Applejack trotted out onto the street slowly. "So, where you reckon we should go, sugarcube? I ain't got a clue where the friendship problem could be."
"I'm sure we'll stumble on it sooner or later just goin' around town. I know a great arcade we can hit up." Babs replied with a tail flick, trotting north.
"Sure thing. Maybe stop by a restaurant later? Anything that keeps us out and about so we can spot what we need to deal with." Applejack said as she followed.
"'long as you're payin'. I don't get much allowance, toots." Babs said with a chuckle.
Applejack chuckled back as they trotted to the arcade.
After an hour of watching Babs beat several foals at DDR, and not finding too much fun in the pinball machines and racing games, Applejack sighed. "You ready to go?"
"I suppose, none of these foals can keep up with me anyways. How about the 'world famous' Fish, Chips, and Cider?" Babs replied.
"Can't be as good as my cider, but what the hay." Applejack replied.
As they two got going, they noticed a pair of high-class stallions chatting.
"You know, I must respect the Oranges for being such fabulous ponies despite who they're related to." Said a fancy pink unicorn with a wavy, bright pink mane.
"Indeed, oooh, I think I see one now..." Replied a blue earth pony with a short green mane.
Applejack stopped, mouth slightly agape. "Uh...heya. What's that about family and the Oranges? You know, us apples are fine, respectable, hard-workin' ponies. Who cares if some cousins are related to us?"
Babs stepped aside a bit, seeming to be scared of being involved.
The unicorn seemed confused. "If I may ask, which one of them is a cousin to your family?"
"Huh? They aren't my cousins. Mosely's my uncle on my dad's side and Tangerine's his first cousin. I tell ya, Granny Smith has told stories 'bout how surprised she was her firstborn son ran off to be with her in the city!" Applejack said with her unique laugh.
The unicorn was aghast. "That's...that's not proper! The papers shall hear of this!"
The earth pony grabbed him. "Let's go, I don't wanna know any more about these...incestuous fruit ponies!"
They quickly ran off after a shared glance and a nod.
"You tell 'em! My family ain't got nothin' to hide!" Applejack shouted.
Babs facehooved. "Hey, I'm proud of my family too, but you don't see me braggin' about it. Not everypony here understands."
"Okay, fine, let's just go get some food." Applejack replied.
Babs nodded as they resumed trotting.
Applejack came into the restaurant to the sight of several ponies in a cider drinking competition. "Well I'll be!"
Babs smiled. "You do the competin', I think I'm just gonna get some grub."
Applejack nodded and got to challenging what looked like a bunch of lightweights.
10 liters of frothy cider later, Applejack patted her belly and belched loudly.
The only other mare to make it that far, a pretty pink unicorn mare, gave an only slightly smaller belch, but then almost fell over and barfed into a conveniently-placed garbage can.
A grey unicorn stallion gave Applejack a ribbon and a few tickets to the buffet as her reward.
"Absolutely astounding, Miss...?" He said.
"Applejack." She replied while Babs helped her stand up.
"Well, Miss Applejack, we hope to see you again, you've become quite the attraction!" He said, then gestured to a clapping crowd before trotting off.
Babs gave her a pat on the back, eliciting another burp. "Congratulations, but ya sure ya should've drank so much? They say too much cider affects your judgement, ya know?"
Applejack shrugged, tried to ignore the yellow puddle of what might not be cider around the rear of the sick pink mare, then examined the crowd.
The flower trio were there among what looked like a quilting club.
"Well I'll be. Rose, Lily, Daisy, didn't expect ya'll to show up here. If ya'll liked that, you should see me fightin' timberwolves. Hoofy and Kicks McGee here can snap 'em like a twig!" Applejack bragged.
After a moment, Rose eeped. "Uh, t-there are no timberwolves around, are there?"
"'course not. Maybe I could show ya'll by breakin' some uh, lumber or somethin' in the alley back behind this place." Applejack said as she got up, following it up with a strong kick in the air.
Babs facehooved hard.
Daisy put her hooves on the sides of her head and screamed. "She's gonna kill us! Everypony run!"
The entire quilting club screamed as Lily fainted.
"Wha? No no, I just wanna show ya'll I can snap things like a twig!" Applejack said, eliciting more shrieks as the ponies dispersed.
"Toots, it's time to go." Said Babs as she grabbed Applejack's hoof and yanked her away.
Applejack reluctantly complied, trotting a bit as Babs dragged her through the chaos and out the door.
Applejack threw the door open and trotted in to the kitchen, where the two Oranges were having some tea while Blood was reading a magazine.
She belched loudly as she sat down. "Pardon."
Babs sits down next to her. "Uh, hey you three, how's it goin'? We in time for dinner?"
"Actually, you two are in time for being grounded." Mosely replied, shocking Babs.
He threw down the Manehattan Evening News newspaper, showing that the top story was about the damage done to Fish, Chips, and Cider. The side story was a scandalous piece about the Oranges being related.
Applejack stood up. "Wait, that ain't my fault! Everypony just misunderstood! That flower trio has shouted fire in a theater before!"
"That may be, but did you have to tell the elite that me and Tangerine are related?!" Mosely for a moment looked furious before he put his hoof to his face, rubbing his temples. "Most of them already know, but now is just a bad time to remind them, we're about to get another business deal."
"Oh, well..." Applejack seemed conflicted, before settling on a defiant face. "We ain't got nothin' to hide. You'll see, everypony will realize that you two loved each other so much, nothin' could stop ya. Now, if you're gonna ground me, at least leave Babs alone; she didn't do nothin' to peeve ya!"
Mosely's eye began to twitch, but Tangerine put a hoof on his shoulder. "It's alright, honey, we'll get through this." She turned to Applejack. "Of course. You're not to leave the house until everything's resolved, and I will not tolerate such foul language in front of my daughter."
Applejack nodded.
"What about the friendship problem? We can't solve it in here, and nopony'll listen to a little scamp like me!" Cried Babs.
"It can wait, sugarcube." Applejack replied.
Blood put down the magazine. "If all of you are done acting like the sky is falling because somepony made some scaredy-cats pee themselves about some awesome Timberwolf killin', can we actually have dinner?"
Tangerine gasped. "G-go to your room, we'll bring you some beans for supper."
Blood rolled her eyes and trotted away with a scoff. "Typical."
Applejack could tell she wasn't gonna be back to Ponyville anytime soon.