilt.

"Focus on the present," I say to myself. "She has to go through that... for the sake of the timeline... and for her sake..." Still it brings a tear to my eye.

I wipe my face, and smack myself on the cheeks to make myself focus. Applejack is going to be causing quite a few issues in what I can only assume is a timeframe of several days. I need to remember in what order they happened so I can place myself in a position to witness them all. Twilight is sure to notice this though, I need to figure out what to tell her so she won't get all worked up. Still, Princess Luna lurks in the back of my head...

Quickly I pull out my phone, and turn it on. I have the entire show on my phone thanks to iTunes up to the fifth season, but my heart sinks at the 2% battery on the display. I have the charger cord along with a Mophie portable charger, but still, I'm not sure what to do about electricity. After all most energy here is magic, the principals could be totally different. The last thing I want is for my phone to try, and lose all my information.

As I watch the episode again, or rather skip through it to find the order of Applejack's antics I think how there is one pony who may be able to figure out the answer to those questions. Looks like our little growing agency is going to step up our recruiting schedule a bit... Preferably before Bon-Bon gets her food poisoning.

"Are you sure about this?" Bon-Bon walks calmly beside me with a skeptical expression. "I mean, he's supposed to be a little... Out there... Plus he's a civilian, can we really put something this heavy in his hooves?"

"We really don't have a choice," I reply with my hands in my pockets. "My memory isn't perfect, and he's the most tech-savvy pony I know apart from Twilight Sparkle. Without a means to charge my phone we're flying on imperfect Intel. Plus the Doc is a background pony like you so he can wander about without suspicion."

Bon-Bon sighs, "Well... Alright, this is your mission after all... What in the world?" She spots Rainbow Dash putting together a short tower with a massive teeter-totter under it.

"The first of many incidents caused by Applejack," I reply. "AJ is supposed to help Rainbow Dash practice her flying soon enough."

"Right," she says with a thoughtful look. "But aren't you worried about just... giving the information in that device to a random pony?"

"Nope," I say. "My phone has a special feature to it. Enter the wrong passcode ten times, and all the data is lost. No way he can hack a six-digit passcode in just ten tries."

Bon Bon seems to relax a bit, "Okay then."

We finally arrive at the Doctor's workshop, and I knock lightly. Soon enough the chestnut stallion with an hourglass Cutie Mark is opening the door for us. He smiles at us, "Ah Miss Bon Bon, Mister Harley, to what do I owe the pleasant surprise?"

Bonbon gives him a soft smile, "Hey Doc, we were wondering if we could bother you for a small favor..."

"Oh? Well then let's not discuss this on my doorstep, please do come in!" He steps aside to let us in. His home has a very high roof for a pony, making me think Derpy must like it here a lot with all the flying space. Some of that space though is occupied with devices, and contraptions hanging at face level with me, even outside his laboratory. So I take care to keep an eye out for anything that would cause me to lose an eye.

He makes some mint tea for us while we wait in the living room, and has a slight spring in his step as he puts the refreshments before us. "Lovely weather today isn't it? My friend in the weather patrol says that we should be expecting sunny skies for the next few days. She works with them part-time, and works a second job with the mail service."

"Ditzy Doo right?" I smile as I sniff my tea. Not a big fan of mint apart from chewing gum, or altoids so I just take a small sip as to not be rude.

"That's the one," he says cheerfully. "Truly, no better companion for a shut-in like myself. Now, what is this favor of yours?"

I take my iPhone out of my pocket, and take it out of its protective casing before putting it on the coffee table. "This is a device from my world, a portable communicator called a Cellular Phone. This is one of the more advanced models, capable of holding digital documents, video files, and music as well as a plethora of contact information... But I lack the means to charge the battery. So I came to you to see if you could help."

The Doctor stares at it in wonder, "...Great wickering stallions..." He takes the phone gently in his grip, and looks it over.

"I have some sensitive information on there," I tell him. "So while I understand if you need to take it apart, I hope you'll treat it with utmost sensitivity."

The Doctor nods slowly, "Yes... Yes of course... I... I'm flattered you've brought this to me Mister-"

"Just call me Harley," I interrupt. "And please understand... The world I'm from, and my race was forged by war upon war. I'm very hesitant to share anything of that world with this one... But I think this is technology safe to share. So if you can do this then you have my permission to patent the technology if you want, since I have no Bits to pay you with."

The Doctor blinks, and with a soft smile nods as he sets my phone down. "Of course... This is most generous of you Harley. You have my word I will treat this with as much discretion, and care as I am able."

Offering him a smile of my own I shake his hoof, and stand. "Thank you Doc, this is much appreciated."

I spend the next several hours with Twilight. The topic of my magical abilities is something she's taken quite an interest to, and something we've decided to explore at great length.

"Well," she says. "It seems to me like your abilities aren't capable of creating, or altering living things." She bends her head to stare into the potted flower we've been using to experiment with. "So that would explain why wood is such an issue for you, as is food. Most ingredients come from plants so..."

Nodding I rub my neck, "I see... Which is why I can do minerals just fine, even cloth. Hm... And using other sort of spells, not just my transmutation?"

Twilight puts the flower in a window, and taps her chin. "Well you teleported on the Summer Sun Celebration right? So if you happen to know how a spell works then it should be possible. Where did you learn to teleport though?"

I sit with my arms crossed, "...A few different sources I guess. One story where a man teleported massive slabs of chocolate across a room just to make it smaller, a rumor of a failed experiment on force-fields by the military..." Then I blink, "And Turnabout Storm! It was a MLP fan work, and in it you actually explained how to perform a teleportation spell. Guess I just sort of retained what was said, and used it on a hunch."

Twilight blinks, "Turnabout Storm...? Someday I'd like to see some of these fan works you like to talk about so often."

Sighing I say, "Fat chance of that ever happening... Anyhow, would you care to be my magical mentor? If I can use spells then I'd like to see just what I'm capable of."

"Of course," she says brightly, levitating two books off her shelves. "Here, this is A Beginner's Guide to Simply Simple Spells, and a copy of Starswirl the Bearded's more advanced works. You can use the former to practice, but just skim the latter to see what kinds of spells you might be interested in learning. Alright?"

I nod with a grateful smile as she takes a few books for herself. Then we head up to her balcony to do a little peaceful reading in the sunlight. It's very relaxing, and in all honesty magic had always fascinated me back in my world. So a chance to study real magic has me hooked like a catfish on my grandpa Redeye's hook.

We're both jarred to the present when Rainbow Dash slams into the railing, giving us both a flat look which we return. "Applejack," Twilight guesses.

"Yeah," Rainbow says, and slumps. I reach over, and pull her off the railing so she won't fall off, and shake my head with a smile. This is going to be fun...

"Just what is that pony up to," Twilight wonders as she stands, and looks up at me. "Harley, you mind watching the library while I take a trip to Sweet Apple Acres?"

I snap her a salute, and she rolls her eyes as she teleports to the street below. Rainbow Dash groans beside me, "I hope AJ's okay, she seemed really... Out of it."

"Big Mac hurt himself, and so AJ is determined to clear the apple fields herself," I tell her. "Trust me, knowing Twilight she won't stop until AJ accepts some help, but AJ needs to learn for herself that she's bitten off more than she can chew."

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash raises an eyebrow at me.

"Look RD, when I was a kid I grew up in the south where the culture is basically one big Apple family so I know where she's coming from. Folks there pride themselves on a good work ethic, and don't like being told what they can, and can't do. If you go up to AJ telling her she can't do it then it'll just motivate her to try harder. Not a bad thing mind you, but now she's taking on more than she can handle on her own."

"Sounds like Applejack alright," Rainbow Dash muses. "So... How do we help?"

"Just check in on her, but don't bug her while she's working. When she comes to her senses then she'll ask for help."

Rainbow Dash nods, and shakily gets to her hooves with a groan. Then spreading her wings she flies off at a leisurely pace. As for me I open my book again, and start reading the basics of the Illumination spell.

A few hours later I'm back home practicing that illumination spell, passing a small ball of softly pulsing light the size of a marble between my hands. Really it's an unreal feeling to be able to do that. But I'm startled out of my focus when somepony hammers on the door.

"Harley?! Harley quick, it's an emergency!"

"Doc?" I open the door with a flick of my fingers, a bit too hard... Guess I need more practice with levitation spells. The Doctor hurries inside, "Harley this is terrible!"

"What, my phone?" My heart goes cold with horror, but then the Doctor shakes his head.

"No, there's been an outbreak of food poisoning at Sugarcube Corner! Ditzy, Bonbon, and Lyra have all fallen quite ill!"

Well that was certainly faster than expected... While I'm kinda glad Bonbon got mixed up in it, Lyra really didn't deserve that, and neither did Derpy. So I make my way to the fridge, and grab a 2-liter of lime soda I had Lyra buy in advance. Sprite always soothes my stomach when it's upset.

We hurry our way to the hospital where I spot Nurse Redheart showing Twilight the inside of a medical tent... There's really so many cases that they didn't have room in the hospital? Looking at all these suffering faces makes me feel really guilty. I could have stopped this from happening, and probably still made sure Twilight, and her friends learned the same lesson at the end of the day.

"Not even Bonbon deserves this," I mutter. The Doctor heads over to Derpy's bed, and I make my way over to Bonbon with an apologetic look. She shoots me a sickly accusatory look, and I stroke her mane while I pour her a glass of the soda. "Sorry," I whisper to her. "This is where you were in the episode..."

Her eyes still promise vengeance as she sips the soda. Then I head over to give some to Lyra, and Derpy. When I explain what I'm doing to the nurses they decide it's worth a shot, and the faces of the patients do look a little less green in around fifteen minutes.

Mentally I go through the events of this episode in my head, and next is the bunny stampede... Nothing very dangerous there, apart from the near famine caused in the fallout. It'll be interesting to see how they manage to come back from that one... Myself as well come to think of it. Best make a trip to the grocery store, or rather the stands.

The next day Bonbon, and Lyra have been cleared to come home again. Really I feel bad about this whole thing so I let it rest on my shoulders to care for them until they're 100% again. So I make them some tea with celery soup for lunch, and afterwards I surprise them with a pineapple upside-down carrot cake. I make sure to give them both generous slices, and give Bonbon my best apologetic look... At least now she looks like she's considering forgiving me. The Doctor, and Derpy visit from time to time as well, and I treated them to some lunch as well. And let me say, she is just every bit as adorable as Ponies With Pockets Productions makes her out to be.

So that's where we are when we hear Rainbow Dash shouting, "Stampede!"

Looking out the window we see all the bunnies running, kicking up a dust cloud behind them. They scatter throughout town, and start nervous-eating every bit of vegetation they can get their paws on. I chew my lip as I watch... I just let a lot of ponies get poisoned. Can I really let them get to the brink of starvation because of some adorable bouncing baby bunnies?

Yeah, no.

Stepping outside I levitate a crate over, and catch it, almost knocking the wind out of myself. Then sighing I float the crate to a small wagon, and pull the wagon as so make a magical grab for any bunny I see. Fluttershy is grateful for the assist, and does her best to soothe the rabbits I collect.

I spot Twilight out of the corner of my eye, and she trots over, "What happened?"

"Bunny stampede," I tell her. "We're picking up as fast as we can though... How about lending a horn, and then going to talk to AJ?"

She nods with a heavy sigh, and now that I can do it too I can better appreciate her control over magical multitasking. I can barely grab one bunny, and here she is snatching them up by the bundle. Even with hers, and Rainbow Dash's help though it still takes us nearly an hour to round them up. It would have been faster with Pinkie here I'm sure, but she had helped herself to a great deal many more muffins than everyone else, warranting her an extended hospital stay. And Rarity... Well, no offense, but she's not exactly the best with animals. She'd probably spend more time dressing them up than herding them.

So once we're done we wheel them back to Fluttershy's place, and do a head count as we set them loose one at a time. I stay to help Fluttershy with that part while Twilight leaves to have a stern talk with Applejack.

Rainbow hovers beside me while I tally off bunnies on a clipboard Twilight gave me. "So how long until AJ asks us for help? I'm not sure how much more of this Ponyville can take."

"Not long now," I tell her with a smile, marking off the last bunny. "Even something as stubborn as a diamond will crack if you tap it just right."

Rainbow crosses her forelegs, "Whatever. I never even got my flying practice in..."

"Find me a big hammer, and I'll help you out," I say. Then I summon up a wooden contraption like she had set up, only smaller, and made of balsa wood naturally. Then I make myself a large hammer made of plastic, and whack one side, making a small plushie of RD launch skywards.

Rainbow smiles, "Hey-hey! Not a bad idea..." Then she flies off to look for the biggest hammer she can find. Chuckling I pick up the plushie, and pocket it as I head back for town, passing Fluttershy the clipboard on my way off her property. Later as it turns out Rainbow can't find a carnival hammer anywhere so I make one out of stone that I just levitate, and then drop on the opposite side of the teeter-totter to send her skywards. Twilight finds us like that, and I smile.

"Had a nice talk with AJ?"

Twilight nods, "She got a little overwhelmed when she realized she had missed over half the orchard in her applebucking, and so she's finally asked for help. I convinced her to go home, and rest for the rest of the day, but we have to work our flanks off tomorrow to make up for lost time."

I nod with my hands in my pockets, "Wouldn't have it any other way."

The next day is thankfully one without incident. We all arrive bright, and early to help out, even Rarity. Pinkie is well enough now the only sign she was ever sick is her lack of bouncing. Fluttershy has some squirrel, and bird friends dropping apples into the baskets on her flanks by breaking the stems. As for Twilight, and I, we use our magic to float large portions of the apples into larger barrels. Naturally Twilight can float several trees' worth of apples at once while I have to keep a steady line of them going. Thankfully I'm getting used to levitation gradually so I can float more than one apple at a time. By the time we break for lunch I can float fifteen at a time in an orderly line, earning me approving looks from Rarity, and Twilight. Applejack is on quality-control duty, sorting the apples we bring her so the bad ones can be crushed up, and the seeds replanted. She's obviously well practiced at it too.

Towards the end of the work day she brings us out some bottles of apple juice, and I sip mine gratefully. As I look over the ponies before me I feel so... Complete. These are real friends, people that accept one another for who they are, and beautifully compliment one another despite their contrast. This is a bond I have never seen back in my world, and I savor every moment I get to spend with these six.

"Ew Spike! I threw those away," Pinkie balks. "Where did you get them?!"

"From the trash," Spike says brightly, holding up his armful of half-eaten muffins.

Suddenly my apple juice seems less appealing. "Twilight, just what have you been teaching this kid?!"

Twilight looks defensive, "Excuse me? Spike should know better than to dig through the garbage for food, that's just common sense!"

Crossing my arms I say, "Well it was up to you to teach him that, you're practically his mother after all since you raised him from an egg."

Twilight sighs, "Wow, a mom as a filly... Never thought of it that way..."

That brings some unbidden images to my head, and I politely excuse myself to go home. We say our goodbyes, and I make plans with Rainbow Dash to critique her practice tomorrow before headed back to Bonbon's house.

When I get there I find the place full of my second group of friends now. The Doctor, Derpy, and Lyra are engaged in a game of charades at the moment with the Doctor walking around with his front hooves outstretched.

"A Zombie pony," Derpy shouts. "A blind pony! A pony in a dark room!"

"A Dalak," I suggest which earns me three quizzical looks. Guess that solves one mystery, no Time Lords here. "So where's Bonbon?"

"She went to the bathroom," Derpy replies, pointing at the stairs. That makes me frown... The bathroom is on the ground floor, upstairs are the bedrooms.

My blood runs cold as a suspicion runs through my head, and I hurry up the stairs to my room. My fears are confirmed the moment I open the door, and see Bonbon holding my Deagle in her hooves.

"Bonbon," I say quietly. "Put it down..."

"It's alright, the safety is on, and it's not loaded," she replies casually as she turns it over in her hooves.

...what...?

"It's an interesting pistol," she says with her eyebrows furrowed, and she picks up a bullet. "These especially."

...What...?

She puts it back in the case for it, and looks up at me. "That's what you were so worked up about? A simple firearm?"

WHAT?!

I slowly close the door behind me, "...Bonbon...let me see if I have this right... You're telling me that ponies... That Equestria has guns?!"