//------------------------------// // Act II: Pony Tales // Story: Human Nature // by Blank Page //------------------------------// “I woke up to a midnight sky as the sun rose at the mouth of the cave, and it stared back at me with feral, crimson eyes.  The cave reverberated with a beastly growl, and I realized I had overstayed my welcome. “I jumped to my feet and broke into a dead sprint to the mouth of the cave, scooping up my hatchet and stolen salvage in my hasty exit.  The ground shook as something large gave chase, but when I looked back, all I could see was that galaxy of stars.  Those same red eyes burned like suns, and a dark maw of teeth formed from the void, each tooth as large as myself. “My heart was pounding.  My feet couldn’t carry me fast enough.  That morning, I knew, was the last I’d ever see.  I was about to become the breakfast of a beast I had never seen in a land far, far from home. “The stars roared, and the earth shook beneath my feet, but I didn't dare trip.  I didn't know where I was going, just that I couldn't stop, even as my legs filled with burning lead.  The trees I wove through bent and shattered to the sheer force of the beast as it gave chase.  They didn't even slow it down. “The celestial beast was right on top of me.  Its breath was hot and heavy against my back; its putrid smell threatened to suffocate me as I ran.  It let out another earsplitting roar, and I felt my own bones rattle from the force.  I lost my footing and stumbled to the ground, my foot caught in a root. “I twisted on the ground to get at least one last look at my demise.  A bear, larger than any I had ever seen; twice the size of a house.  Its dark fur glistened like stars on a moonless night.  It brandished its teeth above me, that hungry look still in its eyes, and for a moment, I felt myself paralyzed. “The beast opened its maw wide and—” “Mister Grey, will you please get off the table?!” I froze with a wince.  Strawberry Shortcake stood at the entrance of the restaurant, tapping her hoof impatiently.  I gave her a sheepish smile and wave.  “Um, sorry, Strawberry!” I called back and quickly hopped off the tabletop.  “Won’t happen a third time, I swear.” The waitress huffed and rolled her eyes, but as she turned back to work, I caught a hint of a smile.  I couldn’t help but feel my own quickly growing.  She could deny it as much as she wanted, but I knew she was eavesdropping ever since I started retelling my tales from the Everfree. It originally started with me keeping my promise with Noteworthy and Daisy.  Zecora was staying in the Everfree today, and Lyra was… well, she didn’t say; just that she would be busy until dinner.  But Daisy brought Lily, and Noteworthy dragged in Carrot Top, and now my audience was the better half of a dozen and slowly growing. The manager didn’t seem to mind my storytelling; in fact, she almost seemed delighted by it.  My audience was potential customers in her eyes, each ordering a light snack as they listened to my tales, and the more ponies I reeled in, the more bits she made.  Admittedly, I didn’t care one way or another; I was becoming engrossed in my own storytelling.  I never was adventurous back home, and no one really cared about the day-to-day stuff.  It was almost exciting having something to actually talk about for a change. “Well, what happened next?” Noteworthy pressed, leaning into the table with eager eyes.  A couple of voices piped up in my audience joined him. “Alright, alright.”  I held up a hand to calm them down and picked up a glass of water, but my mind drew a blank.  “Oh, where was I again?” I muttered to myself. “It was the morning after one of your raids,” Daisy piped up excitedly. “You woke up to an Ursa Major,” Noteworthy added. “And it was about to eat you!” another stallion added. I poorly repressed a shudder as my memories caught back up.  Something about staring into the gullet of an infinite abyss ready to swallow me whole still had me rattled after all that time.  I wasn’t going to get over it anytime soon, either. “Right,” I smiled.  I set the cup down and took in a breath, and the two tables of ponies leaned in.  “The beast opened its jaw wide, eager to make me its meal.  I couldn’t let this be the end, not after all I’ve been through. “With a sickening pop, I freed my foot from the roots and rolled off to the side as beast lurched forward.  I could feel the earth drop beneath me as its powerful teeth tore into the earth.  It glared at me with red eyes.  My ankle was throbbing.  My heart was pounding.  But I was still alive, and I had to run. “I was lost, horribly lost, and I knew it.  My foot threatened to pull me to ground with each step.  My lungs felt like they were about to explode.  I couldn’t stop though, not yet; not until I had lost that beast. “The air was growing heavy with humidity, and the earth was growing softer beneath my swelling feet.  It occurred to me that I probably wasn’t in the Everfree anymore, but my predator didn’t seem to mind.  The strange evergreens were replaced with gnarled dead trees. “I took another turn in vain to desperately throw it off my tail, but the earth quickly became a sludge, grabbing at my heels with cold hands and trying to pull me under.  I fell to my hands and knees, and the bear thundered over and past me and slid to a halt, kicking up the water and mire of the open marsh we had found ourselves in.  It let out a thundering roar, challenging me to run again, but I had had enough. “My body was numb, save for the pounding headache screaming for me to run.  The sludge sapped away the last of my energy as I slowly sank into it.  I hung my head in defeat.  I wasn’t going to run from the inevitable anymore.  I was ready for it to end. “But I wasn’t ready for how it did. “Something moved in the marsh behind the bear; a serpent, large as a tree and dark like the waters it hid beneath.  It rose from the waters, and a second soon joined it.  Their emerald eyes were filled with hunger, but I was relieved to see they weren’t trained on me.  They released a low growl, a wet, thunderous gurgle in horrifying stereo, and for the first time since our chase, my hunter paused. “If I blinked, I would have missed it.  As the galactic bear turned, two more serpents burst from the waters to meet it, their teeth latching on to its hide.  The waters shook and the earth quaked as a body erupted from the mire, and to my horror, I realized these were no mere serpents, as large as they were; they were heads of a hydra, a creature from Greek legends of old. “The bear bled silver into the serpent’s mouths and bellowed in defiance.  It swiped at one of the hydra’s necks, its claws digging beneath the dark scales, and the entire creature reacted in pain.  The bear shook off the teeth and reared on its hind legs.  I never thought it could move with such ferocity.  It clamped its jaws on one of the hydra’s neck and pulled, pushing against the body with its powerful forelegs.  My ears threatened to go deaf as the hydra wailed, and the other heads latched back onto the bear around the torso and shoulder. “I was awestruck at the display.  I had never felt smaller in my life than when those colossal beings fought.  I recognized my window, though, and quickly pulled myself out of the sludge to run.” “What?!” Noteworthy interjected.  All eyes suddenly shot to him, most of them glares for the interruption.  He blushed from the attention and looked around innocently.  “I, uh, I mean, come on,” he chuckled nervously.  “I thought you were going to fight it.” I snorted, thankful that I hadn’t taken a sip from the water in my hand.  “Fight it?” I echoed.  “I don’t think you understand, Note, these things were titans, forces of nature.  They were fighting for a full-course meal, and I was the dessert.  Needless to say, I didn’t stick around to see who won their prize.”  A light chuckle fell over my audience, and Daisy threw a playful punch at Noteworthy to keep him quiet. I shook my head as the crowd looked to me expectantly, a faint smile still on my lips.  With a shrug, I set my glass back down and continued.  “Last I saw them, the hydra had the bear entangled.  It had more mouths and teeth, but the bear had brute force on its side, and one of the hydra’s heads was already limp, lifeless.  I didn’t stay to see who won; once I pried myself out of the mud, I didn’t look back. “My harvest was ruined from the chase and the battle at the marsh.  Most of the few vegetables I had left were covered in sludge, and no matter how many times I washed them in the river, I couldn’t convince myself to eat them.  I hobbled back to the safety of my castle on what I hoped wasn’t a broken foot.  It flared with each small step it gave; I knew I was going to have to tend to it soon. “The sun was at its peak in the sky by the time I returned.  After all I had been through, it felt like the hardest thing that morning was walking up those old stairs.  I dropped my belongings at the base of my throne and collapsed onto it, never before feeling so undeserving to sit in it.  But in spite of it all, a ghost of a smile still found its way to me.  I had survived another morning in the Everfree forest.  Sleep was beckoning me with open arms, and I was ready for some much-needed rest.” I picked up my water and gulped the rest of it down, cuing to the others that I had finished.  Daisy and Lily clapped their hooves together, and the more unfamiliar faces turned and talked to each other almost excitedly.  I breathed a content sigh as I sat down with my friends.  Strawberry trotted over to refill my glass, but I held up a hand to stop her. “That was amazing, Hunter,” Carrot Top piped up.  “I can’t believe you came face to face with an Ursa Major.  I remember when one stumbled into Ponyville in the middle of the night a couple years ago.  It was absolutely terrifying.  It must have destroyed at least three homes before Twilight managed to lure it out of town.” “Wait, Twilight did what now?” I frowned. “Oh, yeah!  We were there for that!” Lily added proudly, prodding at Daisy.  “She used a spell to put it to sleep and carried it out of town with her magic. I leaned back in my seat and folded my arms across my chest.  It was hard thinking of Twilight like a… well, like that.  I wasn’t sure how to handle that information.  “Do you guys normally have a problem with things coming out of the Everfree?” I asked, changing the subject. The table looked to each other uneasily. “Not as often as you’d think,” Daisy offered, although it sounded more like a question. “But definitely more often than it should,” Noteworthy quickly added, to which everyone nodded in agreement. I shook my head in bewilderment.  “Wow, that’s… wow.  I know I haven’t been around for long, but what I’ve seen in the Everfree makes me surprised people still live here if it happens that often.” “Well, like we said, it’s not that often,” Noteworthy reminded me. “And it’s not always something scary,” Lily chimed in. “Doesn’t stop you from overreacting, though,” Carrot said off to the side, just loud enough for everyone to hear.  “Didn’t you freak out over a herd of bunnies once?” “Hey, rabbits aren’t all as cutesy as they want you to believe,” Lily said defensively.  “That’s how they get your guard down.  You take a couple in off the street at night to keep them out of the rain, and just when you think they’re the most adorable little critters and feel all warm and fuzzy inside; boom, entire flowerbed, gone by the morning.  And the little devils were nowhere in sight.” Noteworthy struggled to hold back a laugh, but a snort managed to escape.  Daisy tried to match her friend’s seriousness, but I could spy the corners of her lips threatening to crack into a goofy smile. Carrot shook her head and turned back to me.  “Well, like we were saying, you kinda got the worst of the Everfree, not that I think there’s much of a good part of it.  In fact, I’m willing to bet you’ve seen more of the Everfree than everypony in Ponyville combined; well, outside of Zecora. “Speaking of which, what was that even like?” she asked, leaning forward as she rested her head on her hooves.  “I can’t imagine the Ursa was the only thing you ran into out there.” “Oh, I’m sure you don’t want to hear my day-to-day when I was out there,” I waved dismissively.  “A lot of it was pretty boring actually.” “You know what we mean, Hunter,” Daisy pressed.  “Surely you have to have more stories.” “Oh, trust me, I have plenty,” I chuckled.  “Not every day out there was an adventure, but I had my fair share of… experiences.  Tell ya what; come back tomorrow, and I might just tell you all about the time I rode a manticore.”  Everyone’s eyes widened just a hair with excitement, and I returned them with a sly smile.  “And trust me, it was just as terrifying as it sounds,” I added. “Come on, Hunter,” Daisy complained.  “We have all day.  You can tell another one.” “I mean, hey, don’t get me wrong; I have nothing against telling another story,” I explained with an innocent shrug.  “But if I told you all my good ones, you wouldn’t have a reason to hang out with me anymore.”  A light chuckle fluttered over the table, and Daisy shook her head with a knowing smile. “And anywho, I’ve been meaning to talk to someone for a while,” I continued.  “And with everyone I know being busy today, I might as well see if I can catch her.  Now, if you'll excuse me, you all have been a great audience.  I’ll see you all tomorrow; don’t forget to bring your friends and all that jazz” “Hey, Hunter, wait up!”  Noteworthy hopped out of his seat as I waved goodbye to the group and trotted up next to me. I slowed my pace to let him catch up and glanced back.  The crowd I had mustered had already dispersed for the most part.  Daisy looked up from her friend as they were preparing to leave and gave me a smile and wave, to which I returned with a nod and returned my eyes to the road.  A content sigh escaped me as Noteworthy finally caught up.  “What’s up, Note?” “Oh, just wanted to congratulate you on that story,” he said before giving me a nudge.  “Even though I still think you could have used your creative license a little more freely.” “He still thinks I should have fought it,” I sighed as I rolled my eyes to no one in particular.  “I don’t think you realize just how big it was, man.  I mean, it was massive.  There’s no way I could have fought that space bear, much less convince someone else I did.” “Space bear,” Noteworthy chuckled to himself.  “I still can’t believe you thought an Ursa Major was called a ‘space bear’.” “Okay, for starters, we don’t exactly have those back home for me to have made a reference,” I pointed out defensively.  “But next time I run into a bear the size of a building that looks like it’s made of a galaxy of stars, I’ll be sure to remember the name while it’s chasing me for dinner.”  Noteworthy still had that contagious grin on his face, and I caught myself smirking, too. “Well, anyways,” he continued.  “What I was getting to; I actually know a guy, a travelling storyteller.  He swings by Ponyville every now and then when he makes his rounds.  I know you’re still looking for a job, but I think you have a bit of a knack for this.  At least, you looked like you were enjoying yourself, more so than I've ever seen you anyways.  I think you should try looking into it.” “Storytelling?” I echoed.  “I don't know.  Doesn't really sound like a job.” “Excuse you, but my friend would beg to differ,” Noteworthy scoffed jokingly.  “My friend gets to travel wherever he wants, and he gets to tell everypony all these amazing adventures wherever he goes, some even about himself.  If you’re really having fun with it, I’m sure he’d love to meet you and offer some tips.” “Well, I wouldn’t exactly color me or my stories ‘adventurous’,” I began.  The thought rolled in my head, though, and I couldn’t suppress the smile slowly forming.  “When did you say he was coming by?” Noteworthy shrugged.  “It’s hard to say,” he admitted.  “He normally swings by a few times a year.  Last time he visited was before you arrived, so…”  He hummed to himself in thought.  It took a few seconds before he could come up with an answer.  “By the end of next month,” he offered, but it sounded more like a question.  “Maybe?” I hesitated and slowly shook my head.  “I mean, if I’m still around, yeah, that would be cool,” I offered with a shrug. The heavy silence filled the air, weighing down on us as we walked.  He wanted to say something, I could tell, and I didn’t want to pry it out or change the subject.  “So, you’re really thinking about leaving?” he suddenly asked. His question threw me off.  I glanced down at him, and he looked back to me in seriousness.  “I mean… yeah,” I admitted, shoving my hands in my pockets.  “I can’t stay forever.  I have a family back home.” “I know, I know,” Noteworthy interjected, waving his hoof dismissively.  “And I don’t blame you.  I can’t even begin to imagine what this must have been like for you.  It’s just…  It’s just gonna be different when you do, y’know?” I opened my mouth, but ended up closing it and resorting to a nod.  “Yeah.  It’ll be strange for me, too.  Never gonna forget this place.” “You know, I never even knew Daisy or Lyra or Zecora before you came here,” he chuckled to himself.  “And now it feels like we’re all the best of friends, like nothing could ever tear us apart.”  His smile quickly faded, though, and his brow furrowed.  “‘Never going to forget’?” he echoed.  “You’re going to visit at least, right?” When I didn’t answer immediately, he shook his head.  “Now, I’ve only known Daisy for a short time, but I’m sure even you’ve noticed she can be a bit… dramatic.  If she catches wind that you’re not planning on stopping by for the holidays…”  He cut himself off with a click of his tongue and a low whistle.  “You better at least write,” he warned.  He looked up to me with a dead seriousness in his eyes.  “Because if you leave me to deal with all that emotional baggage, I’m gonna personally find that portal and drag you back for her.” Noteworthy couldn’t hold his face forever, and a smirk eventually cracked through.  I snorted and shook my head, and the air lightened up as we laughed away the future’s problems.  “Hope you don't take offense when I say I hope the Princess takes her time finding that portal,” he said.  “You’re good company to have, even if most ponies won’t see it.  A lot of us are gonna miss you.” “Well, I’m not exactly packing my bags at the moment,” I pointed out.  “No harm in making a few more good stories for the road, eh?” “Now you're talking,” Noteworthy smiled in agreement.  He paused for a moment, looking further down the road.  “Hey, is that Lyra?” I followed his eyes down the way.  The marketplace was becoming a little crowded at this hour, but thankfully my height gave me a bit of an advantage. Sure enough, there she was with full saddlebags, checking a list that floated just by.  “Well, I'll be,” I smiled to myself.  “I haven't seen her all day. Hey, Lyra!” She jumped as I called her name, but she quickly broke into a smile and waved as she saw us.  The list tightly rolled itself up and vanished into her bags, and as Noteworthy and I shuffled through the crowd, I noticed she still had a hint of surprise in her eyes.  “Oh, hey, guys!” she chirped.  “What brings you two here?” “Just passing by, figured we'd bump into you,” I explained.  I glanced past her to the infamous bakery she had just left.  Well, infamous to me, at least.  As soon as I discovered who often worked the front register of Sugarcube Corner, I usually went out of my way to avoid it.  Through the window, I could see Pinkie Pie at the register, busy with a customer.  She didn't seem to notice me, and I inched further back from the window to break the line of sight.  “What have you been up to? You kinda ducked out on me this morning before I could ask.” “Oh, just running some errands, nothing too exciting,” Lyra dismissively.  She tacked on an overly-assuring smile, almost as an afterthought; a quirk I had become familiar with after living with her for a few days.  Her eyes traced mine as I glanced suspiciously between her and the door to Sugarcube Corner. “Alright, fine,” she sighed in defeat.  “It was supposed to be a surprise, but I was checking on an order I placed this morning.  I thought cupcakes would be good for tonight.  You said you like strawberry, right?” “Oh, no, cupcakes?” I chuckled in disbelief.  I rested a hand over my stomach and shook my head.  “Lyra, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to kill me with all this sugar.” Lyra held her hoof to her chest defensively and looked at me with faux shock.  “Moi?” she asked innocently. She let out a playful scoff and waved a hoof.  “Phooey.”  Noteworthy snickered behind a hoof, and I struggled to hold back my own as I folded my arms across my chest.  “Besides, I do have other errands I need to run before tonight,” she continued.  “I’ll catch you later?” “Hey, if you’re a little overloaded, I can take some of those errands off your hands,” I offered.  “I mean, I’m not doing anything too important.” “Weren’t you on your way to see somepony, though?” Noteworthy asked. “Well… yeah,” I shrugged.  “But it’s not life-or-death.  I can talk to her another time.” “Hey, no worries,” Lyra waved off.  “If you already had plans, go right on ahead.  I can wrap this up easy.  Besides, you’ve had a busy last few days, settling in and looking for jobs and all.  This’ll be a good opportunity for you to unwind, do whatever you want to do, take hold of the reins, so to speak,” she added with a snide wink. My mouth struggled to form words.  When I finally consented to defeat, I threw my arms in the air and walked off a few paces, only to return while shaking my head.  “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” I asked in disbelief. Lyra giggled and shook her head.  “Oh, you better believe it,” she returned, grinning cruelly from ear to ear. “I—  What?”  Noteworthy stammered, his face overcome with a blush as he looked between us.  “I need some context.” “It’s a long story,” I assured him. “Don’t you lie to him,” Lyra accused me.  “Either you’re telling him, or I am.  And I’m going to make it sound so much worse.” I froze again.  I had lived with Lyra long enough to not mistake her threats for bluffs, and her sinister smile wasn’t reassuring. “Okay, okay,” I quickly said, trying to calm her down.  I turned to Noteworthy, whose incredulous face demanded an explanation.  “So, ‘taking the reins’ is an expression back in my home for taking charge of something,” I started slowly.  “Got it from, say, taking over the reins of a… mule drawn carriage.”  My hands scratched at the back of my head as I flashed what I hoped was a reassuring grin.  “I said it last night, and I didn’t realize that here reins were considered a little, well…”  I struggled to find the right word to say.  “Raunchy,” I coughed. “You should have seen Bon-Bon’s face when he told her that last night,” Lyra wheezed.  She wiped an eye with a hoof and flicked away a tear.  “Oh, Celestia, I’m still crying.” I took in a breath to retort, but all that came out was a deflating sigh.  Noteworthy was already taken over by Lyra’s fit of giggles.  “Alright, well that’s enough embarrassment for one day,” I announced.  “I’ll see you tonight, Lyra.” Lyra calmed down, if only a hair.  “Yeah, I’ll see you around,” she giggled.  She flagged Noteworthy to follow her, still with that devious grin.  “Hey, come on; Hunter left out some of the good parts.” “Lyra,” I groaned miserably. But she was already prancing down the street.  “Don’t worry, Hunter!” she called back.  “I won’t tell him about the saddles!” I could feel my blood rushing to my face, and I just realized how warm it was outside in spite of the cold breeze.  I looked to Noteworthy in desperation, my last hope to save me from further embarrassment.  He was already slowly backpedaling towards Lyra, an apologetic smile on his face. “Now, nothing personal, buddy,” he said carefully.  “But that does sound like one of those good stories we were talking about.” He turned on a dime and galloped to catch up with Lyra, leaving me alone in the marketplace.  My hands rested on my hips as I stared at the empty space he had left.  A scoff found its way out of me.  “Well, time to find new friends,” I joked to myself. I turned back to my original course, and something heavy thumped against the window of Sugarcube Corner as I passed by.  I screwed my eyes shut after catching a glimpse of pink and forced myself to keep walking. Don’t look back.  Don’t look back.  Don’t look back.  In spite of my own inner mantra, I braved a glance back to the bakery.  Pinkie Pie had most of her body pressed against the window, wearing a smile that was more excited than it had any right to be.  Through the thick curtain of her mane, her eyes locked onto mine with an uneasy amount of joy.  I swore under my breath and returned my attention to the road. “Hey, Hunter, wait up!” “Can’t stop and talk, Pinkie,” I called back, keeping my eyes forward.  “I’ve got somewhere I gotta be.” “It’ll only take a couple seconds!” she promised. “I’m busy,” I reiterated.  I stole another glance behind me, but the mare was nowhere to be found.  The door to Sugarcube Corner swung lazily to the street.  Maybe Pinkie finally learned how to take a— “Whatcha busy with?” “Sonuva—” I nearly tripped over her as she spawned in front of me.  The little devil was sitting directly in my path; I had to jump over her to avoid hitting her.  Her neck craned back as her eyes followed me, and by the time I landed, she was still looking at me upside down. “Ooh, nice save,” she giggled. I stood doubled over, hands resting on knees as I recovered from my near-heart-attack.  I took in a deep breath and slowly let it out.  No need to make a scene over this.  Just had to keep my cool; it's what Lyra would want.  I sighed, “What do you want, Pinkie?” She turned back around to fully face me.  Her mane rested limp on one side, but she pushed a bright smile despite it.  “Just wondering what you were up to,” she chirped. My head shook on its own accord.  I couldn’t believe this.  Should I even tell her?  Would she leave me be if I did?  “Sweet Apple Acres,” I admitted.  “I was hoping to catch Applejack there.” Pinkie took in a sharp gasp.  “No way!  I was totally hoping you were going that way!” she said excitedly.  She pulled a small box out of… somewhere.  I blinked.  Maybe my eyes needed to get checked.  I could have sworn she didn’t have it earlier.  “I’ve been meaning to give this to Applejack all morning, but I’ve been really, really busy,” she explained.  She held it up, as if to offer it.  “Think you could take it to her for me?” she asked with hopeful eyes. I looked between her and the package in disbelief and shook my head.  “Pinkie, I’m not your mailman,” I deadpanned.  Her smile broke as I turned back to the road. “W-Wait!”  She scampered ahead of me and stood on her hind legs, propping her forelegs against my stomach to keep me from moving.  “Pretty please?” she begged.  “Mr. and Mrs. Cake had to take little Pumpkin and Pound to the doctor because they’re having a really bad case of the sniffles and they asked me to watch over the shop and I was like ‘Of course I can!’ because business has been really slow but then we got a really really big order this morning which I’m super excited about but it’s putting me behind on all my other orders!”  She took in a gasp, and I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could even squeeze a word in she was already at it again. “And I promised Applejack I’d bring this package to her by this morning and I’m already late on that and I don’t want her to think I'm a bad friend because of it because there’s already a lot of ponies upset because I’m behind on their orders, and it’s really hard to smile and keep everypony happy ‘cause I haven’t seen a shred of confetti in a wee-ee-eek!” Her voice broke down into a wail as she buried her face into my jacket.  I tried to take a step back, but her grip on my clothes tightened as she tried vainly to cover her teary eyes.  Passersby in the market gave us odd looks, and I returned with reassuring, toothy smiles.  My front was quickly becoming damp with Pinkie’s tears, something I knew the cold air would quickly take advantage of.  I needed to fix this. “Hey; there, there, Pinkie,” I cooed through grit teeth.  “I’ll take that package to Applejack for ya.” She calmed down slightly and looked up to me, my jacket still tight in her hooves.  “R-Really?” she sniffed hopefully. “So long as you get out of my hair for the rest of the day,” I whispered. It was like someone had hit a switch.  Pinkie broke into a bright smile, and before I could defend myself, I was pulling into a bone-crushing hug.  “Thank you so so much!” she squealed.  “You have no idea what this means to me.  I know!  I’ll have to make you some special cupcakes later, on the house!  What’s your favorite—”  She cut herself off with a gasp.  Her body twitched, her ears stood to attention, and her grip around me seemed to tighten even more. “I left a bun in the oven, and it’s about to burn!” she shrieked.  Pinkie launched herself off of me and bolted back to the bakery, leaving me doubled over and gasping for breath.  In her haste, though, she forgot a small detail. “Pinkie, wait!” I called after her.  It was too late, though; she was already back inside the bakery.  “What about the…”  My voice trailed as I looked back down to my feet where a small box rested in the dirt.  “Package,” I finished. I knelt down to inspect it.  It was barely smaller than a shoebox, and when I picked it up, it felt just as light.  I turned it over in my hands, and on the other side was a crudely drawn trio of apples, colored in with red crayon, leaving few questions to the recipient. I looked up to the sky and suppressed a yawn.  It was still early in the afternoon, but my internal clock was still kicking me for being up in the daytime.  I silently prayed for the readjustment to go by quicker.  Between the early start in the morning, the story at lunch, and all that happened in the last ten minutes, I was exhausted; physically and socially, though mostly the latter.  Hopefully the rest of the day wouldn't be too exciting.