Scootaloo woke up the next morning and yawned and stretched, she looked and saw Apex was not in her room, she went to the dining room and saw Aunt Holiday and Auntie Holiday were awake,
"Good morning, Scootaloo." Aunt Holiday said,
"Morning." Scootaloo replied, and she saw Auntie Lofty's cookies were for breakfast, she ate them and knocking was heard at the door, Aunt Holiday opened it and saw Apple Bloom,
"Why, hello, Apple Bloom." Aunt Holiday said,
"Howdy, Ah'm here to see Apex." Apple Bloom replied,
"I don't think he's up yet." Aunt Holiday said, they heard Apex stretching and yawning on the roof,
"What the?!" Auntie Lofty said, and she and Scootaloo trotted outside, the four looked and saw Apex on the roof,
"*gasp* Apex!" Aunt Holiday said,
"What?" Apex asked, Auntie Lofty flew up onto the roof,
"No, Apex, you can't sleep on the roof, either." Auntie Lofty said, Apex groaned with disappointment and jumped down while Auntie Lofty flew down,
"Mornin', Apex, Ah was just lookin' for ya." Apple Bloom said,
"For what?" Apex asked,
"Well, if ya wish, we can try to help ya get yer cutie mark, Scootaloo here can help, Sweetie Belle will be with us, too." Apple Bloom replied,
"I've never thought getting my cutie mark was that big of a deal." Apex said,
"You never thought about what your cutie mark might be?" Scootaloo asked,
"Not really." Apex replied,
"Well, come on, you three, breakfast's ready." Auntie Lofty said, and they entered the home.
Apex ate the cookies with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom,
"Where are ya goin' today, Apex?" Apple Bloom asked,
"Probably back to the forest." Apex replied,
"You shouldn't go there, Apex, it's dangerous." Aunt Holiday said,
"Don't worry, I have a lot of experience, I can defend myself, too." Apex replied,
"Still, you shouldn't go there." Aunt Holiday said, and Apex drank the water,
"Here, Apex, why don't you try this?" Aunt Holiday asked as she handed him her drink,
"What's this?" Apex asked,
"It's coffee." Aunt Holiday replied, Apex drank it but soon spat it out all over the table,
"Bleh! This is bitter!" Apex said,
"Here, Apex, try some tea." Auntie Lofty said as she handed him her drink, he drank it and barely swallowed it,
"This is bitter, too." Apex said,
"Well, you can actually modify the taste, milk and sugar are used to change its taste." Aunt Holiday said,
"Sugar... sugar... where have I seen that?" Apex asked,
"It's right there on the counter, Apex." Apple Bloom replied as she pointed to it, Apex looked at it,
"Oh, that's what it is, I remember it now." Apex said,
"How do you know what sugar is?" Auntie Lofty asked,
"There was one time when I was preserving my food in the woods, and I put sugar on it by mistake because I thought it was salt." Apex replied,
"*chuckle* I made that mistake once, too, when I put salt in my coffee instead of sugar." Aunt Holiday said, Apex smiled a little,
"Are you two off today?" Apex asked,
"No, we have school today." Scootaloo replied,
"Sorry, Apex, but we can't hang out today." Apple Bloom said,
"It's fine." Apex replied, and he ate slowly,
"Well, you and Apple Bloom should finish breakfast, Scootaloo, you two are going to be late for school." Aunt Holiday said, and the two ate and they and Apex washed the dishes, they went outside and Apex went to the Everfree Forest while Apple Bloom and Scootaloo went to school.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo walked to Carousel Boutique and Apple Bloom knocked on the door, Sweetie Belle opened it,
"Mornin', Sweetie Belle, ya ready to go to school?" Apple Bloom asked,
"Yeah, hold on, I have to get my saddlebag." Sweetie Belle replied, and she trotted into her home,
"Ain't ya gonna tell her bout Apex?" Apple Bloom asked,
"Well, I haven't thought about it, I thought you and her would meet him at Pinkie's welcoming party for him." Scootaloo replied,
"Now that ya mention it, Ah haven't seen Pinkie Pie around." Apple Bloom said,
"She's not in Sugarcube Corner?" Scootaloo asked,
"No, we last saw her two days ago, we haven't seen her since." Apple Bloom replied,
"Two days ago? Hmm, Apex arrived at my home three days ago, maybe she's looking for him." Scootaloo said,
"Who knows, Pinkie always does strange things." Apple Bloom replied, they heard walking and Sweetie Belle came out,
"Alright, I'm ready." Sweetie Belle said, and the three walked to school together. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle walked to school,
"How do y'all two think y'all did on the test yesterday?" Apple Bloom asked,
"I think I did pretty good." Sweetie Belle replied,
"How about you, Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom asked, Scootaloo groaned and looked down,
"Aw, don't be like that, Scootaloo, maybe you passed this time." Sweetie Belle said,
"I doubt it." Scootaloo replied,
"Well, come on, the school's right there, let's go see our grades." Apple Bloom said, and she and Sweetie Belle trotted to class, Scootaloo looked down and walked to class.
Scootaloo sat in class and Cheerilee handed back the tests from yesterday,
"I did it, I passed." Sweetie Belle said,
"Good for you, Sweetie Belle, Ah just barely passed." Apple Bloom replied, Scootaloo got her test back and did not look at her grade since she already saw it, she groaned and put her head on the desk. Cheerilee looked and saw Scootaloo, she trotted to her,
"Oh, Scootaloo, don't be sad, you did better than last time, you should be happy." Cheerilee said,
"I still failed, though." Scootaloo replied,
"It's okay if you fail as long as you improve, and you did, I'm proud of you, so don't be so upset." Cheerilee said,
"Still, I'm failing." Scootaloo replied,
"Give it time, Scootaloo, maybe after a few more tests, you'll start passing." Cheerilee said, and she went back to handing out the tests,
"Cheer up, Scootaloo, me and Sweetie Belle can help ya study, plus, mornin' work is about to start." Apple Bloom said, Scootaloo sighed and she and her classmates did their morning work.
Apex was back in the Everfree Forest and at where he was last time, he put his outfit on and was chewing a piece of tree sap from the gum tree,
"Okay, where do I go now?" Apex asked as he looked at the three paths ahead of him, he decided to go to the left path and cut off a piece of tree bark off of every tree he encountered with one of his knives, he kept walking forward and saw a cockatrice up ahead. Apex got defensive and stepped back slowly, he took his bow and an arrow out of one of his trash bags and aimed it carefully, the cockatrice turned and looked at Apex, he became startled and fired the arrow on impulse, but he hit the cockatrice in the head by chance,
"Hmm, looks like I got dinner for tonight." Apex said, and he took the arrow out of the cockatrice, cleaned the blood off with the grass, and put it and his bow back in the trash bag, he then took out a hatchet and cut the cockatrice's head off, he trotted around and looked for a body of water, he found one and he washed the cockatrice and then took its feathers off and broke its feet off and then put it in the trash bag that carried his food. Apex kept trotting and marking his path on the trees, he found lemon ants in another tree and ate a few, he pressed onward and stopped at another tree,
"Oh, good, pine cones." Apex said, and he used a knife to cut one off of the tree, he put the stem at the bottom of the pine cone into his right ear to clean the wax out, he got another one and used the stem at the bottom to clean the wax out of his other ear,
"Ah, my ears feel so much better." Apex said, and he kept going. Apex walked around more and looked for more plants and animals, he heard growling and listened,
"Wolves." Apex said, and he continued to hear them, he looked forward and saw the timberwolves. Apex quickly looked for a stick and found one, he bundled up some leaves and grass to make tinder, he got rope out of one of his trash bags and wrapped it around the stick, he got a knife and his flint out, he scraped the flint with his knife to make a spark, he tried several times and lit the tinder. Apex grabbed the torch and held it forward, the timberwolves whimpered and backed away from the fire, Apex walked forward and the timberwolves backed away slowly, Apex got ready to throw the torch at one of the timberwolves and they all ran away. Apex blew the fire out and continued forward, he looked around and saw bugs hopping on the ground,
"Ooh, crickets, I'll eat them when I get hungry." Apex said, and he kept going into the forest and marked his path on the trees, he began to walk slowly and fell onto the ground,
"Wow, I am tired, I guess I can build some shelter around here." Apex said, and he looked around. Apex cut the branches on the trees and stuck them into the ground, he then put sticks in the wedges at the top of the two tree branches, he then looked for moss to use as a blanket,
"Hmm, no moss, well, it's just a temporary shelter." Apex said, and he put his trash bags on top of his makeshift bed and he got on it and sighed as he laid down.
School has finished and Scootaloo was walking on her own, she was going to go see Rainbow Dash,
"Excuse me, Scootaloo." a familiar voice said, Scootaloo looked up a bit and saw Fluttershy flying to her, she landed,
"Do you know anypony who's been to the Everfree Forest recently?" Fluttershy asked,
"Is something wrong?" Scootaloo asked,
"The trees in the forest are marked, almost like somepony cut the bark off." Fluttershy replied, Scootaloo put two and two together,
"When did you find them?" Scootaloo asked,
"This morning when I was feeding the animals." Fluttershy replied,
"Um... I don't know who would, it wasn't me, Apple Bloom, or Sweetie Belle, though." Scootaloo said,
"I'm just curious on who did it, Scootaloo, nopony's in trouble." Fluttershy replied,
"Sorry, but I have no clue." Scootaloo said,
"Everypony I asked so far doesn't have a clue, either, and they're not deep enough and too straight to be claw marks, I'll go see if anypony has an idea." Fluttershy replied,
"Okay, good luck, Fluttershy." Scootaloo said, and she flew away while Scootaloo walked. Rainbow Dash flew around and practiced for her next Wonderbolts training, she heard cheering and saw Scootaloo below her,
"You made it, watch this." Rainbow Dash said, and she flew and did more stunts while Scootaloo clapped. Rainbow Dash flew down after getting exhausted,
"Where's Apex?" Rainbow Dash asked,
"He went back into the Everfree Forest." Scootaloo replied,
"Really? He really should have somepony show him around instead." Rainbow Dash said,
"I found out how he found his way back." Scootaloo replied,
"How?" Rainbow Dash asked,
"He's cutting the bark off of the trees in his path, so he's marking where he's going and can backtrack if he gets lost." Scootaloo replied,
"Isn't that in your Filly Guides Camp?" Rainbow Dash asked,
"No." Scootaloo replied,
"Wow, I never thought of that before, either, maybe we can learn a few things from him." Rainbow Dash said,
"I plan to, tomorrow's Saturday, so no school." Scootaloo replied,
"I'll be coming along, too." Rainbow Dash said,
"Thanks, it's getting a little late, I should head home." Scootaloo replied, and she trotted home while Rainbow Dash followed her.
Scootaloo entered her home and her aunts saw her and Rainbow Dash,
"Welcome home, Scootaloo, and hello, Rainbow Dash." Aunt Holiday said,
"Hi, Aunt Holiday." Rainbow Dash replied,
"Where's Apex?" Scootaloo asked,
"He hasn't come back, yet." Auntie Lofty replied as she sewed her quilt,
"He still isn't home?" Rainbow Dash asked,
"Yeah, the sun's setting, too." Scootaloo replied,
"Well, he's in the Everfree Forest, so either Fluttershy or Zecora will find him." Rainbow Dash said,
"Well, dinner's ready, go ahead and eat." Aunt Holiday said, and Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash had dinner.
Apex was walking around in the Everfree Forest and the sun was setting, he saw eyes' in the shadows, Apex looked around for a pile of mud, he looked around and found one,
"Yes." Apex said under his breath, he took his outfit off and put it in a trash bag, he went into the mud and rubbed it all over his body, the animals smelled him and some of them groaned since the mud stank,
"Okay, where's the other material? There it is." Apex said as he trotted to it, he picked up animal feces and rubbed it on his body, the animals smelled him and ran away while gagging while Apex laughed like a villain. Apex picked up his trash bags and walked around the Everfree Forest a little more,
"Hey." a female voice said, Apex turned around and saw Fluttershy flying to him,
"You should head home, the forest's dangerous at night." Fluttershy said,
"I'm fine." Apex replied,
"No, let's get you home, your family's probably worried, where do you live?" Fluttershy asked,
"I'm staying at Scootaloo's place." Apex replied,
"Come on, let's get you home." Fluttershy said, and she picked him up and flew to Scootaloo's home while she gagged and tried to hold her breath.
Scootaloo was doing her homework while Rainbow Dash helped her, knocking was heard at the door,
"Come in." Auntie Lofty said, and the door opened, they all saw Fluttershy, she put Apex down and he stood on all four of his legs instead of just his hind legs, Aunt Holiday exclaimed with shock with her front hoofs on her cheeks,
"Apex!" Aunt Holiday said, Apex looked and saw Auntie Lofty, Scootaloo, and Rainbow Dash looking at him with shocked expressions,
"He was like this when I found him in the Everfree Forest." Fluttershy said,
"What happened to you?" Scootaloo asked,
"I got the animals to leave me alone by covering myself in mud and fecal matter." Apex replied, everypony looked at him with shocked expressions,
"I was wondering why you stink." Fluttershy said, Auntie Lofty flew to him and pushed him to the bathroom,
"Come on, Apex, into the shower." Auntie Lofty said, the others followed her.
Auntie Lofty put Apex in the bathtub and then went to the sink to wash her front hoofs, she used the pink soap bar on the side multiple times, she then flew to the bathtub and turned the shower on, Apex yelped when the water hit him,
"Since when did ponies start washing themselves with hot water?" Apex asked,
"We've been doing it ever since I was a filly, Apex, it's nothing new." Auntie Lofty replied,
"My parents and I always used ice cold water." Apex said,
"Well, most ponies don't like cleaning themselves with cold water, hot water cleans better, too." Auntie Lofty said, and she washed Apex while the others walked into the bathroom to see him,
"Honestly, Apex, don't cover yourself in animal poop, you're going to get sick." Auntie Lofty said,
"But I need its smell so the animals don't eat me." Apex replied,
"We got bug sprays and repellents for that now, you don't need to get all messy anymore." Auntie Lofty said, and she cleaned him, she put shampoo and mane conditioner in his mane,
"What is this?" Apex asked,
"Shampoo and mane conditioner, the shampoo helps clean your mane and tail, and the conditioner will make your mane look better and feel better when somepony touches it." Auntie Lofty replied, and she washed Apex's mane,
"What the?" Auntie Lofty asked, she took her front hoofs out of his mane and saw white flakes on her hoofs,
"What's the matter, Lofty?" Aunt Holiday asked,
"He has dandruff." Auntie Lofty replied,
"Really?" Rainbow Dash asked as she flew forward, she looked and saw the dandruff in Apex's mane,
"Oh, you should try to hide that, Apex, foals will make fun of you if they see that." Rainbow Dash said,
"Wait, let me see his snout." Fluttershy said as she flew forward, she looked at him,
"I thought I saw something, he has blackheads and whiteheads in his snout." Fluttershy said, the others looked and saw them,
"I'm sure a little lemon juice can help with that." Aunt Holiday said,
"My parents used lemon juice for cleaning." Apex replied,
"Now, now, Apex, lemon juice has more uses." Aunt Holiday said, Apex looked at Fluttershy while Auntie Lofty washed him,
"Is this another one of your friends, Scootaloo?" Apex asked,
"This is Fluttershy." Scootaloo replied,
"Oh, so you're Fluttershy, Scootaloo mentioned you liking animals." Apex said,
"Yes, I have a sanctuary and give pets to those who want them, I have cats, dogs, snakes, elephants..." Fluttershy replied,
"I like vultures." Apex said,
"I don't have that." Fluttershy replied,
"Also, Apex, she's my idol's childhood friend." Scootaloo said,
"Really?" Apex asked,
"Yup, Fluttershy and I grew up together." Rainbow Dash replied,
"I'm still surprised, I've never seen him before." Fluttershy said,
"My brother and sister-in-law brought him here three days ago, he's a homeless orphan." Aunt Holiday replied,
"Oh, you poor foal, you can stay at my place." Fluttershy said,
"Thanks, but I like it here." Apex replied,
"I'm a bit nervous introducing him to the other ponies, since Apex lived in the woods, and sleeps in trees and on roofs, he digs through trash for food, too." Scootaloo said,
"Has he made any friends?" Fluttershy asked,
"Well, he's already met Zecora, Cranky Doodle, Matilda, and the Apple family, but I don't know whether to call them friends or not." Scootaloo replied,
"I need to get to know them better before I can call them friends." Apex said,
"Do you consider me and my aunts friends?" Scootaloo asked,
"Not yet." Apex replied, and Auntie Lofty got a pink soap bar from the side of the bathtub,
"What is this?" Apex asked,
"Soap, it's used for cleaning." Auntie Lofty replied,
"Wow, washing in civilization sure takes a lot longer than in the wild." Apex said,
"How did you wash yourself in the woods?" Fluttershy asked,
"Find a body of water, jump in it, rub water on yourself, that's it." Apex replied,
"What about drying?" Aunt Holiday asked,
"We just walked in the sun." Apex replied,
"Well, you won't be walking in the sun here, you're going to dry yourself with a towel." Auntie Lofty said, and she soon turned the shower off, she got a green bath towel and dried Apex with it,
"That's a pretty long wash." Apex said,
"Really? It's about average time for us." Aunt Holiday replied,
"We didn't have showers in the woods, either, well, unless you count walking in the rain as a shower, but other than that, we always took baths." Apex said,
"Walking in the rain is not a shower, Apex." Auntie Lofty replied, and she finished drying him,
"Well, dinner's ready, go eat, Apex." Aunt Holiday said, and he went to the dining room while Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash went home.
Apex looked at his dinner and saw he was having lasagna tonight,
"What's this?" Apex asked,
"Lasagna, it's another type of pasta." Auntie Lofty replied, Apex stabbed it with a fork and lifted it up as he looked at it,
"What's this at the top?" Apex asked,
"Cheese." Scootaloo replied, Apex got ready to put the entire top layer in his mouth,
"No, Apex, use your knife to cut it." Aunt Holiday said, Apex reached into one of his trash bags and took out a wooden handle, he unfolded the blade and Scootaloo and her aunts saw it was a straight razor. Apex cut the lasagna with the straight razor while Scootaloo and her aunts looked at him with bewilderment,
"What?" Apex asked,
"That's not a knife, Apex." Scootaloo replied,
"My dad told me this is a folding knife." Apex said,
"Well, it's not, that's a razor, it's used for shaving beards." Auntie Lofty replied, Apex just put the straight razor back in his trash bag and used the knife at the table and ate his supper,
"Still, I wish you didn't go into the Everfree Forest, Apex." Aunt Holiday said,
"As I said, I have my ways of finding my way back." Apex replied,
"I know how you find which way to go, Apex." Scootaloo said, Apex looked at her,
"You're cutting bark off of the trees with your knife." Scootaloo said,
"How did you know?" Apex asked,
"Fluttershy found some of your markings." Scootaloo replied,
"I have other ways, too." Apex said, and he washed the dishes after he finished, he and Scootaloo went to bed shortly afterwards, Apex was still hungry and could not sleep, so he headed outside.
Apex headed outside and got some of the grass and leaves off of the ground, he used his knife and flint to light a fire, he put the cockatrice he killed over it to cook it, the cockatrice finished cooking and he began eating, the door opened and Scootaloo walked out,
"What is that light over..." Scootaloo said before she stopped and saw Apex sitting and eating meat,
"What are you eating?" Scootaloo asked,
"A cockatrice." Apex replied with his mouth full, Scootaloo became speechless,
"Where did you get that?" Scootaloo asked after a minute,
"The forest." Apex replied, Scootaloo's jaw dropped,
"Oh, shoot, this isn't good, Fluttershy's not going to be happy." Scootaloo said, Apex finished eating and he went to the trash can in front of Scootaloo's house shoved the cockatrice's bones to the bottom,
"We won't be in trouble if she doesn't find out." Apex said,
"Still, she's going to be upset if she does, *sigh* let's just go to bed, Apex." Scootaloo replied, and she went into the house while Apex slept in the tree.