Scootaloo woke up and Apex was not in bed, she looked outside her window and saw him cooking, he ate fox meat and Scootaloo covered her mouth when she felt the urge to vomit, he then took out and cooked some mushrooms, she headed outside to go see him,
"Morning, Scootaloo." Apex said,
"Where did you get those mushrooms?" Scootaloo asked,
"The woods I lived in." Apex replied, the door opened and Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty walked out while wearing their pajamas,
"What are you doing now, Apex?" Auntie Lofty asked, they looked and saw him cooking mushrooms,
"Oh, you're cooking mushrooms, that's fine, Apex, but be careful, my brother said most mushrooms in Equestria are poisonous." Aunt Holiday said,
"I'm not surprised, this is the only edible mushroom from the woods." Apex replied,
"You could at least season them." Auntie Lofty said,
"My mom always cooked them unseasoned." Apex replied,
"Most ponies don't like mushrooms unseasoned, a lot of them like them with cooked garlic." Auntie Lofty said,
"My mom used garlic to prevent tick bites." Apex replied,
"How does that work?" Aunt Holiday asked,
"Break the garlic apart and rub the liquid inside on yourself." Apex replied,
"Did you ever eat garlic?" Auntie Lofty asked,
"Yes, my mom and her tribe ate them raw." Apex replied, Scootaloo and her aunts had shocked expressions,
"How were you able to eat something that spicy?" Aunt Holiday asked,
"It took me a while, but I grew used to it after a while." Apex replied,
"Don't eat raw garlic, Apex, it'll make your breath stink, that's not acceptable in society." Auntie Lofty said,
"What about raw ginger?" Apex asked,
"That's fine, you can use that for cooking, too." Auntie Lofty replied,
"Hmm, my parents never told me that." Apex said,
"What other spicy foods did you have in the woods?" Scootaloo asked,
"One more, raw ghost pepper." Apex replied, Scootaloo and her aunts had shocked faces again,
"How did you manage to eat that?" Aunt Holiday asked,
"I endured the spiciness, they are sacred in my mom's culture, eating them is a rite of passage into adulthood, a pony has to eat it and swallow it without spitting it out, nor eat or drink anything to make the spice weaker." Apex replied,
"What's the point of it?" Auntie Lofty asked,
"Those who can swallow the pepper and endure its spice are considered adults by the tribe, those who fail are still kids, they can eat the pepper whenever they feel ready." Apex replied,
"Well, that's nice, Apex, but I have school today, so I have to get ready." Scootaloo said,
"Want a mushroom?" Apex asked,
"I guess." Scootaloo replied, and he gave her one, she ate it and it was crunchy,
"This doesn't have much flavor." Scootaloo said,
"I know, they're always like that, I don't eat them often." Apex replied,
"Would you like some cookies?" Auntie Lofty asked,
"Actually, I'm full, this is heavy." Scootaloo replied,
"Okay, go on and get ready, Scootaloo, as for you, Apex, stay in Ponyville today, we don't want you to go into the woods and get into trouble with the wild animals." Aunt Holiday said, Apex nodded,
"Well, come on, Holiday, I need help on my quilt today." Auntie Lofty said, and the two entered the house. Apex ate a mushroom with Scootaloo and she then went into the house and came out with her saddlebag and went to school, Apex put the fire out and picked up his trash bags and went to Ponyville.
Scootaloo sat in class and was ready to work,
"Has everything been alright at home, Scootaloo?" Cheerilee asked,
"Yeah, Apex is just mostly walking around Ponyville and exploring." Scootaloo replied,
"Why don't you have him enroll here?" Cheerilee asked,
"Well, one, when my parents find guardians for him, he's leaving, and two, they told me not to bring him here since his behavior is inappropriate for school." Scootaloo replied,
"Well, I can see that, but he still should at least get an education." Cheerilee said,
"Twilight's teaching him." Scootaloo replied,
"Oh, good, he's getting home schooled, well, let's start our class." Cheerilee said, and she handed out the morning work. Scootaloo worked while she thought about Apex and what he was doing, she worked quickly and yawned since she was still tired, she finished after what felt like a minute, she looked up and saw almost everypony was done, the others soon finished,
"Okay, class, very good, now team up with your friends and check your answers together." Cheerilee said, and Scootaloo got with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo checked her work with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle and saw she has gotten about half of the answers wrong, Scootaloo groaned and put her head on the desk,
"It's okay, Scootaloo, you're improving." Sweetie Belle said,
"I still failed, though." Scootaloo replied,
"Don't feel bad, Scootaloo, Ah just barely passed, too." Apple Bloom said,
"I'm a bit worried about what my grade is when compared to the rest of the class." Scootaloo replied,
"Sorry to say this, Scootaloo, but you have the lowest grade in the entire classroom." Cheerilee said, Scootaloo groaned again,
"Don't be sad, Scootaloo, I'm sure you'll start passing eventually." Sweetie Belle said,
"Yeah, yer doin' better than before, just keep tryin'." Apple Bloom said,
"But still." Scootaloo replied,
"Go ahead and rest for now, Scootaloo. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, let her know when the others are done." Cheerilee said, and she walked around class and watched the students check their work together while Scootaloo kept her head on the desk.
Apex walked around Ponyville and looked into the houses, he saw Cranky Doodle and Matilda in one house and knocked on their door, Cranky Doodle opened it,
"Why, hello, Apex." Cranky Doodle said,
"I'm here to learn what you two did as kids." Apex said,
"Sure, come on in." Cranky Doodle replied, and Apex entered his home. Apex sat on a chair while Cranky Doodle and Matilda came with a picture book, Cranky Doodle opened it,
"This is when Matilda and I were kids, we used to build huts out of dirt and mud and we would play in them, we also helped our parents build shelters as well, it was a lot of fun." Cranky Doodle said,
"What was the shelter built from?" Apex asked,
"There's a picture of it right here." Matilda replied as she pointed to it, Apex looked and saw their shelter was built from dried dirt shaped like bricks, a cement-like liquid made from dirt and water, the inside was filled with leaves and branches, and the roof was made from hay,
"Wow, the shelter my parents and I made were just made from dried mud." Apex said,
"How often did you three make shelter?" Matilda asked,
"Not often, we usually slept in the trees." Apex replied,
"You sound like not all of your shelter was built." Cranky Doodle said,
"It wasn't, my parents and I also dug holes in the ground and slept there, we covered the holes with tree branches and moss, too." Apex replied,
"This picture here is us making chewing gum, we have tree sap in a pot over a fire and we're boiling it." Cranky Doodle said as he pointed at the picture, Apex chuckled a little,
"I might try that myself." Apex said,
"This one is us harvesting honey from bees, this was the biggest hive we ever found." Matilda said as she pointed to it,
"You two didn't have honey ants?" Apex asked,
"Not where we grew up, no." Cranky Doodle replied,
"What's this one?" Apex asked as he pointed at it,
"That's us making toothpaste from the ashes of a bonfire, we used those toothbrush tree sticks you use to brush our teeth." Matilda replied,
"I did that once, but my mom said I didn't need it, so I never did it again." Apex said,
"This picture is us harvesting vegetables and flowers to eat." Matilda said as she pointed at it, Apex looked at the picture,
"I've never seen those flowers before." Apex said,
"They only grew where we grew up. Anyway, this picture here is us celebrating a hunt." Cranky Doodle said as he pointed at it, Apex looked and saw a deer,
"That must've tasted good." Apex said,
"It did." Matilda replied,
"I remember when my mom would tell me about the tale of Mother Nature, she said she is wrathful to trophy hunters." Apex said,
"We were told about Mother Nature as kids, too, it's because it's wasting the food, so she brought disasters onto them as punishment." Cranky Doodle replied,
"Wow, I didn't know people outside of mom's tribe told the tale about her, too." Apex said,
"Well, she was popular when we were kids, but it got less popular as we got older, and almost no one knows about that story now." Matilda replied,
"Did you all have any rites of passage for getting older?" Apex asked,
"Of course, that's me right there as a teenager." Cranky Doodle replied as he pointed to a picture,
"What are you doing?" Apex asked,
"I had to stay in the wilderness for a night and be ready to fend off any wild animals that attacked me, I passed." Cranky Doodle replied,
"Wow, my mom's tribe had ponies eat a ghost pepper." Apex said,
"I've eaten one of those once, it was spicy." Matilda said,
"About that, you can't eat or drink anything to weaken the pepper's spice during the rite of passage." Apex replied,
"What age are you when you do it?" Cranky Doodle asked,
"Any age, you can do it anytime, you can be as young as four and as old as eighty to eat the ghost pepper, but until you do, you're not considered an adult by the tribe." Apex replied,
"What does it mean to be an adult in your mother's tribe?" Matilda asked,
"More responsibilities, you also have to look after the ponies who are still considered kids." Apex replied,
"That's it?" Cranky Doodle asked,
"More respect from the tribe, too." Apex replied,
"What did you do for fun in the woods?" Matilda asked,
"Throw a beehive around with my parents." Apex replied,
"Yeah, we didn't do that." Cranky Doodle said,
"You guys didn't have beehives?" Apex asked,
"No, we had balls instead." Cranky Doodle replied,
"What's a ball?" Apex asked,
"This is a ball." Matilda replied and Apex looked at it,
"They come in many shapes and sizes, this is just the most common shape." Cranky Doodle said,
"Do you all have any more pictures?" Apex asked,
"Nope, that's all, come on, Apex, I'll show you something Matilda and I did as kids, let's go outside." Cranky Doodle said, and they headed outside.
Apex, Cranky Doodle, and Matilda were outside and Cranky Doodle and Matilda began collecting sticks,
"This is a ceremony we liked to do for fun at night, Apex, it's called a wicker pony." Cranky Doodle said, and the two began getting sticks and leaves,
"Come on, Apex, you too." Matilda said, and he got sticks and Cranky Doodle and Matilda began building a small wooden sculpture, they worked and stopped for a minute,
"If you're willing to learn, Apex, you need to interweave the sticks and leaves, like this." Matilda said, and she showed him how to do it. Apex began building the wicker pony and they made one the size of a foal, it was in the shape of an earth pony,
"There, it's done, almost all wicker ponies are bigger than this, and they have a horn and wings, too, but we're only going to do a small one because there's not that much material here, and we're going to burn it." Cranky Doodle said,
"You're going to burn it?" Apex asked,
"Hmm-mm, we made these during winter nights, especially on New Year's." Matilda replied,
"Ah, makes sense." Apex said,
"Well, let's burn it, and watch it so the fire doesn't spread." Cranky Doodle said, and he came out with a match and lit it and threw it onto the wicker pony. Apex watched the wicker pony burn and it slowly burned, other ponies looked at the fire and watched the wicker pony burn, it burned down and Cranky Doodle and Matilda stomped the fires out,
"Wasn't that fun, Apex?" Cranky Doodle asked,
"It was alright." Apex replied,
"We would then collect the ashes and store them in pots." Matilda said,
"I wear one on my head as a hat." Apex replied,
"No, not that kind of pot, a pot that is thin and tall, decorated with various designs on them." Cranky Doodle said,
"Oh." Apex said,
"Well, go on and have fun, Apex, you're welcome here anytime." Matilda said, Apex nodded with a smile on his face and left.
Apex walked around Ponyville again and heard the bell at the school ring, he looked and saw the foals leaving the school, he looked and saw Scootaloo walking with her head down, she walked away and went to go see Rainbow Dash. Apex looked around and saw the ponies wearing clothes, he reached into one of his trash bags and put on his outfit, he looked around and saw how different his outfit was when compared to other ponies,
"No, Apex, you can't wear that here." Rarity said as she walked to him,
"You again." Apex said,
"Come with me, Apex, let's make you an outfit more suitable for the environment you're in." Rarity said, and he followed her to Carousel Boutique. Apex entered Carousel Boutique and saw Sweetie Belle,
"Hi, Apex." Sweetie Belle said, Apex waved at her,
"Now, Apex, I need you to take that outfit off so I can measure you." Rarity said, and he did. Rarity used her telekinesis to measure Apex with a tape measure,
"Um, Apex, darling, your waist is small for a colt your age." Rarity said,
"I guess civilization's belief on weight really is different." Apex said,
"What do you mean?" Rarity asked,
"My mom said I'm average size for her tribe." Apex replied,
"Average?! I can see your ribs through your skin." Rarity said,
"My parents were like that, too." Apex replied,
"Them too, you say? Well, anyway, I shall prepare your outfit." Rarity said,
"I thought you only made dresses." Apex replied,
"No, I make clothes for boys, too." Rarity said, and she began going through her fabrics,
"A red coat, hmm, maybe plum will be a nice color for him, or maybe light turquoise, or green to complement his red coat color..." Rarity said,
"I like black." Apex said,
"Ooh, a versatile color, almost everything goes well with black." Rarity said,
"Can you make my entire outfit black?" Apex asked,
"You don't want another color?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"No, just want to keep it simple, I'd also like a white outfit, since black is not comfortable to wear in hot weather." Apex replied,
"Apex, this isn't about how your outfit functions, you have to look your best in public." Rarity said,
"How about pink, Apex?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"I only like pink when it's combined with gray." Apex replied,
"Ooh, that's a nice combination, Apex, but personally, I prefer pink with white." Rarity said,
"Are there any other color combinations you like?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"Of course, my favorite one is red, orange, and yellow." Apex replied,
"Ooh, alright, an orange and yellow outfit, it is." Rarity said, and she began sewing,
"Wow, those sewing machines are fast." Apex said,
"You know how to sew, Apex?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"Yeah, by hoof, I made this outfit myself." Apex replied,
"Where did you get the sewing thread?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"Nowhere, these things holding my outfit together is animal sinew that was covered in charcoal to make it black." Apex replied, Rarity screamed,
"Those stitches is animal sinew?!" Rarity asked,
"Yup." Apex replied, he saw Rarity had a horrified expression on her face,
"Wait, how did you get sewing needles in the woods?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"My mom carved them from wood and bones." Apex replied,
"Most places don't use wooden needles, Apex, and they most definitely don't use bones, and as you can see, Apex, my needles are made from steel, they are the most common materials for sewing needles in Equestria." Rarity said, Apex looked around while Rarity continued sewing his outfit,
"I wonder what kind of clothes your mom's tribe wore." Sweetie Belle said,
"I don't know, I never saw them, but my mom hated dresses." Apex replied,
"Well, that does make sense, the woods isn't a good place to wear a dress." Sweetie Belle said,
"How about a skirt that goes halfway down your thighs?" Rarity asked,
"She hated that, too." Apex replied,
"What did your mother wear?" Rarity asked,
"Pants, boots on her hoofs, and a jacket when it got cold, all made from bear fur." Apex replied,
"What about your dad?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"Jungle camouflage pants, military belt, black combat boots." Apex replied, Sweetie Belle became speechless,
"It's done." Rarity said in a singsong voice, Apex saw she made an orange blazer, orange pants, a yellow shirt, and four yellow shoes,
"I didn't think you'd actually make shoes." Apex said,
"Of course, darling, you can't go around in public wearing plastic bottles as hoofwear, everypony will look at you strangely." Rarity replied, Apex saw her get more orange fabric and thread,
"Okay, and now the last piece of clothing, the hat, I am going to make you a simple trilby, because you most certainly cannot wear a cooking pot on your head as a hat, ponies will think you're dumb." Rarity said, and she began sewing. Apex watched Rarity sew and was in awe at how fast she was, she kept working and soon finished,
"There, it's finished." Rarity said as she looked at the orange trilby, she put all of the clothes on Apex and got him a mirror,
"Ooh, you look marvelous, Apex, I hope you think the same thing." Rarity said,
"I like it." Apex replied, his clothes then changed to his old outfit,
"What the?" Rarity asked, Discord appeared in the shop,
"No, he does not, his old outfit is better." Discord said,
"No, it's not, he can't wear that mess of sewn pieces of clothing and animal fur in public, he stands out too much." Rarity replied,
"Really, I thought he made that because he was being creative." Discord said,
"Creative?! You call a trash bag as a shirt creative?" Rarity asked,
"I thought it was, that outfit is very fashionable in my realm." Discord replied,
"Fashionable? Since when did wearing a trash bag for a shirt, plastic bottles as shoes, and a cooking pot as a hat become fashionable?" Rarity asked,
"It's always been fashionable." Discord replied,
"No, it hasn't, change him back, Discord, he looks better in his new outfit." Rarity said,
"Oh, relax, it's right there, in his trash bag." Discord replied, Apex reached into his trash bag and took the clothes out,
"You'll have to replace those, too, Apex, I am not comfortable seeing you carry the clothes I made for you in a trash bag." Rarity said,
"What's wrong with it?" Apex asked,
"What's wrong? It makes me think you don't like the outfit and are throwing it away, I find that to be very insulting." Rarity replied,
"Well, I don't have anything else to carry it in." Apex said,
"Here, Apex." Sweetie Belle said as she gave him an item with her telekinesis,
"What's this?" Apex asked,
"It's a backpack, that one's used for hiking." Sweetie Belle replied, he found the zipper and opened it, he put his trash bags in it and then put the backpack on his back,
"Oh, it's perfect, I think you will enjoy using that, Apex." Rarity said, Apex smiled,
"By the way, Apex, my name is Discord, I'll be at Fluttershy's cottage if you want to see me." Discord said,
"Nice to meet you, Discord." Apex replied,
"Well, off I go now." Discord said, and he disappeared,
"Oh, the nerve, changing Apex's new fashionable outfit to that mess of his old one." Rarity said,
"Am I done here?" Apex asked,
"No, next, we have to get rid of your dandruff, ponies will think you have poor hygiene if you don't." Rarity replied, and she took him to the bathroom.
Rarity put Apex in the bathtub and turned on the shower, she scrubbed Apex's scalp gently,
"Okay, now just a little gentle rub, put some anti-dandruff shampoo here, and some anti-dandruff mane conditioner, and you should be fine." Rarity said as she scrubbed his mane, she finished and dried him with a mane dryer,
"I used to dry myself by walking in the sun." Apex said,
"No, Apex, you'll get cold doing that, it's more comfortable to do it this way." Rarity replied, and she finished drying him,
"Okay, next, the blackheads and whiteheads, it'll ruin your pictures." Rarity said and she went to her room.
Rarity went through her things while Apex and Sweetie Belle waited downstairs,
"Uh-huh, here it is." Rarity said, she came down with a bottle of light blue rubbing cream,
"Alright, just rub a little bit of this on your snout, and let it sit, the blackheads and whiteheads should be gone by tomorrow." Rarity said as she rubbed the cream on his snout,
"Am I done now?" Apex asked,
"Not yet, one more thing, let me see your hoofs." Rarity replied, and Apex showed them to her, Rarity and Sweetie Belle became uncomfortable when they saw Apex had calluses on his hoofs,
"Come on, Apex, to the spa, you really need a hooficure, you can't go around in public with calluses on your hoofs, either." Rarity said, and they went to the spa.
Rarity and Apex arrived at the spa and they saw Aloe and Lotus Blossom,
"Ah, Rarity, would you like the usual treatment?" Lotus Blossom asked,
"No, no, no, not today, Apex here needs his hoofs filed." Rarity replied,
"Have a seat over there, Apex." Aloe said, and he sat, the two spa ponies saw his hoofs and became shocked at seeing the calluses on his hoofs, the two ran and came back with filers. Aloe and Lotus Blossom filed Apex's hoofs while Rarity watched the calluses come off of his hoofs,
"That tickles." Apex said,
"Don't move, Apex, you need to stay still." Rarity said, and he did,
"Finished." Aloe said, Rarity looked,
"Ooh, brilliant, his hoofs are very soft now." Rarity said,
"Alright, that'll be twenty five bits." Lotus Blossom said, and Rarity paid them, the two headed outside,
"Wow, the ground is softer." Apex said,
"That's what happens when you have soft hoofs, come on now, pack your things and head on out, you're ready to fit into a civilized area." Rarity replied, and he got his things from Carousel Boutique and headed home.
Apex arrived home and went to go saw Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty sewing a quilt,
"I'm home." Apex said, the two looked at him,
"Oh, Apex, what has happened to you?" Aunt Holiday asked,
"Rarity took me to her shop and groomed me." Apex replied,
"Did she make you a new outfit?" Auntie Lofty asked, and Apex took it out of the backpack,
"Good, you can wear that." Auntie Lofty said,
"Where did you get that backpack?" Aunt Holiday asked,
"Sweetie Belle gave it to me." Apex replied,
"Alright, good, we've got a letter from Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood earlier this afternoon, we'll read it when Scootaloo comes home." Auntie Lofty said,
"What does it say?" Apex asked,
"You'll have to wait until Scootaloo comes home." Aunt Holiday replied,
"Quick peak?" Apex asked,
"Nope." Auntie Lofty replied, Apex groaned and he sat at the table and began to practice writing letters and numbers again. Apex wrote for about an hour until he and Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty heard the door open, they saw Scootaloo looking down and she headed to the bedroom,
"Scootaloo?" Aunt Holiday asked, Scootaloo just went to her room,
"Let's take a break, Holiday, I'll bake some cookies for Scootaloo." Auntie Lofty said, and she began making cookies. Apex wrote the words and numbers while Aunt Holiday watched him, Apex stopped writing and shook his hoof after a while,
"Take a break, Apex, you've wrote enough." Aunt Holiday said, he looked and saw Auntie Lofty was gone, she soon came back,
"How is she?" Aunt Holiday asked,
"Still upset, come on now, Apex, move your things, Holiday and I need to get back to work." Auntie Lofty said, and Apex did and he went to Scootaloo's room.
Apex walked into Scootaloo's room and saw her laying in her bed with her face buried into her pillow, he looked and saw an empty plate on the floor,
"Scootaloo?" Apex asked, Scootaloo did not respond, he looked and saw her pillow was wet,
"You okay?" Apex asked, she looked at him and Apex saw Scootaloo had dried tears on her cheeks,
"What happened?" Apex asked,
"I discovered today that I have the lowest grade in class." Scootaloo replied,
"Is that bad?" Apex asked,
"Yes, it means I'm failing school, if I don't bring my grade up, I'm going to have to repeat the grade." Scootaloo replied,
"It's not because of me coming into your life, is it?" Apex asked,
"No, I was failing even before you arrived, I'm actually doing better than before, but I'm still failing." Scootaloo replied,
"That sucks, anyway, you should go see your aunts, they got a letter from your parents." Apex said, and Scootaloo got out of bed slowly and she and Apex walked to the dining room.
Apex and Scootaloo went to the dining room and saw Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty working on the quilt,
"In a minute, you two." Aunt Holiday said, and they worked and finished, Aunt Holiday took the letter off of the table,
"Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood have found parents for Apex, they're campers and hikers, they'll be coming here to pick up Apex tomorrow." Aunt Holiday said,
"Sounds good." Apex said while smiling,
"Why don't you two go out and play, try to relax and cheer up, Scootaloo." Auntie Lofty said, and Scootaloo got a hoofball,
"This is a hoofball, Apex, ponies like to play catch with this." Scootaloo said,
"What's catch?" Apex asked,
"Come on outside, I'll show you." Scootaloo replied, and the two headed outside.
Scootaloo and Apex stood apart outside,
"Okay, Apex, I throw the ball, you try to catch it, and you throw it back, okay?" Scootaloo asked, Apex nodded,
"Alright, here goes." Scootaloo said, and she threw the ball, Apex ran and tried to catch it, the ball hit the ground and Apex picked it up,
"Oh, I remember this game now." Apex said,
"You've played this before?" Scootaloo asked,
"Yeah, with my mom and dad, except we played this with beehives." Apex replied, Scootaloo exclaimed,
"No! No throwing beehives, Apex." Scootaloo said, Apex looked down a little,
"Come on, throw the ball back, Apex." Scootaloo said, and he did, Scootaloo caught it and threw it back at him and he caught it, the two threw the ball while the day passed,
"What did Rainbow Dash do today?" Apex asked,
"Just hung out, she was too tired to do stunts today." Scootaloo replied,
"You feel better?" Apex asked,
"A little." Scootaloo replied, and she threw the ball at him and he caught it, he threw it back,
"Rarity groomed me today, she got rid of my dandruff and blackheads, she made me a new outfit, too." Apex said,
"Yeah, Rarity's always like that, she's a bit nitpicky when it comes to appearance." Scootaloo replied,
"Sweetie Belle gave me a backpack." Apex said,
"I saw it, how's it feel?" Scootaloo asked,
"A little tight on my shoulders." Apex replied,
"You can adjust the straps." Scootaloo said,
"Really?" Apex asked,
"Yes, I'll show you later." Scootaloo replied, and the two threw the ball at one another until Aunt Holiday came outside,
"Dinner time, you two." Aunt Holiday said, and they went into the house.
Scootaloo and Apex sat at the table with Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty, they were having peanut butter sandwiches with white bread,
"What is this in the bread?" Apex asked,
"Peanut butter." Aunt Holiday replied,
"I thought I tasted nuts in it." Apex said,
"What kind of nuts did you eat in the woods?" Scootaloo asked,
"Pecans, acorns, hazelnuts, and every once in a while, hickory nuts, those are a pain to open." Apex replied,
"Did you roast them?" Aunt Holiday asked,
"No, my parents and I ate them raw." Apex replied,
"You know, Apex, most civilized ponies like to eat nuts with salt on them." Auntie Lofty said,
"I never put salt on nuts in the woods." Apex replied,
"Well, keep that in mind, if you buy any nuts from the store, they're going to be roasted and have salt on them." Auntie Lofty said, Apex nodded,
"Wait, your mom's tribe collected nuts and berries, right?" Scootaloo asked,
"Yes." Apex replied,
"Why would they collect poison berries for?" Scootaloo asked,
"Oh, that, it's for a ritual in my mom's tribe, a pony has to eat a poison berry, they become a leader of the tribe if they survive the poison." Apex replied,
"Who's the tribe's supreme leader?" Scootaloo asked,
"The one who's been the leader for the longest amount of time." Apex replied,
"What does your tribe see the leaders as?" Auntie Lofty asked,
"Ponies who are favored by a deity called Mother Nature, they survive the poison because she has gifted them to survive it as a reward for not destroying nature for no reason." Apex replied,
"What do you mean for no reason?" Aunt Holiday asked,
"That the plants they pick and the animals they kill are eaten and used to make weapons and clothing, some people just rip plants out and kill animals for no reason and leave them to rot, the tribe believes that's why disasters happen, it is Mother Nature's wrath." Apex replied,
"Would Mother Nature like Fluttershy?" Scootaloo asked,
"Of course, she appreciates ponies who takes care of animals." Apex replied,
"Sounds like your mother's tribe didn't like cruelty to animals." Auntie Lofty said,
"Of course not, if you're going to hunt and kill, eat the animal and use its body to make materials, don't take its antlers or tusks and then leave it, my mom's tribe also hated poachers, she used to tell me tales that if a pony didn't stop killing animals for no reason, trophy hunting, or capturing animals and taking them away from their families, the male ponies of her tribe would track them down and kill them." Apex replied,
"Oh my, it sounds like your mother's tribe didn't teach friendship." Aunt Holiday said,
"Why would they want to befriend them for?" Apex asked,
"Equestria is taught to look at both sides before coming to conclusions." Scootaloo replied,
"Do you still punish them for their actions?" Apex asked,
"Usually, no, we try to make deals that both sides can be happy with." Scootaloo replied,
"That sounds like a stupid decision in those cases, they're killing animals and destroying nature for fun, I think befriending them and only letting them kill animals to eat would anger them." Apex replied,
"Have they even tried to reason with them?" Scootaloo asked,
"My mom did say once that a group of stallions from her tribe tried to explain to a group of animal killing ponies what they were doing was wrong, and those ponies killed them and sent their heads back to her tribe." Apex replied,
"Oh my, maybe trying to win them over with friendship isn't going to work after all." Aunt Holiday said,
"Yeah, it's a shame, really, we'd rather settle problems peacefully." Auntie Lofty said,
"Well, I guess it doesn't always work." Apex replied, and they ate dinner and Scootaloo and Apex went to bed an hour later after Scootaloo showed Apex how to adjust the backpack straps. Apex could not sleep and went outside, he took his items out of his new backpack and began cutting holes into the ground with a knife and scooped out pieces of it with his front hoofs, he made a small hole and got some leaves and branches and put them in the hole, he then put more over them and went into the hole and slept.