//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Tailing Behind // Story: Applejack's Butt // by Vedues //------------------------------// Sketchy sat in his jail cell with his eyes clenched shut. “I don’t understand,” he said in a voice just above a whisper. “Adults are supposed to pretend that sex doesn’t exist around young ponies?” Applejack pressed her hat against her face to cover up her burning cheeks. “More or less.” “Why?” “I don’t know, okay? That’s just the way things are.” “Okay,” Sketchy said in a tone that meant he didn’t understand anything. He huddled into himself a bit more. “I wish I could be back home.” Applejack felt bad even thinking it, but she was kind of wishing he’d head back to Griffonstone too. Her life involved a lot more facehoofing since he got to town. She pushed those thoughts aside and turned to the guard stationed in the jail with them. “How serious are the charges?” “He owes five-hundred bits for selling indecent material to a minor and one thousand for sexually harassing the Princess,” the guard said flatly, keeping his eyes on Sketchy. “Finally, his bail is one hundred bits.” Sketchy somehow managed to sink down farther. “Oh, I guess I’ll be moving out of Mr. Suite’s apartment building. Are there any abandoned buildings around here that I could stay in for free? They had them everywhere in Griffonstone.” The guard gave him an unfriendly look. “There are no such buildings in this town.” “Oh. I guess … I’ll find an alleyway or something.” Applejack looked from the downtrodden stallion to the angry guard. There was a part of her that really wanted to leave and put this whole mess behind her. Sure, she’d feel like a terrible pony, but at least she’d be a terrible pony without a criminally stupid stallion on her hooves. In fact, she was pretty sure most ponies would agree that leaving was a good idea. “Ugh,” Applejack lowered her head in defeat, “I’ll pay his bail.” The guard stared at her like she was crazy. He probably wasn’t wrong about that. “Are you sure?” “Eeyup,” Applejack said, not the least bit happy about where her day was heading. “Just let me run by the bank. How long until he has to pay the other fines?” “One moon.” “At least that’s something.” Applejack headed to the door. “Be back in a jiffy.” She didn’t like banks, a whole bunch of highfalutin’ ponies acting all big because they had a bunch of other pony’s money, but Sketchy’s fine was at least half her fault anyway. She owed him, and even if she didn’t, it just wasn’t right to turn away from a pony that needed a helping hoof. She was back at the jail in ten minutes. “Here’s your darn hundred bits.” She shoved a bag into the guard’s hoof. “I’ll talk to Princess Twilight and see if I can get her to drop the sexual harassment charges too.” The guard took the bag and opened Sketchy’s cell door. “You’re far more generous than he deserves.” “Not generous, just owning up to my mistakes.” Applejack walked in and reached out her hoof to Sketchy, who was still hunched over with his eyes closed. “Hey, Sketchy, it’s okay. We can get outta here now.” He opened his eyes and looked up at her like he didn’t understand what was going on. He probably didn’t, now that she thought about it. “I paid enough of your fine that you can leave,” Applejack said gently. “Now come on, we’ve got one moon to rustle up the rest of that money.” Sketchy kept up the blank-faced stare for a moment, then he came forward and slowly lifted a foreleg, like he wanted to hug her. “I, um …” He looked away and started to pull his leg back. Applejack smiled and stepped into the embrace, wrapped a hoof of her own around him. She could feel him tense up at the contact, but it only lasted a moment. “I know,” Applejack said, patting his back. “You’re welcome.” He nodded into her shoulder. “I’ll pay you back for this, somehow.” “Let’s just worry about paying off that fine,” Applejack said. “Okay.” Sketchy slowly pulled out of the hug, looking at the floor. “I just, um, don’t know if I’ll be able to make enough money in one moon.” “We’ll figure something out.” Applejack led him outside and picked a random direction to walk. She didn’t have any real destination in mind, so she decided to see where her hooves led her. “For now, why don’t you tell me about yourself? I don’t really know nothing about you.” “You know I was raised in Griffonstone,” Sketchy said, walking alongside her. “Heh, guess that’s true.” She looked him up and down. “How’d a pony wind up living there, anyway?” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I think they stole me from a group of travelers, or maybe my parents were explorers and got killed while hunting for the Golden Idol of Boreas. I never had enough money to pay the older griffons to tell me where I came from.” Applejack’s jaw dropped. “They’d charge you for something like that?” “Yes,” he said like it was perfectly normal. “Why wouldn’t they?” She sighed and shook her head. “Never mind. So why’d you move to Ponyville of all places?” “I heard ponies in Canterlot will pay hundreds of bits for a single picture,” Sketchy said, “but I didn’t have enough money for an apartment there, so I thought I’d move to the closest town and travel there on weekends.” “Guess I’ve heard worse plans.” Applejack glanced at her companion. He was looking at the ground. “So do griffons really not hide the,” her cheeks flushed, “facts of life from their young?” He shook his head. “Is it really that big of a deal to ponies?” “I suppose it kinda is.” She took a deep breath. “Look, you getting locked up is mostly my fault. I should’ve warned you not to show pictures from that magazine in public, and especially not to sell them to kids.” “Is it your fault that I didn’t know it would get me in trouble?” Sketchy asked. “It seems as though it should be my fault.” Applejack smiled faintly. “Let’s just say we both made mistakes, alright?” “Okay,” he said, “though I hope you won’t be too upset if I avoid using models from that magazine in the future. I prefer to draw models that aren’t so overtly sexual.” “Then why’d you do it?” Sketchy blushed a little. “I’m almost out of money.” Applejack stopped. “How much do you have?” she asked softly. “Only if ya don’t mind telling me.” “A little less than four-hundred bits,” Sketchy said. “Food and rent are more expensive than I thought they’d be.” Applejack hummed thoughtfully. “So you need money, but to get it, you need a model.” Sketchy nodded. “Or someone willing to commission a picture of themselves.” That sounded like something the fancy-shmancy ponies of Canterlot might do, but no way they’d hire Sketchy for it unless he was already famous. Applejack sighed. She’d never understand rich ponies. “Guess we’ll start with a model. Any preferences on what they look like?” He shook his head. “All that matters is that ponies find him or her attractive.” Applejack tapped on her chin thoughtfully. “Well, Rarity’s still the first pony that comes to mind, but I think we’ll save her as a last resort, considering how that turned out last time.” Sketchy shuddered. “Agreed.” “Right, then.” Applejack looked at the many houses that surrounded them. “Let’s find you a model.”