//------------------------------// // II.3 - Apples, Dresses, and Cupcakes // Story: Night // by Revenant Wings //------------------------------// I woke up the next morning with Twilight calling to me as she knocked on my door. I got up and changed my clothes before heading out into the study where Twilight was standing with a little purple and green wingless dragon that was about half my height with green eyes and purple scales with the occasional green spike coming out of his back. I jumped backwards and nearly shut the door if it wasn’t for Twilight laughing and finally speaking. “Nemo, this is Spike, my number one assistant,” Twilight said, motioning to the dragon. “He helps me out with keeping the library organized as well as making sure things are running smoothly around here while I’m gone. I hatched his egg as part of my test to become Celestia’s personal student.” “Hey there,” Spike said, waving a claw in the air. “Nice to see I’m not the only bipedal one in town anymore. These ponies are nice and all, but it really sucks not having anyone around I can relate to in some way.” Twilight smiled. “You have breakfast ready, Spike?” “Three Danishes, three apples, three glasses of milk, and one bowl of sapphires,” Spike replied. “Sapphires…?” “I need to eat gems to breathe fire,” Spike explained. “Twilight could get into the more scientific aspect of it, but basically there’s something in the gems that helps me to create and breathe fire.” “And gems are abundant enough that he can eat a bowl a day and there’s still plenty for jewelry and other fashion items,” Twilight said, “though Rarity could tell you more about how that works.” I followed Twilight and Spike downstairs to the main floor and into the kitchen where three steaming cream Danishes and three apples were laid out. I sat down with Twilight while Spike brought over a tray with three glasses of milk and a bowl of bright blue gemstones. Spike passed me and Twilight a glass then took the other glass and the bowl of gemstones for himself. We all ate our breakfast before Twilight asked me a question. “Is there anything in particular you want to learn about Ponyville?” I shrugged. “No, not really. I’m… not really gonna be here for long anyways.” “Right… um, how about I show you what some of my friends do around here?” “Whatever you think is gonna work.” “Alright. Spike, do you think you can take over library duties for the next few days?” “No problem,” Spike said. “Just… when you get done with all that, can I have a free day to visit Rarity again?” Twilight nodded. “So… what is the plan, then?” I asked. “I’m going to introduce you to some of my friends and show you around Ponyville,” Twilight said. “We’ll be visiting one a day and maybe that will show you a little about our town and the ponies that live here.” “When are we starting?” “Right now.” “Now…?” * * * By now, Twilight ended up meaning right at that moment. With breakfast finished and Spike cleaning up the plates, Twilight led me out the door and started walking me through town away from the direction of Canterlot Castle. We passed a few stores that Twilight stopped at and we talked to a few ponies, including a flower shop, a quill and sofa store (how oddly specific…), and the town hall, and eventually we had walked our way to the northern edge of town where a large orchard was seated with a sign at the entrance bearing the title “Sweet Apple Acres”. Across the acres of hills and plains were hundreds of apple trees, some of their fruit already picked but others had yet to be picked and were full of ripe red, green, and golden apples. “First off, we’re going to meet the Apple family,” Twilight said as we walked down a shaded path towards the interior of the orchard. “Do they all have the same last name?” I asked. “Nope.” “Then why are they called the ‘Apple family’ if they don’t all end with the name Apple?” “Because they’re all named after varieties of apples.” “So… who are we going to visit first?” “Applejack.” “…that’s not an apple cultivar.” A short distance off the path, I saw a single apple tree shake. A short while later, the apples shook and started falling off the tree. “What the heck was that?” “What?” I pointed to another apple tree that was also shaking, followed by the apples falling off that one, too. “That!” “Ah, that must be where Applejack is. Come on, Nemo.” I followed Twilight off the dirt path and into the grassy orchards. A short ways in and down a small hill stood an orange pony with a blonde mane and tail tied up into pony tails and wearing a Stetson hat. Her cutie mark: a trio of apples. “Hey, Applejack!” Twilight called. The orange pony wiped her forehead with a hoof and turned towards us. “Hey Twi,” she said with a soft country twang. “What are you comin’ out here for?” “I was just showing a guest around,” Twilight said. She motioned to me. “This is Nemo. He got transported here to Equestria by Princess Celestia from Earth, but wanted to go back home. He’s waiting for Celestia to charge up a spell to send him back home.” I thought only unicorns could shake my fist, but Applejack wasted no time in coming over, somehow grabbing my hand, balled it into a fist, and started shaking vigorously. “Ah don’t quite understand all of that, but any friend of Twi is a friend of mine,” Applejack said. “Ahm Applejack, and I run Sweet Apple Acres with my brother, Big Macintosh.” I felt like my entire body was shaken when Applejack let go. “Pleasure to meet you,” I said. “So, um, what is with the whole apples falling off and the trees shaking?” “This here is Applebuck Season,” Applejack said. “We go around buckin’ the trees to make the ripe apples fall off to collect them.” She walked over to another tree that was full of apples and, I now saw, had a bunch of buckets placed around the base of the tree. “Like so.” Applejack leaned forwards and placed all her weight on her front hooves. In one swift motion, she kicked her back hooves off the ground and pulled in before firing back at the tree like a spring. There was a resounding crack! throughout the valley as her hooves struck the tree with full force. The tree itself was unharmed by the impact, but it shook violently and soon the apples started falling off the branches and landing in the buckets placed around the tree. “We use the apples for eating, cooking, and making our own, homemade cider,” Applejack said. “We get ponies from all around that come here for a taste of Apple family cider once the season for it starts.” “When’s that season?” “Around fall.” I sat with Twilight and watched Applejack buck a few more trees before a much larger red pony with a plow-like thing around his neck. He was more muscular than Shining Armor was and was pulling an empty cart behind him. He didn’t say a word, but gave a nod towards me and Twilight before turning to Applejack and asking if she was ready to load the cart again. “About time, Big Mac!” Applejack said. “Let’s get these buckets in.” “Eeyup,” the red pony responded, then the two got to work. The cart was loaded with at least twenty-five buckets full of apples before the cart was loaded. I saw Big Macintosh make a gesture for me to follow him, which I ended up doing with Twilight and Applejack’s approval, so I walked alongside the red pony under the shade of the apple trees. He asked me my name. “Nemo,” I told him. “What about you?” His full name was Big Macintosh, but was sometimes known as Mac or Macintosh. He said either way was fine before asking me how I got there. “Princess Celestia teleported me here,” I told him. “But I want to go back, so she’s preparing a spell for me to return by the Summer Sun Celebration.” He asked me how I liked Equestria so far. “It’s nice,” I told him. “I’ve spent most of my time in Canterlot but I’ve liked my time in Ponyville so far.” He asked if I had any family. “Not here,” I told him. He gave a deadpanned response saying he knew that much. “Back at home, I had my parents and a younger sister, but the sister ran away.” He said it sounded like Applejack a little before she earned her cutie mark; she had ran away to Manehattan for a few weeks to live with their aunt and uncle there, but returned a few weeks later after realizing it wasn’t her home. “The thing is, I don’t know if I want to return home,” I told him. We had reached a large red barn and Macintosh had started unloading the buckets when he asked what I meant by my previous statement. “I’m kind of torn between staying here and returning home,” I said. “I have family back home, but I feel like I know more people—um, ponies here than I ever knew back home.” Macintosh told me family wasn’t the only thing to consider when choosing a home. He told me that a long time ago their parents had gone away on business and never came back, with their younger sister Apple Bloom just learning to talk when it happened. He told me how, for a while, the family was broken with him, Applejack, Apple Bloom, and their grandmother Granny Smith. However, where most of them found solace was with friends in the surrounding community; Applejack had Twilight and the rest of her friends, Apple Bloom had her friends from school, and Macintosh himself had a couple of buddies that went out for drinks every Saturday night. Their family was broken, but they made themselves a family by dividing the chores and working together to take care of the household in addition to finding help from the community. “Sounds like a rough life,” I commented as Macintosh attached himself back to the cart and we walked back into the orchard. Macintosh commented that if Princess Celestia wanted to bring me to Equestria I must have had a hard life of my own. “You’re partially right,” I told him. “My sister ran away from home to live with our grandparents, I flunked out of school and had to go back for another year to get a high school degree, had something of a dead end job, and I don’t think my parents were particularly close so I ran away from home to live on my own.” Macintosh commented that it didn’t sound like I had much of a home. “Not really.” Mac asked me why I wanted to go back. “It doesn’t feel like home here,” I told him. Macintosh stopped walking at one point and looked like he was about to say something, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was an apology for prying into areas he either shouldn’t have pried into or going over things that others had probably said multiple times before. “It’s alright,” I told him. “I’m still trying to figure it out myself.” Macintosh nodded and we continued walking. As we neared where Applejack and Twilight were talking, Macintosh told me that the mentioning about him going out for drinks was an invitation to me if I ever didn’t have anything to do. “Thanks,” I said. “But… why?” Macintosh explained that if I was staying in Ponyville, I should count on the ponies in Ponyville to help me feel at home instead of just trying to rely on myself to find a place to call home. “Thanks,” I said. “Eeyup,” Macintosh replied. After a little while longer of watching Applejack buck apples, Twilight and I eventually headed back to town and stopped at a café for lunch, where we ordered some sandwiches and a side dish that Twilight referred to as hay fries. “You had quite the conversation with Big Macintosh,” Twilight commented. “I’ve hardly ever heard him talk that much to anypony.” I shrugged. “Well, we’ll rest tomorrow and stay around the library before going off to meet Rainbow Dash.” “I’ve already met Rainbow Dash,” I commented. “We talked a little bit at a Wonderbolts Derby Shining Armor took me to back when I was staying in Canterlot.” Twilight let out a sigh of relief. “That makes things easier.” “Why? Because I can’t fly?” “You’re stating the obvious, but yes. But Dash also tends to be lazy.” * * * After a day at the library, Twilight once again led me after breakfast out into the streets of Ponyville. This time our destination was much closer: a rather large blue and white building that reminded me of an olden-style carousel on the outside that I remembered passing by when I first entered Ponyville. Twilight went up to the door and opened it; I followed her in after seeing a sign on the door that said “Rarity’s Boutique: OPEN”. A rose-haired pony was sitting on a bench just inside. Around the inside of the building were numerous pony-shaped mannequins that had an array of cloths placed over them, some completed into dresses while others just seemed to be laid out in intricate patterns. A set of brightly lit mirrors surrounded a small pedestal that itself was next to a changing room, which seemed awkward to me considering most of the ponies around here wore next to nothing anyways. “What is this place?” I asked Twilight. “This is Rarity’s Boutique,” Twilight responded. “Rarity, the pony who owns this, makes dresses for ponies both able to afford them and for those who are interested in fashion. There aren’t many around here in Ponyville, but Rarity has made dresses and suits for the Canterlot elite.” “Quite a resume,” I commented. Twilight walked over to the pony sitting on the bench. “Hey there, Roseluck,” she called. “Is Rarity here?” “She’s finishing up a dress for me,” the rose-maned pony replied. “She’ll be done in just a minute; she said she’d have it finished this morning so I could have it for a date for a dance at a flower festival in Manehattan later this month.” I went over and sat down on the bench next to Twilight and Roseluck to wait for the as yet unseen dressmaker to show herself. Thankfully, it wasn’t much longer, as the pony herself came out later with an admittedly beautiful green dress with a red skirt-like piece with folds and patterns that made it look like the petals of a rose. The dress was followed by a unicorn pony that was equally beautiful by pony standards: spotless white fur, a lengthy, curled, deep blue tail and mane, and a cutie mark in the shape of three diamonds on her flank. Her eyes were a deep blue and when she spoke, it was with a refined accent I was used to hearing in Canterlot but not here in Ponyville. “Here you are, Roseluck,” the pony said. “The dress you ordered fitted exactly to you and designed just the way we talked about it just last week.” “Thank you so much, Rarity!” Roseluck exclaimed. She looked joyously over at Rarity. “Can I try it on right now and see how it looks?” “Certainly, darling,” Rarity responded. She used her magic to bring the dress into the changing room where Roseluck eagerly followed it in. Once Roseluck was changing, Rarity turned her attention to us. “Good morning, Twilight! It’s good to see you. Come by for a dress or just a friendly chat?” “A chat,” Twilight said, “but I did want to bring someone by to meet you. This here is Nemo, a guest of mine until the Summer Sun Celebration.” “A human?” Rarity looked with astonishment between me and Twilight. “You aren’t… involved with him, aren’t you?” “What!?” I nearly shouted. “Oh, no! I’m just staying a few weeks with Twilight in Ponyville before Princess Celestia magics me back home to Earth.” Rarity nodded understandingly. “…pity,” she said. “You two look like you’d make a great couple.” Twilight said nothing, but I saw her blush. I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “Well,” Rarity said after a moment, her eyes twinkling in a way I wasn’t sure that I liked or trusted, “I’ve never had the chance to design anything for a human before. Let’s get you over to my work room and let’s get started, shall we?” I saw my hands become engulfed in the blue light and that now surrounded Rarity’s horn and was dragged away into the interior of the shop before Twilight could do anything to stop the unicorn. Instead, she galloped after us as Rarity took me into a room with more mannequins, but this time the floor was covered with more pieces of various materials, half-sewn pieces of cloth, things that looked like near completed dresses that had been discarded and pieces cut out of them, and other things that made it look like a hurricane had come through. “Stand still please, darling,” Rarity said as she started levitating a tape measure around me and measured every little length and crevice. “I’m going to need a different mannequin for this one. Or perhaps I could modify one of the ones I already have to suit the bipedal figure… something like Spike but twice as large shouldn’t be too much of a problem… the structural similarities are there but without the spikes to poke the material…” “Rarity!” Twilight called as she entered the room. “You could have at least asked if he wanted to be fitted.” But the unicorn was already too far gone in her work and was wandering around me while constantly maneuvering the measuring tape around every part of me. “Perhaps if I made a long sleeve shirt for your top… no, the long sleeves wouldn’t accent the arms as well… perhaps a sleeve that goes just down to the shoulder? That would work, but we’ll need a lighter color to pop against the darker skin and hair color… but would that make the eyes too dark? Perhaps a more earthen tone look… a gold button-up collar shirt ought to suffice, don’t you think?” I quickly wagered the question was rhetorical and was just as quickly proven right. “Now, what to go with the shirt… perhaps a nice vest in either a rust or brown color would do… but I’m afraid I’m getting too dark with that color scheme now… perhaps some sort of dusty brown shirt and brown boots like they have out in Appleoosa would complete the ensemble with some sort of theme… but now I think I have to do a lighter color outfit to pop… Ah, well, I’ll just have to make two. For the second one…” Rarity continued muttering to herself for two hours. By the time she was finished she had two different drawings of a full shirt and vest combo in two colors: the first being the earthen tones she was describing while the other had a faded blue shirt with a darker blue shirt and pants with a pair of black masculine-looking boots. “And the total cost of both of them will be… zero bits.” Twilight was staring in surprise. I simply stared at the situation, completely unsure of what happened. “You’re going to do both of these… for free?” “Why, of course, darling!” Rarity said. “It isn’t often I get to try out a new style. I’ll be proud to make Nemo here a few ensembles for free if it means I get to try out something new. Who knows… there could be a market for these things in Canterlot. If not… well, it was all good fun. The two will both be done within a week.” Twilight looked relieved. I felt violated. Especially after I saw the half-lidded look in Rarity’s eyes as we left the boutique a few minutes later. * * * The next day I had found a series of books in the library that had caught my attention and began reading the first of the series. The series was called ‘Daring Do’ and was a series of twelve books about an pegasus archaeologist that managed to help save the world from all sorts of mythological creatures and dangerous cults and other factions on her explorations. It reminded me of a few series back at home and was thrilled to find out that Twilight had all twelve in the series. For the rest of the day, I was preoccupied with reading as much of the series as I could. Things were calm and quiet that evening until Twilight received a letter written on pink paper and with a pink marker. The letter was an invitation to come to a party at Sugarcube Corner the next evening for a party to welcome me to Ponyville. The note was signed off as being from Pinkie Pie. “I remember her,” I said. “She knocked me over when I first arrived trying to introduce herself.” “That’s Pinkie for you,” Twilight said. “Her parties are usually pretty good, so we could just head over there for a little bit and head out whenever you get tired.” It seemed like a good idea, so when the next day rolled around we went to the hospital to get my bandages removed, and a prescription for pain medication to be taken until the injuries from my fall off the observatory were fully healed, and went over to Sugarcube Corner – the building I had passed by with the top shaped like a cupcake – and went into an open door where music was playing and what looked like half of Ponyville’s residents were all gathered inside. I had hardly crossed the threshold when I realized I had an extra weight around my shoulders. I looked around and eventually saw that the bright pink pony from my entrance was hanging a hoof around my shoulder and was gazing at the rest of the crowd with the biggest smile I had ever seen on her face. “Hey there, everypony!” Pinkie Pie called out. “This here is Nemo, a guest of our good friend Twilight. Let’s make him feel welcome while he’s here in Ponyville!” The crowds erupted in cheering as Pinkie grabbed me and started dragging me around the floor, introducing me to every single pony that had come to the party as well as inviting me to try nearly all of the twenty or so different treats that lined the table… nearly all of which I liked. It wasn’t until an hour later that Pinkie stopped talking to me to go talk to other guests, at which I immediately found a bowl of non-alcoholic apple cider to quench my thirst and found a table in the corner to sit at while I watched the other partygoers dancing and playing games. Big Macintosh was at the party as well and walked over to me with a glass of his own, asking me what I thought of the party and of Pinkie. “It’s tiring just listening to her,” I told him. “But the party is nice and most of the folk around here are friendly enough. You make the cider?” “Eeyup,” Macintosh responded. We sat there both watching Pinkie as she went around to every guest once, then twice, then three times as she made sure that everypony was having as much fun as they possibly could have. Macintosh commented that you wouldn’t know Pinkie had come from a depressing life on a rock farm before then. “A rock farm?” Macintosh explained that certain rocks, with time and certain practices surrounding shape and size, could be used to cultivate certain types of gems. It was boring but astoundingly profitable work given the right conditions. “So… she has family elsewhere?” Macintosh told me Pinkie had two sisters and her parents back on the rock farm. Her cutie mark was almost entirely the opposite of the demeanor on the farm and her parents helped her move in with the Cakes in Ponyville, who resided in the upper levels of Sugarcube Corner. Cupcake and Carrot Cake, along with two young foals of their own, all considered Pinkie part of their family and, while rambunctious and sometimes more energetic than most could handle, she had proven a huge help with the Cakes with a particular affinity of baking; she had made most of the treats available at the party. “…you’re meaning to compare this to my experience, aren’t you?” Macintosh made a comment about me catching on quick before explaining that Pinkie had found a place that felt like home and a group that felt like family and accepted her, which is why she was able to do so well in Ponyville. Macintosh also said that even if the Cakes didn’t allow her to live with them her temperament could have gotten her someone else that would let her stay with them simply because she was so happy and bouncy in a way that was somewhat infectious. “I suppose I can’t argue with you on that,” I said, realizing that a smile had formed on my own face as I watched her. When Pinkie eventually came around and asked me to get more involved in the party, I went ahead and danced and laughed and played games with the rest of the ponies. Back in the corner, I could see Big Macintosh nodding his approval. When the party was finally over and I was saying “good night” and “thank you” to Pinkie Pie, the moon had come out long ago and Twilight was nodding off in a chair, though stayed awake long enough to make sure I was comfortable in my room before heading off to sleep herself. I slept through most of the next day, and a part of me had a feeling that Twilight was doing the same thing.