"Almost there... Just one last step..."
Nero was currently in front of his desk in Ponyville's Devil May Cry office. He was in the process of a very important task, one that required the ultimate concentration, skill, and patience to persevere.
"Aaaaaaaaaand...done!" Nero took a step back to admire his handiwork.
He had just placed the final piece on his house of cards, which stood on top of the desk at around 5 feet tall. He felt a huge surge of pride and accomplishment as he admired the finished product. It had taken him several tries, always coming so close to finishing, only for the house of cards to keep crashing down. This time, though, he had done it. After three hours of failed attempts, he finally succeeded through sheer force of will.
If you ask him, he'd say it was three hours well spent.
...At least until the whole building began to shake.
Nero was barely able to keep his balance as the ground beneath him rumbled violently. He looked up and watched in both horror and disbelief as three long, painstaking hours of progress crumbled to the ground. He stared at the pile of cards, and the only move he made was the twitching of his eye.
The devil hunter felt a spark of vengeance burning inside him. His sight became blinded by a curtain of red, and his frustration was getting bigger.
He would find whoever was responsible for this earthquake and avenge his fallen house of cards.
He stormed over to the entrance and bucked the door open. Stepping outside, he could feel that it wasn't just his office that was shaking, but the entire town as well. He looked around for the culprit before spotting a familiar rainbow-maned pegasus hovering above, scanning the hills outside of Ponyville to find the source of all the rumbling. She seemed to spot the cause, as Nero saw her eyes widen.
"STAMPEEEEEEEDE!!!" She yelled out.
Nero looked in the same direction and squinted until he was able to make out a pack of cows charging straight for the town, and they didn't look like they had any intention of stopping. Ponies all around town, some of which Nero recognized, began running around in a panic, screaming and hiding in their homes.
Well, except for Pinkie Pie, who seemed to be enjoying the constant shaking of the ground.
"HeY, tHiS mAkEs My VoIcE sOuNd SiLlY!" The party pony's voice vibrated as the earthquake caused her to shake up and down.
"Pinkie Pie, are you crazy!? Run!" Twilight yelled to her as she ran by, looking for cover.
Nero could see the mayor attempting to calm everyone down, to no avail. "Everypony calm down, there is no need to panic!"
"But mayor, whatever shall we do!?" Rarity cried as she raised a hoof over her head dramatically.
"Look there!" Rainbow pointed to just beyond the stampede of cattle.
Everyone turned to see Applejack running alongside the stampede, letting out a "YEEHAW!". A small, brown and white dog followed close behind. Everyone cheered as they watched the duo prepare to corral the stampede and draw them away from the town.
Everyone except Nero, that is.
Like hell I'm letting AJ take all the credit! Those damn cows just made three hours of my life a waste! I'm getting in on this!
With demon-like speed, Nero sprinted across the bridge leading out of town and towards the charging crowd of cattle. It didn't take him long to reach them, and he ran to Applejack's side just as the dog reached the opposite side of the stampede.
"How can I help!?" He called out to the farm pony.
"Head t' the other side with Winona! I'll lasso the leader an' steer 'em to the right an' away from Ponyville! Y'all need t' keep leadin' em' in that direction an' make sure there ain't any stragglers!" The farm pony relayed the plan to Nero, and he gave her a nod. He leapt over the mass of cows, doing an air hike halfway to give himself an extra boost, then landed next to the loyal hound.
The half-demon watched as Applejack hopped onto a cow's back and threw her lasso around the lead cow. She hopped off and landed on the leader's right side, then pulled on the lasso, forcing the lead cow in that direction. The rest of the stampede followed, encouraged further by Nero and Winona keeping them moving in that direction. They managed to steer the herd away just in time, barely missing the edge of town. Nero could hear the townsfolk cheering for them in the distance.
Applejack dug her hooves into the ground, screeching to a stop and halting the herd. "Hoo-wee! Now what was that all about!?" She asked one of the cows. the cow in question mooed before ...clearing its throat?
"Oh, my! Begging your pardon, Applejack, but Mooriella here saw one of those nasty snakes!" The cow gestured to the one next to her, and all the other cows gasped at the thought of the snake. "And it just gave us all the willies, don't ya know?"
"...Ah, yes, of course. The cows can talk. I mean, if the horses can talk, then why not the cows!? Let me guess, the dog is gonna start talking next?" Nero pointed to Winona.
"Oh, don't be silly, Nero. Winona can't talk, even if she is a sweet girl." Applejack gave the dog a scratch behind the ears before turning back to the cow. "I completely understand. Just, next time, try an' steer clear of Ponyville."
"We certainly will, Applejack. So long, Winona!" The cows began to leave, and Winona gave a happy bark in response to their goodbye.
My beloved house of cards may not have been avenged, but at least I was able to prevent any more losses. May you rest in peace, o' great tower of playing cards.
The three reached the top of a hill, where they could see the townsponies all cheering for them. Applejack reared on her hind legs and let out one final "YEEHAW!" before she and Winona ran off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. Nero himself made his way back to town, passing by the crowd as he did.
"YEEHAW! RIDE 'EM, COWPONY!" Pinkie was hopping around, mimicking Applejack's actions. As Nero walked back to the shop, he could hear the other ponies talking about how amazing he and Applejack had been just now, even saying they should do something to thank them for saving the town. Nero smiled, wondering if he would get some reward money for this. He sure as hell needed it. The bills aren't gonna pay themselves.
He finally reached his shop and entered. Upon seeing the fallen cards yet again, he let out a sigh.
Guess I'm playing 52 pickup.
About a week passed since they saved the town from the stampede. Apparently, the town had decided to give Applejack a trophy as thanks, even preparing a speech for her. They were going to do the same for Nero, but he made a request to exchange his trophy and speech for reward money instead. They gave him a check for 100 bits. Now, he was standing among the crowd of ponies that had gathered outside the town hall to congratulate the farm pony. Pretty much the entire town had shown up.
The devil hunter stood at the front of the crowd with the girls, save for Twilight, who was stepping up to a podium overlooking the crowd and preparing some cue cards for a speech. Next to the podium was a large gold trophy with a blue ribbon attached to it. Once she had them in order, she began reading them aloud.
"Welcome, everypony! Today we are here to honor a pony we can always count on to help in matters great and small." She flipped to the next cue card. "A pony who's contributions to-"
"Did you see Applejack's slick moves out there!? What an athlete!" Rainbow had quickly flown in and pushed Twilight aside, giving her own speech about the farm pony. "This week, she's gonna help me with my new flying trick, and I know it's gonna be so awesome!" Rainbow Dash gushed before being shoved back by an annoyed Twilight.
"Exactly...and-" Before the unicorn could continue her speech, she was cut off once again when Pinkie Pie sprang up in front of her.
"This week, I get to run Sugarcube Corner for the first time!" The pink pony exclaimed.
"What does that have to do with Applejack?" Twilight asked, peering over Pinkie's shoulder. Pinkie herself blinked a couple times in confusion before it came to her.
"Oh! Applejack, one of the best bakers ever, is gonna help me! Applejack makes everything great, so free samples for EVERYPONY!" A round of cheers came from the crowd in response to Pinkie's declaration before she was shoved aside by Twilight.
"Okay, that's great, now if I could just make a point without being inter-"
"Twilight?"
"-rupted!" Twilight groaned, stepping aside for Fluttershy to take the stand next.
"Twilight, I'm so sorry, but I just wanted to mention that Applejack is also helping me this week with the official bunny census, where we count up all the new baby bunnies that were born this season. She's gonna help gather them using her wonderful herding skills!" As Fluttershy finished, she noticed the annoyed glare that Twilight was sending her way, and stepped away from the podium.
"Anyone else? Anyone?" She looked amongst the crowd to see if there were any other interrupters, but everyone remained silent, save for a couple awkward coughs. Nero felt tempted to interrupt her with an armpit fart right there and then, but decided against it. Twilight was clearly pissed enough as it was.
"No? ...Well then, as I was trying to say-" She paid a glance to her left and noticed the mayor standing there, smiling. "UGH! Never mind!" The princess' student grumbled and stormed off the stage, throwing her cue cards in the air out of frustration. The mayor took her place at the podium and cleared her throat.
"And so, with no further ado, it is my privilege to give the Prize Pony of Ponyville award to our beloved guest of honor, a pony of the utmost trustworthiness, reliability, and integrity, Ponyville's most capable and dependable friend, Applejack!" The mayor gestured to a pair of curtains that Nero could've sworn weren't there before, and the crowd cheered once again. The curtains were pulled aside...
...And the crowd gasped when they saw nopony on the other side.
Oh God, not again.
Spike was the only one who kept cheering, seeming to have not noticed yet.
"Way to go, Applejack! That was awesome, I mean-!" The baby dragon finally noticed the silence around him and opened his eyes. He then started to blush as all eyes were on him. Everyone looked around for Applejack in awkward silence, wondering if the farm pony had missed her cue or something.
"I'M HERE! I'm here!" Everyone turned towards the voice, seeing Applejack making her way through the crowd. For some reason, she was carrying baskets of apples on her back. She didn't seem to notice that some of the apples were falling out and landing in the dirt. She yawned and apologized to every pony that she bumped into as she waded through them. Nero managed to get a good look at the farm pony, and she looked like she hadn't slept in days. Her mane was all frazzled and unkempt, and heavy bags drooped under her eyes.
She eventually reached the podium and shoved the mayor aside. "Miss Mayor... thank you kindly for this here, uh, award...thingy." With another yawn, Applejack stepped over to the award itself, giving it a once over. "It's so bright an' shiny an'... heh...heh heh, I sure do look funny." She stared into her reflection on the polished trophy, seeing how the angle made her head look bloated.
She then started bobbing her head back and forth, moving closer and farther from the trophy to mess around with her reflection. "Whoo!...Whoo!...Whoo!" She chanted.
Uh...is she okay?
Soon enough, Pinkie had joined Applejack in bobbing her head back and forth, giggling the whole time. Everyone stared at them, unsure of what to make of this.
"Ooookay...Well thank you, Applejack, for saving us from that scary stampede, and always being there for everypony." Twilight spoke up as she approached.
Hey, I helped too. I know I said I didn't need a speech, but I still want credit.
Applejack yawned before responding. "Yeah, I like helpin' the pony folk and...*yawn*... and stuff..." The farm pony then proceeded to nod off and began snoring. After a couple seconds, she shook herself awake. "Oh! Uh, yeah! Uh, thanks!"
Applejack bit down on one of the trophy's handles and dragged it across the ground as she left. The trophy made a loud scraping noise as the farm pony dragged it off the stage and backed up through the crowd. Soon enough, she was gone once again.
"...Was it just me, or did Applejack seem a little..." Twilight began before the other girls finished her sentence.
"Tired?" Rainbow suggested.
"Dizzy?" Fluttershy went next.
"Worn out?" Nero added.
"Messy?" Everyone turned to look at Rarity. Seeing the looks she was getting, she scoffed. "Well, did you see her mane?"
"She seemed fine to me. Whoo! Whoo!" Pinkie continued the chant as Twilight stared in the direction Applejack had gone, an eyebrow raised.
"I'm gonna go talk to her and see what that was all about. Do you wanna come, Nero?" The purple unicorn had noticed that the devil hunter had been watching Applejack with the same expression.
"Yeah, I'm kinda curious now. It should give me something to do, anyway." Walking side by side, the two of them headed to Sweet Apple Acres to confront Applejack.
When they arrived at the farm, they found Applejack bucking apples out of the trees in the orchard. Nero watched as AJ reared back to buck a tree, only to miss it entirely. As if that wasn't odd enough, the tree she was trying to buck no longer had any apples in it. Going by the baskets of apples sitting around the tree, she'd already bucked this one earlier.
"What in Equestria is that pony doing?" Twilight mumbled as they watched the farm pony. Said farm pony took a few steps to her right to try and line herself up with the tree, only to buck one of the apple baskets instead, knocking all of the apples over.
"Whoops..." Applejack moped once she'd realized what she did. Twilight called out to her, but Applejack had fallen asleep standing up. Twilight tried calling her name again and was met with the same result. A third time, and the farm pony still refused to wake up. Rather than keep trying from where she was standing, Twilight's horn glowed before teleporting both Nero and herself in front of AJ. Needless to say, the experience left the devil hunter disoriented.
"Twilight, please never do that again." The purple unicorn ignored his request and focused on Applejack.
"APPLEJACK!" Twilight yelled in front of her, finally stirring the farm pony from her sleep.
"Oh! Uh, h-howdy, Twilight. Howdy, Nero." After greeting them, Applejack proceeded to the next tree.
"What is all this?" Twilight asked.
"It's Applebuck Season." AJ simply responded.
Once again, Twilight teleported the two of them in front of AJ, throwing both the devil hunter and the farm pony off. "Apple-what season?"
Applejack gave an annoyed grunt and walked around the pair before explaining. "It's what the Apple family calls harvestin' time." Twilight teleported them again, to Nero's annoyance. "We gather all the apples from the trees so we can sell 'em."
"And you're doing it alone because...?" Nero decided to chime in.
"Cuz Big Macintosh hurt himself." After that response, Twilight teleported them again, and Nero was starting to feel a bit queasy.
"What about all those relatives we met when we first came to Ponyville? Can't they help?"
"They were just here for the Apple Family Reunion. They actually live all over Equestria, an' are busy harvestin' their own orchards. So, uh, I'm on my own." Twilight teleported them in front of Applejack once more, only this time she didn't seem to be letting the farm pony walk past. Nero prayed that this meant no more teleporting. Just in case, he took a few steps away so that he was out of her teleporting range.
"...Which means I should really get back to work." Despite AJ's statement, Twilight didn't budge. "*Ahem!*...Hint, hint? Get back to work?"
"...Fine." Twilight scrutinized the mare in front of her before stepping out of the way next to Nero.
"Uh, could you step aside, Twilight?" Applejack insisted, not having noticed that she had, in fact, already stepped aside. The farm pony swayed back and forth like she was about to fall over.
"I... just did." The farm pony turned in the direction of Twilight's voice, finally noticing that she had moved. "Applejack, you don't look so good."
"Yeah, how about you take a breather for a bit. At least give yourself a few minutes." Nero suggested.
"Uh...uh...don't none of you six worry none, I'm just fine an' dandy." Applejack continued on to the next tree and reared back to buck it.
Yeah, unless there are four demons sneaking up on us, I'm pretty sure she's seeing things.
...
Just in case, the devil hunter looked over his shoulder and spotted nothing, as he had expected.
Applejack missed the tree again, nearly falling over in the process. Twilight appeared in front of AJ once again, thankfully not teleporting Nero with her this time.
"Do you...want some help?"
Applejack scoffed in reply. "Help? No way, no how!"
"But there's no way you can do it all on your own." Twilight inisted, but this just seemed to anger the farm pony further.
"Is that a challenge?" She eyed the unicorn.
"Um...no?" She said, backing away slightly.
"Well, I'm gonna prove to you that I can do it! Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got apples to buck!" Applejack stormed off, and Twilight couldn't help but wince.
"...Well, that went well." Nero commented as he approached the purple unicorn. Twilight simply sighed in response.
"It doesn't look like there's anything we can say to convince her right now. I'll try and think of something and try again later. What about you?" She turned to face him.
"Unfortunately, there are some bills that require my attention, so you're gonna have to handle this one. Let me know what happens." He turned and left, pulling the check he got as a reward out of his pocket and observing it.
I hope this is enough to cover everything.
Looking over the papers spread across his desk, Nero was happy to confirm that, when pooled with the money he already has, he had just enough money to pay off his bills. Still, it would leave him with barely anything afterwards.
If this is what it's like just barely scraping by, I can't imagine how it feels to be drowning in debt. I sure don't envy you, Dante.
It was the next day, and Nero had been looking over his bills when he received a call. He lifted the receiver to his ear and answered like he always did, "Devil May Cry."
"Hello again, Nero. It's me, Twilight, and... I need your help with something." Came the voice on the other end.
"Hey, Twilight. Let me guess, this is about Applejack?" The half-demon guessed.
"Yes, I'm afraid so. Rainbow Dash dropped by the library this morning, and by dropped in, I mean she crashed onto the balcony."
"That... sounds painful. What does that have to do with Applejack?" He asked.
"According to Rainbow Dash, Applejack was supposed to be helping her with a new flying trick. Instead, she sent Rainbow flying all the way across town." The unicorn clarified.
"Ah, I see. So, why do you need my help?"
"I tried talking to Applejack again, but she still refuses to accept help. As she left, she told me that she had to go help Pinkie Pie. That's when I remembered what Pinkie and Fluttershy had said at the award ceremony yesterday."
"You mean when they interrupted your little speech? Yeah, that was funny." While Nero couldn't see Twilight, he had a feeling she was scowling on the other end.
"...Yes, when they interrupted me, Pinkie had mentioned Applejack was going to help her run Sugarcube Corner, and Fluttershy said that she was also going to help gather bunnies for the official bunny census. If what happened with Rainbow is anything to go by..."
"Then she's in no condition to be helping out." Nero finished her sentence.
"Exactly. That's where you come in. I need you to go to Sugarcube Corner and make sure Applejack doesn't... y'know..."
"Screw anything up?" He finished for her once again.
"I didn't want to put it so bluntly, but yes. I would go myself, but she might get suspicious since I talked to her twice already about needing help. She might be a little less suspicious of you, since you didn't press her on it as much. Just try to make sure things go smoothly without letting Applejack catch on to what you're doing. Do you think you could do that for me?" Twilight asked, awaiting a response.
"... Am I getting paid for this?"
Nero could hear Twilight groan on the other end. "Fine, I'll pay you. Just please don't let her know you're helping."
"Alright, consider it done. Talk to you later." He hung up the phone and got up from his seat. Looks like he would be paying Sugarcube Corner a visit.
Thanks to his demonic speed, Nero had arrived at Sugarcube Corner before Applejack. As he had been making his way there, he had come up with a plan to avoid drawing attention. all he had to do was buy some treats and sit at one of the few tables they had inside. If it looked like he was just there as a customer, then Applejack wouldn't find his presence odd.
Of course, he didn't have much money to actually pay for the sweets since he needed to save it for his bills, so he decided he would just call it a job expense and charge Twilight for it.
It didn't take long for AJ and Pinkie Pie to show up. When they did, Pinkie was the first to take notice of him.
"Oh, hey Nero! Did you hear? I'm gonna be running Sugarcube Corner today! Applejack's gonna help me bake some muffins for everypony, too!" She greeted the half-demon.
"Yeah, I remember you saying that at the award ceremony yesterday. Speaking of, how you are holding up, AJ?" He waved to the farm pony, and she shook her head to wake herself up.
"H-Huh? Oh, howdy Nero. Surprised to see ya here. You never...*yawn*...struck me as somepony with a sweet tooth." She yawned. As planned, Applejack noticed the cupcake in his hoof and put together what he was doing here. Well, what he wanted her to think he was doing here, anyway.
"Eh, figured I'd try out some Equestrian delicacies. these cupcakes are delicious, by the way." He munched on his cupcake as Mr. and Mrs. Cake came in to prepare to leave.
"Now Pinkie Pie, are you sure you're up for baking the muffins and running the store this afternoon?" Mrs. Cake asked the pink pony from behind the counter.
"Yessiree Bob, Mrs. Cake! Plus, I have Ponyville's prize pony to help me out! Why, she's the best baker ever! Right, Applejack?" Pinkie turned to the farm pony, who stared blankly before rapidly shaking her head.
"No? You're not the best baker ever?" Mr. Cake asked, confused.
"WHAT? OH, NO! I mean, don't you fret. I can bake anything from fritters to pies in the blink of an eye." Applejack reassured them.
What was with the yelling? Is she having trouble hearing or something?
Mrs. Cake gave a relieved chuckle as the married couple started to leave. "Oh, alright. Well, see you later girls." With that, the Cakes left the building. Applejack started shaking her head a bunch more, only to be stopped when Pinkie grabbed her.
"Stop with the shakin'! It's time to get bakin'!" Pinkie led Applejack into the kitchen, and Nero saw an opportunity. Before they pushed the kitchen door open, Nero called out to them.
"Hey, mind if I watch? I'm, uh, kinda curious on how this stuff gets made. Kyrie usually does all the cooking, since I don't have any experience." Hearing his request, the two stopped and looked back to him.
"Huh? Who's Kyrie?" Pinkie cocked her head to the side.
"Oh, right. I never told you about her, did I? She's my girlfriend back in my world. We grew up together and-" Before the half-demon could finish, Pinkie's eyes went wide and she let out a loud gasp. In an instant, the party pony had gotten right up in his face.
"YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO EARLIER!?!" She began violently shaking Nero back and forth.
"I-It, uh, never came up in a conversation!" The devil hunter quickly answered, doing his best to endure the lively mare's shaking.
"C'mon, we'll show you how to bake them! That way, when you go back to your world, you'll know how to make her a bunch of super-duper delicious muffins!" Pinkie hopped around excitedly before dashing into the kitchen with Applejack.
...Huh. This... turned out better than I thought it would. Now I actually have a valid reason to join them in the kitchen. I'm definitely not looking this gift horse in the mouth!
Nero quickly joined them in the kitchen, and the two ponies started prepping what they needed. Well, Pinkie did at least. Applejack fell asleep on the counter. After placing a large bowl on the counter, Pinkie propped a cookbook on a little stand and looked over the necessary ingredients. As she did so, Nero started familiarizing himself with the kitchen, just in case. He checked cabinets, drawers, shelves, and containers, memorizing where all the different utensils and ingredients were.
"Alrighty! Be sure to pay close attention, Nero! This is a very delicate process, so you don't wanna miss any steps. If you do, you might end up making baked bads instead of baked goods!" Nero stopped searching and turned to Pinkie when she called him. Thankfully, she didn't seem to question why it looked like he was ransacking the entire kitchen. "I'll get the sugar and the eggs. Can you get me some chocolate chips, Applejack?"
"Eh...uh...what was that?" The farm pony stirred from her sleep and asked Pinkie to repeat what she said.
"Chocolate chips." Pinkie repeated.
"Chips... got it!" Applejack gave a nod and went to get the requested ingredient. Nero remembered seeing the chocolate chips in one of the cabinets. Specifically, a cabinet in the direction opposite to where AJ was going. She grabbed a bag of potato chips off one of the shelves and poured it into the bowl.
Ok, that's definitely not what she asked for. If AJ does have a hearing problem like I thought, then I can see where this is going.
Thinking fast, Nero searched the cabinet he saw Pinkie grab the bowl from and pulled out a bowl that looked identical to the one they were currently using. He hid it under one of the counters so the others wouldn't notice, then went to grab the proper ingredients. Fortunately, Pinkie seemed too focused on the cookbook to notice him running around, and Applejack was too tired to do the same.
Ok, sugar, eggs, and chocolate chips. I can get those.
"What next?" Applejack asked Pinkie as just as Nero grabbed the chocolate chips.
"Baking soda." Pinkie read the next ingredient out loud.
Alright then, add baking soda to the list, I guess.
"Soda, perfect! That'll get the tater chips nice an' wet." Applejack went to the fridge to fetch a bottle of soda. Meanwhile, Nero cringed at the thought of soggy potato chips as he finally found the sugar and eggs.
"NOW WHAT!?" Applejack yelled after she poured the soda into the bowl.
"A cup of flour." Pinkie answered, much to Nero's chagrin. He was beginning to fall behind. He was still looking for the baking soda, and had yet to actually add his ingredients to his own bowl. Now they were adding another ingredient for him to find!?
Damnit, slow down!
"A cup of sour?" As Applejack wondered where she would find a cup of sour, Nero added the ingredients he already had to his own bowl, then started searching for the baking soda and flour. "Well, lemons are sure sour. One cup of sour comin' up."
As Applejack grabbed a bowl of lemons, Nero managed to find the baking soda and add it to his bowl. Applejack needed to fill one of the measuring cups with lemon juice before pouring it in, so it gave him an extra window of time to catch up. He found the flour, as well as an extra measuring cup to pour it. He rushed back to his own bowl just as AJ asked for the next ingredient.
"Anythin' else, Pinkie?"
"One last thing: wheat germ." Pinkie read.
Oh thank God there's no more after this. I'm not sure I would've been able to keep up.
...Wait...What the hell is a wheat germ!?
"Egh, wheat worms? ...Oh! That must be fancy talk for earthworms!" Applejack walked out the back door and began digging through the dirt outside, searching for worms.
Is she seriously not questioning any of these ingredients!?
Nero finished adding the flour, he started tossing the place in an attempt to find the wheat germ, whatever it was. Eventually, Nero found a bottle that had the words 'Wheat Germ' written on it in that weird Equestrian version of English. It contained a dry floury substance that Nero assumed was the wheat germ.
Hope this is actually what I'm looking for, and that no one switched the labels.
Nero ran back to his bowl and added the wheat germ just as Applejack came back with the worms.
"Now that's gonna be delicious!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"If you say so..." Applejack grimaced at the sludge that sat in their bowl.
After all the trouble I went through to prepare this, it better be delicious.
"So, you get all that, Nero?" Pinkie finally turned to the devil hunter.
"Yup, sure did. Hey, what's that?" He pointed in a direction opposite of the bowl with the sludge, and both ponies turned to see what had gotten his attention. With great speed, Nero swapped the bowls, then chucked the grotesque concoction out the window. Having not seen anything, the girls turned back to him, confused. "Ah, looks like you just missed it."
"Aw, phooey! I really wanted to see it... Oh well! Time for the next step!" Pinkie pulled out a bunch of muffin trays and began pouring an even amount of Nero's mixture into each slot. Once she was done, she took the trays, put them in the oven, and set the timer. "And now... we wait!"
Nero let out a sigh of relief as he watched the muffins bake.
Crisis averted, all thanks to moi.
Thanks to Nero, the muffin sale went off without a hitch. Everyone that lined up enjoyed the free samples and quickly bought more for later. One cross-eyed pegasus in particular with bubbles for a cutie mark seemed to be in love with them. While the devil hunter had never met her before, he couldn't help but think she was absolutely adorable.
Looks like I'm a natural at baking. Maybe I should help Kyrie out in the kitchen more often. Could be fun for the both of us.
After the sale ended, Nero stopped by the library to let Twilight know what happened, and she said she would try talking to Applejack again tomorrow. With that, Nero returned to Devil May Cry, checked his mailbox to find that he had no new job offers, then turned in for the day.
The next day, Twilight called Nero once again to inform him that she was unsuccessful. This meant he was going to have to make sure Fluttershy's bunny census went smoothly as well, which was why he was currently hiding in a bush watching a bunch of bunnies hop around. There wasn't any good way to hide in plain sight this time around, so he was just going to have to be more covert about it, even if it was uncomfortable.
These branches keep poking me. How long are they gonna take to get here?
"Oh, Applejack, thank you so much for offering your herding skills for the annual rabbit roundup." As if on cue, Nero turned his gaze when he heard Fluttershy's voice. He could see her walking beside a rather grumpy looking Applejack.
"Why are we doin' this?" Applejack groaned.
"Well, lots of new baby bunnies have been born, so it's my job to get a count of all the new families." She answered, seemingly oblivious of Applejack's bad mood.
"Fine. Can we just get on with it?" She stomped ahead.
What's got her in such a pissy mood?
"Certainly, but remember, these are bunnies we're dealing with, not cows. They're a timid bunch and need to be treated gently." The shy pegasus reminded her.
"I do not need any direction on corrallin' critters! Right, Winona!?" Nero was shocked when Applejack turned to her left and addressed the dog walking beside them. The devil hunter may not have been an expert on animals, but even he knew it was a bad idea to bring a dog to corral baby bunnies. The dog barked in response to Applejack, and the bunnies all seemed to perk up.
Fluttershy, as expected, approached the critters carefully and calmly. "Okay, little bunnies, I need you to all gather here in the middle."
Applejack, on the other hand, was not so gentle.
"That's right! Let's go, bunnies! In the center! Hop to it!" Applejack ordered, firmly stomping a hoof into the ground. Fearing for their lives, the bunnies quickly took off. Applejack seethed as she watched the critters hop away. "Swell. Just Swell."
Applejack galloped after the bunnies, calling to Winona as she did. The two of them chased the bunnies all around, running this way and that. It was complete chaos. Nero spotted a few of the bunnies running in his direction, and neither AJ nor Winona had noticed them.
Welp, this is going about as well as I expected. Time to step in.
Nero crawled out of the bush he was hiding in and stretched his hoof forward, summoning a spectral arm. The arm shot out in front of the bunnies, blocking their path. "Alright, little guys, let's calm down and-" Nero attempted to soothe the bunnies, but they let out a screech at the sight of the spectral arm and bolted in the opposite direction.
"...On second thought, maybe using a giant, scary demon arm wasn't the best way to calm them down." He sighed.
"Applejack! Winona! Stop! You're scaring them!" Hearing Fluttershy's voice, Nero turned his gaze back to the commotion to see that the two corrallers weren't letting up.
"We know what we're doin'! Get along, little bunnies!" The farm pony and her loyal hound seemed to have the poor bunnies cornered, only for the critters to all screech and burst past them. Nero did his best to stop them without hurting them, but they all managed to hop around him with great agility. He mumbled a curse under his breath as they all took off in the direction of town.
"Nero? What in the hay are you doin' here?" Nero spun around to find Applejack eyeing him.
Oh crap.
"Who, me? Oh nothing, I'm just... hangin' around." Nero's eyes darted around the place, looking for an excuse to get him out of this.
"In the middle of the forest?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yeah, y'know, I just thought I'd... go for a walk! Yeah, that's it..." The devil hunter started to sweat, the girls staring at him with confusion. Nero could see the suspicion on Applejack's face. It made sense that she was onto him, he had also been at Sugarcube Corner. If Nero gave her enough time to think, she might start to put two and two together.
"Never mind that now, we need to stop the bunnies before they reach town!" Thankfully, Fluttershy changed the subject back to the bunnies as she took off after the herd of critters. Nero followed her, but not as frantically.
"Is it really that big of a concern? Sure, they might stampede through town, but they aren't as big or strong as the cows. They couldn't possibly hurt anyone."
"Yes, but they might try to eat all the plants, flowers, and gardens around Ponyville!" Nero was about to respond by saying that still didn't seem like a big deal, but then he realized that if they did eat all those things, it would technically qualify as destruction of public property. He imagined paying to replace all of it might be rather expensive.
Not wanting to damage his wallet further, he picked up the pace.
Unfortunately, they didn't make it in time. Nero could see several bunny footprints covering the streets, the bunnies themselves snacking on gardens and flower bushes. Everypony was hiding in their homes, save for three mares lying on the ground. For a second, he thought they might've been dead, only to realize they had just feinted. Nero heard a gasp from a few feet away and spotted Twilight, who saw the mares on the ground as well.
"The horror, the horror!"
"It was awful!"
"A disaster! A horrible, horrible disaster!"
Nero and Twilight scanned the town for the 'disaster'. Other than the ruined gardens, everything seemed pretty normal.
"...I don't get it." Twilight said.
"Our gardens, destroyed!"
"Every last flower devoured!"
"By...by...THEM!" The final mare cried and pointed to the bunnies nibbling on tulips and daisies alike. The half-demon and the purple unicorn could see Fluttershy attempting to talk the critters out of it.
"Oh my! Oh, please stop, little bunnies! Oh no! Please, let's go home! No! Oh my goodness!" The shy pegasus cried. Twilight turned to Nero, clearly expecting an explanation.
"So, uh... things didn't exactly go according to plan..." The devil hunter chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head.
"...All right, enough is enough!" Twilight put her hoof down. "We are going straight to Sweet Apple Acres and we are going to tell Applejack that she needs help, whether she likes it or not! I'm not taking no for an answer this time!"
Nero quickly started to leave. "Good luck with that. From what I've seen and heard, the chances of you getting AJ to listen are slim to-" before Nero could finish, Twilight's horn lit up and she teleported the both of them in the blink of an eye.
"-none, and where the hell are we now?" Nero took in his surroundings and recognized the familiar apple trees of Sweet Apple Acres' Orchard. He turned to face the purple unicorn. "Seriously?"
"You've seen what this is doing to her. You know just as well as I do that Applejack needs help, and we have a better chance of convincing her if we do it together." Nero wanted to retort, but he knew Twilight was right. This needed to stop, or else Applejack was gonna work herself to death. The thing was, he wasn't the persuasive type, so he wasn't sure how he could help change the farm pony's mind when even Twilight couldn't do it.
"...Alright, I'll try to help, but I'm not sure there's much I can do." Despite his reluctance, Nero conceding was enough to put a smile on Twilight's face.
"Thank you, Nero. Now, let's go find that stubborn pony!" With that, the two began searching the orchard for Applejack. As they walked, Nero remembered something.
"Oh, by the way, I had a box of cupcakes while I was at Sugarcube Corner that I'll be charging you for."
"What!? Why!?"
"It was a job expense."
The demon had been wandering across the land, searching for new prey. It hadn't taken long for it to find some. A single pony stood atop a hill, bucking at a tree. She was clearly weak and exhausted. The demon could not have asked for a better opportunity.
It remained hidden amongst the trees as it watched, preparing to ambush the pony. Just as it was about to, two more ponies approached her. One of them seemed ordinary, so the demon paid it no mind. It could kill her just as easily as the first pony. The more blood it could gather, the better.
The other pony, however, stood out to the demon. For some reason, this third pony carried a unique scent. Something was different about him. The scent was oddly... familiar...
...Wait...no...it couldn't be...
This pony... he carries the blood of Sparda!?
The demon wanted to attack right there and then, to slay the blood of Sparda for their betrayal, but it knew it would not stand a chance against Sparda's kin by itself. Still, the fact that a descendant of Sparda was in this world was concerning. With this knowledge, the demon retreated for now.
His master must be informed of this new development.
Nero and Twilight finally found Applejack on top of a hill with a single apple tree on it. The farm pony looked like she was at her limit. Twilight wasted no time in getting to the point.
"Alright, Applejack, your apple bucking hasn't just caused you problems. It's over propelled a pegasus, nearly poisoned plenty of ponies, and terrorized bushels of brand-new bouncing baby bunnies. I don't care what you say. You. Need. Help!" She spoke sternly.
In response, AJ paused her bucking and looked up at them. "Nearly poisoned ponies?"
"I asked Nero to discreetly help you with Pinkie's muffin sale and Fluttershy's bunny census. Considering that you did cause problems, I'd say it was warranted." She explained.
"So I was right. You weren't just goin' on a walk in the forest." Applejack pointed to Nero.
"Sorry, AJ, but Twilight's right. You can't do this alone, you need help." Instead of responding to the devil hunter, Applejack delivered one final buck to the tree behind her, and all the apples fell into her baskets.
"Ha! No, I don't! Look, I did it!" Nero and Twilight looked to where the farm pony had pointed to see that all the trees were completely barren of apples. "I harvested the entire Sweet Apple Acres Orchard without your help! How do you like them apples?" She gave a smirk of accomplishment.
"Um, how do you like them apples?" A large red pony, who Nero remembered as Big Macintosh, came from seemingly nowhere and gestured to the other half of the orchard. There were apples as far as the eye could see. Applejack stared in disbelief, mumbling incoherently before collapsing.
"Applejack? Applejack!" Twilight shook the farm pony awake, and she slowly opened her eyes. "Oh good, you're okay. Now Applejack, I completely respect the apple family ways. You're always there to help anypony in need, so maybe you can put a little of your stubborn pride aside and allow your friends to help you." Despite Twilight's words, Applejack seemed a bit hesitant.
"...I think I can relate, actually."
The girls turned at Nero's voice. "There have been times where I tried to do something all on my own, only to fall short. It's not easy, throwing your pride aside, but sometimes it's necessary. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if I keep having to relearn that lesson. Still, I know deep down that it's true, and I'm sure you do too. So, what do you say?"
Applejack thought about Nero's words before giving her answer. "...Okay."
"I am not taking no for an answer- what?" Twilight's eyes widened.
"Yes, Twilight. Yes, please! I could really use your help." Applejack put her hooves together, begging to Twilight. The purple unicorn herself let out a sigh of relief. Nero couldn't help but chuckle.
Power can come in many different forms. Sometimes, working together with others can make you stronger, acting as a team. You can't do everything by yourself.
Later that day, Nero, Twilight, and the rest of the girls all pitched in to help harvest the apples from the trees while Applejack got some much-needed rest. They had been working for a while, and could see that the sun was starting to go down. At one point, Nero had managed to carry six baskets of Apples at once and was feeling pretty smug about it.
Then he saw Twilight levitate about 30 trees worth of apples into baskets with almost no effort.
Show off.
"How 'bout y'all take a little break?" Everyone turned towards the voice of Applejack and saw her pushing a cart of drinks towards them. "I got some fine apple juice waitin' for ya!"
Everyone gathered around and took a bottle of apple juice. As Nero took a sip, he wondered how the Apple family manages to make all of their apple related foods and drinks so delicious.
"I can't thank y'all enough for this help. I was actin' a bit stubborn." AJ thanked the group.
"A bit?" Twilight teased.
"Okay, a might stubborn. And I'm awful sorry. Now, I know the town gave me the prize pony award, but the real award is havin' you six as my friends." AJ continued to speak as everyone enjoyed their drinks.
Eugh, these girls always know how to make things sappy and cliche.
"Pardon me, but is the devil hunter Nero here?" The group all turned to see a white pony with a dark brown mane wearing glasses and a red cravat. She had a pen and inkwell for a cutie mark, and was holding a clipboard.
"Uh, yeah, that's me. What's up?" Nero approached the mare, wondering what she wanted with him. In fact, how did she know to find him here at Sweet Apple Acres?
"My name is Raven Inkwell, and I'm the mayor's assistant. I was told you would be paying for the damage done to the flower ponies' gardens." She stated, and Nero blanched.
"W-What!? Who told you that!? I never agreed to pay anything!"
"Ms. Sparkle informed us that you had been hired to ensure the official bunny census wouldn't run into any problems, but as was made evident by the destruction of flowers, you failed to do so. This means that responsibility falls upon you." After Raven's explanation, Nero turned to see Twilight holding in a laugh. This must have been payback for making her pay for the cupcakes.
Before Nero could respond, Raven wrote something down on her clipboard, then handed the paper to Nero. "This lists the damage caused and how much you owe. Have a good day." With that, the mayor's secretary turned and left. Nero's jaw dropped as he stared down at the paper.
There were a lot more zeroes than he was comfortable with.
"W-Wait, hold on a sec! I can't afford this! HEY! WAIT UP! PLEASE!" The devil hunter ran off into the sunset, chasing the secretary.
CURSE YOU ADORABLE BUNNIES!!!