Needless to say, the news did little to quell the uproar from the rest of the Apple family.
"Out of business?!"
"Sweet Apple Acres!?"
"But this is the biggest farm the clan has!"
"How can you suddenly be broke?"
"Alright, everypony, quit yer sassafrasin' and pipe down!" Granny Smith's voice rang out with a severe clarity and authority that only a grandmother could have. The clan immediately grew silent at her no nonsense face. "Mah sweet little fruit pie's havin' enough trouble as it is bearin' her heart and soul in front of y'all. Just keep your yaps shut an' Ah'm sure she'll be willin' ta explain everything."
By now, the Elements of Harmony had huddled in as well to listen. The tension in the air was thick as Applejack struggled to find her voice again.
"It all started...last applebuck season. We had gotten the mother of all bumper crops and were set ta make a nice profit. But Big Mac here had gone and broken his back, and so he couldn't do any harvestin' at all. He recommended to me that we oughta hire a few spare farmhoofs this year ta make up for him bein' bedridden. Heck, his buddy Caramel offered to pitch in fer free. But Ah wouldn't hear none of it. Ain't nopony but an Apple done touched those trees since the day they was planted, and that's how Ah planned on keepin' it. So Ah...Ah figured Ah could handle the harvest mahself this time around."
"One pony harvest all these trees? That's crazy!" Honey exclaimed.
"Yeah...Mac kept tellin' me the same thing. That Ah just couldn't do it alone...but no matter how many times he did, Ah wouldn't listen. Ah just plugged mah ears, and kept buckin' and buckin' until...Ah collapsed. And even then, Ah still wouldn't admit Ah needed help." Her eyes drifted off to the fields before her. "Half the crop spoiled before Ah could even get to it, and Ah lost another third due to my tiredness. In one week, our orchards went from a bonanza to a famine. All that money...gone. We couldn't even break even."
Twilight's brow furrowed. She had read up enough on agriculture cycles to know that farms had one of the thinnest profit margins out of all the businesses in the land. One bad crop would definitely put them in the red, but from what Applejack was saying...they hadn't managed to get even that much.
"And it didn't end there," the mare continued. "Ah was considered Ponyville's most dependable and trustworthy pony, even had a trophy to prove it. So when the other ponies came ta me, asking for a helpin' hoof every now and then, Ah agreed ta pitch in faster than a pin drops. And an Apple always sticks by her word no matter what. But Ah was...Ah was just so plum tuckered out after all the harvestin', Ah kept makin' real dumb mistakes. Ah ended up given' one of mah best friends a grade-A concussion, Ah caused a rabbit stampede that ate up every garden in town, and you don't even want ta hear 'bout the muffins."
"Oh, I think we can guess," Blossomforth thought back to two nights ago.
"Ah ended up hurtin' so many ponies and breaking so much stuff, all the damages and hospital bills we had ta pay devoured our entire savings, and then it still wasn't enough. Our farm racked up so much debt, by the time taxes came 'round, we had nothin' ta pay 'em with..." she choked back the bad taste on her tongue, "'cept the farm itself."
Twilight was first to come to the conclusion. "You took out a second mortgage."
The farmer nodded sadly. "And if we couldn't cover the cost within a month...we'd lose the farm." Her eyes could no longer fight back the tears. "All this happened...because Ah couldn't swallow mah pride fer one teensy tiny moment and just ask for help! It was all mah fault! Ah knew we couldn't scape up enough bits ta pay the bank back in time, not with the farm the way it was. That's why Ah held this reunion in the first place. So's every Apple could have one last good time here at Sweet Apple Acres, one last good memory before it all disappeared."
Her voice cracked yet again, tears freely falling down her hot cheeks. "But now...the only thing anypony's gonna remember about this reunion... is that it was the worst one we ever had!"
And then she cried. She cried with all her might, for everypony to see. The strongest, bravest, and toughest Apple in the tree fell to the ground as a pile of soft mush, blubbering and wailing like a newborn foal. All the other Apples began to share the same look of despair on their faces, some even started to cry themselves.
Apple Bloom hugged the neck of her dear sister tightly, quietly crying alongside her. Big Macintosh simply craned his neck around his broken little sister. And Granny Smith softly rubbed a hoof down her brokenhearted filly's back. "There, there...oh mah sweet little sugarcube...it'll be alright...Ah promise...it'll be alright..."
"Ah'm so sorry..." the mare whimpered with a hiccup. "Ma...pa...Ah couldn't be mare you wanted after all. Ah couldn't keep yer dream alive...Ah'm sorry...Ah'm sorry..."
*thwack thwack thwack*
With a one last hammer, Capital Gain firmly planted a 'For Sale' sign in front of the house. "If we're done with the theatrics, I have a notice for you to sign, then I'll be on my way."
"Wait! Mr. Capital Gain, please." Twilight galloped around the crowd to stand in between the huddled mass and the indifferent taxer. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's personal student. I've studied all kinds of subjects under her, including laws and economics. Surely there has to be some sort of bylaw or clause she could invoke with your service, something to keep this from happening. If you use me as a direct line to her, then probably-"
"Miss Sparkle," Capital Gain's voice was unchanging and almost hollow. "It would not matter if you were a princess yourself, no one is above the bureaucracy. The moment Princess Celestia bequeathed this property to the Apple family, it was taken out of her hooves. Unless she was willing to buy back the land herself, there is nothing even she can do. At this point, the only way this property will remain within the Apples jurisdiction is if they were to pay the aforementioned mortgage within three days time. And frankly, based on the information in their tax forms I have right here, I do not see that happening."
"But-"
"This conversation is over. Good day, Miss Sparkle."
As the bureaucrat made to ward Twilight aside. A light orange hoof raised itself to meet his own.
"Mr. Capital Gain, sir. Please do not be in such a rush. I am Orange Sherbet, co-head of the Orange Conglomerate and relative to the family living here. My friend here has spoken out of turn, and I would deeply like to apologize for her attempt to undermine your authority."
Twilight almost did a double take. Standing before her was no longer the miserable and grieving mare that she had confronted by the airship ten minutes ago. There stood the calm, cunning, confident, and complementing businessmare that was Orange Sherbet.
Capital Gain's face remained the stony expression as he arrived with. "It is not needed. All I require is a written acknowledgement from the current landowner."
"Well, far be it from me to deny you that. But it would seem my niece is emotionally fragile at the moment and incapable of making a clear decision for a while. Perhaps I can be of assistance. Tell me, do you have any further engagements today?"
"No-"
"Well perfect, then there's no hurry," Auntie Orange directed the flow of conversation. "Why don't we step inside and I'll have a nice lunch prepared for you, compliments of the Apple family."
"If this is a thinly veiled attempt at a bribe, I am not amused," the Canterlot official attempted to cut her off. "And I certainly do not partake in carnival fare-"
"My dear Capital Gain, you are very shrewd, as to be expected from a member of the Canterlot bureaucracy," Sherbet intercepted ahead of him again. "But this is not a bribe, and the palette provided will not be of the common variety you assume."
As she led him up the front steps, she addressed Granny Smith closely. "Mother, do you still have those recipes for the galette and flan?"
Her old mother nodded. "They're still in the same place, left of the pantry, two cabinets down."
Sherbet smiled in return. "Wonderful, would you please assist me in preparing some lunch?"
A small, knowing smile seemed to sprout from Granny's lips. She hobbled up the steps to stand beside her daughter. "Why certainly, sugar. It would be a pleasure to cook with you once more."
With that, the three ponies exited behind the old wooden door. As it clicked behind them, almost every pony flooded the porch, trying to press their faces against the two glass windows on each side. Granny simply looked back from one of them, and with one arched eyebrow, she gave a little grin, and pulled the curtains shut on each one.
"Any threes?" asked Spike.
"Go graze," answered Blossomforth.
"I'm starting to think we should have played crazy eights instead," the baby dragon said as he made his seventh draw in a row.
Many of the members of the Apple family were just sitting around the house, meanwhile Twilight paced around the porch. "It's been hours since they've been in there and we haven't so much as heard a peep."
"You're going to wear a hole in the floor at that rate," Mosely Orange said as he gently swung from the patio swing with a napping foal against his back.
"How can you be so calm at a time like this?" Twilight blurted. "We have no idea what Auntie is planning o-or how we can help!"
"Oh, I know what my darling is planning," Mosely smugly chortled. "Based on that glint in her eye, I definitely know what she's planning."
"Really?" Twilight paused in her step. "What?"
The well-knowing Orange stepped off gently so as not to disturb the napping foal. "She's planning a Franchise deal."
The other Apples were not aware of the inside comment's meaning.
"You think she'll buy the farm?"
"Dunno, but she does have the money for it."
"What would a city pony do with a farm?"
"Dunno," a gloomy Applejack lying flat on her belly in the corner spoke up for the first time in hours. "But whatever the case, if she does buy Sweet Apple Acres, Ah ain't acceptin' it back."
Twilight then lowered her muzzle to the floor to meet Applejack's. "Okay, what exactly do you Apples have against receiving aid? Isn't that what caused this mess in the first place? Auntie is not just throwing money at every problem there is, she just wants to help as a member of your family. She didn't just leave the Apple name behind for riches and high living, she cares about you, all of you. Don't you realize that?"
Applejack looked to the purple unicorn as incredulously as a half-lidded mopy expression could. "Of course Ah do...we all do. The Apple name has nothin' ta do with it, she is family, and Ah would more grateful than a candle maker in a wax factory if she did use her money to keep this farm from fallin' into some stranger's hooves. And that's exactly why Ah cain't take the farm back through her dough."
"Why?" was all Twilight could ask.
"Because she would run Sweet Apple Acres better than Ah ever could. Ah mean, look at her, an' look at me. She's a success at anything she tries. She's made friends in every corner of the globe, she knows how to hire, how to tell ponies what to do, how to drum up business. Heck, she owns the biggest businesses in the world! She's everything Ah've ever wanted to be as a pony.
"So how cain Ah possibly accept her ta bail me out...when Ah'm the one who turned mah back on her in the first place?"
Twilight's brain did a flip-flop. "What?"
"Years ago, when Ah was just a filly, Ah once left the farm to try an' strike it big in Auntie's neck of the woods. Maybe it was 'cause of all those stories, maybe it was ambition, maybe it was the fact Ah suddenly only had Granny ta take care of me, maybe it was all o' those or none o' those, but Ah just didn't want ta spend mah entire life trapped in a tiny town doing nothin' but chores. Auntie, she gave me everythin' Ah ever asked for, she was so nice, so generous, so helpful, she did everything she could ta make me all sophisticated and whatnot. But all the parties, all the dinners, every place Ah went to with her, Ah could see ponies lookin' at me, judging me like Ah was some sort of prize pumpkin at th' county fair. Ah didn't want ta embarrass Auntie, but try as Ah might, they just wouldn't stop lookin' and starin' like Ah had suddenly grown stripes. Ah...Ah knew they were talkin' behind me. 'Who's that country bumpkin trying to fool?' 'Mrs. Orange is related to her?' 'What a silly pony that Applejack is, thinking she can be one of us.'
"Ah just knew it had ta be true, cause Auntie stopped givin' me lessons and taking me to 'er parties. Ah had never felt so uncomfortable in mah life. Late one night, Ah peaked out the window ta Auntie's apartment, and just as the sun was risin' Ah saw the most beautiful sight. A rainbow pointin' right back to...home. Ah left this place so's to get away from all the memories here. But as Ah looked towards that cozy little town, they were the only thing that popped up in my mind. Mah neighbors, mah friends, mah family. They didn't judge, they never judged, whether a pony lived the high life or the simple life, they were friendly all the same. Ah never felt so homesick in mah life then and there. That's when Ah realized Ah had come to Manehattan fer all the wrong reasons, what Ah had wanted out of life, what Ah had been lookin' for, had been here all along. So Ah packed my bags, galloped all the way back, and the moment Ah stepped through that front gate, Ah earned these shiners right here on my flank.
"Ah had finally found mah place. Ah had found where Ah belonged."
The farmer's somber mood deepened as she broke from the nostalgia. "So how do ya think Ah feel, havin' an aunt like her, and a cutie mark like this?"
"What do you mean? You just said you were happy to come back here, that you belonged here."
"That's right, which is why Ah realized just how selfish and ignorant Ah'd been when the next reunion rolled 'round and everypony showed up, but her. Twilight, these apples on my flank, they don't just represent what Ah do, they represent what's important ta me, they represent the Apple clan, they represent family. Ah had earned this symbol...this mark that says Ah value my kin above all else...by walkin' away from her! Do have any idea what that means? This-this...thing on my rear is tellin' me that the mare who never done wrong by me once...the one ray of sunshine that smiled warmly on me during that lonely time in the city...isn't a part of it!
"Ah disappointed her, Twilight! Ah snubbed her! Ah ditched her! She hoofed me her life on a silver platter and Ah just slapped it back messily in 'er face! She's never showed up until now Twi, why do you think that is? It's because of me! There's no way she could stand ta be near me after Ah ousted her like that. Ah swore it wouldn't end like that. Ah was still going to be the businessmare she was. Ah would turn this farm inta the biggest Apple business in Equestria, that Ah could be just like her in mah own way. She'd have to be an important part of ma life then, and Ah'd be part of hers. But Ah couldn't do it, Ah failed. Ah put Sweet Apple Acres outta business and cost the clan a whole bunch'a money...there's no way she'll ever be proud of me again after this. So it just doesn't matter if Ah get the farm back, not if she has to pay for it."
The gears turned in Twilight's head and suddenly so many things clicked. Auntie Sherbet had believed for so long that Applejack was ashamed of her, when in reality it was her niece who actually believed she was ashamed of her.
"Talk to her."
"Huh?"
"You have to let her know how you feel," Twilight explained. "It's the only way you'll ever make things clear between you two. You need to know for sure."
"But how can I? After everythin' Ah've done...will she even want ta speak to me?"
"Trust me. You want her to still be a part of your family, right? If she really is your family, she'll understand."
A creaking of the aged walnut timber signaled the swinging of an open door. Everypony snapped to attention to see Capital Gain stepping out and...laughing? Twilight was astounded. Members of the ERS never even so much as cracked a smile. As her father Night Light once told her one tax season during her school days, 'the ERS is full of nothing but soul-sucking, emotionless parasites!'
"Miss Applejack," he began as she stood upright. "After partaking a very delectable meal and a rather stimulating conversation with your aunt, it has occurred to me that I have perhaps been a tad hasty in my conclusions. At the request of double checking your tax records alongside her, my review has turned up some rather erroneous mistakes that have actually occurred over multiple instances in part to some misinformation. After correcting said errors and re-totaling the results, I've found that your family is actually well overdue...for a refund."
"A...a refund?" Applejack's mouth was agape. Everypony knew that word was taboo for tax collectors, and yet this stallion was declaring it nonchalantly. "Ya mean...you owe me money?"
"Why yes." He flipped through his clipboard, beginning to sound off from the list. "This farm is residence to Daisy Jo, Mooriella, Ewe Belle..."
"The cows and sheep? Yeah, we don't exactly have a creamery or wool mill here in Ponyville, so we put 'em up shop here in th' fields."
"Well you did not list them as dependents," he informed the farmer. "In fact, not taking into account you have well over fifty undocumented residents, you also have never once filed a decedent claim, at least three of which are outstanding, and have itemized several outdated concepts. As it stands, your family has been overpaying the Equestrian Revenue Service for over twenty years, allowing for a totaled reimbursement of 12,547 bits and 64 cents."
"Tw-tw-twelve thousand-?" The mare was thunderstruck. "That's-that's-"
"Enough to cover both your mortgage and your outstanding debt," Orange Sherbet filled in the blanks for her. "Which after those deductions, still leaves you with an extra 129.52 balance. Meaning..."
Applejack seized her stetson, flinging it high into the air. "Yeeehaw! Mah farm is SAVED!!!"
The whoops and hollers were deafening as the entire Apple clan went wild for ten full minutes.
Yanking the sign out of the ground, the spirited social worker took his cue to depart. "You can expect your check in the mail by tomorrow morning. Oh, and Mrs. Smith?" He called out to address Granny. "If your crepes are as any good as your pies, I would be more than happy to vouch for your family's catering skills come this year's Grand Galloping Gala. Adieu."
As the fanfare finally dimmed, the immediate family of the estate gathered around their savior. "Somethin' you wanna tell your Auntie, Applejack?"
"Thank you...thank ya so much Auntie. It's because of you Sweet Apple Acres is still standin'. Ah'm still not over the shock Ah had that huge a nest egg hidden away. Fer a while Ah thought you were gonna try and buy my farm back, never thought you could pull somethin' like that outta your hat."
"Not a single bit of mine went into this," Sherbet emphasized. "I know...how much you and the other Apples hate charity. If anything, I just hope this can make up for the time I treated you so poorly all those years ago."
Applejack looked as if somepony had just declared to her that clouds were made of cotton candy and could rain chocolate milk. "Poorly? Auntie, if anything, Ah'm the one who was disrespectful of ya. All those years, Ah thought ya hated me for walkin' out on ya, throwing away all those lessons on being fancy. Yer tellin' me you don't think Ah'm a letdown?"
"Of course not! I loved you just as much as your mother did! And how could you possibly be a disappointment? Just look at these fields! I've never seen such healthy trees and such able-bodied livestock, not even since when I once lived here. Those were your apples I served to Capital Gain. I couldn't be prouder to see you following in my sister's hoofsteps." She settled the stetson on her niece's head to illustrate. "And are you saying you don't think of me as a disgrace to the Apple way? That I didn't drive you away?"
"Disgrace?! Auntie, yer perhaps the most important Apple there is! You make millions a day, yer kind, generous, beloved. You keep thousands of ponies in jobs and in homes with your businesses. You saved my farm without so much as showing a single bit. Heck, yer an Element of Harmony fer Celestia's sake! Nopony here could bring as much honor to the Apple clan as you have! Ah left cause the city life just wasn't something Ah could fit into, but Ah never stopped admiring you. Because...because that's exactly what mah mom did every day she was still with me." Applejack gave her Auntie Orange a lonely smile. "Y'know...every Apple has a favorite relative of sorts. Before she...moved on, mom would always tell me that you were hers...and yer mine too."
"Oh Applejack..." Sherbet pulled her sister's daughter in a close, warm embrace, happy tears welling up in her closed eyes. "You look just like her...you really do."
"Awwwww..." came the chorus of coos from the Apples as they gazed upon the heartwarming scene of the two mares nuzzling before them.
Granny Smith smiled as she hugged them both next. "That's my girls, ya not so different after all, see?"
"Well, Malus domestica and Citrus sinensis do share the same suborder of eudicots now that I think about it," Twilight said to herself.
Orange Sherbet just gave a little shake of her head. "Oh no, we're different alright. But it's those differences that make our family the best there is."
"Darn tootin'!" Applejack declared with renewed vigor. "Come on, everypony! This reunion ain't over yet! And Ah think Ah've got one more activity in mind for y'all!"
"Applejack..." Granny warned.
"Actually mother," Sherbet backed her niece. "I think we're going to like this one."
A cheery tune grew as every member of the Apple family gathered around the wreckage of the barn, clearing out debris and hauling in fresh lumber. As the paint cans were stacked, the nails gathered and the saws sharpened, a unison of singers began their barn raising.
"We are ponies both city and country,
separate as anyone can see.
But no matter the difference, we will always be
one big happy fam~ily!"
Octavia played out a low transition measure, and Fiddlesticks followed up with a quick pace strum.
Applejack:"From dusk til dawn I plow the dirt."
Sherbet:"I dine at night in designer shirts."
Applejack:"The farmer's market's where I speak my spiels."
Sherbet:"On tall skyscrapers I formulate deals."
Applejack:"Still regardless of living,"
Sherbet:"Regardless of style,"
Applejack and Sherbet:"We laugh, we cry, and of course, we smile~!"
"We are ponies both management and labor,
made out from different molds are we.
Yet we welcome each other as neighbors,
and one big happy fam~ily!"
Hammers were pounding, saws were a buzzing, and paint cans popped open as three fillies dipped their brushes in and rushed to an assembled mass of nailed boards.
Apple Bloom:"Loop-de-hoops, hopscotch, jumping in hay,"
Tangerine:"Theater, shopping, and ballet,"
Babs:"Arcades, movies, candy store runs,"
All there:"When we do them together, it's always more fun!"
Blossomforth and Granny carried drinks over for the hard workers as they started to raise the walls. Octavia and Fiddlesticks were back to back playing, and Honey helped hoist the finished roof. Mosely swept up the saw dust and loaded a cart with finished equipment and Big Macintosh hauled the heavy load back to the toolshed.
Blossomforth:"Family's the best thing for you to have around."
Octavia:"At a grand opera,"
Fiddlesticks:"Or a crazy hoedown!"
Honey:"Good or bad, rain or shine, they'll pick you up."
Mosely Orange:"Cause no matter what, they will always love you."
Big Macintosh:"Eeyup."
Spike broke out a crazy solo on a harmonica, while Trixie attached a spackle brush to Winona's side and a bone on a stick over head. The dog ran forth around the building, filling up any holes of knots in the wood. Hammer in one hoof, bottle in the other, Applejack and Orange Sherbet stopped to turn face to face to each other before christening the new barn.
Sherbet:"Doesn't matter who you are..."
Applejack:"Doesn't matter where you roam..."
Both:"As long as you're with family...you're already home~!"
Honey stood behind the camera, waving her hoof for the family to get closer together.
"We are ponies both city and country,
separate as anyone can see.
But no matter the difference, we will always be
one big happy fa...mi...lyyyyy~!!"
As Sherbet stood in the center with Applejack, her niece groped her hoof around her neck, brought her cheek to cheek. And they both smiled the widest smile possible as the bulb flashed.
Twilight stood under the shade of the largest apple tree on the hill, watching the scenes below. All the foals were gathered before Trixie as she put on one her famous performances before them. They cheered in approval as she pulled Winona out of her hat. Married couples were partnered with one another as they square danced to the string duet of Octavia and Fiddlesticks. Granny Smith came out onto the porch with a nice steaming hot apple pie as Honey was yapping it up with Apple Rose and Applesauce. Applesauce lifted the knife to cut, only to have her teeth fall in and everypony around laughed. Blossomforth napped under the fragrant apple blossoms as Big Macintosh lay near her, chewing his wheat stalk and enjoying a well deserved rest. And Auntie Sherbet and Applejack, they sat together in the newly built hayloft, an album open in front of them, catching up on long awaited memories.
"Spike, take a letter."
Dear Princess Celestia,
I am writing to you from Sweet Apple Acres, an apple farm just off the outskirts of Ponyville, where my friend Orange Sherbet has just re-connected with her family after at least twenty years of being apart. Seeing the events that have unfolded today have taught me a valuable lesson about friendships with family. A family is more than just ponies who share the same blood as you, they're ponies who can be confided in when you have no one else to turn to, who give you the love you need to get through the problems ahead. Even if you're as different as night and day, it doesn't make your relationships with them any less weaker. That's because the bonds you share are stronger than any hardships that come with them. Families, are your first, and lifelong friends you ever have.
And...if it's not too much trouble...I'd like to request a week off from my studies, so I can come up to Canterlot and see my own family for awhile.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
As the sun started to set over the horizon, ponies began to pack up and board their carriages for the trip home. The Orange family's airship was already loaded with the exception of Sherbet and Tangerine. They had chosen to linger a bit with their hosts.
"Ah certainly hope it isn't another twenty years before Ah see you again, Sherbet." Granny hugged her daughter fondly.
"Don't worry mother. I promise I'll never miss another reunion again. I'll even see you again sooner if need be."
"Sherbet?"
Orange Sherbet turned to see and approaching her was Apple Dumpling and a yellow coated stallion with a red mane. "Cousin Redwell?"
"Yep. I was wanting to talk with you for some time now."
"I was thinking the same thing, actually. With so many members to reacquaint myself with, I was pretty sure I wouldn't even have time to speak with some. How have you been anyways?"
"Well, ever since my farm got shut down, I had to move back into my sis's bakery in Hooflyn. But after that whole refund trick you managed to pull, I got thinking...there's more than one way for money to go around, right? I've been doing good, helping Dumpling with her goodies and all that. But I really would like a farm of my own again."
"Are you saying...you want to accept my aid this time?"
"I'm not asking for you to give me money. I'm asking for you to invest in me, and the first ever city-based orchard that I plan to found with the abandoned 100 acre lot on the edge of South Manehattan!"
This was an unexpected and pleasant surprise for the businessmare. "You...you mean-?"
"Uh huh, roll out the welcome mat, cuz! You've got yourself a new neighbor and business partner...if you'll have me that is."
"Of course I'll invest! You just need enough startup to start converting, right?"
"And I a plan to repay every single bit of it in due time, I'm not letting the farm get bought again."
"Cause this time, you'll have help." Dumpling groped her brother's foreleg. "I plan to move my business right next to his so that he's not working alone next time. So set the welcome party for four more, cause you'll also have me, my hubby, and of course my two little dumplings!"
"You hear that?" Babs spoke excitedly to Tangerine. "We're neighbors now!"
"That's so cool!" Tangerine squealed in filly mode. "That'll make our club that much neater!"
"Club?" Applejack raised an eyebrow to the trio of fillies.
"Yes!" Tangerine explained, "Me, Babs, and Apple Bloom got talking. And we all decided to form our own super special group dedicated to earning our cutie marks!"
"Yeah, a secret society!" Apple Bloom tapped her chin. "That reminds me, we haven't thought of a name yet."
"The Cutie Mark Three?" Babs suggested.
"The Cutastically Fantastics?" Tangerine added.
"The Flank-Finder Friends?"
"The Cutie Mark Acquisition Program?"
"The Cutie Talent Brigade?"
"...The Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.
"Yes!"
"I like it!"
With that business finished, Babs proceeded with her mother and uncle to the taxi-carriage, waving a hoof to them before closing the door. "See you in few days, Tangerine! And remember Apple Bloom, you gotta write to us if you manage to recruit anypony else!"
"Bye Babs! Bye Tangerine!" Apple Bloom waved energetically along with her sis as the last taxi drove off and the airship took off, both en route for the big city.
Nestling into her seat, Orange Sherbet sighed in tired contentment. "Was it as good as you hoped dear?" her husband asked beside her.
"Better," was all she could say, holding a copy of the family photo close to her chest. "I was thinking...perhaps we could hold the next year's reunion back in our Manehattan."
"Sounds like a wonderful idea, sweet cream."
"Let's just hope it won't turn out as random as what we experienced today," Honey affirmed.
"I've seen stranger."
Everypony's heads turned to Octavia, sipping her complimentary flight tea. "You've had weirder?" Trixie dubiously raised an eyebrow at the cellist.
"What party could possibly be weirder than one with an avalanche of fritters, a runaway haywagon, and a visit from the ERS?" Twilight asked.
The musician just closed her eyes, and gave a tiny smile. "Clearly, you haven't had the chance to meet my relatives."