Applejack liked to consider herself a relatively reasonable Pony. Sure, she was only just old enough to stop being considered a filly, but even so, she always did her best to be polite, or patient, or calm, even when exasperated. Yet there was one thing she simply had no patience, politeness, or calmness for in the least, and that was thieves who tried to steal apples from her farm.
Even when those thieves were a small herd of rabbits.
"Get back here, ya miserable li'l varmints!" the orange Earth Pony shouted, chasing the surprisingly speedy critters through the woods.
Their leader, a white rabbit with a particular gleam in his eyes and a good three apples in his arms, gave a mocking wiggle of his tail at her. Snorting with indignation, Applejack put on an extra burst of steam as her quarry rounded the corner.
Yet as she turned that same corner, she was forced to screech to a halt. The entire herd had, down to the last rabbit, stopped to sit stock still. The apples they had absconded with were either dropped on the dirt around their feet or else tucked behind their backs. Just as Applejack was readying to rustle the whole lot of them (despite her confusion over what had frozen them all up), a soft yet stern voice spoke out from up ahead. "Oh now Angel, we've talked about this. You're not supposed to take things that don't belong to you."
There at the head of the group floated down a soft-yellow Pegasus Pony with a silky pink mane and matching tail. She looked to be about Applejack's age, maybe a little older, with gangly legs that didn't seem to have quite caught up with the rest of her rather sleek body. She landed right in front of the white rabbit-this "Angel" she mentioned, Applejack guessed-, motioning for him to show the apples he was meagerly hiding behind his back. To Applejacks' surprise, Angel complied (with a heavy sigh, admittedly), showing all three before plopping them down in front of the Pegasus. "Now I want you and all your friends to pick these up," the pegasus said, "and return them to-OH!"
Her eyes went wide as they spotted Applejack, still standing there looking tensed and ready to pounce. Realizing she'd been spotted, the Earth Pony quickly relaxed herself, hopeful that this pegasus might be able to help work things out peacefully. "Um...howdy?" the Earth Pony said with a nervous smile.
"...um...um..." the pegasus squeaked meekly, the air of authority she had shown with the rabbits just moments before completely gone. "...h-hi there...um...m'am."
Scratching the back of her head in confusion, Applejack nonetheless managed to chuckle a bit. "Heh, I'm no 'ma'm', thank ya kindly," she said. "Name's Applejack."
At the word "apple", the pegasus' ears perked up, flattening quickly in embarrassment. "...oh dear," she said, "You're not the Pony my little Angel and his friends stole from, are you?"
Applejack was ready to confirm that she was, but the pegasus was suddenly bowing humbly before her, head knelt and eyes closed. "Please, don't take it out on them!" she said sadly, "It's my fault, I should've kept a better eye on them!"
"Relax, relax," Applejack said, still not sure what to make of this odd pegasus. "I ain't mad or nothin', I promise. Well, at least not anymore."
The pegasus looked up at her, eyes wide. "R-really...?" she whispered with a sniffle.
"I promise," Applejack replied, smiling at the pegasus' clear compassion for her rabbit friends, "I'm tellin' ya the honest truth: as long as I get back what's mine without any more trouble, I ain't got nothin' t'be mad about."
Rising back up to her feet, the pegasus smiled, the slightest hint of tears rimming her eyes. "Thank you very much," she said warmly. "I really appreciate it, and I'm very sorry you had to go through all this difficulty."
"Aw shucks, 't'weren't so bad, really," Applejack admitted, as much to herself as to the pegasus; now that she'd had a moment to simmer down, she knew it was more the act of theft that had angered her than anything particularly bad about the rabbits themselves. "'Sides, way I see it, if a Pony as nice as you's willin' to stick up for 'em, they can't be too bad."
The pegasus stepped back a bit, still smiling but tucking her head down a bit, her curled mane covering one of her eyes. "O-oh," she murmured, "t-thank you for saying something so nice."
Gathering up the apples on the ground (and ignoring the stink-eye she was getting from Angel) into a satchel she wore on her back, the farm pony looked at the pegasus kindly. "No need t'thank me," she said, "Just tellin' the truth, far as I'm concerned. Incidentally, you know my name, but I reckon I still don't know yours yet. Mind sharin'?"
"O-oh!" the pegasus squeaked again. "I'm...well, I'm...um...fluttershy..."
"Say again?" Applejack said, pausing in her apple-gathering to try and hear her new acquaintance better.
"...fluttershy..." the pegasus tried again.
"One more time, Sugar Cube," Applejack chuckled politely, "With feeling this time."
The pegasus gulped, taking a deep breath before finally saying, loud enough that Applejack actually understood this time but still one of the softest whispers the Earth Pony had ever heard, "...fluttershy...."
"Pleased to meet ya, Fluttershy," Applejack said happily, offering her front hoof to the pegasus for a good strong shake. "Don't reckon I see a lotta Pegasus Ponies 'round these parts. What brings ya here?"
Fluttershy smiled meekly, giving Applejack's hoof a light, friendly tap but retracting it before the Earth Pony could shake it. Though Applejack couldn't help but quirk her brow at the odd gesture, Granny Smith had always told her to be respectful of everypony's personal greeting style, so she let it pass without comment. "I just moved here from Cloudsdale, actually," the timid pegasus explained, "I guess I finally realized I didn't belong up there in the sky...I preferred it down here on the ground, with all my little animal friends."
She gave a warm little smile to Angel and the other bunnies, who had begun to snuggle up to Fluttershy, returning her smile sincerely. "You...you just up 'n' left your family like that?" Applejack asked, not only surprised that such a soft-spoken Pony could do something so bold but further remembering her own misguided attempt to run away from home.
"Oh goodness, no," Fluttershy giggled, "I got their permission first, and I'm still in regular contact with them. And not just them, either; I've been talking to one of my good friends from Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash, about her moving here too."
Soothed by that information, Applejack's bright demeanor returned. "You're quite the considerate Pony, aren't ya?" she said, "This Rainbow Dash is mighty lucky t'have you as a friend."
Fluttershy scuffed the ground gently with her front hoof, again ducking her head down to hide her eye behind her mane. "T-thank you...again," she murmured bashfully. "Oh, but look at me, hogging all the attention; what about you, Ms. Applejack?" she suddenly perked up.
"Well, fer starters, you can stop with the 'm'am's' 'n' 'miss's 'n' all that," she said, "Just plain ol' Applejack'll do just fine, thank ya. And really, I ain't got a whole lot t'say. I live on my farm, Sweet Apple Acres, with my brother Big Macintosh, my Granny Smith, 'n' my li'l sister Apple Bloom."
"Little sister?" Fluttershy asked, eyes suddenly widening with excitement. "Oh that's wonderful! I've always wanted a cute little sister."
Applejack chuckled. "Heh, you may reconsider that when you meet Apple Bloom. Li'l filly's not even old enough t'walk yet 'n' she's already a hoof-full." The Earth Pony doffed her hat respectfully. "But I do love her with all my heart even so."
"You're so lucky," Fluttershy sighed dreamily. "I never had any siblings, and my parents were away working at the Rainbow Factory most of the time when I was little. You, though...you get to be with ponies you love all the time. That just sounds perfect to me."
"Yeah, well...I kinda had to learn how much my family really meant t'me the hard way," Applejack admitted as she re-donned her hat. "But ever since, I've been grateful to have 'em in my life each 'n' every day."
Fluttershy could only smile all the brighter at that. "I'm very happy for that, Applejack," she said. "A good-hearted Pony like you deserves to have a family that caring."
"Thank ya kindly, Fluttershy," Applejack replied, "And y'know...us Ponies in the Apple family have a sayin' I figure you should know."
"Oh?" Fluttershy asked. "What's that?"
"A good friend's as good as Family," Applejack answered. "You ever feel like bein' surrounded by good-hearted Ponies who care about you yourself, don't hesitate t'come by Sweet Apple Acres any time you want."
Fluttershy nodded. "O-oh yes, absolutely. I'd love to meet your family," then, bashfully muted, "and...see you again...."
Applejack nodded. "Feeling's mutual. Anyway, I'd better get these apples back home 'fore it gets dark out. Take care, Fluttershy, 'n' it's been a real pleasure meetin' ya."
"You too," Fluttershy said, beaming.
The pegasus watched as Applejack trotted off, back toward her home. "Now let's get all of you back home too," she told her rabbit friends, who all nodded in agreement. "And remember. No more stealing, OK?"
Another round of rabbit nods. "Good," she said happily, leading them off toward her hut.
She then turned back, seeing Applejack still off in the distance. It was good to know, even if Rainbow Dash didn't wind up moving to Ponyville, she had a good friend to turn to here.