Over at Sweet Apple Acres, Granny Smith had been slaving over a stove for an entire day, making sure what she was making was just right. Sarge walked into the kitchen and smelled the air, and as usual it was the smell of apples.
"Applebloom!" Granny Smith called out, before taking a spoon and using it to taste the liquid. "That's some good soup."
"What is it Granny Smith?" Appplebloom asked as she ran into the kitchen.
"Bring this t' Applejack, wouldja deary?" Granny Smith asked as she dipped a bowl into the soup and placed it on a wooden tray.
"Sure thing." Applebloom nodded, grabbing the tray with her teeth, before running towards the stairs, being sure not to drop it.
"What is that?" Sarge asked, looking at the large pot.
"It's mah world famous apple soup." Granny Smith said theatrically. "Wouldja like some?"
"Er, no thanks. To be honest I'm getting tired of apples everyday."
"Tired of apples?" Granny Smith asked, rubbing her chin. "That don't seem physically possible."
Before Sarge could say anything, a knock came from the front door.
"Couldja get that sonny?" Granny Smith asked with a smile. "Ah have mah hooves tied at th' moment."
"Sure." Sarge said gruffly.
Sarge walked up to the front door, and opened it to see a familiar purple unicorn staring at him.
"Hello Sarge." Twilight said, forcing a smile.
"Hi..." Sarge grunted. "Is there something I can do for you?"
"I just came to check up on you guys."
"I'm fine."
"How is Applejack doing?"
"Good, I guess." Sarge muttered, something clearly bothering him.
"Are you worried for her health after what Gary did?"
"Why would I be worried?" Sarge laughed. "Applejack is a tough son of a... well I guess daughter of a bitch."
"Then why do you seem so antsy?"
"I just hate sitting around doing nothing but eat apples." Sarge said quietly, then shuddered briefly. "It makes me feel like Grif, and then that makes me want to hit something."
"You're a strange stallion." Twilight laughed.
"Thanks." Sarge smirked. He nodded towards the stairs and coughed. "She's in her room right now, Applebloom just went up to give her some food."
"Alright." Twilight said with a smile, walking into the house.
Twilight quickly made her way up the stairs, but bumped into something, causing her to fall down. She looked to her side to see Applebloom on her back, dazed.
"Heya Twilight." Applebloom greeted once she got her bearings
"Hello Applebloom." Twilight said quietly, clambering to her feet. "Sorry about running into you."
"Don't worry about it. At least now ah know mah cutie mark isn't gunna be th' same as Grif's." Applebloom giggled.
"You've been talking to Sarge a lot, haven't you." Twilight said, barely managing to hide a laugh. She quickly shook her head and looked down the hall. "How is your sister doing?"
"Pretty good ah guess. She just seems to be a lil' sick, that's all. Ah just brought her some apple soup that Granny Smith made, an' that usually helps me right quick whenever ah'm sick."
"That's good." Twilight smiled nervously, then frowned slightly. "She isn't too sick is she?"
"It's not contagious or nothin', if that's what yer worryin' about." Applebloom laughed sadly. "She told me that if anyone happened t' stop by that ah should tell 'em that her doors always open t' visitors."
"Thank you." Twilight nodded, beginning to walk towards Applejack's door.
"Ya don't think it's serious, do ya?" Applebloom asked hesitantly.
"Of course not." Twilight assured her, not wanting to scare Applebloom.
"Great." Applebloom said excitedly. "Well don't let me keep ya, Applejack'll be happy t' see ya."
Twilight smiled at her as she trotted own the stairs. After a few seconds Twilight sighed and quickly trotted towards Applejack's door and knocked on it.
"C'mon in, ah won't bite." Applejack laughed.
Twilight slowly opened the door to see Applejack laying under a thick blanket, smiling at her. Her hat was on the corner bed post, still dirty from running through the forest.
"Howdy Twi." Applejack said weakly, placing the wooden tray next to her. "What can ah do fer ya?"
"Nothing, I just dropped by to check on you." Twilight said, looking Applejack over. She noted that she was slightly pale, and her eyes were a tad blood shot. "Are you alright?"
"Ah'm just fine, why?"
"It's just that you seem sick..."
"Don't go worryin' about me. Ah just need some rest, that's all." Applejack smiled thinly, pulling up her cover. She shifted slightly and scowled, before clearing her throat. "Hey Big Mac, d'ya mind bringin' me another pillow?"
"Eeyup." Came the answer from the adjacent room.
"I hope that's all you need." Twilight said, troubled with wanting to help her friend.
"Anythin' else you came here t' talk about? Don't get me wrong, yer a great friend an' all, but generally you're more interested in explanations than doctorin' ponies."
"You got me." Twilight nodded sheepishly, before clearing her throat.
Big Mac walked into the room with a big smile, while a pillow rested on his back.
"I just wanted to know what it was like when Gary was inside you."
Big Mac's eyes shot wide open and he slowly shifted to the side, allowing the pillow to plop onto the ground. Twilight heard the sound of the pillow hitting the ground, so she turned around and began staring at Big Mac. Keeping eye contact focused on Twilight, he slowly backed out of the room. Once he was out the door, he poked his head back into the room, grabbed the door handle with his teeth, and slowly shut the door.
"What was that about?" Twilight asked curiously, picking up the pillow with her magic to give to Applejack.
"Ah don't know." Applejack shrugged as she grabbed the pillow out of the air, placing it under her head.
"So are you going to answer me or not?" Twilight asked hesitantly.
"Ah suppose so." Applejack grunted, sitting upright while using the pillow as a back rest. "T' be honest, it felt really weird. Well ah suppose that shouldn't really sound like a surprise, but it wasn't painful or nothin'. It really just felt like somethin' was there that shouldn't be. While he was takin' control of mah body, ah was still able t' see outta mah eyes. Ah saw everythin' that was goin' on, and I could hear his thoughts 'n such."
"Were they bad thoughts?"
"Not really. Mostly corny jokes about shisnos, whatever those may be." Applejack sighed. "But even after he left, ah still kept a small part of that weird feelin' with me.."
"Can you describe it?"
"Ah don't think so." Applejack yawned loudly. "Sorry 'bout that. Ah din't get alotta sleep last night, so I'm more tired than ah usually am after a fulls day work in the acres."
"Well it's good to see you're alright." Twilight said dismissively as she started towards the door.
"So where are the other fragments of Church?" Applejack said suddenly as Twilight opened the door.
"Don't worry about that now, just worry about getting some rest." Twilight said, looking at Applejack's stern eyes.
"Alrighty..." Applejack said quietly after holding Twilight's gaze for several seconds. She scooted back under her covers and fluffed the pillow. "Ah don't trust them other AI thingies."
"Neither do I." Twilight said honestly.
"Ah'm not just talkin' about Gary or O'Malley or Sigma." Applejack shook her head. "Ah'm talkin' about Church."
"Why don't you trust Church?"
"Ah dunno, it's just with this whole AI deal. It's sorta makin' me feel like Church is th' violent type."
"He isn't the violent type." Twilight said. She then remembered all the times he threatened to physically harm the others. "Well, not really."
"But ah thought that Delta fella said he was dangerous."
"He used to be when he was the Alpha, but that's not who he is anymore."
"But Sigma felt that he could still become th' Alpha, right?"
"Right." Twilight nodded reluctantly. "What's your point?"
"Mah point is that he could become dangerous." Applejack muttered. "What if he goes crazy like he did when he was th' Alpha and try to become him again?"
"He won't go crazy. I've been helping him with that, showing him that he can trust people. That he can have friends. That he can live his life happily, and not have to worry about being betrayed."
"That's another thing. Remember when he yelled at Celestia?"
"He was just devastated by Caboose's sacrifice."
"Yeah, but after that ya did somethin' ya knew Celestia wouldn't like, and that's not like ya one bit." Applejack protested, before going quiet. "He's changed ya Twi. Not by much, mind you, but by just enough."
Twilight stared at Applejack, thinking through her words.
"Don't mind me, that's just me bein' cranky after stayin' up so late." Applejack said quickly, adding a thin smile.
"Yeah." Twilight nodded. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Ah'd appreciate that." Applejack nodded as Twilight walked out of her room.