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// Chapter Ten: Ponyville Pursuit, Derpy's Shenanigans, and Apple Family Redemption// Story: Living the Good Life// by Aetherpony//------------------------------//
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQFTAFLBdi4
You hear Lyra shout something as you run down the road, but you’re too busy focusing on Rarity and the filly as they run away. Ponies going about their day watch on in confusion as you chase after them. Other than that, none of them make an attempt to run after you or the thieves. When you disappear from sight they go back to what they were doing.
You race full speed in pursuit. You’re at a fairly good distance behind them. But you’re catching up at a fair pace considering your size compared to theirs. Every time they bring down all four hooves to propel themselves you only have to bring down one foot to keep up.
You can clearly see Lyra’s sack of bits in the larger pony’s mouth. It swings in sync with the thief’s galloping. Needless to say you’ll overtake them in moments. That is, until they round another corner. You curse as you follow only to find that they’ve disappeared. You look down the row of close set homes hopelessly.
Where could they have gone?! You run down the thin row of adjacent homes in hopes that you’ll find something. Your search provides a few poker cards slowly floating to the ground. That’s right. If they run out of sight all you have to do is follow the cards. If they so happen to kick any up they’ll lead you right to them. You make a quick left turn past someone’s backyard and you end up on one of the main roads in Ponyville.
You look to the left, then to the right. There, you see their retreating forms. You break out into a run again and try to cover the distance gained. They aren’t trying to lose you like they did back around those homes. Again you start catching up. You’re only a couple of away from them now. As you reach out you don’t notice that the path ahead splits into three; a wooden sign with three arrows shows each direction the path splits in and where they lead.
They take the path to the right and you do so in turn. You lose your footing a bit due to the poker cards and end up sliding into the signs that indicated what direction lead where. You stagger for a moment before regaining your footing and running after the two thieves yet again. You look ahead of them and see an open field greeting you in the distance. Just when you think they’re trying to get out of town they turn back to see you pursuing.
They make a hard right and run back through the collection of Ponyville homes and you do so in turn. You watch as they leap over a white picket fence that separates one pony’s backyard from the others. Considering your size difference you simply hurdle over the fence in hot pursuit. You dodge past a small group of fillies playing with a blown up beach ball.
You apologize on the run and hop over the other portion of the fence. They look on with confusion as they watch you try to keep up with the thieves for a few seconds before going back to playing. The two dive over yet another fence into a new backyard as do you. Because it’s taking more of an effort to successfully clear their jumps than it is for you, you’re catching up.
You smirk as you get closer to them. The smaller of the two ponies looks back at you before screaming. Then when they reach the edge of the fence on the other side they jump.
Because the fence into yet another backyard is too close they’re forced to cut to the right again and make a break for the main path through Ponyville. They’re essentially leading you in a square. When you clear this hurdle the loose poker cards of the ground cause you to slide into the fence that the thieves were unable to clear. You end up tripping head first over it and into the yard.
You land headfirst into a plastic hot pink foal pool. When you stick your head out of the ice cold water of the foal pool you turn to your right to see that you’re sharing the pool with a filly unicorn. This foal has a carnation coat color, a thulian pink mane, and green eyes. They are wide with surprise and her jaw is hanging loose at the sight of you.
After a few moments you push yourself up and out of the pool. You stay on your knees and examine yourself. The majority of your hooded jacket and shirt is soaked, along with your head and hair. You spit out a bit of the water before rubbing your eyes. Then, you sit on your rump and start to gingerly rub your now sore thighs. The pain from the impact that occurred when your legs hit the top of the fence is starting to become apparent.
“Hi, I’m Berry Pinch! What’s your name?” asks the filly, seemingly no longer fazed by your appearance. You turn to her breathing heavily; you’re trying to use this time to catch your breath.
“I’m Anonymous, and I’m trying to catch two bad ponies. They took my friend’s bits.” You explain as you point in the direction the two you were chasing galloped off in.
“Oh, well hurry up and get moving, or they might get away!” Berry Pinch exclaims while pointing to where you came in. Her little voice cracks from yelling. It’s quite adorable, or at least to you it is. You take a deep breath and get to your feet. You shake yourself of some of the excess water before leaping back over the fence and in the direction you last saw them gallop off into.
When you hop over the fence and out of site an earth pony with a plum colored coat, mulberry mane, and with a cutie mark of a bunch of grapes and a strawberry comes trotting out to Berry Pinch from the back door.
“Honey, is everything okay? I heard voices?” The mare looks around her backyard. Berry Pinch turns to her mom with a huge smile.
“Mommy! I saw the hairless ape!” Berry shouts with joy before pointing in the direction you ran off in. When the earth pony doesn’t see anything she smiles before looking back to Berry Pinch.
“Sure you did sweetheart. Now get out of the pool and get dried off. Mommy has dinner ready.” The earth pony turns tail and walks back inside.
“Aw, okay mom.” She begrudgingly gets out of her foal pool. She looks off in the direction you went off into once more before galloping over to the door.
Meanwhile, you’ve made your way back out into the main streets of Ponyville. But from here your form is hidden by a home on either side. You’d like to remain hidden until you can get sight of the thieves.
You lean out from the side and look down both ways. When you look to the right you spot the two thieves catching their breaths by the sign you ran into during your chase. The sack of bits sits in between them. They took a break thinking they got away from you. Now that’s a big mistake that you’re about to capitalize on. Knowing your body is nearing its limits you brace yourself for one final push. You take a deep breath before you run full speed out from in between the two houses and over to them. They hear your foot steps and turn to find you bearing down upon them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkjNbdIMqIU
The two shout in abject terror before making a break for it. The thief wearing Lyra’s stuff is sure to pick up the bits before running. They aren’t going to get away this time, at least you hope. You’ve been at this for a good ten minutes and your body isn’t exactly used to running for long periods of time. This time they go straight ahead. That path leads into the marketplace. You hope to find a way to keep from losing them in the various stands and stalls.
As you chase them yet again your eyes spy the poker cards that are kicked up during your run. That helps you to formulate a plan. A single poker card alone doesn’t go very far. But a stack is another story; you could gather a brick size of these things and hopefully toss them at one of the two thieves. You’d need something to keep the cards together though.
Wait, maybe you’ve got something, you remember you were wearing pants like these on the job back at your factory. Your boss gave you a stack of business cards that were supposed to be given to the other employees, and they were wrapped with a rubber band. You remember putting it in your pocket. You search your pockets on the run and you shout out a victory call when you produce the single rubber band from your pocket. With it in hand you start catching and collecting poker cards that are knocked loose during the run. Occasionally you bend down and grab a handful while maintaining a decent speed.
The two thieves make a left turn, galloping over a stone bridge in the process. It’s one of three that lead towards the center of town. They never hit the marketplace. When the two cross the bridge they make another left.
They’re heading back into the direction of the sign. You believe they need to learn to stop going in such a predictable pattern. As you’re crossing the bridge you’re straightening the cards in your hands.
You’ve collected a total of seventy or so for this makeshift brick. You’ve got them straightened and you’re wrapping the rubber band around them as the two thieves make their way around Town Hall and to the nearby bridge.
Yeah, you were right in predicting where they were going to go. They weren’t trying to get away; they were trying to wear you down so you couldn’t follow them. You hope the rubber band holds for this. You’re a good thirty yards away and you’re going to have to throw a little bit ahead of them, but if you can hit one of them in the head it might just stun them.
You take aim; your target is the thief wearing Lyra’s clothing. You throw; from your position it appears to be on target! At the speed she’s going your stack of cards are going to hit her horn. At least, you think so…
Where did that grey Pegasus with the blonde mane and tail come from? She’s flying rather low and she’s got a huge saddlebag filled to the brim with envelopes. It’s probably weighing her down…
“No… no no no.” you start as you watch this figurative train wreck occur before your eyes. You shake your head as you watch the Pegasus fly lower and lower until, “god damn it!”
You cry out in anger when your brick sized bunch of cards collides with the side of the Pegasus’ head. Why that pony was flying so low, you’ll never know. Your rubber band snaps causing the cards to go flying in all directions, same goes for some of the envelopes from the pony’s saddlebags when its body lurches from the impact.
Then the Pegasus drops from the sky and lands face first into the river that the bridges are built over. You run to the ground’s edge to find that the Pegasus is still underwater.
You give her ten seconds, then twenty… the Pegasus isn’t coming up. You look in the direction the current is heading in. You jog past the bridge the two thieves ran over in order to follow it. The saddlebags float to the surface, but no Pegasus. Well it looks you like just screwed up without meaning to.
Without thinking twice about it you hold your breath and dive into the river, you come to find out that the river is much deeper than you thought. The depth of the river is a good eight to nine feet, but it’s quite narrow when it comes to width. You open your eyes in the water to find the unconscious body of a Pegasus floating away from you slowly. Thankfully the current helps propel you towards your unfortunate victim.
You reach out and pull the pony over to you. You hug it close by wrapping your left arm under its front legs. With her to your body you use your now aching legs to propel yourself up. When you finally break the surface you inhale sharply. Then you swim over to the river’s edge and grab hold of a punch of poker cards. You curse when the poker cards come loose. If you can’t properly grab onto the ground you can’t pull yourself out of the water.
So there you stay, floating with a half-submerged Pegasus, going wherever the current takes you. Your arm starts to strain from the weight. It’s fairly heavy and it’s starting to weigh you down. Your tired legs are frantically kicking trying to keep you above water. That is until you feel something gripping you. You look over yourself to find that you’ve got a mint green outline around you.
You gasp in surprise as you and the pony you rescued are lifted from the water and onto dry land. You look around to find that a small crowd of ponies have gathered around the river, curious as to what just happened. When they see you and the unconscious mail pony a few start whispering to each other.
“Thanks Lyra.” You tell her while you prod the soaked Pegasus next to you. She responds with “You’re welcome.” When the Pegasus doesn’t respond you put an ear to her chest. The pony is making no attempt at getting any air in. You assume that you knocked the poor mail mare out and she breathed in some water when she went under.
You know how to perform CPR. You went to one of those seminars at your college in order to learn, but to perform it on some animal… you don’t know if it’ll work the same way. You look to the crowd and shout.
“Does anyone here know how to perform CPR? She isn’t breathing!” You look to the crowd and watch as one by one they shake their heads; Lyra does as well. You get an idea.
“Lyra, if you don’t know, can’t you at least use magic to force the water out of her lungs?” She shrugs in response.
“I don’t know! I’ve never tried something like that before. Twilight could help her though.” She looks over the unresponsive pony you’ve saved. Since Twilight is currently on the other side of town in her treebrary it looks like it’ up to you to try something. You sigh before positioning the Pegasus on her back and kneel to the left of her.
You’ll just have to hope that the human method of CPR will work. You lift her chin while pushing down on the mare’s forehead in order to open her airway. When you do that you turn and ask Lyra.
“Her nostrils are too big for me to pinch closed. Can you use your magic?” Lyra nods and her horn glows. A familiar hum of magic fills the air. When you see the mare’s nostrils close you open her mouth and take a deep breath.
You breathe into the mare’s mouth and watch her chest as you do so. It rises and, when you pull back to take another breath it falls. You repeat the process again and the same thing happens. There is no response. You move to chest compressions on the Pegasus. You place your hands in what you hope to be the proper positions and you start. One, two, three, four, you count to yourself per each compression.
When you get to compression twenty the mare’s body lurches up. She turns her head and vomits a combination of water, chocolate milk, and bits of what you think to be muffins. When the retching finally ends she starts inhaling precious air. Her golden eyes scan the crowd around her. You notice that one eye seems to focus on the ground while the other looks at the ponies around her.
You’ve yet to see a pony with a lazy eye. Then again, you haven’t officially met that many ponies; it might not be that uncommon. When her eye meets you she looks upon you with confusion. When her breathing goes into a steady rhythm she asks.
“W-w-what are you? What happened?” the mare asks in between breaths. You’re about to answer her but with your adrenaline finally dying down you can feel the incredible burning sensation in your legs from all that running.
Your lungs feel as if they’re on fire, you hold up an index finger to the mare before lying upon your back. You haven’t done anything that physical in quite a while; so you need a moment or two. Lyra is kind enough to answer the mare’s questions for you.
“Derpy, this is Anonymous the Human, and he just saved your flank from drowning.” She points to you with a smile. Then she points to herself, “I helped, of course, no need to thank me. Just me being awesome… okay maybe you can thank me a little.” She finishes with a giggle. As you sit there and relax you hear a few ponies talking among themselves.
“Did you see that?” One pony murmurs.
“Yeah, I need to learn how to do that CPR stuff.” Another states.
“First that hoo-man helps make Ponyville less scary, and now he saved Derpy! He’s a hero!” shouts a filly from within the crowd. A few ponies voice their agreement. You groan at the sound of hero talk.
“Ugh, I’m not a hero! You ponies are just too thick headed to learn CPR! Any of you could have done what I did. Hell, a unicorn would have had an easier time.” You yell from your position on the ground. You’re angrier at how things turned out then being called a hero. You may have saved the life of a pony, but in return you let Lyra’s thief escape.
You don’t know how many bits were lost to that greedy pony. She was one of Twilight’s friends that much was for certain, but what was her name? You knew it wasn’t Fluttershy, which left Rainbow Dash or Rarity. You’re leaning more towards Rarity, considering the name ‘Dash’ might befit a Pegasus more than a Unicorn.
When you’ve caught you breath you sit up and look around. Your eyes look over the bridge Rarity and that filly galloped over. A white coat catches your eye. Rarity is nowhere to be found, but the filly is right there on her belly. With a little help from Lyra you get to your feet and stagger in the direction of the bridge. The small crowd parts for you making your path an easy one to walk.
You approach to see the filly trying to crawl away, tears streaming down her face. You look her over to find that her right hind leg is swollen and bleeding. She probably saw Derpy falling out of the sky, got distracted, and hurt herself. That would lead her to be tripped by the loose poker cards that ended up covering the stone bridge.
It looks like all is not lost after all. You kneel over the filly and she looks up to you with fearful eyes. You will not be swayed with tears and small injuries; this filly ran when Rarity ran. If she were innocent, she should have stayed. Regardless, she’s a small child; you need to approach this calmly.
“Tell me why you helped Rarity steal those bits.” The filly shrinks away from you and starts to sob thinking you’re probably going to hurt her. You sigh before shaking your head. You’re approaching this all wrong; she may be guilty of helping Rarity, but like you’ve thought she’s just a kid. You need to try a better method than that. You sounded like a total jerk when you said what you did.
You kneel down, reach out, and gently take her chin into your right hand, and then you gingerly turn her head to face you. Let’s see if this method will work.
“Listen, I’m not gonna do anything to you. I’m sorry you got hurt, but you’ve gotta tell me why you ran. Why did you run with Rarity when she stole Lyra’s bits?” You speak calmly and softly. You hope this tactic works better.
“I-I thought I was gonna get in trouble for being around my sister, so I ran away. When I tripped I called for help and all she did was shout e-everypony for themselves.” When you take your hand away she buries her face in her hooves and continues crying. “I’m-I’m sorry I was such a bad pony! I don’t wanna go to jail!” she wails in between her fits of weeping. You shush her while softly petting her mane.
“You’re not gonna go to jail. I don’t think Lyra is gonna say anything bad about you.” You hope to lift the little filly’s spirits. Lyra’s voice from behind surprises you.
“Anon’s right, you’re innocent. Your sister on the other hand…” She trails off through gritted teeth. She looks away and glares angrily before saying to herself, “One hundred bits gone.”
With her hearing this bit of information her crying dies down little to soft whimpering. With that out of the way you’re left with wondering just what you’re going to do next. Honestly, you’re at fault for this filly getting hurt. After all you chased her. You reach out and scoop your hands under her. Then you pick the filly up and cradle her in your arms. She yelps when your forearm touches her sore leg. Other than that she makes no indication of pain nor does she try to struggle out of your grip. You assume that means her leg isn’t broken at least.
“W-what are you doing?” the filly asks while wiping her eyes. Without answering her you look to Lyra.
“Hey Lyra, where’s the hospital around here?” She points in the direction of Sugarcube Corner.
“Go in that direction; make a left at Sugarcube Corner. Then it’s a right past an earth pony fountain. You can’t miss it.” The filly seems to realize what’s going on with that question and answer alone. She doesn’t bother to ask again. Bon-Bon comes trotting up to the two of you.
When you turn to look at her you glance at the ponies that are still there with Derpy. A few of them seem to be looking her over and she appears to be trying to let them know she’s fine.
When Derpy sees you looking her way she waves happily before going back to talking with the pony-folk. Odd, you figured she’d still be lying down or something. That pony must be pretty resilient, except when she’s hit with poker cards. Lyra pulling on your pants leg draws your attention.
“Hey Anon if you’re going to the hospital can I come along? I don’t have a bucking thing to do.” You shrug in response.
“Do what you want. What about you Bon-Bon?” You ask.
She shakes her head. “I gotta get my stuff home, so bye guys. Lyra, be home before dark alright?” With that Bon-Bon tightens the straps on her saddlebags and trots away.
“Okay mom,” Lyra says before sticking her tongue out at Bon-Bon. You start walking off in the direction of Sugarcube Corner. Lyra finishes her little taunt and follows. It doesn’t take her long to catch up and trot alongside you.
“So, since I totally helped save Derpy’s life, I think you owe me a little something.” You sigh before looking down to Lyra. You find her smirking back up at you.
“Fine, name your terms.” You state flatly.
“Your hands,” Lyra point to them, “my tummy. I believe a tummy rub shall cover it.” Lyra finishes by pointing to her stomach. Belly rubs for helping you out? That sounds fair to you. The filly giggles in your arms when you agree to Lyra’s terms.
“What’s so funny squirt?” You look down at the little filly to find her puffing out her cheeks and glaring up at you.
“You two, and my name is not squirt. It’s Sweetie Belle!” You feel your heart wrench in your chest when Sweetie’s voice cracks. You don’t think your heart can take this level of cute.
“Well nice to meet you, Sweetie Belle.” You say before turning your gaze back to the path ahead. Sweetie Belle lets out a “Hmph,” before crossing her front hooves in front of herself.
You wonder just what might happen next. It looks like your days here have a tendency to pile on terrible things. Hopefully nothing worse will come of today, with the way your body is aching you think you’ve had enough excitement.
Your walk to the hospital is spent in relative silence. The occasional back and forth between other ponies is caught along your way, but other than that the clopping of hooves and the scuffing of shoes is all that’s heard.
When you made it to Sugarcube Corner Pinkie smiled then waved enthusiastically to you, Lyra, and Sweetie Belle from within. She saw you carrying Sweetie Belle; as soon as she did she rushed out of the building in a pink blurred streak. Pinkie immediately started examining the little filly in your arms.
When she saw Sweetie’s hind hoof she inspected it. Pinkie saved you a trip to the doctor’s office by bringing you into her store. A simple first aid kit and bag of ice later Sweetie was patched up and ready to be brought to wherever.
You and Sweetie thanked Pinkie for her assistance. She even volunteered to have your hoodie thrown into their dryer to be dried. You accepted her gracious offer and thanked Pinkie yet again. You would have given her everything else, but you’d rather not carry what parallels to a small child in your arms while naked. You’ll endure the weird squishing of your shoes. The sun should do its job, but with you wearing a jacket your shirt won’t dry properly. So with your hoodie in Pinkie’s capable hooves, and after she gave Sweetie Belle a “Get Well Soon” cupcake you see yourselves out.
You have no idea where that cupcake came from, considering she grabbed it out of mid-air, but you find it better to not question Equestrian Physics. Now you’re back out in Ponyville and you have no idea where you’re going to bring Sweetie Belle.
You could bring her back to the treebrary maybe? Or perhaps Lyra could take her in for tonight? You’re reluctant to go out and find where Rarity lives. You know Sweetie is Rarity’s sister and all, but it’d be irresponsible to leave a filly alone with somepony like her, especially with her being on such a greedy streak.
As you and Lyra walk around aimlessly through town you turn to her, “Hey Lyra, I don’t suppose you and Bon-Bon could take Sweetie in for tonight?” Lyra shakes her head sadly.
“No can do, sorry Anon.” She shoots you and Sweetie a troubled glance. Well that idea went out of the window, maybe you’re going to have to bring Sweetie to Rarity after all.
“You know you could just take me to Sweet Apple Acres. I’m sure Granny Smith wouldn’t mind me spending the night with Applebloom.” Sweetie seems to have come up with a solution herself.
On one hand, you’re happy that there’s an answer that doesn’t involve Rarity, but on the other hand that means you’re going to have to go back to that farm. You’re dreading having to see the Apple Family. Your first encounter is still fresh in your mind. You and Macintosh would probably have it out again. That Liarjack would probably try to tell her brother that you’re the one who harmed Sweetie Belle. Then the two would try to fight you.
Without any apples being thrown towards your lower area you’d have the advantage, probably. But, the risk is worth the reward. Sweetie would be safe and secure. Hopefully you won’t have to brawl with Macintosh again.
“Alright Sweetie, we’ll bring you there.” You make a sharp right turn in the direction of the farm. Lyra, being the diligent friend she is, walks with you. Along the way Lyra asks if you’ve ever met any of the Apples. You tell them that you have had the misfortune of meeting Macintosh and Applejack.
When she asks what you mean about misfortune you tell her a little bit about your first visit to the farm. You’re sure to leave out the bit about the rape accusations. You’d rather not explain to Sweetie what rape is; you know she’d probably ask.
“That’s horrible!” Lyra exclaims, catching the attention of a few ponies in the process. Lyra uses her magic to levitate herself up to eye level with you. “Listen buddy, after we drop Sweetie Belle off if either of em give you any trouble I got your back. They won’t know what hit em. I’ll give them the good ol’ one two,” Lyra finishes by jabbing a few times in the air around you.
You laugh before shaking your head, “Let’s just hope it doesn’t escalate.” Unlike Lyra, Sweetie Belle appears to be in shock.
“I never thought Applejack would lie like that. Least you seem okay.” Sweetie looks you over for any injuries. You spend the rest of the trip to the Apple Family’s property in relative silence. The sun has made a good portion of its journey across the sky by the time the familiar cultivated fields come into view.
You sigh, exhausted from your travels. Your previous run, coupled with your swim and filly carrying, has worn you out. Your entire body aches from the labor it was forced to endure. At least your clothes have dried. You’re definitely going to need a shower though, you’re sure your wet shoes and socks are going to leave the best smell in the world when you decide to remove them.
As you’re passing under the white vine covered archway leading to the main house and pastures of Sweet Apple Acres Winona comes bounding up to your group. Unlike the first time she isn’t barking like mad, instead she sits and wags her tail happily. You greet Winona and she in turn barks a greeting. After that she goes running off in some random direction and out of sight.
You resume your walk to the large wooden home that lies in the center. Your shoes and Lyra’s hooves creak upon contact with the aged wooden stairs. When the three of you head up the stairs and onto the front porch Lyra walks over to the front door and knocks. You hear the unlatching of locks before the twisting of the door handle.
When the door opens the three of you are greeted to the site of an elderly looking earth pony. Her coat looks as if it’s an off green; her white hair is pulled back into a bun. Her only wear is a single orange and white laced apple printed bandanna, and like the other apples you’ve met she’s got an apple based cutie mark: An Apple Pie.
“Hi, Granny Smith!” Sweetie says while waving happily. Granny Smith’s tired amber eyes squint to see the filly in your arms.
“Well howdy, Sweetie Belle! Ya’ll come by tah visit Applebloom? And what in the hay is that?” Granny Smith asks before trotting out to you. Lyra had even raised her hoof to wave to Granny Smith, but she was completely ignored. She sighs sadly before putting her hoof down and looking at the floor boards. Granny examines you much like a doctor would. She brings out a hoof and taps your knee. It feels like a marshmallow hit you so you don’t react to her.
“Hm,” Granny hums while rubbing her chin with a hoof, “Ah been livin here since ah was a lil filly, an ah ain’t never seen anythin like you, sunny. What are ya, a shaved monkey?” Lyra snickers as you try to come up with an appropriate answer.
“Well, I’m a human. I guess you could say I’m what a monkey might be in a few million years?” you end on more of a question rather than a statement. Granny Smith appears satisfied with your answer regardless. That is until she asks yet another question. One you were dreading.
“Ya’ll wouldn’t happen to be the hairless monkey Big Mac said he beat up would ya?” Granny asks as she starts to trot around you in a circle, still examining you.
“Listen, that was a—“you start to say before Granny raises a hoof to silence you.
“Ah know bout what happened, Big Mac told me everythin. He said it was a big misunderstandin and that we should invite ya’ll to dinner as an apology.” Granny explains as she finally finishes her inspection.
“Oh no, Ms. Smith, you don’t have to go that far.” You insist. You really didn’t want to sit down with the family that put you in a bed for day. Granny Smith shoots you a toothless grin.
“Ain’t nothing, sunny! Why, it’s the least I can do fer what happened…” her focus seems to be on Sweetie Belle’s leg.
“What happened to yer hoof Sweetie?” Sweetie Belle is quick to answer.
“Oh no, I’m fine Granny. It’s just a sprain. Anonymous helped get me some ice and then he carried me here, and it feels much better.” Sweetie is trying her hardest to reassure the elderly pony.
Lyra’s jaw drops, “What am I, chopped hay fries?!” she cries before letting out an angry huff of air. Granny Smith turns to her.
“Well howdy, Lyra, when’d ya’ll get here?” She asks before smiling at the mint green unicorn. Obviously Granny has a few screws loose if she didn’t notice her until just now.
“I’ve been here.” Lyra carries an annoyed tone as plants her flank on the porch.
“Well, ya’ll shoulda said something. Mah eyes ain’t what they used to be.” Granny retorts before turning to look inside her home.
“HEY APPLEBLOOM, BIG MAC! WE GOT SOME GUESTS, GET THE EXTRA PLATES!” You don’t remember saying anything about agreeing to dinner, and you’re sure Lyra didn’t say anything.
You shrug and Lyra groans. “Bon-Bon’s gonna kill me.” She whines before getting to her hooves. Looks like the two of you are staying whether you like it or not.
You hear Big Mac’s deep, booming voice. ”Alright, Granny!” when he calls out you notice Granny only mentioned Big Mac and the name of a pony you’ve yet to meet. She said nothing about Applejack.
“Hey, Ms. Smith?” Granny turns to you.
“Ya’ll ain’t gotta say “Miss”. Granny’s just fine, sunny.” Fine you’ll do this her way.
“Granny Smith, you didn’t say anything about Applejack.” You scan the property for any signs of a brown Stetson hat, “Where’s she at?”
“That little troublemaker told me about how she got you beat up. Since you got all hurt, and cause she used Mac to do it, she got to work the Apple Orchards alone this week. She won’t be in till night-time.” It seems you like this elderly pony more and more the longer you stay around her. “Well, don’t ya’ll just stand there, come on in!” Granny promptly trots inside after that. You and Lyra walk inside behind her.
As you do, the smell of freshly baked apple pie hits your senses. You inhale deeply before sighing happily. When you glance throughout you spot a green couch along the far wall. Like Granny Smith, it’s old and worn. Multiple patches of different colors adjourn areas of the couch that have been torn in the past. You spot an old rocking chair to the right of the couch, presumably Granny’s. The entirety of their living room seems to give off a simplistic homely feeling. The various pictures of what you assume to be relatives hang above the furniture.
The fire place opposite of the couch is lit spreading warmth throughout the home. As you look around you notice that this home resembles that of an old log cabin in aesthetics. All in all the subtle scents, the inviting appearance, and the overall feel of the place seem to help relax your aching form. You leisurely follow behind Granny Smith into their dining room.
You find Macintosh setting up plates and silverware along the mahogany table that sits in the center of this small room. A candelabra made of silver acts as the centerpiece and as a source of light for the room. Unfortunately you’re unable to sit down at the table. The chairs are much too small for someone of your size. You’d break one if you were to sit.
You’ve decided to go ahead and stay for dinner, regardless of seating arrangements. If you were to leave now it’d appear rude. Lyra appears to be thinking the same thing. She takes a seat at the table and motions for you to sit beside her. You sit Sweetie Belle down in one of the chairs opposite of Lyra before moving over to her. You get to your knees and wait for the meal to be brought out.
It doesn’t take long for Macintosh to head into the kitchen and return with various bowls and trays. You spot the Apple Pie you smelled, along with the apple fritters, diced apples, apple sauce, and many other apple based items.
It seems as if these ponies can eat quite a bit. The sound of a young country filly causes you to jump. “Sweetie Belle!” the filly shouts with joy. You see a red mane and tail pale yellow earth filly gallop into the dining room. The huge pink bow she sports bobs in time with her as she does so. She comes to a halt and takes a seat next to Sweetie Belle. She starts hounding her with questions. What happened, are yah okay, and how’d yah get here, are some that were asked.
Sweetie explained what had happened. She was sure to tell Apple Bloom that you were the reason she was able to get here. That’s when Apple Bloom notices you for the first time. She shouts in surprise before looking you over just like Granny Smith did, minus the pacing of course. She was quite a curious youth.
As Macintosh finished setting up the table for supper you start answering each question Apple Bloom threw at you. After question twelve you were starting to get annoyed. It was like every question answered wasn’t enough and she wanted to keep asking more. Luckily Macintosh clearing his throat finally got the little filly to stop.
Apple Bloom giggles out of embarrassment before apologizing to you. With everything finally set, and with everyone sitting in their respective places, you begin your dinner. Your mother’s cooking couldn’t compare to the quality of apple based feast you were currently indulging in. It was as if Discord’s magic held no sway over your stomach in this regard.
Your body seemed to crave these delights and you mindlessly satisfied its craving. When you finally started to slow down you noticed you were getting a few stares from the others at the table.
Lyra, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle laughed at your expense. Your response was to use a napkin to calmly wipe away the bits of crumbs and juice your lips and cheeks managed to collect over the course of your meal.
It’s too bad that your napkin couldn’t cover your rapidly reddening cheeks. But just like with every meal you needed something to wash it down with. You peer into your wooden mug and sniff. Apple cider; you loved this stuff when you were a child, and just like you did back then you chugged your mug like no one’s business. You let out a satisfied sigh when your mug is drained of its contents.
You notice that you’re the first one finished with their meals; the others have been spending their time watching you eat rather than eating themselves. With the show over and done with they get to their respective meals. Over the course of dinner you’re treated to yet another round of twenty questions. This time they’re coming from Granny Smith. Lucky for you she sticks to the generic questions Twilight asked rather than personal ones.
Regardless you couldn’t help but feel like a broken record. Having to explain your planet and what little you knew of it was starting to get quite tiresome. But with new ponies you know you’re going to have to explain it over and over again. You might as well get used to it.
As you spoke with both Granny Smith and Apple Bloom over the time you’ve spent here you couldn’t help but catch Big Mac staring at you from the corner of your eye. Whenever you tried to make eye contact he looked away from you and rubbed the back of his head. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but not in front of his family.
In fact, his role in the conversation, well there really wasn’t any. Unlike the talkative Apple Bloom, or the story telling Grandmother, Big Macintosh was the stone silent guardian of the table. He seemed content with just watching on in silence, quietly enjoying his meal all the while. Was he normally like this, or is it because of you, Lyra, and Sweetie Belle being here?
He seemed to be more than willing to talk back in the barn. What’s stopping him now? When dinner finally ends, and when Apple Bloom and Macintosh clear off the table, you and Lyra get to your feet/hooves. Your rub your knees gingerly, you were on them for quite a while. You had to, or else you wouldn’t have been able to reach the top of the table. You hate the thought of dining in and leaving afterwards, but you needed to get home, as did Lyra. The two of you thanked the family for the meal and they thanked you for the company.
Thankfully they were able to take in Sweetie Belle for the night so that bit of worry was taken from your thoughts. As you and Lyra made your way to the door to leave you hear the clopping of hooves coming from behind. You turn to find Big Mac walking over to the two of you. Maybe now you’ll finally get some answers as to why he was acting the way he was at the dinner table.
“Hey, can ah talk to ya’ll outside for a moment Anonymous?” Big Mac asks before motioning to Lyra, “Alone?” She glares at Macintosh suspiciously. She seemed a bit reluctant to leave you alone with the stallion that injured you so badly, but when you agreed to talk alone she backed off.
“Sure, let’s talk. How long will this take?”
“It’ll only take a few. Don’t worry; ya’ll be on your way in a bit.” He reassures you.
You nod before making your way into the now night air of Ponyville. You didn’t realize so much time had passed over the course of your dinner. Then again with you constantly answering questions it was sort of hard to gauge just how much time each answer took. The cold air nips at you. You start to shiver as you turn to Macintosh. When he steps outside and closes the door he sighs. Then he looks up to you with a saddened expression.
“Listen partner. Ah’m, ah, ah’m sorry about what happened back in the barn. If ah knew that mah sister was lyin, I’d a never done what I did. Ah ain’t askin ya’ll to forgive me, but maybe we can put that moment behind us and try to start from scratch?” He look up at you hopefully.
You’re still angry with him for beating you to a pulp, but you know he did what he thought was right. If your sister wasn’t as terrible as she was, then you would have gladly stepped up to help her too. It’s only because of that reason you’re able to look past this.
“Big Mac, you did what you thought was right. If I was in your hooves I’d have done the same. So yeah, let’s start over and try again.” You say before extending a fist out to Macintosh. He examines it for a moment before he brings up one of his hooves. You fist/hoof bump in order to seal the deal so to speak.
“Alright, thank ya part. Ya’ll have a good night.” As he turns to head back inside he stops at the doorway. He turns to you and gives you something to think about on your walk home.
“Ah know ah shouldn’t be the one askin ya this, but ah don’t think it’s right. From what Applejack told me the way Rarity’s been actin lately is downright awful.” He trots over to an old, worn out bench on the front porch and takes a seat. You thought this would only take a moment. “Ah can’t stand it when mah lil sister’s friends are in trouble you know. Do ya think you might be able to help her like ya did mah sister?” He asks as he reaches to the side of the bench. He pulls up a jug sloshing with brown tinted liquid.
“I-I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t promise anything. I’ll try something I guess.” You shrug. Macintosh only adds to Twilight’s side of things. Loyalty to Discord is starting to become less of an option. While he’s in charge ponies far and wide suffered. You have to say with Sweetie’s situation you couldn’t help but picture yourself in her place.
You have a sister who only thought of herself. She didn’t care what happened to you; as long as that greedy sibling of yours got what she wanted in the end. In fact, if your sister was a pony she would probably BE Rarity. And from what happened with Sweetie today, you couldn’t help but feel for the little filly. No one should have to go through the same situations you had to face.
You could only imagine just what’s been going on behind closed doors of Rarity’s home. How far would Rarity go to take what she thought was hers? Would she starve Sweetie because it was Rarity’s food? Or would she just steal it and claim it as hers? What of personal belongings? It’s in that moment you make your decision.
You’ll make sure Sweetie has her true sister back. Loyalty to Discord held no meaning, nor did it hold true for Equestria… This was personal...