Sweet as Honeydew

by Obsi


Chapter 2- Applejack

Somewhat shaken, I was sat on a “table”, with a long, white blanket laid over my shoulders. Twilight had procured it out of a thin bag, where it had laid folded up along with several others like it. Though what she had them for eluded me, all of them together would never be enough to cover her body

Seeing something from the corner of my vision, my head snapped around, just as the purple claws of “Spike” placed a white, smooth looking thing on the table. Smoke was rising from it's top, but unlike the one from the fire, it was faint and white, instead of the blackish clouds I’d seen Twilight produce before. The dragon flashed a fang-filled smile at me, causing a shiver to go through my body. It wasn’t easy to smile back into the face of such a clear predator, even if Twilight had assured me he was a friend. And what she told me about his kind…

A race that could grow older than the oldest of trees? Exhale flames? Become bigger than even Twilight’s home, a thought that made my head spin! She’d insisted that she wasn’t a spirit, but if things like dragons exist in this realm, what could it be if not a realm of supreme beings?

The dragon spoke up, and a few moments later, Twilight took seat at the head of the table. “He asked if you wanted anything.” she whispered, before placing her hoof on her mouth for a mighty yawn.

“Want… something?” I cocked my head at the question.

“Food,” she explained with a smile. “We may have breakfast a bit earlier than we thought, but now that we’re all awake, there’s not much sense in wasting time, right?” At that moment, an aura of purple light enveloped the cylindrical shape on the table, lifting it toward her face- oh, it was some kind of fluid container. But what kind of fluid smoked?

“It’s called coffee.” Twilight snickered after having followed my gaze. “You can try some.” Turning her head, she gave the dragon some kind of order, and a short debate in their strange, guttural language followed.

As he came back, he placed a sort-of see-through vase in front of me, one much smaller than the one floating in Twilight’s magic. Standing up on my hindlegs, I was just able to reach over the rim with my chin. Both Equestrians shared a chuckle.

“Well, it's a good thing you can at least use a shot glass~” Twilight grinned, before pouring a deep, brown substance into the container..

I immediately wrinkled my nose at the strong scent. Revulsion rose up in my throat. The only brown fluid I’d ever seen only spelled sickness, and it certainly, certainly was not to be ingested! Looking up, Twilight’s expectant gaze nearly filled my entire view, while the dragon eyed me with something like… jealousy? And Twilight chuckled. Why? 

Taking a deep breath, I faced the brown liquid once again. If… if Twilight drank it, it couldn't be that bad, right? Carefully, I dipped a feeler into the coffee, then licked off the thick drop that stuck to it-

My muzzle involuntarily wrinkled at the bitter taste spreading in my mouth. And yet, there was a hint of something interesting there. Dipping my feelers in once more, I drank a little more. No, it was still disgusting! and yet, I wanted to drink more regardless? Was this some kind of magic water? I supposed another test was required…

-----------------------------------------------------------

Twilight tried to stifle her chuckle as she got to observe a breezie take tiny sips before making faces that spoke of utter disgust, just to repeat the process once more.

“Okay, he’s adorable, alright.” Spike snickered, carrying a jam-packed tablet in his claws. “Maybe he should cut back on the coffee though,” he added dryly as he placed it on the table.

“Don’t look at everypony else’s plate, Spike.” Twilight began to tease, before suddenly freezing. “Spike,” she hissed. “The honey!”

“Uh, okay.” he shrugged, picking the large glass out from the bunch.

“No, no, put it away!” Now Honeydew was giving her a confused glance over the rim of his shot glass.

“Why?” Spike raised his eyebrow.

“He can’t see the honey!” Twilight insisted, gasping as Honeydew turned around, trying to follow their conversation! Her horn lighting up, she cast her spell just as the breezie looked up to Spike, whose claw now reached only around empty air. Both breezie and dragon seemed fairly confused about the situation.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Twilight decided to drown the awkwardness in coffee. The sweltering heat was enough to drive tears into her eyes. “Why don’t we enjoy breakfast!” She said in one breath, gasping for cool air as she magically smeared toast for everyone.

Just then, the door suddenly flew open. “Oh!” the mare in the entrance exclaimed as Twilight, Spike and Honeydew whirled around to the newcomer. “Uh, howdy, Twilight, Ah didn’t expect ya’ll to be outta the feathers so early.”

Twilight’s strained grin quickly became genuine as she turned to the newcomer. “Applejack, good… niiight?” She asked,, glancing toward the darkness outside her kitchen windows.

“6 am.” Applejack helpfully noted. “Rare seein’ you outside the covers ‘fore 10.”

“I have a thorough morning routine!” she exclaimed indignantly. 

“Point taken, sleepyhead~” Applejack snickered.

“W-well I’m not such a sleepyhead anymore, now am I?”

“She’s right on that.” Spike pointed out.

“Ah have a hard time believin’ yer plannin’ ta get up ‘fore sunrise every day.” Applejack expression turned from a snicker to a worried glance. “Somethin’ keepin’ you up, Sugarcube?”

“You could say that.” Twilight answered, glancing back at the stunned Honeydew, who was still eyeing the earth pony with widened eyes, his body covered in crumbs from the toast corner he’d tried.

“Oh…” Applejack muttered, awkwardly scratching one front hoof with the other. “Hey, li’l guy.” Then she froze, turning to Twilight, her voice muffled. “Uh, that is a stallion breezie, right?”

Honeydew gave her a confused look. Twilight’s meanwhile was more of an icy stare. “Yes…”

“Oh, ahm sorry, Twilight, Ah didn’t wanna- Ah just kinda assumed ah imagined him, because-” Groaning, she smacked her forehead. “Ah should just jabberin’ now. But… are ya sure ‘bout this? Our world is a mite dangerous for him.”

“Honeydew is a smart and experienced scout, Applejack.” Twilight lectured, feeling her annoyance rising, despite, or probably even because of how many times she’d asked those questions herself. “If any breezie can live here, it’d be him.”

“Well, I suppose if ya believe in him…” Applejack muttered, clearly not entirely convinced.

“Was that all?” Twilight asked coldly. “Or did you just come here to criticize my love life?”

Taking a sudden step back, Applejack looked like Twilight had just snapped at her. “Oh, heavens, nono, that jus’ came up, ah came ta…” raising a hoof to her mouth, she let out an awkward cough. “Well, while you were away, Spike’s been lettin’ me store mah sales cart here. That way, ah didn’t have ta drag the cart all the way from the farm every day and I could always get coffee ‘fore I started. Ah’d give him free apples in return.”

“Interesting…” Twilight began, then suddenly felt a yawn overcome her. “Maybe I’ll meet you there later.” she muttered, rubbing her eyes. “I kinda wanted to show Honeydew all around Ponyville.”

“That…” Applejack frowned. “Why does that sound like there’s a ‘but’ comin’?”

“Because I’ve got a mountain of letters to answer, alongside other duties!” Twilight exclaimed. “My parents don’t even know I’m back yet! I’d be glad if I can take twenty minutes off today!” With a sigh, she settled back down on her seat, giving the non-plussed Honeydew a sad glance. “I wish I could give you an impression of the pony world today.” she explained in quiet breezish.

“Maybe ah could take him around?” Applejack offered. “Mah shedule’s gonna be free once the market ends and  ah’d much rather help out a friend o’ mine than laze around all day.”

Though granting her friend a slight smile, Twilight’s answer was a tired shake of her head. “Thank you, but that just won’t work. Right now, Honeydew only speaks breezish-” She came to a sudden halt as Applejack raised a hoof. For some reason, her friend looked neither disheartened nor annoyed. No, she was… chuckling?

“Narm tir zulap Nog.” Applejack said, her grin widening with every syllable she slowly pronounced as Twilight and Honeydew stared up at her in shock. “So do I.”

“W-wha- you-” Twilight stammered. Pieces of toast previously upheld by her magic impacted on the floor, not that she seemed to notice. “How?!” she exclaimed simultaneously with an equally stunned breezie.

“Took lessons from Fluttershy.”

“But when?!” Twilight nearly shouted at the snickering earth pony.

“Funny story, actually.” Applejack began as she pulled out a chair next to Twilight’s. “Few months ago, Rarity’s been lendin’ her sister some o’ her spy novels. Now, ah tried them, they ain’t anythin’ special, but she’s hooked on ‘em, and so’s Sweetie Belle apparently. So, you know how it goes with close friends, she convinced Applebloom an’ Scootaloo to give ‘em a shot, too. Next thing ah knew, they’re playin’ hide an’ seek all over the farm. While that’s normal, they also began to talk in their ‘secret language’. Turns out, they’ve had Fluttershy teach them breezish so they could say cusses ‘bout their classmates without gettin’ inta trouble. But there ain’t no foul-mouthin’ on mah farm! Imagine her look when ah told her that in her oh-so-secret language.”

“So you just… learned an entire language just to tell your sister to stop cussing?” Twilight asked, seemingly struggling to wrap her head around this.

“Of course.” Applejack chuckled. “What sister wouldn’t?”

“Wait a minute,” Spike interjected by raising a claw. “Why didn’t you just tell her to stop speaking breezish?”

“Ya kiddin’? Mah sister was teachin’ herself a new language without anypony forcin’ her, why would ah stop her?”

“Oh, I bet she wasn’t happy about that in retrospect.” Spike chuckled.

“Ya can bet yer scales she wasn’t! Her face was pure gold, ah tell ya!” Applejack bellowed, the room filling with laughter as Spike joined in.

“S-so, how good is your breezish?” Twilight asked loudly, trying to cut through the guffawing.

“Well, ah could hold a conversation with Fluttershy… an’ only occasionally ask fer a word.”

“Zurn ka furn.” Twilight said, her eyes narrowing. Applejack’s chuckling stopped in an instant.

“Lim nis va.” 

“Kulpta narruw.”

“Nir gur zulap karfa!” the earth pony rose up, glaring down at Twilight.

“Sang ber kir wurta.” Twilight said evenly, then reached out a hoof.

“Uhm…” Applejack seemed lost for a second. “F-fjirrs?” she muttered, before taking Twilight’s hoof and giving it a solid shake.

Meanwhile, Spike glanced from one pony to the other, then shot one toward Honeydew. “What just happened?”

“Narrfa.” the breezie shrugged.

With a loud groan, Spike slammed his forehead onto the table, causing Honeydew to let out a startled shout as the surface beneath his hooves trembled..

Unaware of the scene of exasperation and distress behind her back, Twilight broke out into a grin as a seemingly endless list of tasks materialized infront of her. “Yes, yes! If you can take Honeydew along for today, I can try and work off most of these tasks and start on his ponish classes by tomorrow! Thank you, Applejack!”

“W-well, it ain’t much, just doin’ mah friend a favour-” as she spoke, Applejack suddenly realised that Twilight wasn’t sitting beside her anymore. Instead, the alicorn was furiously scribbling on a note with letters so tiny that she had to squint her eyes to even tell them apart from a squiggly line.

“Now, watch out for danger, you can carry a breezie safely in your ear or mane. Don’t let him get close to honey and keep him away from any predatory animals, including Winona, make sure he doesnt get swarmed by curious ponies either, he’d be terrified. OH, and be back before 8 pm, and-”

Applejack’s ears slowly folded to the back of  her head as Twilight rambled on and the note further and further began to resemble a solid, black surface. This was not going to be a simple favour, after all.

------

Stepping out of the kitchen, Applejack took a long sip from a steaming mug of coffee before stretching out her limbs. “Well, nothin’ like a good warm drink to get yer gears turnin’ for the day. You gonna be okay up there, li’l guy?” 

Honeydew, perched upon the rim of her stetson, poked his head over the edge. “I-I’m fine. It’s better than holding on to Twilight’s horn.”

Hiding her chortle behind a hoof, Applejack navigated through the halls of the castle. “Is that how she usually carries you around?”

“That or in her ear. It’s too easy to get entangled in her mane.” he explained with an earnest nod

Biting on her hoof, Applejack found her sides ache from withheld giggles from the mental image, not helped by the way Honeydew’s feelers were bobbing below him as she walked. “Well, that’s gotta be practical, though ah still prefer mah hat. Don’ tell anypony, but mah ears are ticklish like a li’l foal’s belly.”

“Your secret is safe with me.” Honeydew said, his serious expression bringing out another snicker from his carrier.

In a spot below the large staircase, Applejack found her cart, loaded up with apples from the last day. She could hear a tiny gasp from above. “Uh, somethin’ wrong?”

“It’s so much!” Honeydew yelped. “Where did you find all this?!”

“Find?” she had to squint her eyes to give him a cross glance. “Ah grew ‘em all mahself!”

“P-ponies can grow apples? But… where do they come out of, you don’t even have branches! Unless your horn can-”

It took Applejack’s brain a few moments to catch up to his thought process. “O-of course they still grow from trees!!” she exclaimed, waving her hooves, almost causing him to fall off. “Sorry there.”

“But you said  that you grew them.”

“Not literally, ah own a farm!” as his expression remained confused, she took on a desperate look. “Y-ya know what that is, right?”

He slowly shook his head.

“Oh, boy…” Applejack muttered as she strapped herself to her cart.

---------------

“So ponies command the trees.” Honeydew whispered as they rolled out of the castle and onto the main road. The sun still hadn’t climbed fully over the horizon to wake the sleepy town.

“Not… exactly.” Applejack replied. “It’s more like choosin’ a good spot for ‘em and then makin’ ‘em grow there- Oh, mornin’ Colgate!”

“Applejack!” a blue unicorn exclaimed, excitedly waving a hoof. “Still haven’t sold all your apples? I swear you’re at the market every day.”

“No other way ta get rid o’ these.” Applejack chuckled. “What else would’cha have me do, eat an entire orchard all by mahself?”

“Celestia, no! All that fructose would make your teeth more brittle than Rarity’s dietary resolve.”

“Ha, never let ‘er hear that!”

“She’ll hear all of it during her next visit, let me tell you. But I didn’t want to keep you, I just wanted to check on Twilight. She is back now, right? I hope she’s not too busy for an old friend visiting.”

“Yep, back an’ tired like a bat at daytime. And ahm sure she’ll enjoy havin’ ya over.” tilting her head, Applejack regarded Colgate with a raised eyebrow. “But maybe ya should hold off a bit? She was about ta tug herself inta ‘work mode’, if ya catch mah drift.”

“Oh, oh yes, I know exactly what you mean.” Colgate snickered. “She’s always been like that, you know? Ever since magic-” but Applejack couldn't focus on her words as she suddenly grew aware of a weight tugging on the side of her hat, coupled with the faint noise of strained breathing.

“Oh, apples, Honeydew!” she gasped as she spotted him dangling from the rim of her stetson, desperately holding on with his front hooves, wings spread out in the hope of giving himself a lift. Ignoring Colgate’s bewildered look. She stiffly kept her head even as she held her hoof below his dangling legs. “Easy there, li’l fella.” she whispered in breezish.

As Honeydew let himself fall into her hoof, Colgate let out a sudden gasp, “Oh my gosh, what is that?” she asked loudly, seemingly not noticing Honeydew reflexively cover his ears, or the way he crept as far away from her as Applejack’s hoof allowed. 

“That’s a breezie-” the earth pony began, trying to back off a little for his sake, but Colgate already had her muzzle practically touching her hoof.

“It’s adorable!” she grinned. “Where’d you get it?”

“That’s a him, and yer terrifyin’ him!” Applejack snapped, causing the blue unicorn to recoil, a look of shock spreading on her face.

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, glancing down at Honeydew, who was clearly fighting hard to regain control of his breath. “I didn’t mean to-”

“Sure ya didn’t.” Applejack said conciliatorily as she slowly raised Honeydew back to her hat, noticing how much tighter he now held on to the rim. “But think about it, yer like a fully grown dragon to the li’l guy.” Squinting upwards, she added in breezish: “Don’tcha worry ‘bout her, she’s a friend, jus’ a little exciteable about cute things.”

That brought a reaction out of the stunned breezie, who took a breath before wheezing: “I-I’m not cute!”

“Sure you aren’t.” Applejack snickered, before casting a look to Colgate, who was awkwardly chafing a hoof on the ground. “He’ll come around to ya. Say, if ya wanna stick around fer a bit longer, why dont’cha help us set up the apple cart? Ya know what they say, an apple a day keeps the doctor away~”

“Then, for the sake of my business, I should try to stop you from selling the damn things to my customers.” she jested. “But I think I can help you set up… hey, do you think you could ask him how breezies treat cavities?”

----

Conversing with the blue pony through Applejack was strange. Because I didn’t know why she was coming with us. Why she was even there in the first place. Or why, as I raised my head to meet the warm sunlight, I was actually starting to feel at ease. Even though she and Applejack were absurdly huge, enough to allow me to perform a dance on their muzzles with room to spare, one undeniable fact was causing my body to untense and my vigilance to falter.

They were nice. After the first time, Colgate hadn’t gotten that close again, instead opting to maintain a respectful (and less scary) distance, always looking at me when she was addressing a new question for Applejack to translate. And we were talking. I was talking, chatting even. With a pony I’d just met. Whose language I didn’t speak. And she had a horn like Twilight, too. It made me wonder why Applejack had decided to hide hers.

I was beginning to see a few more ponies, talking to one another, exchanging greetings, sometimes strolling through the grass… purely for enjoyment, it seemed. There was absolutely no urgency to their movements, even though the sun was already rising. Didn’t they know that daytime was not at their command, why weren’t they hurrying to gather food or make tools or… something? 

“How many trees do you command?”

“Huh? Yer still goin’ on about that, huh? Well, Sweet Apple Acres owns five-hundred an’ thirteen apple trees.”

“F-five-” My rump hit the ground (hat) as my mind reeled from trying to imagine that number of trees, all I could see before my inner eye was a forest. “How- how many apples is that?”

“More than ah can count, that’s fer sure. We sell most of ‘em by the barrel. They’re bein’ sold all across Equestria. Sweet Apple Acres, proud provider of the best apples ya’ll can get in this land!” She proudly put a hoof to her chest as she proclaimed her words,earning a snicker from Colgate, who had no idea what was going on.

Meanwhile, I was taking her words in. The word ‘sold’ was unfamiliar, but one would only give away food if something valuable was offered in return… and if you had more than you were going to eat. The numbers were making my head spin, but if I followed, then Applejack was taking apples… all the apples from more trees than I could count, allowing her to feed her tribe AND have enough left to trade them away… and by the look of these other ponies, none of them seemed to be involved in her tree-commanding powers. 

“But… if you’re making all the food for everyone, then what do they do?” I jutted out my hoof at all the loitering ponies around. Then I remembered that she probably couldn't see me, considering I was on top of her hat, which wasn’t see-through. “A-all the other ponies, I mean.”

“Oh, ahm not makin’ all the food, ah’m just growin’ the apples, as well as a li’l bit of this n’ that.
Then there’s also Carrot Top, she grows all the carrots we eat, ahm not the only one makin’ food!”

“But that’s still just two! What do all of them do?!” I frantically pointed at the surrounding ponies, just as we entered a large circle, where no building stood apart from one large, round structure right in the middle, kind of reminding me of a mushroom, but without a cap. And of course, there were ponies all around us, none of them in a hurry, with no worry in the world, loitering! “What is their purpose?!”

Applejack set out for an answer, but then she simply furrowed her brows, pulling her cart to a spot near the mushroom-like house. It took another minute, in which she unstrapped herself from the cart until she answered: 

“Yer gonna see, Honeydew. It ain’t somethin’ ah can just explain in a couple a minutes. From what Twilight told me, you breezies got ta survive from year ta year, with all o’ ya pitchin’ in to make ends meet? Well, it ain’t like that in Equestria, it only takes a few ponies to make food for us all so we’re free to do other things. Like… Colgate here, she’s a doctor. That’s like a healer, but she’s specialized in teeth.”

“Teeth?” I shot the blue unicorn a confused look. “Why teeth?”

“Well, fer one it’s cause we eat a lot more that damages our teeth than we used to, but… ah think the best way fer ya’ll breezies to think of it, is that we’ve got enough ponies who don’t gotta get food that we can have all kinds of healers who specialize in things. It’s better than tryin’ ta cram everythin’ about everythin’ in one poor ponies head.” she shook her head. “Ah think it’s best if ya don’t dwell too much on it now. Besides, we’re here. Better focus on sellin’ some apples first.”

“I-i-I suppose…” I muttered, having just been shaken about by the unwitting pony. With quivering hooves, I jumped off her hat which I no longer deemed a stable surface, and landed next to a basket full of apples. “W-wait, where is here?”

“The market.” Applejack gestured at a line of ponies standing behind wooden structures similar to her cart, though some did not have wheels, while others stood inside what looked like huts made of thin, colorful blankets. And more ponies walking from each of these places, many of them carrying bags or baskets filled with food, but also some objects for which I couldn't even guess their function.

Another large basket of apples suddenly dropped to my other side. The blue glimmer of Colgate faded just as I whirled around to see her speak with Applejack.

“Colgate’s sayin’ goodbye.” Applejack translated. “She’s got some work to do in her office in a bit.”

The unicorn certainly didn’t look happy about that fact, granting me a sad smile. Trying to cheer her up, I waved a hoof and stretched my lips out so it’d make for a brighter-looking smile. “Uh, thank you, Colgate. Maybe we’ll see each other again!”

The blue pony chuckled as she waved back, speaking to Applejack one more time before trotting away.

Grinning softly, Applejack turned back to me as her hooves adjusted a few minor things on her cart. “Well, seems like yer gonna see her again. She gave ya an appointment next week.”

“Appointment?” I formed my lips around the strange word, as if hoping that saying it out loud would cause it to make sense. “What does that mean?”

“Twilight can tell ya later.” Applejack shrugged, turning her eyes to something infront of her. “Fer now, ya might wanna scoot outta the way, Ah think we’re about ta get our first customer.”

-----

When I’d previously seen two dozen ponies on the market, I’d thought it was a lot. No trade between clans involved more than fifteen breezies on either side to deliver the goods agreed upon, and take whatever they received back home. But compared to what transpired now that the day had well and truly begun, I realized that those two dozen weren’t even a fraction. It was nothing compared to what came! The market was bustling with life to the point that it was easier to find a spot with ponies in it than one without. Foals ran around, chased by their older siblings, weaving through and bumping into other ponies, some of which were constantly running for the shortest line in sight, but were blocked by winged ponies swooping in from the sky and taking their spot, which would then cause a shouting match to erupt. 

The sheer volume of it all was deafening, the multitude of colors near painful to the eye, and through it all, Applejack was calmly speaking to one pony after another, piling mountains of apples in their baskets in exchange for a bunch of shiny round disks. I’d tried to ask her what they were, but my voice couldn't pierce the overwhelming ambience, and with how fast her hooves were moving, I didn’t feel safe getting closer to her. Thus, I tried to only focus on what she was doing. After watching several trades, I was beginning to figure out a few words of their language, based on how many apples Applejack would give them on their request.

Closing my eyes to help tune out the outside world, I quietly repeated the words I’d learned: “one, two, trio, AJ, five, worm, eight, nine, salad.”

Suddenly, the entire cart shook as one of the foals bumped into it. Letting out a shocked shout, I found myself on my side, hearing apples hit the ground all around me like a bombardment of pine cones in late summer. Twisting myself around, I only narrowly avoided one of the large, red fruits threatening to crush my head! Another, lighter impact followed as Applejack’s hooves came down to stabilize the cart. Yet this second bump gave further momentum to apples which had almost rested, and I saw one slowly reaching the counter’s edge.

I don’t know what drove me, maybe I was too much in a panic to remember how many of these fruits Applejack possessed, but when I saw this ball of sustenance enough for a family of breezies threaten to impact on the ground, my hooves sprang to action, carrying me over to the apple and sinking my teeth in it's stem, trying to pull it back onto the cart. It took one long, strained second of effort… until, with a sinking feeling, I felt the fruit slowly tip over, pulling me over the edge with it. But then, just as I was about to enter freefall, my chest hit the top of  the apple, which mysteriously had simply stopped it's descent… surrounded by a green aura.

Gasping for air, I clutched onto the apple like it was my only hold during a stiff breeze. It took a moment for my heart to calm down. Another for my ears to note the drop in the ambient volume. Furrowing my brows, I looked up. Up at over a dozen of giant, looming faces as every pony at Applejack’s cart stared down at me, atop a floating apple.

A green, horned pony opened her mouth, and my head ruptured.

------

“Oh my gosh, what is that?”

Lyra’s shout brought Applejack up from behind her cart, where she’d been trying to gather some of her fallenfruit. The unicorn had her forehooves on her counter, leaning so close that her chin was touching the wood.

“Is that a tiny pony?” Another pony appeared beside Lyra, gazing down at the fallen form of Honeydew.

“No, it’s a breezie!”

“She’s adorable!”

“N-now hold on, ya’ll really shouldn’t be gettin’ so close ta him!”

A dozen heads swung around to Applejack.

“Is that really a breezie?” Someone shouted.

“I heard Twilight brought back a breezie with her.”

I heard that breezie is her coltfriend.”

“That’s just silly.”

“Applejack would know!” Lyra exclaimed, grinning widely. “Hey, Applejack, is this really Twilight’s stallionfriend?” A couple of ponies snickered.

“He’s, uh-” Applejack muttered, unsure of how, or even whether to tell the crowd.

“Can I touch him?” A voice came from the crowd, and a hoof jutted out toward the breeze on the counter.

“NOW HOLD ON!” Applejack’s hoof crashed on the unwitting pony’s, eliciting a pained cry as she pinned it to the counter. “BACK OFF, ALL O’ YA’LL, HE DON’T WANT NOPONY SHOVIN’ THEMSELVES IN HIS FACE, HE-” her voice suddenly broke as she observed his shivering form closer, his legs pulled in, hooves covering his ears, and in the comparable moment of silence, she could hear a soft, distinct whimper.

Feeling her blood run cold, Applejack felt her decision already made. With a swift kick that shook the cart, she caused all the gathered ponies to recoil. “Shop’s closed. Ya’ll can buy yer apples some other time.” she informed them, before scooping up Honeydew’s still shivering body in her hooves and bolting away. Her customers might have complained, but she didn’t hear it. All that was on her mind was to get Honeydew away from all this noise as soon as she could!

Only when the market was completely out of eye-sight (and earshot) did she slow down. “Hey, yer okay?” she whispered to her hoof in quiet breezish, afraid to hurt it's occupant by speaking too loudly.

He looked up, his expression a grimace of clenched teeth as he tried to fixate on her, yet the moment he let go of his head, he began to sway from side to side and let out a pained shout.

“Yer okay?!” Applejack exclaimed again, despite her own intentions climbing in volume. He wouldn’t be seriously hurt, right? What would she tell Twilight, what if he wouldn’t recover?!

“Ouch…” He muttered, wincing  as he continued to stroke his ears. “By the gods, everything is ringing…”

“But you can hear mah voice, right?” 

He blinked. “Y-yes… but I feel like I had a pinecone rammed through my ear!”

Throwing her head back, Applejack breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, good… you’ve had me worried there for a second. Look… ah’m sorry fer bringin’ ya to the market, ah should’a known it’d be a mighty tough order fer ya…”

“Yeah…” Honeydew muttered, staring down at his hooves. “I just… never thought there could be so many of you in one spot.”

Applejack couldn't help but give him a pitying glance. Yer gonna have a hard time bringin’ him ta Canterlot if that was so overwhelmin’ for him. she quietly thought. “Maybe it’s better if we stuck to the quieter places, maybe rustle us up some grub.”

“Grub?”

“Food. ah’ve only really had a belly wash as a drink so far, some real eatin’ would be nice just about now.” With that, she raised her hoof to her hat, allowing the breezie to climb onto the rim once more. Then she took off. She didn’t take the direct route to the cafè she knew she wanted to visit, instead she skirted toward the outskirts of town, hoping that the much more sparsely populated periphery would have a calming effect on her small passenger.

“Yer hearin’ gotten any better?” She occasionally asked.

“I-I think so.” was his response. “The ringing is getting weaker, but it’s still a headache.”

“We’ll getcha some medicine, ah promise.” In truth, she was just utterly relieved that the noise earlier somehow hadn’t completely blown out his eardrums. Taking a deep breath, she knew to take this as a lesson. She had to be more careful with him around.

In that moment, a sudden weight dropped onto her head, followed by something sharp scraping through her mane and a loud screeching shout. A heartbeat later, the confused mare stared at the claws of a buzzard, clutching her stetson.

He hoof flew to her head, as an outraged cry burst out of her. “HEY, GIT BACK HERE AND GIMME BACK MY- HONEYDEW!” Filled with horror, she chased after the bird, which swooped past Carousel Boutique, leading her back into the town. “SOMEPONY, STOP THAT BIRD!”

The buzzard defiantly passed above a row of houses, forcing Applejack to run around the obstacle, cursing her lack of wings. “GIT BACK HERE!” she roared again.

Suddenly, in a rainbow-colored streak, Rainbow Dash appeared in her view, her back facing the ground as her head rested against her hooves in mid-flight. 

“Hey AJ. Bird got in your feathers?” snickering at her joke, she lazily glanced at the animal in question. “do you want me to get it or should I just bring you a longer lasso?~”

“Rainbow Dash, it’s got Honeydew!”

“uh… who?”

“TWILIGHT’S COLTFRIEND, YA DIMWIT!”

That broke up the pegasus’s relaxed posture. With a look of shock, she spun around to see the buzzard attempt to escape between the low roofs of ponyville. “Oh, no you don’t!” Rainbow Dash took off, intercepting the bird’s path. The buzzard squawked, trying to change direction, but Rainbow was faster, forcing the buzzard into a downward spiral toward the market’s edge. Short of breath, Applejack reached the scene as the pegasus was trying to pull the stetson out of the bird’s beak, but it seemed determined not to let go, it's claws sunk deeply into the rim- and something that looked like the beam from a flashlight.

“Okay, ya darn bird.” Applejack’s voice trembled as she glared at the defiant feathy beast. “Yer gonna let go of my hat an’ mah friend nice an’ slow, or ah swear ah’ll grant all’a yer feathers ta Rarity to turn inta sum fancy dress-thingamajig!”

The bird cawed, pecking at Rainbow’s hoof, who let out a shout of pain.

“THAT’S IT!” Applejack roared. “AHM GONNA-”

“What’s going on?” A third voice joined in, lacking all of it’s normal gentleness. “Applejack, Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?”

“Fluttershy!” Applejack turned around, feeling relieved despite the enraged glare the pegasus was giving her. “Tell that darn bird ta let go of Honeydew!”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened, and she let out a sudden, sharp bird call. The buzzard beat its wings, letting out a defensive sounding caw, but Fluttershy repeated hers with more intensity, causing the bird to instantly open it's claws. With a gasp, Honeydew fell into Applejack’s stetson, around which all three ponies gathered.

Though he was breathing heavily, it didn’t seem like he was hurt by the buzzard’s claws at all, nor was there any outward injury. Still, Applejack reached a hoof out to him, gently tapping him. “Are you okay?!”

“I’m not dead…” was his whispered reply as he ran his hooves over his body with a look of disbelief. “I felt it’s claws digging in my stomach, it hurt like a long, pointy splinter!”

“Twilight must have cast some protective spells on you.” Fluttershy answered, her lips forming a thin line. “But that bird could have taken you much further away. If you’d been lost, we would have never found you again!”

Her scolding only seemed to worsen the breezie’s condition, as he held his head between his hooves, teetering on the spot.

“Ah’m sorry.” Applejack interjected, hoping to distract her friend’s iron glare from the shocked breezie. “It was mah fault, ah didn’t pay attention-”

Fluttershy’s head whipped around, regarding her with the same look. “No, Applejack, it wasn’t your fault. He simply shouldn’t be here. You’ve seen what can happen! there are hundreds, if not thousands of dangerous things that could happen to him, and Twilight cannot prepare for everything. It was a foolish decision of her to bring him along, he just shouldn’t be here.” she shook her head. “Maybe we can make Twilight see before something worse happens.”

“Weeell...” Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head. “I wasn’t gonna be as harsh, but he really doesn’t seem as awesome as Twilight described him. Maybe it would be better if he went back.”

Applejack stared after both of them as one trotted, the other flew away, a knot forming in her stomach. She glanced down at the shivering form of Honeydew, wanting to say something in his defense… and yet she came up blank. Eventually, she held out a hoof. “Come on,” she gently whispered. “Let’s get ya somewhere safer.” As long as it was further away from here…

----

Naturally, Sweet Apple Acres had been her first bet for a stable, safe place. Honeydew was still hidden under her hat, though he’d grown a bit more lively at the sound of crunching leaves below her hooves. Maybe the rural environment would help with his nerves, too.

“It’s safe ta have a peek, Honeydew.”

A few seconds passed, until Applejack remembered to lift her hat up a bit, letting him peek at her farm.

“Wow… it’s so big!”

“Heh… anything’s big for ya.”

“W-well, it’s bigger than the other huts.” he muttered defensively. “Do you live here alone? I-I don’t see any other ponies.”

“Jus’ me an’ mah family.”

For some reason, the mention of the word ‘family’ seemed to relax the breezie. “S-so ponies do live with their families? I thought you’d rather be alone, since Twilight doesn’t seem to have hers…”

“Ah guess some don’t.” Applejack said as she looked for the key in the haystack beside the door. “Ah don’ got mah whole family here either, it’d be darn cramped if they were.” biting down on the key, it got a bit harder to speak as she inserted it into the door. “Is juss me ‘n mah sivlins an Granny Smiff.”  With a quick turn of her head, the door finally sprang open, and she was able to throw the key back into the hay. “But right now, none of ‘em are here. Big Mac’s out givin’ Winona a walk, Granny’s gettin’ her hearing aid checked and Appbleboom is at school. At least,” she added with a frown as she let herself fall in a seat. “Ah hope she’s there.”

Seemingly feeling a lot safer after having checked every direction for possible danger, Honeydew jumped from her head, gliding down toward a bowl of fruit and candy on the table. “School?” he asked, tilting his head, causing his feelers to lazily swing from side to side. “I don’t know that word.”

“It’s where we send our foals, so someone can teach ‘em all the things they gotta know for their later lives.”

“Oh…” his feelers suddenly drooped, while his voice sounded more subdued.. “S-so it’s like when the children go to meet the frindri?”

“Not sure what that is, but yer probably right.”

The next words from the breezie were so quiet that Applejack had to focus all her attention on him to make them out: “is there a lot one has to know?”

Oh. Warning bells rang in Applejack’s head as she suddenly realized where she’d allowed the conversation to drift to. “N-now, Honeydew, ah’m sure yer gonna manage-”

“Are you?!” his head snapped up, for the first time looking right into her eyes. “Because look at me, I know nothing about your world, I-I was just caught by a creature I’ve never seen before, and what if you hadn’t noticed?” his feelers had begun to glow with a bright, red-tinted light, eventually forcing Applejack to look away, while the breezie agitatedly paced around the table. “By Heistin’s fishy breath, you only need to speak too loudly and I get hurt, what does that say about my chances to even survive in your world?”

“N-now, Honeydew-” Applejack tried to interject, but her words fell on deaf ears.

“And you, you just- you have things that are normal for you that I could have never dreamt off! Not just your strength, but how many there are of you, how you can do anything you want- how easy things are for you! We had to struggle to just survive, and you-” All of a sudden, his wordflow stopped. His pacing had brought him to the edge of the table, to a bowl full of various fruit and candy, which the apple family used to spice up their meals every now and then. But Honeydew did not care about the variety. Instead, his widened eyes were staring straight at a bulbous bottle, filled to the brim with a sweet smelling, amber-colored substance.

Don’t let him get close to honey. The warning echoed in Applejack’s ears as it dawned on her that it wasn’t just a sweet tooth Twilight had been worried about. Honeydew’s jaw had dropped as his gaze slowly travelled up the wide bottle, large enough for a small group of breezies to have a bath inside. His eye had begun to twitch, and Applejack felt a sudden urge to pull the bottle away, despite it already being far too late.

“Are… you… KIDDING ME?!” the flabbergasted breezie whirled around, his voice spiking. “That’s honey, right? Is it?”

“Y-yeah, it is, but-”

“How did you get this much?” he asked, his lips trembling. “How? We don’t even- by the caves of Fjermengard, even if all the clans I know, or even with all the clans I’ve only ever heard of, if they all put their honey together they- they still wouldn’t even get close! How did you get all this?”

“Ah helped out with Carrot Top’s bee keepin’...”

There was a short silence as her words seemed to make their way into Honeydew’s ear, before being slowly processed in his mind. “Bee keeping?” he whispered, his expression blank. “Bee keeping. Sure. SURE, OF COURSE YOU WOULD!”

“Honeydew-” Applejack tried to interject, but she fell on deaf ears.

“Control the trees, have a thousand apples from them, that’s just normal for you, it’s not enough that you’re giants, no, you get to have magic too and fight spirits! Oh, and why don’t you JUST GET ALL THE HONEY YOU COULD POSSIBLY EVER WANT, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU PONIES DON’T JUST GET? Is that even everything? What else do you have? Control over the weather? Can you move around the sun if you want? Make monsters perform tricks for you? D-do you even know how hard it is?” 

With that, he fell back on his haunches, a shiver going through his body. “We always had to worry if we were gonna have enough food for the next winter. Some of us only get to taste honey once in all their life, and you just- you have everything! What does any of it matter compared to this?” He threw his hoof against the bottle, shortly before another shiver took hold of him. With a start, Applejack realised that he was actually sobbing. “Nothing I know matters here. What would you need a scout for if you know your world better than I do and you have more food than you can eat? And even if I learned, what can I do that could possibly help you ponies?! I-I can’t even help you at the market or be near a group of you. I… I should just go back.” drawing a shaky breath, he got up on his legs and wiped the tears from his face, yet they were quickly replaced. “Just go back to a place where what I do matters!”

“N-now hold on!” Placing a hoof in his way, Applejack forced the breezie to turn his glistening eyes to her once more. “I-it may be true that we ponies got some things ya’ll breezies don’t, but that don’t mean what ya’ll do got no meaning. From what Twilight told us, yer clan’s like a big family, stickin’ through hardship together, with all yer grit an’ determination. An’ yer bestin’ the odds time an’ time again, if that ain’t somethin’ ta be proud of, then ah don’t know what is.”

“And yet, we needed Twilight’s help to defeat the spirit!” Honeydew said, defiantly staring up at the earth pony. “We couldn't do it ourselves.”

“Sometimes ya can’t. Sometimes ya need help.” closing her eyes, Applejack took a deep breath. “A couple years back, ah used ta think ah had ta do it all on mah own. Didn’t wanna accept any help, no matter how tough things got. Ah worked hard, day an’ night, tryin’ ta harvest all the apples from all our trees by mah lonesome. But if it’s too much, it just is. An’ so, ah let mah friends help. And lemme tell ya, ah hid it pretty well, but when Twilight began helpin’, ah was furious.”

“W-what?” Honeydew blinked in shock. “Why?”

“Because she made all mah hard work look like a joke with that magic of hers. Just picked a dozen trees clean in the time ah’d get done with one.”

“But… don’t you have magic too?”

She raised a large eyebrow. “Uhm… do ya see a horn on mah head, li’l one?” 

“I- I thought you were hiding it under your hat.” he muttered sheepishly.

“Heh… if only that was true.” Applejack chuckled weakly. “Truth is, only the unicorns get magic, an’ the pegasi get ta fly… while some of us don’t get either. An’ for a while, it drove me up the walls, like nothin’ ah did mattered. But that ain’t true. If ya work hard, and if that hard work let's ya succeed, it don’t matter if somepony else can do it better or faster than you, cause you still did it. It just ain’t fair ta yerself to compare yourself to a pony, just like it wouldn’t be fair for me to compare myself to a powerful unicorn. If ya worked hard, you can be proud of it, that’s the lesson ah learned. Besides, yer makin’ Twilight happy in a way nopony managed to before. And ah know she’d be heartbroken if you just up an’ left.”

“I-” Honeydew simply blinked at her, stunned by her words. “I do?”

“From what ah’ve seen, certainly. You seem like a nice li’l guy, if a bit nervous. Might be a point in yer favour, she’s probably nervous too, considerin’ she’s as new to bein’ in a relationship as you are. An’ of course, yer bogglin’ my mind with how gosh darn adorable you are.”

“I-I am not!”

“You are, and there’s nothin’ you can say that can change mah mind.” Applejack chuckled, gently poking Honeydew’s side with the edge of her hoof. Then she let out a sigh.  “I suppose ah kinda need ta go back to the market, catch up on some sales… ahm gonna drop ya off at Twilight’s first though, wouldn’t wanna drag ya back in there with me again.”

“Yeah, that does sound better than going back to that place.” Honeydew meekly nodded, before suddenly rearing up, grasping for the earth pony’s hoof. “A-Applejack?”

“Uh… yes?” she muttered, a bit taken aback.

“Thank you. Really.” pulling back, he gave a strange glance, like that of an embarassed filly. “Would you, uhm… like to meet again?”

Her hoof rose, gently stroking over his head. “Ah’d love ta get a second chance at showin’ ya around.” she purred. “Anythin’ for a friend.”