Raising a Human in Equestria

by Flame6666

Ch 8: Season’s End

Fluttershy woke up feeling miserable. There was a burning pain in her chest and her sleep the previous night had been uneasy. She kept tossing and turning throughout the night trying to drown out the accusing thoughts. The incident from yesterday was still fresh on her mind and sent shivers down her spine every time she thought about it. She could had done something to help, at least try to intervene in some way. But she just stood there, still like a statue, watching as two of her friends argued and possibly ended their friendship. No matter how much her conscious kept screaming at her to do something, she did not.

Fluttershy took a deep breath, she knew that the cold sensation and her conscious wouldn't leave her alone until she at least tried to fix things. Years of being friends with Applejack had taught Fluttershy how stubborn the farm pony could be. Fluttershy decided it was best to let Applejack calm down before approaching her. Twilight seemed like the more reasonable pony at the moment and she decided it was best to talk to Twilight first.

After feeding the animals in her cottage, she put Angel Bunny in charge and headed toward the library. It was still early morning and the vendors were just setting up their stands in the marketplace. However she noticed that Applejack was missing which was indeed strange considering how Applejack was always early to set up the Apple family’s apple stand. When she arrived at the library she was surprised to see that she wasn't the only one there.

Pinkie Pie was camping in front of the library. She had a small pink tent and small fire pit set up and was sitting on lawn chair while sipping a cup of coffee. Pinkie Pie eyes widened once she noticed Fluttershy approaching and with a wide grin, greeted her, “Hiya Fluttershy, how you doing this morning?!”

“To be honest not so well,” Fluttershy admitted, “I feel awful about yesterday and want to see if there’s some way I could make it up to Twilight.”

“Yeah, it was pretty bad,” said Pinkie Pie as she poured herself another cup of coffee from her beverage container. “The library doesn’t open for another two hours. Do you want coffee? I got tea if you like.”

“Tea would be nice,” Fluttershy responded.

Pinkie Pie pulled out a pot from her tent and filled it with water and placed it over the fire. “I also have marshmallows and crackers so we can make s’mores.”

“Don’t you think it’s a bit too early for s’mores?” asked Fluttershy.

“Are you kidding? It’s never too early for s’mores,” responded Pinkie Pie as she began to roast marshmallows over the fire. “So yesterday left a bad taste for you too?”

“You can say that,” Fluttershy said quietly.

“I stayed for a while after you girls left,” said Pinkie Pie as she placed a tea bag in a cup of hot water. “Twilight cried for hours after Applejack stormed out all mad. I couldn’t sleep knowing that one of my friends was feeling so blue. So I decided I’ll cheer Twilight up!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed while taking a large gulp of coffee. Fluttershy could see steam coming out of Pinkie’s ears. “But I can’t throw a cheer Twilight up party if I don’t know her favorite kind of cake, unless she’s the pony that prefers pie. In that case, I can’t throw a party if I don’t know what her favorite kind of pie is!”

It was business as usual at Sweet Apple Acres. All appeared to be well or at least it seemed like it. The previous day had been a shock to Applejack. The past days had brought back fears she hadn't felt in years. The very thought that she might not be able to keep Johnny a secret had frightened her. Only just a few days ago she found herself to be the bearer of the Element of Honest and here she was now trying to fool herself. Applejack had always considered her be an honest pony. There had to be some merit to that. Why else would she be chosen to be the bearer of the Element of Honesty and help defeat the Nightmare Moon along with her friends and... Twilight Sparkle?

Just the thought of the name of that mare filled Applejack with indignation that made her blood boil. Her actions were complete justified. What right did Twilight have poking her nose in things that were none of her business? How hard had they worked in trying to keep Johnny for five years and now here Twilight comes and tries to change everything. Not even the other Apples outside of Sweet Apple Acres knew about Johnny, they had made sure that Fluttershy took care of him during the Apple Family reunions.

It might seem harsh, but they were for his safety. They simply didn’t know how the public would react to Johnny. Applejack would do everything she could to protect her family. Apparently that was something Twilight Sparkle didn’t understand even with all her fancy edjamacation.

A loud knock interrupted her thoughts as Johnny entered the barn with a look of confusion and concern. “Uh Applejack, are ya’ all right?” he asked.

“I'm fine and dandy,” responded Applejack with a forced smile. Inside she felt a cold shiver travel down her spine. “Why do ya ask?”

“Well it’s that usually at this time ya are already halfway to the marketplace to sell apples,” Johnny responded. “Big Mac wants me to help him fix something up in the barn for Applebuck season and ah was just surprised to see that ya where still here.”

Applejack smiled warmly at her little brother, “Don’t worry none, everythin’s fine,” she lied, “Just got a little behind schedule that’s all. How about you help out with the last batch of apples?”

In less than five minutes they had finished loading the cart and Applejack was ready to head towards the marketplace. “Uh, Applejack,” said Johnny nervously, “Ah know that I’m still in trouble, but I was wondering if I could on the fishing trip next weekend.”

“Next weekend?” Applejack asked. “Applebuck season begins in a few days, I’m not sure I can take you on a fishing trip. It’s going to be very busy around the farm.”

“Oh Big Mac said he’ll take me. Told me that he’ll manage to fit the trip in his schedule for applebuck season,” responded Johnny, “We’re going to have an all boys fishing trip, Harry and Angel are going too.”

“Why would Angel want to go fishing?” asked Applejack, “Last time I checked, rabbits don’t eat fish.”

“Sometimes you just have to get outside the house,” said Johnny, “Angel doesn’t’ like being cooped up in Fluttershy’s house all the time. Well that and he doesn’t want to babysit after a bunch of baby bunnies during the bunny census. And I think he and Big Mac have a competition on who can catch the most fish. I think Angel is winning at the moment.”

Applejack chucked briefly before saying, “Fine you can go, but only on the condition that you wear your life vest.”

“Okay,” said Johnny grumpily, “But that thing is so silly, why couldn’t Rarity choose some cooler colors?”

“Now there,” said Applejack as she grabbed Johnny and placed her hoof on his head, “It’s for your own safety. I-we don’t want ya to get hurt, do we?”

“Ah guess not,” said Johnny.

Applejack chucked briefly as she placed the last crate of apples on the wagon. “Well I’m off to the market. You behave now Johnny,” she said as she gave the Johnny a tight hug that he tried to wiggle out of.

Johnny glanced at Applejack as she walked out the farm. He couldn’t help to notice that she was acting rather… different. She was a bit more huggy than usual. Applejack had given him a bone crushing hug when she arrived home yesterday. She hugged him twice more during that evening, and even gave him a good night hug and read him a bedtime story, something that she hadn’t done since he was a baby. He knew that his sister loved him dearly but usually she wasn’t the type that hugged him every moment she had the chance; that would be Aunt Pinkie Pie.

Spike was not in a happy mood that morning. Twilight had stayed up crying all last night and by the time she fell asleep it was past three in the morning. Spike was tired and he really didn't want to open the library that day. But since it was a public library and Twilight was unable to fulfill her duties as librarian, that meant that he was in charge.

He decided that he would take an early nap. According to the previous librarian, not many ponies visited the library and those that did usually arrived past eleven. He tried to snooze past the alarm clock but groggily got up ten minutes later to turn it off. He went to the kitchen and made a pot of coffee. By the time he unlocked the front door of the library it was five minutes past opening time. Immediately after opening the door, he was tackled by a pink blur.

“Oh good you're okay, I was beginning to worry that something was wrong,” blurted out Pinkie Pie. “Do you know that you open five minutes late today? You really have to work on opening on time. It's a good habit you know."

Spike grumbled inwardly but nonetheless kept a calm composure. "I'll keep that in mind." he muttered. "So what brings you girls here today?" he asked them in a more formal tone.

"Well-uh... you see... it's uh, it’s about uh-" Fluttershy began to stutter, she was rather nervous about seeing Twilight.

"Is this about yesterday?" Spike asked bluntly as he glared at them with his arms crossed. He never had seen Twilight so sad in his life, well apart that one time when her favorite book series was cancelled. In second thought, that incident had been worse.

"Yep!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie with a wide grin, "We’ve come to cheer Twilight up and make things right!"

Spike gave Pinkie Pie a skeptical glance but couldn't find any malice in her wide goofy grin. With a sigh he said, "Okay, I'll go check on Twilight. If she wants to see anyone at the moment, I'll let you girls see her."

Spike knocked softly on the door before entering the room. He shivered at the sight of Twilight. She was a complete mess; her mane was even more unkempt than it is usually was during the mornings. Her eyes were red and were still watery. She had an empty look on her face and simply stared at the wall ahead.

"Twilight," Spike called with deep concern. "How are you feeling?"

"I- I don't know," she responded weakly. Twilight then gave Spike a longing look, "I don’t know what I did wrong. It wasn’t until a few days ago did I discover the importance of having friends and now here I go and manage to lose them in a single day. What did I do wrong, what did I do wrong Spike?"

"I don't know," Spike said honestly. "But maybe you can still fix it.”

“I’m not so sure if I can Spike,” said Twilight, “Didn’t you see their reaction yesterday? Rainbow Dash and Applejack probably hate me and I won’t be surprised if the rest of them do so too.”

“Come on Twilight you have to cheer up,” said Spike with a weak smile. “I’m pretty sure that your new friends don’t hate you. Okay maybe Applejack doesn’t want to see you but that doesn’t mean the rest of them do. The fact that Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are downstairs and want to cheer you up has to mean something.”

“Are they really?” Twilight asked in a soft voice.

Spike gave her a reassuring nod. “Well you don’t want to keep your friends waiting do your?” he asked.

With those words Twilight felt rejuvenated, she leapt out her bed and quickly made herself look presentable with some quick spells. Maybe Spike was right, maybe she can still fix things with Applejack. It won’t be easy, but she will have to face the issue sooner or later. Right now however she had two friends waiting for her. Taking a deep breath, Twilight slowly descended down the stairs.

“Twilight, you have to understand that Johnny is a very sensitive issue for us,” said Fluttershy. An hour had passed and the conversation had reached its climax. It had started out rather awkwardly. At first it was small talk ranging over various different topics. Once the ice had broken, Pinkie Pie asked Twilight a lengthy series of questions about her favorite foods and things.

Pinkie Pie’s fast note taking skill came as a great surprise to Twilight, mostly due to the fact that Pinkie was writing them down on pieces of toast with cake frosting. Pinkie’s mood greatly turned serious when she asked if she preferred cake or pie. Upon hearing that Twilight greatly enjoyed pecan pie, Pinkie’s mood returned back to its cheerful self and gulped down the entire stack of toast that she wrote her notes on. Twilight had never seen such a feat before, she didn’t think that it was even possible to stretch a body to those proportions. She made a mental note to examine Pinkie Pie’s abilities at a later time.

Once she was finished with her questions, Pinkie handed the conversation over to Fluttershy, who squeaked at being put under the spotlight. Nonetheless Fluttershy bravely led the conversation to its main topic: Johnny and yesterday’s incident.

“Yes, I know he’s important to you,” Twilight said with a shiver remembering Applejack’s and Rainbow’s reaction. “But why, why are you all so keen on keeping him a secret?” she asked.

“Well…tha-that may be…” Fluttershy stuttered. Her face began to turn red and she began to mubble. “It’s uh…”

“Oh, oh I know this one!” shouted Pinkie Pie as she waved her hoof like an impatient student waiting to be called upon. “I remember it like it was five years two months and five days ago! Rainbow Dash was napping when she found little baby Johnny, well more like woken up by him. He wasn’t called Johnny back then. I don’t know if he even had a name at the time. So there was a voting period when we chose the name Jonathan Apple. But I like to call him Johnny Appleseed, I don’t know why but it’s kinda catchy.”

“I thought Applejack came up with his name,” said Fluttershy.

“That’s what you think,” Pinkie Pie said with an aura of mystery.

“Uh girls, what does this have to do with keeping Johnny a secret?” a flustered Twilight asked once again.

“I was just getting there,” said Pinkie Pie, “You see once the Apple family decided to adopt Johnny, Rarity wanted to keep Johnny a secret and Applejack agreed.”

“But why?” asked Twilight.

“I don’t really remember,” said Pinkie Pie nonchalantly, “You have to ask her about that.”

Twilight grumbled in frustration, “But you just said that you knew the reason!”

“Well I do. The only reason we are keeping Johnny a secret because Applejack wants us to still keep Johnny a secret!” said Pinkie Pie with a grin.

A loud groan filled the library as Twilight buried her face into her hooves. “That’s the reason for all the secrecy!? Why? It just doesn’t make any sense. He’s a new creature that we have never seen; just think about possibilities, the discoveries, all going to waste.”

“Um Twi, maybe you’re looking at this the wrong way,” Spike spoke out for the first time. The dragon had been entering and leaving the room throughout the conversation. Once the subject had shifted to Johnny he sat quietly next to Twilight taking in every word.

“What you mean?” asked Twilight.

“Well Applejack considers Johnny to be family,” said Spike.

“Johnny is family,” said Fluttershy as boldly as she could. Twilight and Spike stared at the shy mare in shock, who had, once realizing that she was the center of attention, hidden behind her mane.

“Yep Fluttershy is right,” said Pinkie Pie, “Johnny is family and Applejack is very protective of her family. And she’s especial protective of Johnny. You should have seen her panic every time Johnny decided to play hide and seek. He’s quite good at it, but it’s just not the same with him having to wear a bell collar.”

“But then why is keep him a secret?” asked Twilight in frustration. “I mean what if he gets sick or injured? What happens then? Yes I admit that the possibility of new knowledge interests me. Please understand that the things we learn from him does not only help us understand him more, but could benefit him in the future as well.”

“Twilight, Applejack does care very much about Johnny,” said Fluttershy in an unrecognizable tone that was surprising cold. “Applejack doesn’t want Johnny to be taken away,” she said in her softer normal voice, “None of us do.”

“Yeah,” said Pinkie Pie in agreement. “We don’t want Johnny to be taken away to some wacky lab where a bunch of strangers do crazy experiments and stick needles in him.”

“Stick needles in him?” Twilight said shock. “The only reason they would stick a needle in him is to either give him a vaccine or take a blood sample, and even then there are procedures that have to be followed. I would nev- they would never take Johnny away from his home for the sake of science, it’s extremely unethical. I just wanted permission to give Johnny a few basic tests, that’s why I tried to do what I did with the tickets.”

“Well how are we supposed to know that?” asked Pinkie Pie defensively.

“I thought you knew,” said Twilight. “There’s a guideline when it comes to these kinds of scenarios. Every researcher and scientist knows them by hea…” –Twilight froze for a brief moment in sudden realization—“Every researcher and scientist… oh.” Twilight bowed her head and said in a soft voice, “I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m not very good communicating with other ponies besides the Princess and professors. Of course they would understand what I meant by performing experiments and tests. But you girls don’t work in that field. Pinkie, you’re a baker.”

“I’m also a party planner, fortune teller, and Ponyville’s Hide and Seek champion for seven years in row!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

“Right,” said Twilight, “But I at least expected Fluttershy to understand some of what I mean. Well you being a veterinarian and all.”

Fluttershy blushed and squeaked, “I’m not a veterinarian. I’m more of an animal caretaker, but sometimes I help ponies with pets.”

“Really?” asked Twilight in astonishment, “But with all those animals that you take care of, I thought that… well you know…”

“It’s okay,” said Fluttershy softly.

“No,” said Twilight strongly, “I’ve been making too many assumptions lately and look where it got me with Applejack. Perhaps trying to use those tickets to manipulate you girls may have not been the best course of action yesterday. I’m deeply sorry about that. But you have to understand I thought that using the tickets was the only way to get you to listen to what I had to say.”

“Well we’re listening now,” said Pinkie Pie, “So what sort of science stuff do you want to perform on Johnny?”

“Well I guess it would be just the basics for now,” Twilight explained as she began enter her lecture mode. “Right now the only thing I’m comfortable with is giving him a physical exam, perhaps a few medical scans. We need to figure out his basic anatomy. How is his anatomy similar and different to that of a pony? Once we have a foundation down, we can build on that…”

The sun continued on its daily journey across the sky as the day progressed. Down in the marketplace Applejack was in a very good mood, today had been an exceptionally good day and had brought record sales. Yet business began to slow down after the post lunch rush and Applejack’s mood began to falter as fewer customers came to distract her from her dark thoughts.

Her mood wasn’t getting better with the pesky humming bird that kept chirping. It had been bothering her for the past five minutes and wouldn’t leave her alone. She tried to shoo it away and tell to go pester someone else yet the hummingbird remained.

“Ah told ya’ to shoo,” she shouted at it, “What part of that don’t ya understand?”

Yet the bird kept chirping and flying in circles around the farm mare. The bird too was getting impatient in trying to give his message to the stubborn pony. Fortunately at that moment, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy decided to visit the marketplace at that moment.

“Applejack!” shouted Pinkie Pie in greetings. “How’s it going?”

“It’s going fine, would be better is this fella’ stopped pestering me,” said Applejack.

“Hummingway!” Fluttershy scolded the bird. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

Hummingway flinched at Fluttershy’s words but regardless continued to chirp. This time however Fluttershy listened to him and understood the chirp. He had an urgent message to deliver and proceeded to give it.

“Two…two,” said Fluttershy as she began to interpret the birds movements.

“Oh are we playing charades!?” Pinkie jumped with glee, “I love charades! Let me try—two, two legs. Two legs… uh two legs… Johnny!”

The bird nodded and continued with his message, he began pointing at crate of apples. Applejack was now playing close attention to him.

“Apples?” Fluttershy asked, “Apple crate? Apple tree uh apple field?”

“I think he means Sweet Apple Acres,” said Applejack. The bird chirped to indicate that she was right. “Well what about Johnny and Sweet Apple Acres?” she nearly shouted.

Hummingway continued with a signal that Fluttershy understood for hurt or injured creature. “Hurt?” she muttered softly.

“So Johnny, Sweet Apple Acres, and hurt: what does it mean?” asked Pinkie Pie. “I think I got it!” Yet before she could finish her thoughts, Applejack was a blur running out of the marketplace heading straight towards Sweet Apple Acres.

“STAMPEDE!” they heard Rainbow Dash shout in the distance. “Oh never mind…False alarm everypony! Wow she’s fast…though not as fast as me.”

“I think I’ll go after her,” said Pinkie Pie. “Fluttershy, you look after the stand.”

Before Fluttershy could protest, Pinkie Pie vanished with a cloud of pink dust. Fluttershy was left alone with the apple stand. A large bulky grey stallion walked to the stand and asked in a deep voice, “So how much is a basket of apples?”

Fluttershy squeaked and quickly cowered behind the stand. The stallion stared at the stand in confusion. “Um, okay? I’ll think I’ll come back later.” He left the stand confused asking himself if it was something he said that frightened the mare.

Two days had passed since Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie’s conversation with Twilight and much had happened since then. It turned out that it wasn’t Johnny that was hurt but rather Big McIntosh. There had been an accident while they tried to fix to the barn. It was fortunate that the injury wasn’t serious and Big Mac was allowed to go back home later that evening. The doctor had given him strict orders that he should rest and not strain himself.

Everyone was relieved when they heard the news that Big Mac was fine. The only one that remained shocked was Applejack who took it to heart to make sure that Big Mac followed the doctor’s orders, even if that meant that she had to pick every apple during Applebuck season all by herself.

Applebuck season is what the Apple family called the harvest occurs during mind to late summer. It one of the two main harvests that occur in Sweet Apple Acres, the other being cider season with occurred during autumn. Then there was the zap apple harvest that varied year to year and the only one who could accurately predict it was Granny Smith.

It was a tall order but Applejack considered herself more than capable for the task. Her schedule was already jam packed yet somehow Pinkie Pie had managed to convince her to take the time to help her, Rainbow and Fluttershy with various tasks throughout that week. It was very early in the morning, just moments before the sunrise. She sat alone in the kitchen eating a quick breakfast. Today was the first day of the season.

“Yar biting more ya can chew,” said a voice as Applejack walked past the living room.

Applejack felt her back shiver and nearly jumped. She turned around to see Granny Smith sitting on a living chair glancing at an old photo album. “Whoa, Granny ya nearly startled me,” said Applejack.

“Yar biting more than ya can chew,” Granny repeated. “Ya aren’t the first to do so,” she said sadly as she glanced over a particular photo in the album, “Ah know that you will refuse any help that comes your way.”

“Of course not,” Applejack said stubbornly. “Ah don’t need no help, ah can pick every apple all by myself.”

Granny Smith smirked, “Apple Family Pride, both a boon and a curse. It allowed our family to do many great and marvelous deeds. Like found this great town, yet if not controlled it can consume you, like your great Uncle Crabapple. Applejack, don’t be afraid to ask for help when aya need it.” Granny Smith stretched from her chair and began to head towards the stair. “I’m not just talking about picking apples,” she said in enigmatic tone before she entered her room.

Applejack stared at the spot where Granny Smith was in utter confusion. She had no idea what she was talking about. Her eyes fell on the old photo album that Granny Smith was looking through. A cold chill traveled down Applejack’s spine. It had been years since she looked through that very same photo album. The last time she looked at the contents of that album she broke down crying, for that album contained the last known photographs of her parents during the final days of their lives.

Applejack shook her head and took a deep breath. “Never again,” she said coldly as the apple orchards began to appear in front of her. “Never again, so as long as ah can help it,” she muttered as she positioned herself in front of a tree. “Ah will do everything I can to protected them,” Applejack nearly screamed as the first apples of the season fell down towards the ground.

“And that’s how Equestria was made!”

The rest of the ponies stared at Pinkie Pie in confusion as she finished with whatever it was that she was saying. She had started with retelling the conversation she had with Twilight alongside Fluttershy. However she had gone off topic halfway in and managed to confuse everyone listening to her.

“Pinkie Pie what the heck are you talking about?” Rainbow Dash asked as she took a sip of her drink. The girls, sans Twilight and Applejack, were having lunch at one of the cafes in Ponyville. Pinkie Pie had invited them to discuss what she called a very important issue.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I am quite confused as well darling,” said Rarity. “Fluttershy, you were also there, what did you three talk about?”

Fluttershy blushed as she was put under the spotlight, “Oh not much, we apologized to each other and Twilight explained more in detail what she meant when she wanted to perform tests and some experiments on Johnny.”

“And what kind of freaky experiments does Egghead want to perform on Johnny?” Rainbow Dash asked fiercely.

“Rainbow, Twilight only wants help Johnny in her own way,” said Pinkie Pie. “Give her a chance; she’s not a bad pony.” She gave Rainbow Dash the look of wide puppy eyes. Rainbow tried to resist those eyes bust just couldn’t once Pinkie Pie started whining.

“Fine, fine I’ll give her a chance,” Rainbow Dash said reluctantly, “But only one chance and she better not screw it up.”

“Well that’s the best I can ask for,” said Pinkie Pie sadly. “But right now we want to make things right between Applejack and Twilight. Applejack has agreed to help me this Thursday when the Cakes leave me in charge of Sugarcube Corner.”

“Wait, the Cakes trust you to look after the shop?” Rainbow asked in shock as if the Cakes lost their mind.

“Yep,” Pinkie said proudly, “And Applejack is going to help run the bakery. She also agreed to help Fluttershy for the bunny census this weekend. Fluttershy and I have agreed to use these opportunities to our advantage in helping ease tensions between Applejack and Twilight!”

“We did?” asked Fluttershy as it was the first time she heard about the plan.

“Yep,” responded Pinkie cheerfully, “We are going to explain to Applejack what we learned from Twilight.”

“But you haven’t even explained to us what you learned from Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Yes, I am quite confused as well darling,” said Rarity. “And even if I did, you must forgive me, I must disagree with this plan.”

“What?” gasped Pinkie Pie; she could not believe the words she was hearing.

“I believe that in the end it’s up to Applejack and Twilight on whether or not they want to resolve their differences.” Rarity explained. “Also I am quite busy at the moment. My parents and little sister are moving from Trottingham to here in Ponyville and I am quite occupied at the moment to make sure that it goes down smoothly. They were starting to have second thoughts after the whole Nightmare Moon business during their short visit.”

“You have a sister?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes her name is Sweetie Belle,” said Rarity, “I think she’s about Apple Bloom age.”

“Oh! Can I throw their welcome party?” Pinkie interrupted.

“I wouldn’t ask any other pony,” Rarity replied with a smile. Her smile vanished as she continued speaking in a more serious tone. “But I must refuse to this little scheme of yours, Pinkie. I believe than in trying to interfere we might make things worse, and I have enough drama for the moment.”

“Rarity, you worry too much,” said Pinkie Pie, “I have this situation all under control. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“We came as soon as we could,” Twilight said to Nurse Redheart as she arrived to medical tent that was set up.

“Thank goodness you came,” said Nurse Redheart with a sigh of relief, “We need all the help we can get.” She opened the flap to the entrance of the tent. There were rows of cots filled with sick ponies. Some of them were rather pale or green and others were groaning and moaning.

“What happened?” asked Twilight. She stared at shock at the scene, what could have caused such a thing.

“There was a slight mishap in part of the baked goods…” said Nurse Heart.

“No, not baked goods,” interrupted a sickly green Pinkie Pie, “Baked bads”. She grabbed a nearby bucket and emptied the contents of her stomach into it. Twilight looked away in disgust while Spike stared in amazement.

“Whoa!” he said, “I didn’t even know ponies could do that!”

“Spike!” scolded Twilight.

“Sorry Twilight, but look at her go, she’s like a fountain!”

“SPIKE!”

“Okay, okay,” said Spike, “I’ll stop.”

“Spike stop, just stop,” said Twilight. “Nurse Redheart, how can we help?”

“We are lucky that we don’t have any severe cases of food poisoning. But nonetheless we can ease the symptoms for these ponies. Just make sure that they are hydrated, I sure that most of them will be fine by tomorrow and will be released within a few hours. I want you to help me overlook these ponies to make sure that no complications occur.”

“How did this even happened in the first place?” Twilight asked, “I thought that the Cakes were responsible ponies.

“They are,” answered Nurse Redheart, “But today they had out of town business and left Pinkie Pie in charge of Sugar Cube Corner.”

“They what?” said Twilight who was now dumbfounded, “But- I, how?” Twilight tried her hardest to comprehend how someone like Pinkie would allow such a thing to happen. She knew that Pinkie Pie was a skilled baker and wouldn’t bake something that made ponies sick, not even for a cruel prank. Maybe somepony else had poisoned the ingredients, but who would do such at thing? After Nurse Redheart resumed looking after other ponies, Twilight decided to get at the bottom of this. “Pinkie Pie, what happened?”

“It was an accident?” Pinkie answered weakly. Once she saw Twilight approaching her she hid behind her blankets.

“Accident? Pinkie, ponies are sick with food poisoning!” Twilight lectured her, “We’re lucky none of the reported cases are severe but still... Pinkie, how could you be so careless!”

“I was distracted okay!” said Pinkie at the verge of tears, “I just wanted to make things right. So I invited Applejack to help me with looking after the bakery. We were supposed to bake muffins! I was reading the ingredients while Applejack mixed them up. Then I was supposed to talk to Applejack while the muffins were baking but she was being all funny and I got distracted.” It was then when Pinkie started crying, “I’M SORRY! I didn’t mean of any of this to happen! I’m not a bad pony; I didn’t want anyone to get sick!”

It was a strange and surreal experience for Twilight to comfort the crying pony. It was the first time in her life that she was experiencing it from the other end. As strange as it felt, her efforts accomplished what they were intended, Pinkie Pie calmed down and ceased crying. “I’m sorry,” Twilight said weakly, “I guess we all make mistakes.”

“No,” said Pinkie Pie, “You’re right. I should have paid more attention. I guess it’s going to be while until the Cakes decide to leave me in charge of anything again.”

“Hey,” said Spike not noticing that he was interrupting the moment. He was holding a plate of some of the most disgusting looking muffins Twilight had ever seen. They were green and brown, Twilight could have sworn that she saw half a worm wiggling in one of them. “These things aren’t that bad.”

“Spike!” Twilight scolded, “Throw those away!”

“But they’re pretty good,” Spike said with a mouthful of the vile food. “You should try one,” he said as he presented Twilight a muffin. Now Twilight was sure that there was in fact a worm wiggling its way through the muffin.

“Okay Spike,” said Twilight, “First, dragons have different digestive systems than ponies, meaning that you can eat things ponies can’t and vice versa. Two, what you are eating is disgusting and revolting. And finally three, why is there half a worm in this sorry excuse for the muffin?”

“The real question should be ‘how did that worm survive the oven?’” asked Pinkie Pie.

Twilight grunted in frustration, “That’s beside the point. Spike, throw those things away and let’s start with what Nurse Redheart asked of us.” Twilight picked up the checklist that Nurse Redheart had left hurt. She took a deep breath, right now her priority was task given to her. Once she was done here then she would probably check on Applejack, something was definitely up with that pony if she was acting in such a way that even a pony like Pinkie Pie would describe as acting funny.

Johnny woke up to the loud crow of the rooster. It was still dark and the sunrise wasn’t until a couple of more hours. Johnny had asked Mr. Rooster to wake him up early today. His ears were ringing from the noise when quickly got out of bed. A quick look around his room and he saw that Mr. Rooster was crowing loudly just outside of his window.

"Kay, Kay, I'm up," he grumbled. He really couldn't be mad at the rooster, after all he did ask him for the early wake up call.

A loud knocking from his door told him that he wasn't the only one that was woken up by the rooster. "Wat in tarnation is that racket? Nearly gave me a scare," said Granny Smith.

"Sorry Granny!" Johnny responded, "I asked Mr. Rooster ta wake me up extra early today!"

"Couldn't ya just use an alarm clock? No need in waking up the whole farm."

"Sorry Granny, I won't do it again."

Johnny could hear Granny Smith sigh and chuckle, "I know how you young 'uns can be. Why I was quite a whipper snapper when I was your age. Well you best get packed an' ready if you want to on your little fishing trip."

Johnny got dressed his blue tunic and packed his bag with supplies that he would need for his fishing trip. When he arrived to the kitchen, Big Mac was already there spreading jam on a piece of toast. However there was another pony there that surprised him and made him stutter, “Applejack?”

Sure enough the farm mare was at the table with her head nested on the table as she nursed a cup of coffee. “Uh-wha?” she muttered in confusion. “Oh, Johnny what are you doing up so early?”

“Today’s is our fishing trip,” Johnny replied, “But why are you up so early, are you going on our trip too?”

“Nah,” Applejack answered with a yawn, “Got be up and early if ah want to finish the east field. I’ll do a big chunk of it this morning then I’m off to help Stuttershy with the apple census. That will give a few hours to manage the old bunny stand in the marketplace. And if everything goes to plan, I’ll finish the east field by the end of today.”

“Applejack, don’t you think that ya should at least take a break?” Johnny asked with concern. In truth, his elder sister’s appearance frightened him a little. Applejack was never a pony to care about her she looked, but her dark circles and bags underneath her eyes were a worrying sight.

“Ah said I’m going to buck down each all by myself and that’s what I intend to do,” said Applejack stubbornly. “Once I finish the east field then I shall prove that I am capable of picking every apple without any help.” She gulped the rest of the coffee in her mug, gave Johnny a very tight hug and headed outside. Johnny and Big Mac flinched when they heard a loud crashing noise. “Nothing to worry about,” said Applejack in a reassuring voice. “Just tripped on a bucket—Ah uh, meant to do that.”

Johnny and Big Mac continued to eat their breakfast in an awkward silence. It was Johnny that spoke first, “Um, Big Mac?”

“Eeyuup?” he responded.

“The south field is still full with apples isn’t it?” Johnny asked.

“Eyuup,” Big Mac responded stoically.

“Shouldn’t we tell her that?”

“Enope.”

“I thought so too,” Johnny said in agreement.

“She needs to take a break,” said Big Mac, “But more importantly, she needs to learn that there is no shame in asking for help. There’s no point in trying to carry a heavy load alone especially when they are out of yer hooves.”

“Right,” said Johnny in agreement, though he had a feeling that Big Mac was referring to more than just picking apples.

Half an hour later they were outside of Sweet Apple Acres and with a cart packed with two ice chests, a picnic basket, fishing supplies, a first aid kit that Applejack had insisted they take, and other random assortment of things that they might need on their fishing trip. Big Mac helped Johnny put on his blue fishing vest. He wouldn’t mind it if Rarity hadn’t given the vest frilly ruffled edges with bells. He had to admit that Rarity did make him a nice fishing hat to go with it. Well at least he didn’t have to wear his collar; of course Rarity was still quite mad that he tore it up in the first place.

A light appeared in the distance and began to slowly approach them. It’ appeared to be floating in midair. As it got closer Johnny could make out that the light was coming from lantern being held by a towering figure. Eventually the light revealed that figure was a bear and on top of the bear was a white bunny, holding the lantern, dressed in stereotypical yellow fisherman’s jacket and hat. The bear stopped in front of them and gave a roar of greeting while the bunny just simply nodded as acknowledgment their existence.

“Harry, Angel, just on time!” Johnny greeted them as Harry lifted him up for a bear hug. It was tight and firm but wasn’t enough to crush him. “Um Harry, can you pull the cart today? Doctor says that Big Mac has to avoid heavy lifting.”

“It’s not that heavy,” said Big Mac.

Harry the Bear however flexed his muscles and lifted the cart as it was a light picnic basket. He gave roar of amusement at Big Mac’s reaction while Angel Bunny began to attach the cart to him.

“Now you’re just showing off,” grunted Big Mac. The bear gave him a cheeky smile.

“Well that fish ain’t going to catch itself,” said Johnny as he hopped on the bear and took a spot behind Angel Bunny. “Let’s go!” And so they ventured on past Sweet Apple Acres and around the edges of the Everfree Forest, away from any carved path. They passed over tiny hills and patches of trees scattered around until they arrived at their destination. It was a small lake located an hour away from Ponyville near the edge of the Everfree. It was secluded and far away from any paved road, so there was a very good chance that nopony would stumble across the lake unless they were looking for it.

Rainbow Dash often used this area when she wanted to practice alone, sometimes she gave private showings of her new moves to her friends. Johnny was amazed when he saw the Buccaneer Blitz for the first time.

The air was crisp, fresh, and cool. The sky was lighting up but there still was no sign of the sun. Harry was the first to cast the line of his enormous fishing line, he was a civilized bear after all, and rested against the trunk of a large tree. Johnny attached a small piece of cheese to his fishing hook, Fluttershy was strongly against them using live bait, and he too cast his line.

Big Mac and Angel Bunny glared at each other as their rivalry surfaced. They both chose spots far away from each other and each set up their respective rods. Today was the day they settled the feud once and for all. Today was the day they answered a very important question: do fish prefer apples or carrots?

It wasn’t even noon yet, but Twilight Sparkle was in a very bad mood. She had spent her entire morning fixing a giant mess caused by a stampede of scared baby bunnies. According to Fluttershy, Applejack was supposed to help her with the yearly bunny census. Things quickly felled apart when Applejack foolishly decided to round up the bunnies like they were herding animals and scared them into a frenzy stampede.

This wasn’t the first time this week that Twilight had to clean an incident that was somehow related to Applejack. The baked bad incident was still fresh in her mind. There was also a rather uncomfortable incident that involved Rainbow Dash landing on her balcony. It looked like she was trying to say something but couldn’t find the words. There was a strange tension between them that was accompanied with a few awkward minutes were neither of them spoke but kept glancing at each other. Eventually Rainbow Dash muttered something about Applejack gave a weak apology and flew off.

“Hey Twilight, are you okay?” Spike interrupted her thoughts.

“Yes Spike I’m fine, a bit irritated, that’s all,” answered Twilight. “I really need to talk to that mare.”

They arrived at the marketplace with was now back to normal and ponies resumed what they were doing. Twilight headed straight towards the apple stand that the Apple family usually set up and noticed that some things about it were quite odd. Some of the signs were either crooked or upside down. The display was a mess and the overall presentation of the stall was that it appeared to be set up by a young foal. There snoring behind the counter was made by the pony Twilight wanted to talk to.

“Applejack,” Twilight said in voice loud enough to wake up the snoozing pony, “We have to talk.”

“W-what?” Applejack muttered groggily as she woke up from her nap, “Care ta repeat that?”

“We need to talk,” Twilight repeated.

Applejack yawned as her body woke up. She glanced at Twilight for brief moment before her brain reminded her who the pony in front of her was. Her eyes narrow almost instantly and her face became hostile. “Oh it’s you, ah believe that we have nothing to talk about.”

“Yes we do,” said Twilight whose mood was worsening each passing moment.

“No we don’t, now git!” hissed Applejack.

“I won’t leave until you listen to what I have to say,” said Twilight.

“We’ll I’m not interested in what you have to say.”

“You should because it pertains to your actions this past week.”

“Ah thought I made myself clear last week when ah told you to steer away from mah brother and Sweet Apple Acres!”

Across the apple stand a group of mares were interested in listening to the conversation unravel in front of them. They were sitting around a café table, sipping their drinks and sharing gossip before they started eavesdropping. It wasn’t that hard to overhear the conversation between Applejack and Twilight, Applejack wasn’t exactly being quiet.

“Did you hear that?”

“Looks like the new girl has the hots for Big Mac.”

“Feel sorry for her, she has to face the fury of a protective sister.

However this gossip went by unnoticed by either Applejack or Twilight how were now glaring at each other. Spike was sensing that things would soon turn sour and quietly and cautiously proceeded to put as much space as could between him and the two mares.

“I understand your concerns, but this isn’t about him!” said Twilight furiously, “This is about you and your actions this past week. You are partially responsible for poisoning a considerable number of ponies and as well as terrorizing newborn bunnies into a riot that caused quite a bit a damaged. I managed to minimize the damage but I don’t think I could go any longer helping fix your problems.”

“I am a hardworking and responsible pony! The most dependable of ponies.” shouted Applejack, “Ah don’t need your help. The only problem here is that certain pony can’t mind her own business.”

“Well when ponies are put in danger, it becomes my business,” said Twilight.

Applejack ground her teeth, she knew that Twilight had a point and would have even acknowledged it if she were in a right state of mind. However, her clouded judgment wanted to best Twilight. At that moment, Twilight personified her frustrations. The effort to keep Johnny a secret gone to waste on a single mare that discovered the secret on her very first day, the fear of an unknown future that awaited them, the uncertainty that no matter how hard she worked it may not be enough to keep her family together.

Something broke within Applejack. Her anger and fears burst from the corners of her mind where she tried to keep them in check. Twilight represented everything that was wrong at the moment and Applejack did not mind unleashing her anger on Twilight. “I said that your mind your own business,” she growled, “Why don’t ya just do me a favor and pack your bags and LEAVE!”

Twilight was shocked from Applejack’s sudden outburst. She tried to come up with a response but no words came to her. Applejack took the moment to continue with her verbal assault. “I worked so hard to keep him secret, to protect him, and here you come all high and mighty and want to take him away! I won’t allow it!”

Twilight took a few steps back from Applejack. A crowd had gathered around watching the events unfold in front of them. Never had the ponies of Ponyville seen Applejack in such as state of rage. “I’ll tell you this only once. Stay away from our farm, stay away from my family, stay away from mah little brother. LEAVE JOHNNY ALONE DON’T YOU DARE PUT A HOOF ON HIM!”

Applejack was breathing deeply as her anger began to cool down. Twilight was dumbfounded and was left speechless. The crowded around them began to murmur about what they had just witness. A cold chill came over Applejack as she realized what she had just shouted out loud. She lifted her ears and with a look or horror began listening to the crowd’s murmurs.

“What was that about?”

“Did she saylittle brother?”

“Johnny? Who’s Johnny?”

Applejack felt as if she was suffocating and found it harder to breathe every time the crowd mentioned the name Johnny. She felt her heart beating in her, trying its hardest to circulate blood; it kept beating faster and faster. Sweat began pouring down her head and a feeling of impending doom overcame her. Spike, having seen it before, immediately recognized the symptoms of the hyperventilating pony.

“Twilight!” he shouted, snapping Twilight out of her trance, “I think she’s having a panic attack!”

Twilight rushed into action. She levitated Applejack and placed her on her back. “Make way!” she ordered the crowd. “MAKE WAY!”

“Where are we taking her?” Spike asked, “The hospital, the library?”

“No,” Twilight responded as she began to pick a pace and left the confused crowd behind, “We’re going somewhere closer; hopefully she’s there at the moment.”

They were fortunate that the building they were heading towards was currently open. They burst through the door and entered. “Gentle please!” came a voice from upstairs, “No need to be so rough with the doors.” Rarity descended the stairs, “Welcome to Carousel Boutique where everything is—“

“No time for that!” shouted Twilight, “Rarity, do you have a couch or somewhere to place Applejack?”

Rarity lit her horn and a red fainting couch appeared in front of them. Twilight did not hesitate to place Applejack on it. She was still hyperventilating and Spike began massaging her back in effort to calm her down.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” said Rarity, “But what is going on?”

“She’s having a panic attack,” Twilight explained while recovering her breath.

Rarity gasped in shock. She looked had a look of utter shock when she looked over Applejack’s current condition, “What happened, how is she in this state? Just look at her. Her hair is a complete mess, there are dark bags under her eyes, she sweating up a storm and she’s shivering like she has a very bad cold.”

Twilight did not answer, partly because she didn’t know what to respond and partially because she was more preoccupied with Applejack. “I don’t know Rarity,” she said. “Spike keep massaging her, I think she’s calming down a bit. That’s it Applejack, take nice slow relaxing breaths, that’s right, everything is going to be all right.”

Applejack hesitantly did what Twilight told her and felt the choking sensation fade away. It became easier to breath and she began to take nice deep breaths. Though the majority of the pain was gone, she still felt miserable and couldn’t brush away that cold feeling of doom. Twilight and Rarity watched Applejack with great worry. She was very still, barely even moving, looking at nothing in particular.

Spike waved his claw in front of her eyes but got no reaction from Applejack, “Hey Applejack, you all right?” But she did not respond, “Well that’s all I got.”

Twilight walked up to here and spoke softly to her, “Applejack it’s all right, everything is going to turn out just fine—“

“No, it’s not,” Applejack interrupted in sad voice. She was now emptily staring at the ceiling. “It’s not going to be all fine and dandy. Did you not hear what ah said in front of all them ponies?” Applejack positioned herself on the couch and stared at Twilight straight at her eyes. They say that eyes are window to the soul, at that moment as Twilight stared into Applejack’s eyes, she saw a peek of what was going through Applejack. Twilight immediately took a step backwards, unsure what she had felt for that moment. “Ah guess I’ll go home now,” she said in a deflated voice as she left the boutique.

Twilight had nothing to say, she was lost in what to do. All her studies, her education, her books had never prepared her for something like this. She watched out the window and saw how Applejack was practically crawling her way home. She glanced at Rarity in hope that she knew what to do, but she merely shook her head.

It was Spike that broke the silence, “Twilight, why don’t you go after Applejack?”

“I-I don’t know Spike,” said Twilight, “I’m just confused. Applejack just suddenly burst out at me and the next moment she has a nervous breakdown. I guess I know why, she started panicking the moment she realized that she accidentally shouted out Johnny’s name to the crowd.”

“She did what?” muttered Rarity. “No wonder she’s acting the way she is. Oh dear, I didn’t think it would this bad. ”

“Please tell us,” said Twilight.

“Well, alright,” said Rarity. “Well not long after we found Johnny, after the Apple family decided to adopt him. Applejack started to have second thoughts. No, not like that,” she quickly added when she saw Twilight’s and Spike’s confused faces. “Applejack was having second thoughts about exposing Johnny to the open. Of course I didn’t help much on that matter.”

“You’re the one that suggested that they should keep Johnny a secret,” said Twilight, “Pinkie Pie told me.”

Rarity took a deep breath but kept herself calm, “Yes I did. We had never seen anything like him and I- well we were worried about what would happen if word got out of him. We didn’t know what would happen; maybe Princess Celestia would send her guards…”

“She would never do such a thing!” Twilight shouted out with great indignation.

“I know that,” said Rarity defensively, “We didn’t know that back then, we let our fears get the best of us and decided it was best that we kept him a secret.”

“For how long?” asked Twilight.

“Excuse me?”

“For how long were you planning to keep him a secret?”

There as pause as Rarity thought for a moment, “We really never actually talked about it,” she confessed. “Pinkie Pie was always opposed to it. Although she also had the same fears as we did, she was more willing to expose Johnny and take a risk. And as a few years passed –never thought I would ever say this- but I began to agree with Pinkie.

“But yet we all still agreed to follow the original plan. I kept telling myself it’s for his own safety, but really I thought we were doing him more harm than good and we were just isolating the poor colt. Looking back, we couldn’t really keep him hidden forever. It kept getting harder and harder to hide him as he kept growing, eventually he would simply be too big to hide. I honestly believe that there would come a time when even Applejack had to come to terms with that fact. But things took a massive step backwards with the events of the past week.

“The morning after we defeated Nightmare Moon, in Fluttershy’s cottage, you gave us quite a scare. You were hopping around excited about all the different tests and experiments you would perform on the boy. It didn’t help that you kept looking at him as if he was some scientific curiosity rather than someone dear to us. At that moment you practically represented what we feared of all these years: some strange official coming in and taking away Johnny to perform who knows what on him.” Rarity took sat on the fainting couch that Applejack had previously occupied. “Out of all us, I think Applejack was frightened the most,” she added in an afterthought.

“Well I guess that would explain why you and the others reacted they way you did,” said Twilight after some thought. “I think that I somewhat understand your point of view. But that still doesn’t explain why Applejack burst out like that me.”

“I don’t understand that either,” said Rarity, “But did you look at the state of her? Clearly she has been going some rough times. She looks like she’s been suffering from sleep deprivation.”

“Sleep what-now?” asked Spike.

“It means that she hasn’t been getting enough sleep,” explained Twilight.

“Oh you mean like the one time you tried that Sleep-be-Gone spell back in Canterlot?”

“SPIKE!” Twilight shouted with embarrassment. She wasn’t particularly fond of that incident.

“Princess Celestia had to get involved and then—“ but before he finished that sentence, Twilight stuffed her hoof in his mouth.

“We do not speak of that, do you understand?” Twilight whispered to him a harsh tone.

“Fine, fine,” said Spike. “But doesn’t sleep deprav-whatever like cloud your judgment?”

“Yes, impaired judgment can be an effect of sleep deprivation. That would explain why she reacted the way she did in the market place. But that does not excuse the incident at Sugar Cube Corner or the Bunny stampede.” Twilight stomped her hoof as hard as she could before saying, “Ponies could had been hurt!”

“But luckily they weren’t,” said Spike. “Weren’t you supposed to talk to her about that before she, well you know?”

“Yes, but in her current state I think it’s best if I wait a while for her to calm down. I guess the same goes with wanting to perform tests on Johnny. I really want to study him but it’s going to be counterproductive to try that at the current moment.”

“Well you don’t have to wait long then, Applejack did blurt his name out loud in the marketplace,” Spike.

“Spike I don’t think any pony is going to take it that seriously, Applejack wasn’t in the right state of mind. I’m sure other ponies will be reasonable and not think too deep about it.”

It was then when Rarity interrupted and said, “With all the drama that occurred today, I think we should all relax and have a nice cup of tea. What do you say?”

“Tea would be nice,” said Twilight.

“Oh, I have some muffins that would go nice with it,” said Spike as he reached into his pockets and pulled out a platter of the baked bads . They were still as revolting as ever and Twilight was sure some of them were now covered in mold.

“I thought we got rid of those, where did you get them?”

“I found them in the trash,” said Spike as he swallowed one, “They’re not bad. Come on, try one.”

“SPIKE!” Twilight roared for the eighth time that week.

“I think I’ll add extra honey to my tea,” said Rarity as the librarian and dragon bickered.

Tea time with Rarity went by smoothly despite its rough start. Twilight felt relaxed and refreshed when she left Carousel Boutique. Spike had stayed behind and volunteered to help Rarity with an order that she supposed be working on. Twilight was having suspicions that something was up with the dragon.

She arrived at the library that also served as her home. However before she could open the door, she heard someone shout her name. It was Rainbow Dash. She was flying straight at her and landed just inches away from her.

“Twilight!” she shouted, “I need your help. We have a problem at Sweet Apple Acres and Applejack has locked herself in and won't come out. I don’t know anyone else to ask!”

“What’s the problem?” Twilight asked.

“Good you agree,” Rainbow said with relief, “Hurry up and get to Sweet Apple Acres as fast as you can!”

“Wait, what—“but she was cut off as Rainbow Dash took off and flew towards the direction of the farm.

Twilight arrived at the farm so discover that there were around twenty to thirty ponies gathered around the entrance. They were chatting to each other, some of them exited and others had expression of disbelief. Overall the sight was enough to dampen Twilight’s mood.

“What’s going on?” Twilight asked one of the ponies.

“Well just nothing but what has to be one of the biggest scandals that Ponyville has had in years!” she said.

“Yeah,” said another pony, “I heard that Applejack blew her fuse in that marketplace and said more that she should’ve. She said something about a little brother.”

“Really?” Twilight asked in horror.

“She totally did,” answered a stallion that had joined in the conversation. “We know what she really meant by’ little brother’, Applejack has given birth to a foal and is hiding it.”

Twilight froze, once again she was speechless. The whole absurdity of what she had just heard was too much for her to handle.

“I know,” said a mare, “It’s quite the scandal. But what I really want to know who the father is.”

“Well I know for fact that Applejack isn’t involved in the dating scene,” said another mare. “And no pony has ever seen her on a date.”

“Yeah,” said the stallion, “Some ponies are saying that they think that Big Mac is the father.”

At that moment Rainbow Dash had arrived, she glared at the crowd and shouted, “There’s nothing to see here! Go on, leave! Go bug some other ponies!” But the crowd did not move. Rainbow Dash gave Twilight a look in hope that she had a plan. Twilight just shook her head and Rainbow Dash faltered.

“Hey I know you!” shouted a mare that Twilight recognized from the marketplace, “You’re the mare that Applejack was screaming at earlier. What’s your problem with her?”

“Isn’t she that one pony that works for the Princess?” asked a stallion. “So is it true that you work for child protection? In that case I must assure you that Applejack is a responsible and model citizen…”

Before Twilight could respond there was the sound of ringing bells. Rainbow Dash froze; she knew what those bells meant. The ponies gathered around heard the bells as well and began staring at the direction to where the noise was coming from. Big Mac appeared from behind some trees followed by a bear. Some of the ponies present screamed at the sight of the bear. But the bear was nothing compared to the sight of strange creature that was riding on top of him.

Johnny had never seen that many ponies gathered together in his life. He had never attended the Apple family reunions, and wasn’t sure he liked large crowds. They were all staring at him and were making him feel uncomfortable.

“Um, hello?”

End of Chapter eight.