Sweet Apple Acres
“Jack! Please be more careful with your sister!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Higher, Jay-Jay! Higher! Higher!”
Fluttershy Apple couldn’t help but smile at the sound of her little daughter’s exuberant laughter. She finished pouring the last of the slop into the pig’s trough and turned her eyes skyward. Jack was turning slow loop-de-loops in the cloudless blue, his thrilled sister attached securely to the harness on his chest.
“And here I was hopin’ she’d have an earth pony’s natural fear of heights.” Her husband rumbled as he finished dragging over the bag of chicken feed.
“Maybe you’ll get lucky and she’ll grow into it.” She giggled as she kissed his cheek.
Macintosh Apple grinned and caught his wife’s lips in a sudden kiss.
“W-what was that for?” She stammered when they’d parted.
“’Cause it’s been too long since yer last one.” He winked with his one good eye before turning to go fetch the next bag of feed.
Fluttershy sighed dreamily as her hunk of a husband walked away.
“Mama, why are you staring at daddy’s butt?”
Fluttershy gave a little shriek of surprise and spun to find that Jack Junior had landed behind her. Scarlet was already squirming to get out of her harness. “Mama wasn’t staring, little one.”
“Because it’s rude to stare?”
Fluttershy smiled and nuzzled the little earth pony. “That’s right.” She plucked her daughter from the harness by the scruff of her neck and gently lowered her onto her back. “Are you two ready for lunch?”
The two young ponies nodded enthusiastically.
“Looks like I made it home just in time.”
The three turned to see Applejack strolling up.
“Auntie AJ!” Scarlet squealed. She tried to leap off of Fluttershy’s back and it was only the yellow pegasus’ wing that stopped her from taking a tumble.
“Hi, Miss Applejack.” Jack Junior waved.
“Jay-Jay, if I have ta tell you one more time to call me Aunt AJ, we’re gonna have issues.” She smiled to show the threat was empty.
Fluttershy ruffled her adopted son’s mane before looking back to Applejack. “Decided to come home early?”
“Yeah, Lyra seemed to have things under control. Not much we can do ‘til Braeburn and his crew get here anyway. Figured I’d come home, get some grub, maybe take a na…”
“She’s upstairs. Got home not too long ago.” Fluttershy dead-panned.
“Thank ya kindly.” The earth pony was gone, a small cloud of dust marking the place where she’d just been standing.
“Miss App… Aunt Applejack really seems to enjoy her naps.” Jack Junior observed.
“I like naps.” Scarlet punctuated her statement with a small yawn.
“Good. Because you’re both getting one right after lunch.” She looked towards the barn where Macintosh was heaving large bags of feed onto his back. She blushed hotly as she took in his muscles. “Mama and Daddy have some work to do in the barn while you’re sleeping.”
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Macintosh tossed the last of the bags onto his back and relished the familiar tenseness in his muscles. It felt good to be doing work again. The months he’d spent recovering from the invasion had been the longest of his life. It had killed him to have to sit back and just watch as others did his chores for him. Now that his recovery period was finished, he needed to prove to everypony, and to himself, that he was still the most dependable and strong stallion around.
He sure missed his depth perception, though.
The eyepatch didn’t itch anymore (thank Celestia) but it was still awful embarrassing when he ran into the occasional wall or tree branch.
Scarlet and Jay-Jay thought it was hilarious.
And Fluttershy…
A soft flutter of wings alerted him that his wife had landed behind him. He grinned and turned towards her. “Just about done now…”
It wasn’t Fluttershy.
Before him stood two pegasi clad in gleaming silver armor from mane to hoof, a mare and a stallion. The pieces of armor were sleek in design, obviously designed for flying. Their tails were cut short, barely visible bobs of color. They stared at him from beneath stylized helms with plumes of dark feathers running along the center. Strange bracelets ringed their front forelegs, near the hooves. Something strangely sharp seemed to be folded back along the metal.
“Uh…” Macintosh struggled to understand what he was seeing. “Howdy?”
“Budete mluvit, když mluvil, bláto kůň!” The stallion shouted loud enough to make Macintosh jump.
The mare glared at her partner. “Peří mozek.” She looked back to Macintosh, her look softening. “Please excuse my comrade.” She said in perfect Common Equestrian, her accent something very thick and one he could not immediately place. “He is still learning your tongue.” She put a hoof to her chest in apparent greeting. “I am Captain Cross Wind. The rude stallion beside me is Lieutenant Cumulus. We have come to speak with your community’s leader.”
“Well, my name is Macintosh Apple. Folks around these parts just call me Big Mac.” Macintosh smiled uneasily. Something about these newcomers was throwing him off. “Ya’ll part of the Royal Guard?”
“Yes.” Cross Wind nodded enthusiastically. “Special Pegasus Division.”
“…so wouldn’t that be the Wonderbolts?”
“To se ptá příliš mnoho otázek.” Cumulus muttered, his hoof pawing the ground anxiously. The metal on the ring clicked ominously.
“Můžete to udělat rychle? Bez hluku?” Cross Wind asked him, her eyes not leaving Macintosh’s and her smile not fading a bit.
“Nebude křičet.” Cumulus tensed…
“Mac? Would you like some lunch?”
The three looked up to find Fluttershy hovering just above.
She cocked her head at the new arrivals. “Oh, do we have visitors?”
Cross Wind and Cumulus stared in amazement at the mare above them. “Proč je tady, že jeden?” Cumulus muttered.
“Ona není jemný vánek, hloupý. Podoba je neskutečná.” Cross Wind tried to snap but was apparently too amazed to be irritated.
Macintosh smiled up at his wife, more comfortable with the visitors now that she was there. “Sugar, this is Cross Wind and Cumulus. I think they’re here to see AJ.” He looked back at the two pegasi. “This is my wife, Fluttershy.”
Cumulus stared at Mac in shocked horror. “On zotročil ji!”
Cross Wind planted her hoof in her face. “Kdybys nebyl můj bratr, byl bych tě zabít už před lety.” She recovered quickly and smiled up at Fluttershy. “It is a pleasure, Fluttershy. And yes, we would very much like to speak with the lady Applejack.”
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Applejack took another sip of the celery soup Fluttershy had prepared for lunch and took in her family’s guests.
The one that called herself Cross Wind had already finished her soup and was now chatting animatedly with Fluttershy about bird migrations. Now that she'd removed her helmet, she could see that her coat was a dull silver, her mane as black as pitch. Cumulus, the stallion and her apparent twin, hadn’t touched his bowl and was simply staring at Scarlet. He watched as the little earth pony ate her lunch with gusto, a peculiar look on his face. It was almost as though he’d never seen a filly before.
Macintosh and Jack Junior ate their soup in silence, each with an eye on the armored stallion.
Applejack cast another look at the counter where the pegasi had placed their helmets. She’d never seen anything shaped like them before.
“Is Dash joinin’ us?” Macintosh asked.
“She’ll be down in a minute. Takin’ a shower.” Applejack turned her attention to Cross Wind. “Look, can I be frank?”
Cross Wind smiled at her. “Of course.”
“You ain’t Royal Guards. I’ve been to enough royal functions to know what their armor looks like and, believe me, it ain’t that. So I’m a mite curious.” She leaned over the table. “Who are you? Really?”
The smile fell from Cross Wind’s face. “We are Royal Guards, but not to the princess you serve. My brother and I are Children of the Hurricane.”
“Létající nadvládu!” Cumulus suddenly exclaimed, his chest sticking out proudly.
Cross Wind shook her head as though embarrassed by his behavior.
“And just what are ‘Children of the Hurricane?’”
“In the ancient times, there were tribes that were not so… keen on the idea of forging a whole new nation. Several of those pegasi tribes united into one and set off to find their own destiny.” Her own chest swelled with pride. “And destiny we found! For all these years, we have survived on our own. Free from control! Free to go where the winds take us.” She looked out the window. “We established our home in the great floating city of Zeph. We soar across the lands, always careful to stay out of Equestrian affairs.”
“Why?” Fluttershy asked.
“Our way of life, the way of the ancient pegasi, is precious to us. We would be destroyed utterly if we were asked to give it up.”
“You’re nomads.” Jack Junior spoke up.
“Forgive me.” Cross Wind smiled at the colt. “I do not recognize the word.”
“It means you have no home.”
Cross Wind’s wings ruffled. “Zeph is our home. We need no land. We only need the sky. Like true pegasi.”
“If yer so ‘keen’ on bein’ left alone, then why are you at my table right now?”
“Word reached Zeph of the great misfortune your village suffered at the hooves of the Changelings. Our tribe is not unfamiliar with them. We have dealt with their incursions before. Our Queen-General sent my brother and I to offer aid to you.”
“That’s… that’s mighty kind of ya.” Applejack was impressed by the generosity. “But I'm afraid that just the two of ya’s not gonna make much difference.”
Cross Wind laughed. “You are very funny, Miss Applejack. No, the Queen-General is not offering us only. She is open to sending as many pegasi as you could possibly need.”
“What’s the catch?” Macintosh rumbled.
“No catch. Only…”
“Only?”
“The Queen-General would like an ambassador to come to Zeph. It is her hope that this could be the start of something truly great between our societies.”
“I’ll go.”
All eyes turned as Rainbow Dash made her way down the stairs, her mane covered and being dried by a towel. “A pegasus might be for the best.” Cross Wind nodded. “My brother and I fly fast. We would hate to be slowed by something like a chariot.”
“You fly fast? That’s cute.” Dash whipped the towel from her head, letting her multi-colored locks fall messily about her face. “Wait’ll you get a load of me.”
Attention was drawn to Cumulus as he jumped to his hooves. He saluted. “Královna Generální! Co tu děláš?”
All eyes turned to Cross Wind, anticipating another irritated reaction to her brother’s lack of social graces, but she too was on her hooves. She stood straight and tall, at full attention. “Madam, proč jste celou tu cestu?”
Rainbow Dash stared at the two saluting pegasi. “Uh… I didn't really pay close attention to Firefly's lessons in ancient pegasus.”
Cross Wind and Cumulus blinked slowly before looking at each other. “Hříva ... to nemůže být náhoda.” Cross Wind whispered in amazement.
“Musela jít s námi. Pokud tohle je Valeria dcera...” Cumulus looked at Dash with something like reverence in his eyes. “Pak Storm Jezdce krev proudí v žilách.”
Cross Wind smiled at Dash, visibly relaxing. “We would be honored if you were the one to return to Zeph with us, Miss…”
“Dash.” She flipped her still damp mane in an attempt to look cool. “Rainbow Dash.”
Applejack hid her face in her hooves in embarrassment. She took a deep breath and looked at Cross Wind. “Okay, we’re very flattered that you’ve decided to end an isolation that’s lasted over two thousand years just to help us out. But I’m still not clear on somethin;’ what exactly are ya’ll expecting to get out of this?”
“We ask almost nothing in return.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Almost?”
“Well… there is one thing the Children of the Hurricane do not have that we understand you Equestrians have in great abundance.”
Ah. Here was the catch. Applejack leaned forward. “And that would be…”
Cross Wind’s grin nearly cut her head in half. “Friendship.”
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Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at the exaggerated sounds of retching come from the bathroom. “Aren’t you overdoing it a little?”
Applejack stepped out and rolled her eyes. “Sorry, but that was the corniest and most sickeningly sweet thing I’ve been forced to listen to in years.”
Dash smiled. “Somepony’s forgotten that friendship is magic.”
Applejack ignored her fiancée and looked out her bedroom window. Fluttershy and Macintosh were showing the pegasi the barn. Cross Wind looked mostly interested. Cumulus was keeping an eye on Scarlet. The filly was crawling along the ground towards him, Jack Junior not far behind. “Do you trust them?”
“I don’t think we have a choice but to trust them.”
“How do ya mean?”
“You mean besides the fact they’re offering us enough help that we could get Ponyville back to normal in a week?” Dash pulled her saddlebags from the closet and started packing. “AJ, if these two are legit then this could be a very big deal. Not just for Ponyville, but for all of Equestria. An entire society of pegasi that still follow the old ways? Think about what they could teach us.”
Applejack smirked. “You just wanna see the city.”
“Duh.” Dash grinned widely. “I used to read all about the ancient floating cities. To think there’s still one out there somewhere…” Dash looked into the blue sky and sighed dreamily.
“Okay, so yer going.” Applejack leaned against the wall, noting that it didn’t feel as sturdy as the old one had before this whole part of the house had been reduced to cinders. “By the power vested in me by the ponies of Ponyville, I do so name you Ambassador to the city of Zeph. That official enough for ya?” She looked away, almost pouting. “But I don’t much care for the idea of you goin’ alone.”
“You wanna come?” Dash looked up hopefully.
Applejack laughed. “Sure. The Mayor of Ponyville will just up and leave to go gallivanting to Luna knows where. Lyra’d have my head.”
“What about ‘Shy?”
Applejack considered. “That’s not a bad idea, actually. If there’s any mare I trust to keep you out of trouble, it’d be her. Do ya think she’ll go for it?”
“One way to find out.” Dash slung the bags around herself and did a little spin. “Something’s missing.”
Applejack stepped closer and gave her a once-over. “Don’t see nothing…”
“My Daring Do pith helmet!” Dash stamped the ground in sudden realization. “Is it up in the attic with…”
“You ain’t leavin’ this house with that hat on your head.” Applejack swatted her fiancée with her own hat to emphasize her point. “That hat only comes out for two occasions; Nightmare Night and those dag-blasted conventions yer always tryin’ to drag me to.”
“What about Wish-Fulfillment Wednesdays?” Dash asked with an eyebrow wiggle.
Applejack blushed and made for the door. “Th-three occasions!”
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While Macintosh continued talking to their visitors, Rainbow Dash and Applejack walked Fluttershy a good distance away and made their proposal.
When they’d finished, Fluttershy looked back at her family. “I don’t know girls. Scarlet needs a lot of attention and the boys have so much work to do…”
“Shucks, ‘Shy. You know the ponies in town are trippin’ over themselves to help the family out. I’m sure I can find somepony to sit her at the very least.”
Fluttershy ran a hoof through her short mane. “I don’t know…”
“Look, let’s make this simple.” Dash pulled Fluttershy close. “You’re my mare of honor, right?”
“Right…” Fluttershy answered carefully.
“And you have to throw me a bachelorette party, right? And it’d gotta be something wild, especially after that amazing one I threw for you.”
Fluttershy blushed. “I still can’t look Bulk Biceps in the eye since you had him give me that dance…”
“Then here’s the deal; you come with me to Zeph, keep me out of trouble, and you’re off the hook.”
“Really?”
“Yup.” Dash hugged her close. “Think about it; with all the help these two are promising us, we’ll get the rebuild done in no time.”
“It… it would be nice to see Ponyville back together again.” Fluttershy admitted.
“So you’ll go?” Applejack asked.
Fluttershy thought about it, hesitated one last time, and then nodded.
“Great! Let’s go get your stuff packed.” Dash started flying towards the house.
Fluttershy looked back at Macintosh and let a small smile cross her lips. “Actually, would you mind terribly if I asked you to do my packing for me? And AJ? Can you keep the little ones occupied for a few minutes?”
“Why?” Applejack looked over at Scarlet who was now sitting at Cumulus’ hooves and looking up at him quizzically.
“Because I need to give my husband a proper good-bye.”
Applejack and Rainbow Dash shared a look.
Applejack groaned in realization.
Rainbow Dash giggled.
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Cumulus watched as the yellow one floated over, whispered something into the big red one’s ear, and then urged him into the barn. His sister shook her head and lifted into the air, letting the winds carry her back towards the farmhouse.
He felt a small hoof touch his own.
He looked down at the red earth pony filly. She was smiling up at him. “Hi.” She squeaked.
His muzzle wrinkled in disgust. “Udržujte své špinavé míšenec kopyta pryč.” He spat into the dirt. “Ohavnost.”
Scarlet, not familiar with ponies not smiling back at her, began to whimper.
“Ready for your nap, little sis?” Jack Junior asked, scooping her into a wing.
Scarlet cheered and enjoyed the ride, her strange encounter with the pegasus all but forgotten for the moment.
Cumulus watched them go, thinly veiled disgust etched onto his face.
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Half an hour later, Applejack and a disheveled (but pleased looking) Macintosh waved as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took off into the clouds, their guides not far ahead of them. “Think they’re gonna be alright?” Applejack asked.
A stupid grin plastered to his face, Macintosh nodded. “Eeyup.”
Applejack watched until her sister-in-law and her fiancée were fully out of sight. Something felt off, but she couldn’t quite place it. Then, with a start, she realized that she knew exactly what she was feeling. It was a sensation she’d felt many times over the years. “The wind’s died down.”
Macintosh smelled the air and nodded. “Sure did.”
“The calm.”
He looked at her. “Huh?”
Applejack pawed the ground nervously. “It feels like the calm before a storm.”