//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Meeting the Mane // Story: Equestrian Revelations // by DuskApproaches //------------------------------// “Hey, Applejack!” I called out as I walked over to her apple farm. “Howdy,” she replied. Her american country accent was still annoying, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it one day. “Sorry fer trying to kill you the other day, pardner,” Applejack said apologetically. “We sure got into quite a tussle, didn’t we?” “It’s alright. I would have probably done the same,” I said nodding in agreement.. Saving face, I hesitated to tell her the whole truth; I wouldn’t have attacked someone without knowing who they were and if they posed a real threat. What kind of a baseless maniac attacks or kills others without questioning the given situation? “So, Applejack? There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask.” “What would that be, sugarcube?” she said making me cringe on the inside with that last word. “How come you have a giant farm but only grow one type of crop?” This question has been bothering me for a while now. As far as I know, Apple Acres was the only farm in ponyville. The Ponyville markets are full of other fruits and vegetables. So, where do they get them from? Do they need to have them imported from other parts of Equestria? “Well, ya see outsiders of Equestria seem to ask that a lot. My family here owns a large series of farms across Equestria. All of the farms specialise in producing only one type of crop so that all of the crops in Equestria will be of top quality. We figured that - if ponies had special talents - the best use of those talents would be work they can specifically relate to,” Applejack was quite perceptive and logical. I had misjudged her since the time we first met. Applejack was the element of honesty and, overall, a nice pony. We became quick friends despite her pre-emptive murder attempt [/hr] So far, today was a quiet day. I went to work, left work, and basically did nothing after it. I sat on a cloud at the near edge of the atmosphere. Having wings of elemental energy sure comes in handy. The air was thin but the view was great. I looked down at the lands below. Twilight’s books helped me understand the geography and politics of this land called Equestria. I recognised the countries below me. There was the country of griffons simply known as the Kingdom of Griffons. There was the changeling country in the far east known as Khagix Khanate. There was the country to the north in which I still do not know its name. “Sup,” said a voice surprising me so much I almost fell off my cloud. I looked to my right and saw Rainbow Dash sitting beside me. “Oh, hey, Rainbow. What’s up?” “The sky,” she replied pointing her hoof out to the surrounding area before she started laughing hysterically. That was no doubt the worst joke I have ever heard. “Why aren’t you laughing?” Rainbow asked me “Because that is the worst joke I have ever heard,” I replied flatly. Awkward silence ensued with Rainbow Dash eyeing me with a look of confusion. “So, how’s Wonderbolt academy?” I asked breaking the silence. Rainbow Dash started going on and on about how the academy is so awesome. Although I wasn’t exactly listening, I could tell that she was using the word awesome every two seconds from the lack of variety in the ways her mouth was moving. She had been talking for awhile now. It has been less than a week since last time I asked and here she was running my ear off for about 20 minutes now. She must be really ambitious in carrying this much enthusiasm. I heard that the academy training was hard enough as it was albeit Rainbow Dash practiced flying in most of her free time. “Hey, HEY! Are you even listening!?” Rainbow Dash yelled snapping me out of auto-pilot mode. “Of course I am,” I lied wondering what she had said. “Then what did I just say?” Did she just read my mind? Yeah, I think she just read my mind. “You were talking about how awesome of a coach Spitfire was,” I replied in hopes of getting off easy. I think I got it right seeing as to how she relaxed a bit. It’s hard to guess what someone said based solely on intuition, but Rainbow doesn’t really talk about too many things. “I guess you were listening after all.” I sure dodged a bullet there. An extremely slow moving bullet but a bullet nevertheless We sat there enjoying each other’s company as we watched the sun go down and the moon come up. On many occasions, I stay awake through the entire night looking up to the stars above. Luna’s work is beautiful. “Well, I’m gonna head home now. Wanna crash at my place tonight?” she asked in her carefree manner. I really have been hanging out with Rainbow a lot more since I arrived. I think that as far as Rainbow is concerned - I’m her brother. “Why not,” I responded accepting the invite “Race you to my place,” she said as she took off leaving a trail of rainbows in her path. Her flying skills and seemingly unlimited stamina was truly envious. I have no doubt that her ambitions will be fulfilled. I smiled, spread my wings of elemental energy, and took off after her. [/hr] Twilight told me to visit Rarity to get some new clothes. Since I have a completely different figure than the locals, Rarity was the best choice in tailoring expertise. I don’t have any other choice if I want to get some new clothes. But I didn’t really mind considering Rarity was the element of generosity after all. I’m sure we could be friends. I knocked on the door of her little shop and waited. After a few seconds, a white pony wearing more makeup than a twelve year old girl who listens to Taylor Swift opened the door. “Hello, how may I he- OH CELESTIA! DARLING, YOUR CLOTHES ARE SIMPLY HORRENDOUS!” Rarity dramatically exclaimed. Generosity my ass. She hurt my feelings. I guess she was right, though. I’m just wearing basic training pants and some handmade shoes. My shirt got messed up after mastering the fire portion of elemental magic. With no other choice in gaining new clothes I stepped into the shop and let Rarity take my measurements. “This,” Rarity said as she pointed at an outfit on a mannequin, “is your casual outfit.” I was surprised. I had the impression that Rarity could only make formal clothes. Once again, I judged a pony too quickly. Rarity showed me about 5 other outfits she made for different occasions. They included formal, casual, formally-casual, exercising, and formally-exercising. Talented was an understatement in her fashion abilities. [/hr] I knocked on the door of the little cottage near the forest. My timberwolf needed a check-up and other veterinarians just kinda got scared and ran away. There is nothing scary about a timberwolf. It’s just a bunch of sticks held together in the shape of a wolf. Its breath smells bad, though. There was no answer. That didn’t really surprise me that much. She was probably hiding under a table because of the sound of unexpected knocks. Did I just make fun of Fluttershy? Now I feel really bad about myself. “Hey Flutters, it’s me,” I called out to her. The door opened slowly. “Oh, hi. I didn’t know you would be visiting,” her pupils narrowed as she looked behind me. I never knew how ponies could control the size of their eyes. Isn’t the pupil part of the eyeball and how they move it separately? Maybe I’m thinking about the iris. “Don’t move!” she frantically said in a high-pitched and squeaky voice. “There’s a timberwolf right behind you.” “Yeah, I know. That’s Moon Moon (bun dum tss). He’s kind of the reason I came here.” “Oh, okay. Umm, not many people are able to tame timberwolves. I guess I was just surprised,” she said calming down. “I didn’t actually tame him. He just kinda...liked me and became attached." We went inside the cottage. Fluttershy did some checks on Moon Moon while the rest of her animals just kind of hid away in various locations like the cupboards. Fluttershy really had some interesting animals. They ranged from mice to bears. I wonder how she was able to keep constant supervision on all of them at the same time. There were at least 50 animals running about her cottage when I first walked in. She performed surgery on Moon Moon by removing some weak sticks with fresher ones. It was fascinating watching her work. She made her job look simple and did it with such grace that could only come from a combination of practice and natural talent. [/hr] I met Pinkie Pie the same way other outsiders met Pinkie Pie. I think that’s enough information to figure out what happened...