//------------------------------// // Pick The Best Path(ological Liar) // Story: Creating A Hive // by Authora97 //------------------------------// Applejack watched Granny Smith and Apple Bloom’s swim routine. She should be happy like anypony else would in her hooves. While a part of Applejack wanted to be proud and teary eyed at seeing this beautiful act that Granny and Apple Bloom planned, that feeling turned sour with her worry. Granny only started swimming again because of that no good Flim and his brother, Flam’s tonic. They advertised it as a cure all. Any ailment, it could fix. Broken bones, poor eyesight, even old age. Granny took a jar after seeing it cure a stallion’s legs so he could walk again. Applejack thought it was too good to be true. She investigated it, as anypony would have when their granny was on the line! She discovered the cured stallion was an actor, hired by Flim-and-Flam to make their tonic look good. The tonic wasn’t even that! It was just crushed apples and beet leaves- Applejack watched them make it herself! Only...Flim and Flam got under her skin like worms. They reminded Applejack that Granny Smith hadn’t been able to swim for decades. Their tonic let her think she could swim, and she was doing a good job for a mare her age. If Applejack told everypony their tonic was a scam, it would crush Granny Smith’s hard. She let it slide one time. She should’ve known that’s when it would all fall apart. The next day, Granny went up to their tent in the middle of a big crowd to buy a full crate of tonic. Everypony in town asked if it was legit, if Granny Smith wanted some. Apple Bloom said that Applejack approved. Applejack lied, saying yes. Flim and Flam sold the tonic with a tagline: Granny Smith tested, Applejack approved. That’s two whole lies to her family, and a big whopping lie to the whole town. Just thinking about it made Applejack sick. Ponies started believing that crock of hooey. Ponies with real issues- real broken bones and wings, real sicknesses that belonged in hospitals with actual medicine! All this lying, Applejack never felt so low. Even when Discord made her a liar, at least then she had no control over what came out of her mouth. That was magic making her act like she was. This time? Applejack had nopony to blame but herself. She wanted to reach out to her friends- but that would mean admitting the truth. Applejack knew what they all would say too. They’d be appalled at Applejack for lying- especially this long and about something so serious. The only way out was to admit she lied. But...Granny’s heart would break. Somepony tapped her shoulder. “Umm...Applejack?” Applejack turned to them. Thorax stood behind her, nervously fidgeting on his hooves. He had his teeth biting on his lip, barely avoiding breaking the skin with his fang. Applejack wasn’t surprised he was here. One look in the stands would show the Stardust family here to support Apple Bloom. His daughters played with Apple Bloom and her friends all the time. Even though Dynamite and VC already had cutie marks, they still played together with the Cutie Mark Crusaders to give the younger foals ideas for their cutiemarks. Besides, they still liked playing together. “What is it?” Applejack asked him. Thorax fidgetted. He raised his hoof to scratch his neck. “I need help. It’s a-” “Don’t you usually ask Raspberry when you need help?” Applejack asked. “Where is she, anyhow?” She looked up in the stands. The family was there alright. Cookie chewed on a stuffed toy. Justice and VC read books. Dynamite hooted and hollered like the best of them. The only pony missing was Raspberry herself. “Is she out training Lilac again?” Applejack asked. Sometimes, Raspberry would be gone for Manehattan. Applejack only knew that because Apple Bloom kept track of those times to give Raspberry letters for Lilac and Babs Seed. “I don’t know where she is.” Thorax admitted. “Usually I know if she leaves for that cause she tells me how long she’s gone, that way I know to watch the kids. But she didn’t this time.” “Oh. Is that odd?” Applejack asked. “Really odd!” Thorax replied. “Raspberry hates it when the kids don’t have an adult to call on, she doesn’t want them to feel abandoned. One of us always needs to be on call. If she’s gone and I can’t call her, I can’t tell the kids where she is when they ask.” “Didn’t she give ya one of them phony things?” Applejack asked. “I tried that! She didn’t answer.” Thorax answered. “It’s- She said she was going out, right? So I let her go out but it’s been two days and I still have no idea where. Before you ask I already checked with Killjoy. She has a note on her door saying she’s out for cigarettes. Does Equestria even have those?” Applejack gave him a flat stare. “Raspberry Stardust and Killjoy, lyin’? Who woulda thought?” “It’s weird, I know!” Thorax replied. “Cause they never lie to the kids.” Now that made Applejack concerned. Even if she had fingers, she wouldn’t be able to count how many times Raspberry lied. She could, though, count all the times she knew Raspberry lied to Lilac or the other youngins. Killjoy to- for all her many, many faults- wasn’t one to toy with those kids like she did everypony else. “But...why ask me?” Applejack asked. “Ah can’t help you find her. Ah’m workin’ on somethin’ myself.” “It’s not just this she lied about. She’s been lying about something- something big. I think this is connected.” Thorax explained. Applejack looked off towards her family. The judges gave them the highest score. “I’m serious! She’s being really secretive about it. Usually I don’t ask cause I don’t want to know, I can’t really handle knowing that much cause I’ll give it away.” Thorax rambled. “But when she lies to me it- I get upset.” Applejack bit her lip. Her stomach spin something awful at seeing the wide smile on Granny’s face, and the lie that put it there. “How do you deal with it when Raspberry lies to you?” Thorax asked. Applejack snapped her head around to him. “What?”  “She lies to you all the time! She lied to you since she met you, and you’re fine with her now. How did you deal with it?” Thorax asked. “It’s your Element! If anypony knows how to deal with a liar, it’s Applejack!” Applejack looked over to Flim and Flam. They were handing out more of their tonics. A photographer pony took a picture of Granny Smith.  “That was some of the most amazing aquabatics I’ve ever seen! How in Equestria did you do it?” They asked. “Hard work? Lots of practice?” Granny pulled the bottle out of her swim cap. “Yeah, but mostly it’s the tonic!” Flim rushed to her side. His brother joined. “That’s Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic, to be precise.” “Buy it now while supplies last.” Flam announced to the crowd. They gathered around the Flim-and-Flam booth. As she watched them go, Applejack saw the actor from before. The stallion handed out bottles of tonic for a gold coin. Applejack simmered in rage. “Yer right.” Applejack nodded. “Ah know how to handle a liar.” Thorax blinked. “Yeah...that’s what I said.” “Bye Thorax!” She raced off after the  “...you haven’t helped me!” Thorax called out. ==CAH== Thorax led dinner without Raspberry. The kids ate, washed, and went to bed. Cookie complained without Raspberry to read her a bedtime story. He ended up changing into a large cat for her to cuddle. An hour into that, he heard footsteps outside. Feet, not hooves or wingbeats. Those were feet. Thorax used his magic to grab a large stuffed animal. Fast as that one action hero, Thorax slipped out from Cookie’s sleepy hold and put the cat in his place. Cookie snoozed on. Quiet as a mouse (Thorax changed into one to prove it), he snuck out from her room. Morgan stood in the hallway, dressed in dark green pajamas. She knelt down. Thorax hopped into her hand. Morgan walked him out of the magical hallway. Downstairs, Thorax saw Darcy. Human as ever, dressed in a sparkly purple dress. She sat on the dining room table. She used her fingers to dip into the dish, scooping out bites.  “Hey!” Thorax leapt out from Morgan’s hands. He landed on his hooves, glaring at her. Darcy slowly turned her head to him. It took her another moment to spot Thorax, giggling and waving. “Heeey.” “Don’t mind her, honey.” Morgan walked to his side. She put a hand on his neck, rubbing it. “She’s drunk.” “She’s drunk?” Thorax repeated. Killjoy had a high tolerance. For her to be drunk, she’d been working hard. “Why- how?” Morgan walked to the table. She guided Darcy down. Her sister giggled.  “My fingers feel funny.” Darcy giggled.  “That’s the potatoes.” Morgan guided her stumbling sister to the kitchen. “I’ll help her wash her hands.” Thorax watched Morgan guide Darcy to a sink. The younger nearly drowned herself from the tap. Well not on purpose, Morgan may have been holding her under it. Soon enough, Darcy was cleaned and off towards a guest room. Morgan made sure to follow her in case Darcy broke her neck on the stairs. Thorax took the time to put the leftovers away. Morgan plopped herself down in a chair. She sighed. Thorax looked over at her. “Everything alright?” She ran her hand over her face. “Yeah.” “Did your sister like the cigarettes?” Thorax asked. Morgan paused. Thorax used his magic to grab the note. He moved it towards Morgan for her to read. Morgan giggled. “ell?” Morgan took the note. She giggled after reading it. Thorax glared. Morgan cleared her throat, sitting up in her seat. “Right...you’re angry.” “Yes I am angry.” Thorax stated. “You and Darcy just...left. For two days.” He brought out the phone. “I couldn’t reach you, and Lilac had no idea where you were!” “You said you didn’t want to know episode stuff.” Morgan told him. Thorax walked to the table, glaring at her. “I don’t care about the details until I have to lie to the kids about where their mom is.” “I told you where I was going!” Morgan excused. “I know I did.” “No you didn’t. I have been freaking out for two days.” Thorax reminded her. “Would I do that if I knew where you were?” Morgan stared at him for a long moment. “...I may have said it in my head.” “So. Where were you?” Thorax demanded. “...the episode was about the value of honesty. We would’ve Darcy and I- we thought we would explode.” Morgan explained. “So we just...decided to leave town for two days.” Thorax scoffed. “I’ve been married to you for years. There’s no omega you spent two days doing nothing.” Morgan’s lips thinned. “What did you do?” “...nothing.” Morgan repeated.He leaned forward. He stared his purple eyes into Morgan’s amber. He could smell the wine on her breath. “Please? Just tell me?” Morgan met his stare. She tried to talk again, words and sounds falling from her mouth. She sighed. She took Thorax’s hold in her hoof. “...I’m not lying.” He wrapped his hoof around her hand. “...we found nothing.” Morgan explained. “This thing...it’s been around for ages. Darcy and I calculate it’s been here for twenty months at most.” That got Thorax’s attention. “You know for sure?” Morgan nodded. “The episode mentioned an event we can time stamp from the show.” “Are we in danger?” Thorax asked. Morgan held tighter to his hoof. Thorax could feel it now- how her hands shook. He read her feelings. He could smell just how much wine she’d been drinking. “Thorax. We found nothing.” Thorax realized. Wherever she and Darcy went.,,whatever they were hunting...it had been in Equestria for twenty months...and neither Morgan Spencer or Darcy Anderson could find a trace. Yeah they were in danger.