"But she didn't have any." I scrubbed my bowl in the sink, using magic of course. Behind me I knew Apple Bloom would be staring at me in surprise. "You want to know how I know?"
A herd an exasperated sigh come from Apple Bloom. "Yer gonna tell me anyway."
"Synsepalum dulcificum needs a warm, acidic climate. What Zecora has in the Everfree Forest is almost the exact opposite. Her soil is soft and full of rich mulch. The Ph is neutral, and it gets mighty cold in there." Putting my bowl to the side, I washed my knife and fork.
"Yeah, I transplanted two into the greenhouse. Some peat for the soil made it acidic enough." Apple Bloom stirred a little in her chair.
I couldn't help but smile, I knew what she wanted to do. "Why don't you tell me the next bit while you show me these bushes?" Her face lit up, and I let her lead the way out to my greenhouse.
I read over the letter—once I was out of the Everfree Forest—and was surprised all over again. Zecora had written it for me, and told me I needed to take it to Ferny Growth in Canterlot. Not that she had told me where the mare in question was, it would have made things too easy if she had.
It was addressed to Ferny, and though the first part was mostly just a greeting, the second asked if she had any of the miracle berries I was looking for. Folding the letter back up, I lifted my head and saw terror. Not something terrifying, but actual terror. Fluttershy looked at me, her eyes wide and wings spread.
Before I could say a word she rushed forward and shoved me behind her. "Get back, Apple Bloom, I'll deal with them!" Despite the times I had seen her stand up against the biggest evils ever to visit Equestria, it still surprised me when the timid friend of my sister's snapped into action mode.
I turned to see what she was facing, and for a few moments I drew a blank. "What's wrong?" Then it dawned on me; Fluttershy was glaring at Scruffy. "Whoa there! Hold on! That's just Scruffy!"
At her name, Scruffy dodged around a surprised Fluttershy and came right up to me. I held out a hoof, and rubbed your pet under the chin. Scruffy looked pleased with herself, and kept nuzzling me for treats.
"Scruffy?" Fluttershy blinked at the pair of us, then I saw her eyes widen even further. "You have a pet timber wolf?!" It was the softest yell I had heard from her yet.
Scruffy had no idea what to do. Suddenly there was a yellow pegasus in the timber wolf's face, and she was asking all kinds of questions. "He—She's not really mine. She lives on Joker's farm, just west of Ponyville."
"Oh she is amazing! I have never seen a timber wolf so gentle. Is it alright if I pet you?" Fluttershy was impossible to deny, and neither Scruffy nor myself had any hope of proving that statement false. Before I could try to respond, Scruffy barked and rolled onto her back.
I watched as Fluttershy began rubbing Scruffy's belly with both forelegs, her wings ruffling in excitement. "You could come out to the farm and talk to Joker about her, if you want? All I know is, she used to be a regular dog, but some kind of magic made her into this."
"You invited somepony to visit? Just like that?" I stared at Apple Bloom incredulously.
She was just getting into the glasshouse, and stared back at me with a droll expression that I recognized as one of my own. "This is Fluttershy. You don't say no to Fluttershy, and you give Fluttershy whatever she wants. Joker, I doubt you could even interrupt her."
Following her inside the warm glasshouse, I couldn't help but smile at how well the tickle vines were doing. "Is that a challenge?"
"Don't. You. Dare!" I watched her reached a hoof out to the tickle vines, and Apple Bloom giggled as they each found her offered frog. Taken as a whole, giggling after the dramatic statement ruined her serious delivery.
Walking past Apple Bloom, as she giggled due to further tickling, I found the bushes she had transplanted. Reaching down with my magic, I plucked up a small clod of soil, and examined it. "They seem happy. How long ago did they last produce fruit?"
Pulling back from the vines, Apple Bloom giggled for a bit longer still. I could appreciate the desire for a good laugh, and was looking forward to making friends with the vines myself. Under control once more, she sighed. "They were picked four months ago, but Ferny said they would probably flower again quickly if we keep them warm and dose them with good fertilizer."
I popped the little clump of dirt in my mouth and let it spread over my tongue. "It's definitely acidic, and I can taste the fertilizer you used already. You got it from Sweet Apple Acres, didn't you?"
"Of course!" I had to smile at the pride in Apple Bloom's voice. "It's the best ah could find!"
"It's not the best, but it is certainly the best around here." I spat the dirt back out around the plants. "So after you got free of this crazy pegasus?"
The nerve I poked immediately got a response from Apple Bloom. "She's not crazy. Fluttershy just really likes critters."
"I visited the farm, of course. You were still happily staring upwards at the sun. That is really creepy, you realize?" Apple Bloom turned to look at the changeling pod, and I could see the plant inside the goop visibly tremble at whatever emotion she was feeding it.
"The sun is everything to a photosynthesizing plant. If I ever met Princess Celestia, I—I would probably kiss her!" It wasn't complete hyperbole, some of my plant-self always bleeds over, and being my first day back in full pony mode meant there was still a fair bit of plant in my head—not physically, of course.
Apple Bloom's head nearly spun around fast enough to give her whiplash. "Really?"
The look I was getting from her made me suspicious. "Why?"
"No reason." I was absolutely sure she was planning something, but there was nothing that I could think of, short of having Princess Celestia turn up at the farm, that I could think Apple Bloom could do to exploit my little flaw. "Where was I?"
I decided I had plenty of time, and rather than get the train from Ponyville, I would walk. The sun was growing higher in the sky as I trotted, and not for the first time in my life I was thankful I was born an earth pony. My stride ate up the countryside, and it wasn't long until I was climbing the long switchback at the base of Canterlot.
Scruffy was, thankfully, back at the farm, and I thought I was completely alone when I heard a cluck from below. I knew the owner by the pitch of it, and I didn't need to look over the side to the lower path to realize it was Hazel. "You didn't follow me!"
Denial was as effective, it seemed, as begging. "Oh come on, can't I go anywhere without one of you following me? I did the snail thing, just like Joker said, so why are you here?" Of course, all I got from the cockatrice was an inquisitive cluck. For a moment I remembered that wild one that Fluttershy had saved my friends and me from, and I shuddered.
The sound of flapping wings preceded the sensation of claws on my back. I almost jumped when Hazel's tail curled around my belly like the girth of an ornamental saddle. Taking a deep breath, I turned my head to see the hen looking back at me. "Comfortable?" She clucked back to me.
"We aren't going to be able to get in now, you know?" I resumed my trot up the mountainside, and although my conversation with Hazel was fairly one-sided, at least it passed the time.
I had just reached the top of the switchback, and was taking in the view, when the sound of clopping hooves that weren't my own—accompanied by a sharp voice—seemed to come from my right. "Halt!" On my back, Hazel tightened her grip around my belly, but seemed calm.
"H-Hello? I have an important letter here." I started to take a step forwards when I saw the guard-post, and two Royal Guard glaring at me from the side of the road. "Uh, hi there! Ah'm here to see—"
"What are you doing bringing a monster to the city?!" The speaker was a tall, gray unicorn. I looked up at him and judged him a little shorter than my brother. I decided immediately that I didn't like Gray, not with how he talked about Hazel.
"What?" My brain didn't even follow Gray's question, it didn't make sense. It was only me and Hazel. An earth pony and a cockatrice. I blinked, and his surprise started to make more sense. "She followed me from home! I was already on the path and I couldn't turn back this cl—" The sound of flapping wings cut off my explanation, and another Royal Guard hit the ground beside the first. I looked at the newcomer and smiled as I recognized him. "Flash!"
"Is this young mare causing problems, Sergeant?" Flash winked at me with the eye Gray couldn't see.
There was a click of metal horseshoes. "Sir! She is carrying a class X proscribed monster. We can't—"
My heart raced, but again Flash Sentry winked to me. "Good work Sergeant! I will escort this one directly to trial!" I saw pride show in Gray's eyes, and it suddenly dawned on me that he was actually doing the right thing. Flash Sentry fell in beside me. "I will see the Captain hears about this."
I began walking at Flash's side. Once we were a little bit away from Gray, I couldn't help but give a sigh. "Thank you so much. Ah know he was jus' doing his job 'n' all, but—"
"But you have a dangerous creature that can disable even an alicorn princess." Flash rolled his eyes, and I felt a moment of resentment build, then evaporate. He was still my savior, after all. "Although this one seems fairly tame. Is it? Tame—that is."
"Hazel? She is quite tame. Just treat her like any other chicken." It felt good to be able to act so brave, particularly when I had been just as worried when I first saw Joker's pets, and still had her digging her claws into my back. "Just try not to startle her."
"Any other chicken that could turn me to stone. Right. You are going to have to come to see the Captain, and if she checks you out okay, you can do what you need to. Standard stuff." The itinerary Flash set made my heart sank a little, but I ignored the worry in my barrel and showed instead pulled out a pair of pinecones.
"Hey, you want to see a magic trick?" I grinned.
Flash Sentry squinted at me. All around us, on the streets of Canterlot, ponies were shying away. "Is this something that will cause even more of a panic than everypony is in already?"
I shook my head. "Nope! But how about we make it a wager. Ah bet Ah could eat this pinecone before you."
"You're a strange mare, did you know that? Just show me the trick, I'm not stupid enough to bet bits on it." He watched me tuck one of the pinecones away. I lifted the other up to my mouth, opened up, and bit down on the lemon. "What?!"
I kept up my snack, munching away on bites of the lemon. "What do you mean, 'what'? It's just a snack."
Flash waved a wing in my direction. "What did you do with the pinecone? And how can you stand to eat a lemon?"
"What do you mean? It was always a lemon." I continued eating, slurping up the juice that had started running down my hoof. "And they are delicious. You should try one!" Pulling back out the second pinecone, I repeated the trick for Flash.
"You have to be doing something sneaky. I have seen ponies who could trick your eyes with quick hooves, but this is ridiculous! Why don't you use an apple, or an orange?" I could see that he thought he had seen through the trick, so I ate the second lemon quickly.
"Well, why don't you pick something for me to eat. Anything at all!" My smile was wide, despite the sour taste in my mouth. He looked around and picked up a rock from the side of the road. "Well? Go ahead." I opened my mouth and closed my eyes.
"You're mad." Flash's voice was quiet until I felt the touch of something in my mouth; it was another lemon. Biting down on the juicy, yellow fruit, I forced out a sound of gastronomical delight. "How are you doing that?!"
Opening my eyes, I caught the poor-tasting lemon half that I had bitten off. "Magic." I chewed while Flash stared at me, then tossed the last of the fruit in my mouth.