Chapter 32 – Applepath
"Come in."
Winter Tulip permitted Governess Cheerilee to enter into her room. The magenta earth pony dressed in her usual plain gray garb appeared before her with her head lowered despondently. Eventually she summoned her strength to look into Winter's eyes with seemingly bad news.
"Miss Cheerilee," said Winter as she flipped another page the back she was reading. "What is the matter?"
"Little Miss," said Cheerilee. "I know you had a falling out with Diamond Tiara, but the train she was riding with her father had been attacked by bandits in the Everfree Forest. She is currently recovering in Ponyville General Hospital"
"Oh."
"Perhaps you should send her a bouquet of get-well flowers. Maybe you can make a greeting card for her as well."
"I suppose I should, even if I yelled at her. In that case, schedule a time for me to visit her."
"Unfortunately, we cannot. Your mother has issued an order that we are not to let you out of the Palace of the Earth for your safety. If you haven't heard already, there was a prison riot at Rock Prison, and many of the prisoners have escaped."
That should be distressing news, and yet for some reason Winter Tulip suppressed a grin from appearing on her face. Even if they didn't say exactly who escaped, Winter knew that she had finally escaped.
"Cheerilee, would you like to help me make Tiara's get-well card?" Winter asked.
"I would be honored, Little Miss."
In the west library reserved for Winter and Posey's personal uses, servants had already laid out the finest book-making material on the hoof-carved wooden tables, and six vases placed on a counter on the westerly wall were filled with flowers to serve as bouquet samplers. So many ponies waited on her in this room, and Winter could barely acknowledge their existence. There were many staff she recognized over the years, but with constant paranoid rotation perpetuated by Matron Harshwhinny, she never got a chance to learn their names. Their utter devotion to her, in all irony, caused them to become distant towards her, and this devotion only stemmed from the fear of Posey’s wrath. Thus, Winter could only feel a warm connection with Cheerilee, the only employee of the Palace who was given more leeway to engage Winter in her studies. Winter spent more time with her Governess than her mother. In some ways, Cheerilee was the closest thing to a sister, if not a surrogate mother. As far as Winter could remember, Cheerilee had been taking of her ever since she was a baby.
Winter did not feel deprived of any positive role models. Nor did Winter feel jealous of the other fillies who had a mother, father, and perhaps siblings. Everything had been provided for her since birth, and yet Winter still felt alone and isolated.
"What a beautiful card you made, Little Miss," said Cheerilee.
Alas, that was a standard if not state-scripted response. Cheerilee would indeed, at her best, try to correct Winter in a few incorrect history facts or math solutions. For craft projects like these, Winter did not feel praised, even if Cheerilee was truly sincere. Her greeting card looked colorful and appropriate for a filly, but was it ever truly beautiful? Would their opinion change if she were an ordinary filly?
She did not answer her own thoughts, and once the card had been put through the final shower of glitter, Winter picked from the westerly wall of the library the selected flower arrangement based on a combination of chance and a gut feeling. All these bouquets were pretty, and she wasn't terribly concerned on what Diamond Tiara would think of them. Nopony told her any details about Tiara's stay in Ponyville, and for all she knew she could be blinded or in a full-body cast to care what kind of gifts arrived at her bedside.
Afterwards, Winter Tulip finished her afternoon lessons, and despite having dinner alone once more, she hummed to herself with a chipper tone throughout her meal. This caused her servants to wonder silently on why she would be so happy. It wasn't because Diamond Tiara was in the hospital, assuming that Winter Bloom truly hated her. Winter did not care for her arranged friend in any way, other than she only wished for her well-being like how an ordinary citizen of Gaea would be concerned about a fallen soldier pulled from the battlefield.
Tonight was a special night. In her room, she pulled from underneath a secret compartment in her toy box a tattered set of saddlebags that she specifically requested to be snuck in so as to hide her state-sponsored position of being above everypony. Inside those bags she had the essentials: canteens of water, a sleeping bag, at least one change of clothes, some toiletries, several oat bars, and bug spray. She also donned filly-sized overalls and a t-shirt to further mask her status. To top her disguise, she redid her mane with using the pink bow her foster mother had supposedly found on her as a baby. She now looked convincingly like a country bumpkin.
Winter trotted down to the West Wing without anypony batting a long and suspicious stare at her. All the servants thought she was just going out to camp out in the garden atrium. None of them even tried to approach her as she opened the panel into the secret basement access corridor. Before she could enter, one butler by the name of Turner of Trottingham dared to stop her.
"Little Miss, what are you doing here?" asked Turner.
"Going camping in the atrium," Winter lied. "But I need provisions, like pears and such."
"There is no need for you to go down. I will go get them for you."
"That's okay. I'll be fine by myself."
"I insist. Your mother would not forgive me if you scraped your ankle in the dark."
Winter sighed. "Mister Turner, I may be the Chancellor's daughter, but I am not helpless. Mother expects me to fend for myself should Gaeaopolis ever come under siege from Pegasopolis, and this camping trip will help me learn how. Besides, I won't tell anypony about your special blue box if you let me pass."
"How did you--oh, be my guest. Be careful, though. There might be rats down there."
"Thank you Mister Turner. I'll make sure to bring some pears for you."
"Um, sure."
The butler allowed Winter to pass through the access corridor, and she arrived atop the long stairwell leading to the ground floor of the basement storage. There were now fewer crates since her birthday party, but the Palace of the Earth still had enough storage to feed a starving village for a single day or more. If she could leave this place, she would feel a lot less guilty at having so much while Gaea's citizens had so little.
She bravely stepped over rats that had been gnawing at the wooden crates of bananas and pears. Winter then squeezed herself between the crates and wormed her way towards the back wall where there was a little more room to maneuver. After a few paces, she knocked a patterned beat on a hollow part of the wall.
At the other side, she heard a knock in a different pattern, and she then responded with another pattern altogether. Almost immediately, the hollowed wall flushed in and then slid open to reveal a small room dimly lit with a portable electric lantern.
Inside, she found her expected basement squatters: a medium-gray mare in a tattered lab coat, and a scarred and blue robopony laying in suspended mode on the ground.
"Even if I disagree with your mother's motives," said Dr. Octavia, "I do not wish to put her daughter in any danger. Is there anything I can say to convince you otherwise?"
"I'm going, and that's that," declared Winter. "I have to find her to know the truth."
"She escaped?"
"She has."
"Then stay close to me while we venture into the caves, Winter."
"If it is all right, I want you to refer to me by a different name."
"That would be wise, and perhaps I should pick one for myself. I'll refer to myself as Miss Melody, my mother's maiden name. How about you, Little Miss?"
"Hmm. You can call me... Apple Bloom."
"PINKIE!"
One more second longer, and the magically high-speed wheels Pinkie's Pinkie Gear would have lobbed off Twilight's muzzle. The unicorn instinctively pushed herself away from the pink earth pony and fell on her haunches surrounded by all sorts of power tools used in a vain attempt to break the black crystal ring. That was the only "tool" that had power. All the others ran off the generator, and that had run out of fuel not too long ago.
"Dagnabit," said Applejack as she kicked away an electric buzz saw while throwing her Stetson hat aside. "If only those darn Unicorn Hunters were here, I would've beaten the key out of them so they can free you, Twi."
"I tried asking for more diesel fuel from the animals," said Sunny, "but they ran away from me before I could even say anything."
"Even if the critters understood us, they won't give one lick of a drop. You think askin' Feral Mare Fluttershy would help us?"
"It's taking some time," said Twilight. "Her vocabulary is improving, but she still has difficulty expressing herself or explaining on what happened to my brother."
"It might progress a heckuva lot faster if you didn't have to teach her the nitty-gritty of grammar."
"Sorry, but Spike was there as well, and he still has to keep up with his lessons."
Applejack sighed. "It's all right Sugarcube. With all that noise we're makin', we probably scared Fluttershy off again, and the Devil Rabbit won't be in a good mood right now if we try to approach her. Let's just take a break and wait till she's ready."
"All right!" Pinkie cried. "We'll have another grass-eating contest!"
"No! None of that. And don't even think about trying to start another mushroom-eating contest. I don't wanna be electrocuted by cattle prods them rabbits are threatenin' to use."
"We had a good laugh, didn't we?" asked Sunny.
"No!" replied Twilight and Applejack simultaneously.
One could lose track of time in the forest with the lack of sunlight beaming through the canopy. Fortunately, Twilight fashioned out a clock she collected from the junk pile not too far from Fluttershy's college, and the time right now became suppertime for the ponies. Their camp was sequestered about a several dozen feet from the main tree house, and in the few days they lived underneath of a set of worn out tens and eating their food with hand-me-down dinnerware. A regular supply of oats, water, and flint for kindling had been provided, and as generous as their captors were, Twilight and her friends did not live comfortably in the forest with the beady-eyed owl and the Border Collie guarding the camp and watching their every bite with constant vigilance.
Today, Pinkie Pie and Sunny decided to have a wheat-eating contest, a somewhat of a slight change of pace from the other contests the two pink-maned ponies engaged in their encampment. In contrast to their exuberance, Twilight sat on her straw mat chewing despondently the spread of wheat poured into a cracked bowl.
"I could use my Sword, Twi," said Applejack, "but I'm afraid I might hit you. The thing has a mind of its own, and it cuts when it wants to cut."
"What if I can't remove this ring?" asked Twilight. "I can cut my own horn off, but my effective magic range will be cut short."
"That won't happen, Sugarcube. We'll find those Unicorn Hunters and make them take that ring off."
"What if we don't? I don't want to be a burden for you girls."
"You ain't a burden, Twi."
"A unicorn who can't use her magic causes unneeded burden for my village. Often times, they are discriminated against."
"Didn't your mother at least teach you how to dodge magic without usin' magic?"
"Lots of times. She even cast spells that temporarily robbed my magical ability."
"You see. You can still fight without your magic."
"But not as good as you."
"Then that settles it. Tomorrow, I'm gonna teach you how to brawl, earth pony style."
"Hold on," said Sunny. "If Twilight must learn how to fight without magic, then I will be a more appropriate teacher."
"Sunny, there's no way Twilight can do what you can do. You're usin' some kind of fancy martial arts I have never seen before. And lemme tell ya, I've seen and tussled against almost every one of them."
"With appropriate instruction, Twilight will almost be as good as me."
"She'll hurt herself if she tried any of your moves."
"How do you know? You didn't grow up with her."
"Neither did you."
"Girls!" Twilight cried. "Look, you both can teach me, but go easy. And for heaven's sake, please get along."
Sunny suddenly galloped behind the unicorn to lock in her into an embrace so she could lick her cheek.
"I'm just worried that you'll get hurt," said Sunny. "Applejack, you'll have to hold your strength back when you're training her."
Applejack stomped her hoof. "Y'know, Sunny, I'd like to see for myself how well you fight. You mind if we spar after we train Twi?"
"I don't mind, but I fail to see the benefit of the two of us fighting for no reason."
"Grr, let's just go to sleep now. We gotta get up early if we wanna get a full-day's training."
"In this corner," Pinkie Pie spoke through a cardboard megaphone, "standing at thirteen and a half hands high and weighing in 350 kilograms, the Posse of Purple Prose, the Brawling Bookworm, and the First Magisister herself, Twilight Super-Sparkle!"
In a large forest clearing, Sunny cheered from a hastily assembled wooden bench, while Pinkie Pie sat next to her donned in black slacks and a vertically striped black-and-white referee shirt. Nopony knew where she conjured such clothes, and she also somehow conjured for Sunny a giant foam "hand" to wave back and forth as well as a t-shirt that read "TWI-MOMS UNITE!" amongst pictures of bats. Also sitting with them on the bench was the Border Collie, the beady-eyed owl, and several other dogs and owls to provide the additional howls and hoots of the cheering section.
"Pinkie, what are you doing?" asked Twilight as she turned her head away from her sparring partner, Applejack.
"I'm the announcer," replied Pinkie Pie. "I used to do this kind of thing back in prison."
"This ain't Rock Prison, Pink," said Applejack. "Besides, I don't think Twilight weighs that much."
"And in this corner..."
"Pinkie Pie, don't."
"...standing at fourteen hands tall..."
"Don't you dare..."
"...weighing in at a muscular 480 kilograms..."
"I don't weigh that much!"
"...the Annihilator of all things Apples, the Overloading Orange Overlord of Overloads, the Bucking Buckaroo Banzai, Rebel Applejack!"
"Boooo!" cried Sunny. "Hissss..."
"Will you two be quiet?" Applejack cried. "These varmints may allow us to duke it out, but Posey and her government goons might still be prowlin' this forest at this very minute. Well, not necessarily duke it out, but training Twi how to fight. Twi, are you ready?"
"Whoo!" cried Sunny. "Go Twilight! Applejack, you better not injure my Twilight or else."
"After we're done, you're next, Sunny. Now, would you two please be quiet?"
The pink-maned ponies groaned and sealed their lips. While Pinkie Pie struggled in doing so, Sunny on the other hand nervously fidgeted. Sunny bit the tips of her hooves as she watched Applejack's training of Twilight like a hawk ready to kill.
So far, the Earth-Alicorn did not leap in to interrupt the two ponies in training. After all, Applejack did not jump straight to actual sparring, thank the earth. Rather, she begun by making sure Twilight's body was stretched and limber during warm-up exercises.
Next, Applejack stood beside Twilight to focus on basic stances and moves. As quadrupeds, ponies were equipped to buck whoever was behind them with their hind legs or charge in with a ramming head-butt. From there, Applejack taught the unicorn variations of the basic defenses, like how one pony could charge in with head-butt feint towards the side, and then buck them from the side with one hind leg. Another would be the Buck-and-Sweep, where a pony kicks with both her hind legs, and then twist her body to perform a sweep-kick against another opponent at her side.
After a short break, the next session involved fighting in a bipedal stance. Ponies were capable of standing on their hind legs, but only for a limited time due to their unevenly distributed weight. At her best, Twilight managed to stay standing up for five minutes, which was still plenty of time for Applejack to teach her Pony Boxing, a few key grappling moves and moves to counter grappling. Though confident, Applejack had to make sure she didn't accidentally harm Twilight in any way, especially with Sunny watching her intently. Demonstrations to the unicorn were a poor substitute compared to actual physical contact, so Applejack hoped that Twilight's instincts would kick in during a real fight.
"All right Twi," said Applejack. "We're gonna try this one for real. Pretend that I'm an attacker coming up to choke you from behind, and then you'll suplex me over your shoulders."
"Won't that hurt?" asked Twilight.
"Don't worry, Sugarcube. I've been through a lot worse injuries than what you're gonna give me. You jus' need to get used to the weight of your opponent. Now, usually this kind of thing happens instantly, but we're going to take it slow since it's practice. All right, turn around, and I'm gonna mount you."
"Okay."
A pony riding a pony was not new to Twilight, and there were several times when after many grueling bouts of Magisister training back in Unicornia that she carried Trixie home or vice versa. More often than not, Twilight rode on other ponies, and her fondest memories came whenever Shining Armor had to bring his tired little sister home after one of her many misadventures of treasure hunting for surface world artifacts within the caves.
Yet when Applejack mounted, something was off. The earth pony was by no means uncomfortably heavy, but Twilight felt her entire being trembling.
"Is there something wrong, Applejack?" asked Twilight.
"What do you mean, Sugarcube?"
"Your body's shaking."
"I'm tryin' not to crush you. Now, push yourself up with your front legs so that you're standin'."
That was odd for her to say that. Applejack might weigh more than Twilight, but she wouldn't be able to crush her in this position. The unicorn thought nothing more of that, and as Applejack had directed, Twilight pushed up with her front legs. Once on her hind legs, a pair of orange-furred legs wrapped softly around her neck.
"All right," said Applejack. "Now, I want you to grip my front legs at your hardest, and then you're gonna flip me over. Are you ready?"
"I'll try."
"On a count of three. One, two--"
"Unicorn!" a voice shrieked.
Looking up, they saw Fluttershy emerging from behind a flock of various birds and a swarm of butterflies. The very sight of her flying shocked the two ponies to land back on all fours. During which, Twilight slipped and suffered a cut on her front right hoof.
"YOU HURT UNICORN," said Fluttershy as she beamed her wrathful eyes towards the orange earth pony.
"No, wait!" said Twilight. "You don't understand! Help!"
Suddenly, the unicorn found herself lifted, through her clothes, by several birds and butterflies, and she was certain that their combined weight was still significantly less than hers. The forest clearing and her friends disappeared from view as Twilight flew away against her will. After a brief moment of flailing her hooves in the air in a panic, the birds and the butterflies threw her through the window of the tree house and she crashed landed wooden floor of the second level. The creatures immediately flew out of the way right as Fluttershy flew in.
The timid yellow pegasus landed on top of Twilight as if she was mounting her on the front. Like an animal she sniffed her, but with her muzzle pressed against Twilight's chest made the unicorn very uncomfortable. This was really starting to remind her about the first night in Sewer Town and the images she saw on pornographic channel. With Fluttershy licking her wound, Twilight trembled, and she kicked herself free.
"I'm fine, really!" Twilight cried.
"Unicorn hurt," said Fluttershy. "Clean wound."
"No, that's unsanitary! Don't you have some bandages or some salve?"
"Salve? Ban-dage?"
"Or a first aid kit?”
Fortunately, Fluttershy understood Twilight's intent, and then she hovered off to procure the sanitary items the unicorn requested at a different room. Even if she lived with animals, Fluttershy should have known better to lick a pony's wounds clean, and that there would at least be bandages for creatures the feral mare took care of.
Upon waiting, Twilight situated herself on a comfortable red velvet chair. The pegasus mare's room was a mess, but it was filled with expensive vases, hoof-carved sculptures of nature, and masterful paintings. She did not strike Fluttershy as a greedy thief, and she could only assume that the animals plundered these wares for their mistress.
What caught Twilight's eye was the ceiling mural. The style was that of a child's, but a lot of heart had been put into the colorfully bright yet wistful images of blue skies, puffy clouds, and dozens upon dozens of butterflies. Prominent in the mural was a vague drawing of a yellow pony with a pink mane garbed in a green cloak. That would be Fluttershy's self-portrait, but the lack of wings on that drawn pony made Twilight reconsider.
Fluttershy eventually came back. She landed uncomfortably close to the unicorn on the same velvet chair. They could almost wrap bodies with one another, but at least the feral mare applied some needed salve on Twilight's hoof before wrapping it with an orange cloth.
"Fluttershy, they weren't hurting me," said Twilight. "Please tell your animals not to imprison my friends."
"Ponies not friends," said Fluttershy. "They hurt Unicorn."
"It's not 'Unicorn. It's Twilight. TWI-LIGHT. And those ponies are my friends. If they are imprisoned and hurt, then I'll refuse to see you."
"No! Twilight must be with Fluttershy. Must eat with her."
"I appreciate it, but can you get off of me?"
"Sorry! Twilight is like long lost friend. Very special. You must eat. Won't imprison Twilight's friends. Make big promise. Must eat now. Angel!"
The devil white rabbit hopped up to the second floor, and listened to the whispers his mistress gave him. He then saluted before bunny-hopping back downstairs.
"Come eat," said Fluttershy. "Have... I have yummy nuts and berries."
The unicorn obliged, and she followed her downstairs. It was still daylight, but the ground floor windows had been draped up. Candlelight and a burning fireplace illuminated the dim room, and in the center a cloth-covered round table had been set up with a thin vase and a tulip stem placed in the middle.
The two ponies took their seats at the table, and a stream of mice and rabbits dressed in tuxedoes marched from the kitchen with delicious platters of edible food. There were so many greens and wheat-based food that almost made Twilight salivate. The animals really treated Fluttershy like a master of the Everfree Forest.
"For the lovely couple," said a tuxedo-wearing Spike, who filled the two wine glasses with soda. "Oh shoot. That didn't come out right, did it? I'll, um, wait over there."
The two ponies ate bountifully, and while nothing appeared to be cooked, the food was better tasting than that of the Kobold's Den and the various eateries in Gaea. Twilight especially loved chomping on the green apples.
"Food good?" Fluttershy asked.
Twilight cleared her throat and glared back, reminding the pegasus of the lessons from the previous days. At least with her teachings, the unicorn had some control over Fluttershy.
"I mean, is the food good?"
"It is," Twilight smiled. She grunted her brow before realizing that she was unable to levitate her glass of juice with her sealed magic. She nearly spilled her glass when she stumbled her grip with her hoof, which reminded her once again of her overdependence on magic.
"So about Shiny, I mean, Shining Armor," started Twilight. "How long ago did he visit you?"
"Years."
"Did he stay long?"
"Shiny not... Shiny did not stay long. Only one moon. Protect me from ponies."
"Did he ever tell you where he went?"
"Not know. I mean, I do not know. He didn't say."
It was just like him. If Applejack's Shine was just as she described, then Twilight's brother had a terrible tendency of leaving without telling anypony where he went. She turned her face slightly away from Fluttershy so that she would not see her furrow of anger towards Shining Armor who had outright ditched these mares without a proper goodbye. That furrow disappeared when she immediately reasoned that her brother did not want to be followed and put them all in danger just for knowing him; especially considering that he was a unicorn.
"You smell like Shiny," said Fluttershy. "Please stay. I protect you from ponies."
"I'm sorry, but I can't," said Twilight.
"I won't hurt friends. I give them good food!"
"I know you're being sincere, but if we stay, we'll put you in danger. I don't think your animal friends will appreciate it if we stay any longer."
"But I want to be your friend."
"I know, and we'll always be friends, but good friends need to say goodbye when they have to leave."
"No! Twilight must not stop moving! I don't want to bury you like Gran-Gran."
"I'm not going to die. I just need to get away for a while."
"Shiny said that and didn't come back."
"Fluttershy, I…"
Twilight barely caught a glimpse of the feral pegasus’s tears when the devil white rabbit and his furry cohorts drew their daggers and derringers at Twilight. They screeched horrible sounds as they drove her away from the table and out the door that they slammed in front of her.
Moments later, the door opened and a cautious Spike gently dropped a saddlebags worth of apples and other assorted food.
"Didn't realize that she really liked you," said Spike. "Way to go."
"Sorry Spike," said Twilight. "She must have misunderstood me, that's all."
"Well, I am going to miss all the gems she was giving me. Look, I'll make sure she is doing okay before I catch up with you gals later. I'll bring more food if I can.”
Leaving Spike behind for the time being, Twilight did not venture too far towards her camp when she ran into her friends. There were all right, thank the stars, and no harm had come before Applejack judging by her smile. The unicorn wanted to come closer to her, but both Pinkie Pie and Sunny leapt up hugged Twilight on sight. Sunny licked her cheek once again, which then caused the orange earth pony to scowl and then turn back towards the encampment. Twilight really needed to make sure if Applejack was all right, and she distracted Pinkie and Sunny by spilling the saddle bags off to the side. Now they decided to challenge each other to a walnut-eating contest.
“I thought for sure the animals hurt you,” Twilight asked as she approached her earth pony companion.
“They didn’t do much,” said Applejack. “All they did was just snarl and bore their fangs at me, and that beady-eyed owl and that dog stopped them from mauling us. Apparently, you seem to have had a lovely time with the Feral Mare.”
"It didn’t go so well. I might have angered her."
“Really?” Applejack said as her ears perked up. “I mean, that’s, um, a bummer. I kinda wished she told us more about this Shiny fellow she keeps talkin’ ‘bout.”
"She did say he passed by here, but didn't stay too long. Sorry, but I couldn't pinpoint the exact time he was here."
"It's all right. If he made it to the Forest in one piece, then he made it out okay. I wish we could've taken that black ring off your horn before we leave this blasted forest."
"I'll figure something out along the way. Oh, I almost forgot! I brought some lunch."
Their stay in Fluttershy’s Everfree Forest was not a total success, but at least food and shelter was provided. Twilight walked back to where she dropped her saddlebag to pick it up before Sunny and Pinkie devoured the rest of the contents. Fortunately, the two pink-haired ponies, who were now lying on the ground with full bellies, were considerate enough to leave the other half filled up.
Even now, Twilight found it awkward to sling the bags onto her back without magic, and her neck and jaw muscles were already sore from use. She might never get the ring off her horn, but she could not despair with Applejack watching her. At the very least she should act like an earth pony with pride, and then march back to the encampment with the weight of food on her side.
With a free hoof, Twilight gave Applejack one apple. The orange mare stopped chewing, and the sight of her dilating pupils threw Twilight into a panic. There would be no way the animals would stoop this low, and there would be no way Spike would be in on this. Fluttershy would never be this devious. It would explain why Sunny and Pinkie Pie appeared to be lying dead.
“Applejack,” Twilight said. “Talk to me.”
Twilight leaned forward with a hard gulp, and mentally prepared to suck whatever poison from her friend’s mouth. Then suddenly Applejack surprised her when she touched her cheek. Slowly she ran her hoof down Twilight to her wounded hoof and lifted it up so that the orange bandage were right between them.
"Twi,” said Applejack. “Where did you get these apples? And where did you get that orange scarf?"