//------------------------------// // Breakfast // Story: It takes a village // by Sarcastic Brony //------------------------------// It took some time to get to AJ’s farm, but Anon is finally able to see the farmhouse up ahead. He gives a thankful sigh of relief. During the walk here, Anon kept checking on Faith to make sure she was still comfortable. Thankfully, he wrapped her up well enough to keep away the cold, but she did wake up halfway through the walk and tried to kick her blankets off. Naturally, she couldn’t get much grip, as her legs were mostly pinned together. So, after a brief struggle, she soon settled down. Anon had to admit; it was rather amusing to see her try and toss her blankets off but give up soon after and fall asleep. “Good morning,” a voice calls out. Anon finds his thoughts come back as he looks over to the front step of the farmhouse to see Applejack standing there in wait. She’s even waving at Anon as he makes his approach. “Hey, AJ.” “Howdy.” She looks to the basket. “How’s the girl doing?” “Fine. Can we talk inside?” Anon says motioning towards Faith. Applejack’s eyes widen slightly at that. “Oh, yeah. It sure is cold out here. I’ve gotten used to it at this point, but don’t keep the youngin out here to freeze.” Anon gives Applejack a nod as he enters her home, with her not far behind. As soon as he breaks past the door, he can feel the warmth of the house against his cold skin. It’s certainly nice to be inside where it’s warm, at least for the time being. “You interested in breakfast?” AJ speaks up. “We got some time before heading out.” Anon is about to turn down her offer until his stomach lets out a low growl. Well, he didn’t eat anything this morning, as he mostly spent his time cleaning the house. “Yeah. I could go for something.” “How about Faith?” AJ asks as she enters into the kitchen. “She should be fine. Funny story, Twilight and Rainbow kinda helped me out.” Applejack sticks her head out from the kitchen door and looks at Anon with a raised brow. “How so?” “Well, Rainbow helped feed Faith yesterday, and Twilight offered to feed her before I came here.” Applejack gets an odd look on her face. Anon isn’t sure how to place it. It’s almost as if she looks disappointed to hear this. “Oh, well... G-Good for them.” AJ disappears back into the kitchen. Anon sits Faith on the floor beside the couch and sits next to her. She’s still fast asleep and doesn’t seem bothered by all the talking. “I wanted to talk to you about something important,” Anon says. “What’s that?”Applejack calls from the kitchen. “Is it too much to ask if you become Faith’s main, um... feeder?” Anon hears something loud fall in the kitchen. “Is everyth-” “Fine!” Applejack shouts. “Just fine. Lost my grip on something. No worries... So you want me to feed her more often? Why not one of the other girls?” Anon admits he’s still thinking about how the girl's habits could affect their milk. This is so weird for him to think about, but his daughter's well being is on the line. He wanted to ask Twilight but felt he couldn’t after what she did. He wouldn’t want to insult her. “Well, you’re a very fit mare, AJ... You take care of yourself and eat properly.” “Y-Yeah.” AJ can feel a bit of a blush on her muzzle hearing Anon say this. “So, I don’t know... I have no idea if stuff like that affects a mare’s milk but I want the best for Faith.” There’s silence that builds between them. Did he go too far? “You think I’m the best?” AJ asks as her head pops out from the kitchen again. “Well, yeah... Man, it makes me sound like a jerk, but out of all your friends, I think you take care of yourself the most. Rainbow and Pinkie party a lot. Rarity and Twilight barely exercise.” “What about Fluttershy?” “I don’t even know, to be honest.” “So, you want me to be the go-to-mare when feeding Faith?” AJ asks. “I guess... Obviously, if there’s an emergency, then I’ll make do, bu-” “I get it!” AJ says with a big smile. “Don't worry none, Anon. You can count on me! Why I could even give you some of my milk if I have to. You know, if some element business pops up and we all have to leave.” “You can do that?” She nods. “Why sure! They make them fancy pumps, nowadays. Though we don’t plan on leaving anytime soon, so you might want to spend your money on other things first. They're rather expensive.” Anon nods. AJ is right. He still needs to get Faith diapers and all kinds of stuff like that. Future things like that can wait for later. Right now, he needs to focus on the things he can and can’t do. “So, it’s no bother?” “Of course not. Why I can stop on by every so often to feed her if you like.” Anon can feel himself starting to smile now. “Thank you, AJ... I don’t know what else I can say.” “No thanks needed, Sugar. Now, bring Faith on back here while I finish breakfast.” Anon gets up from his seat and brings Faith into the kitchen. He can see that AJ is working on a nice meal for them to enjoy, but the portions are enormous. Before Anon can even ask why he notices the door behind him open. Standing there is Big Mac. He looks up at Anon, then down to the basket, his eyes briefly widened, but then they relax as he walks over to a seat and sits down without a word. “Hey there, Mac. Breakfast will be ready in five,” AJ says focusing on the stove. “Eeyup.” Anon walks over to an empty seat and sits down. For some odd reason, he forgot about the rest of the Apple family. However, the sound of more hooves is enough to alert him of the rest of the family coming toward the kitchen. “Hey Applejack. Sweetie Belle was saying her sister was talking about some weird stuff. Did somepony have a foal, recently?” Applebloom asks as she walks into the kitchen. “Oh, hey Anon.” Her eyes then instantly lock onto the basket as she sees the face of a sleeping child. “Whoa! Is that a human foal?!” she shouts in excitement. “Applebloom!” Applebloom stops in her tracks. “Keep your voice down. That there is Anon’s foal. Her name is Faith.” Applebloom has stars in her eyes as she slowly walks over to the basket and looks at the sleeping face of Faith. “Wow.” She looks up at Anon. “I didn’t know you had a special somepony.” Anon nervously chuckles as he rubs the back of his head. “Um, I guess you could say that,” Anon decides to lie. “Really? Is it anypony we know?” “Applebloom, enough questions,” Applejack speaks up. “Take your seat; breakfast is almost ready.” Applebloom pouts at that as she walks over to her seat. Anon chuckles a bit at her attitude but then jerks slightly as he hears someone speak next to him. “Well ain't that something,” Granny says as she looks over the child, the blanket having been slightly removed. “Half humor and pony.” “Human, Granny,” Applejack corrects. “It’s been some time since we had a foal in this house. It honestly warms my heart.” Granny then covers Faith up again. Anon knows that he can’t bring Faith out into the field this early in the morning, so he decides to ask for a bit of help. “AJ and I are going to work once breakfast is done. You mind keeping an eye on her?” Anon asks. “Well of course!” Granny says looking as if a few years were lifted from her. “It’s been a long time since I took care of a foal. Why it was back when we had Applebloom, and AJ did most of the work there.” “You did your part, Granny.” Applejack comes in placing plates on the table in front of everyone. “From the looks of it, she ain't old enough to eat. How you been feeding her?” Granny asks Anon. “Um, AJ, actually,” he answers. “She’s my go-to-mare for feeding Faith. At least, now she is.” A smirk slowly crawls onto Granny’s face. “What’s this I hear? Is my little AJ finally getting hitched?” That causes Anon and AJ both to blush at what Granny Smith said. “G-Gran... Why you have to say something like that?” AJ says, hiding her face with her hat. Anon clears his throat some. “N-No, Granny... Faith needs somepony who can feed her, and I think AJ is the best fit.” “I was just fooling.” Granny walks over to her chair. “Good job, Applejack. Now don’t forget to feed the foal. She looks mighty hungry.” Anon raises a brow as he looks down at Faith. At some point, she wakes up and starts looking around, but her face is slightly contorted in discomfort. It’s almost hard to hear, but a small growl comes from her. Wait, so is it true? Did the milk Twilight give not have much for Faith to process? She’s indeed hungry again, and before he can say anything, AJ is already there taking Faith out of her basket and laying on the floor as she did before. AJ jerks some as Faith latches onto her. “Well, that certainly answers that.” Applejack looks up at Anon. “I’ll be honest, Sugar. The girls never done this before, so maybe their milk just isn’t up to par yet?” Anon has no idea, and he should probably put his feelings aside and ask Twilight about this. It’s imperative that Faith is taken care of. “I’ll talk to Twilight later,” Anon says. “Good.” Applebloom gets out of her seat, eyes wide, as she walks over to look at her sister. “What are you doing?” she asks. “Feeding Faith,” AJ answers. “Really? Why not let her mom do it?” AJ looks at Anon for a brief moment. He doesn’t know how to answer that, and that much is apparent to AJ. So, she decides to lay it out the best she can. “Her mom can’t do it, AB. She, uh... She’s not here, anymore.” Applebloom’s ears pinned back at hearing that. “Oh... I uh, didn’t know. Is it like ma and pa?” “Something like that,” Applejack answers. “Now don’t worry none. Your sister is going to take care of this here foal, just like she did for you.” That seems to brighten Applebloom's mood. “Does that make her my sister?!” Despite the somber mood from before, hearing Applebloom say that causes Anon to laugh. Everyone looks his way with a questioning gaze. “Sorry, it’s just nice to see how everyone is so accepting of Faith.” He can already see the weird looks. “I know, it’s just a human thing. I’m sure Faith will need lots of friends, friends who can help her find her cutie mark when she’s older.” That puts a broad smile on Applebloom’s face. “This is exciting! I can’t wait to tell the girls all about it!” “Well, before all that, get ready for school. Anon and I are going to head on out right now.” AJ says pulling Faith away and placing her back into the basket. “You good on watching her, Gran?” “O’ course I am! Mac’ll be in the barn anyway. I’ll call if I need him.” “Good.” AJ adjusts her hat some as she looks at Anon. “Ready?” Anon gets up from his seat. “After you.” AJ leads Anon out of the house and toward the orchard. Although his mind is on the task at hand, he can’t help but think of the things he needs to get for Faith before going home. He shakes those thoughts away. He needs to focus. He’ll worry about that stuff after.