//------------------------------//
// Prologue I: My name is Ion (edited)  
// Story: My Little Pony: The Entities of Emotion 
// by Michael_Ravencroft 
//------------------------------//

I like this place, thought the green earth pony stallion. He was young, about twenty years of age, with confident hazel green eyes, and a strange cutie mark that was a white circle with a green colored lantern at its center. Currently the stallion was walking the streets of the quaint little village of Ponyville. The residents were very friendly, always smiling, of course that may have something to do with a pink mare he had met the earlier today who seemed to make others smile and laugh.

Wonder where she went? She just took one look at me, gasped, and ran off faster than the wind. Was there something abnormal about my appearance? I thought I was normal looking…Oh no! Could she have some ability to see what I really am?!

The stallion shook his head, trying to dispel the negative thoughts that tried to enter his mind. He had to think positive, especially since he needed to find, not only a job, but also a place to stay. The green stallion visited many shops and stalls around the town. At first he stopped by the Floral Shop, owned by three earth pony sisters, Rose, Lily, and Daisy. Unfortunately, although he had a good knack for it, the work wasn’t as satisfying to him.

His journey for employment then took him to another shop called Quills & Sofas. While the physical aspect of moving the sofas around seemed a good way to use his strength, it wasn’t as fulfilling to him. That’s when he realized he needed a job that combined both cultivating and physical labor, and then it hit him, farming!

After some talking around, the green stallion finally found a good tip about where the biggest farming business around Ponyville was, Sweet Apple Acres. From what they told him, the farm had been around since the creation of Ponyville, and was responsible for the town’s existence. Now it was time for him to see if they would take him. But before the stallion even trotted in the direction of the farm, he was once again greeted by the pink mare he met before, and she seemed to be towing something with her.

“Hello Miss –” 

The pink mare in question grabbed the stallion’s right hoof with both of her hooves and started shaking it cutting him off. To his own astonishment, the mare was able to lift him in the air as she shook his hoof.

“Sorry I ran away earlier! When I saw you I was like ‘I don’t know him, he’s new to town – and I should know, I know everypony in Ponyville!’ So I rushed on over to get my official ‘Welcome to Ponyville Welcome Wagon.’ Sooooooooooooo…”

Pinkie Pie let go of the stallion’s right hoof, his eyes were spinning about as his body readjusted itself to a state stillness. It was at this time that Pinkie Pie went over to her wagon; she then kicked it which made the wagon produce musical horns. After that she began to sing and dance to the music being played out of the wagon.

“Welcome, welcome, welcome!
A fine welcome to you!
Welcome, welcome, welcome!
I say how you do you do!?
Welcome, welcome, welcome!
I say hip, hip hurray!
Welcome, welcome, welcome
To Ponyville today!”

The green stallion just stood there, both surprised and impressed by Pinkie’s routine. He was about to open his mouth to speak but stopped the moment Pinkie said…

“Wait for it…!”

Just then the cart’s oven door popped open and blasted the two of them with confetti. Which was kind of cool, but what he what didn’t see coming was the large amount of gooey substance exploding from the candy cane colored stacks. Pinkie Pie was covered in the gooey mess, obscuring her vision of the stallion.

“Silly me, I put the cake batter in the confetti cannons, and confetti in the oven, again!” Pinkie Pie quickly, and comically, lapped up the cake batter covering her body. “Sorry about that.”

Oddly enough, the stallion wasn’t covered in cake batter; in fact, the batter was lying in a ring around him.

“It’s alright, no harm done,” he said.

“Great, in that case, you should come with me to Sugar Cube Corner! I got a big ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party all set up for you there!”

The stallion blinked at that statement. “Really…you have a party already set up? For me?”

“Of course I do, c’mon, they’re all waiting for you,” said Pinkie Pie.

Before he could say another word, the green earth pony was whisked away by the mysteriously peppy and strong pink mare known as Pinkie Pie. If he really wanted to, he could slip away from her iron grip at any time, but since she went through all the trouble.

The least I can do is go to the party. Besides, it’ll probably be just a few ponies, nothing big. 








(Sugar Cube Corner)


I stand corrected…

When the stallion arrived at the sweet shop, he was surprised to see that the inside was filled with many ponies from town. Everypony from stallions, mares, and even little foals all showed up to welcome this complete stranger to their town. It was, to say the least, heartwarming. Considering everything he went through in his last home, Ponyville was very accepting.

Pinkie Pie had gotten atop a makeshift stage, dragging the guest of honor with her. She then produced a microphone seemingly out of nowhere and gained the attention of every pony in the room.

“Hi everypony, today we’re here to welcome a new pony coming to live in Ponyville –!” Pinkie Pie quickly placed a hoof over the mike. “You are staying in Ponyville, right,” she asked in a hushed tone.

The stallion nodded.

“So then why don’t you introduce yourself Mr. Mystery Stallion!?”

Pinkie Pie threw the mike over to him, he fumbled with it for a few seconds, being caught off guard by the sudden pass. All eyes were on him as the other Ponyvillians awaited the name of their newest resident. Regaining his hoofing, the stallion stood proudly before the crowd.

“Hi everypony! My name is Ion, and I’m looking forward to living here with all of you!”

The crowd of ponies all clapped their hooves together and let out a big cheer. Afterwards, Ion left the stage to enjoy his own party. He quickly got acquainted with the owners of the shop, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, as well as their twin foals, Pumpkin and Pound Cake. Ion felt an overwhelming urge to ask why one foal was a pegasus and the other a unicorn, but one look at the couple’s faces told him that it was a question that was answered many times over, so he decided to spare them having to answer it again.

Ion was led by Pinkie Pie so she could introduce him to two ponies talking to each other, a pegasus with a rainbow mane, and a rather attractive looking unicorn mare beside her.

“Oh Rainbow Dash please, it would only be for a little while,” said the white unicorn mare.

“Forget it Rarity, I’m not going to model for you again, just get Fluttershy to do it,” retorted Rainbow Dash.

“As lovely as she is, Fluttershy doesn’t have exactly what you have that I need for my model.” 

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow curiously. “Yeah, and what’s that?”

“Your athletic build darling, please, oh please, please, please, please,” pleaded Rarity, practically hugging Rainbow’s legs.

“Hi girls!” Pinkie Pie shouted.

Rarity immediately made herself presentable from her pleading demeanor just moments before as Pinkie and Ion arrived.

“I thought I’d introduce you to my gal pals! Ion, this is Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Rainbow Dash is like the fastest flyer ever, and Rarity makes the most beautirific clothes you’ve ever seen and –!”

Just then Pinkies eye lids began to flutter rapidly, making Ion raise an eyebrow at the odd gesture of the pink party pony.

“Sorry, gotta run, we’re about to run out of punch!”

With that said Pinkie Pie dashed off into the back of the bakery, leaving behind an outline of herself in the form of smoke, which was smiling at the three of them till it faded away.

“Umm, what just happened,” asked Ion.

“Pinkie Sense,” said Rainbow Dash and Rarity together.

Ion still looked confused.

“Trust us darling, better to accept it as it is. So, Ion, what brings you to Ponyville, relatives, business, or a fillyfriend perhaps?” Rarity gave the green stallion a salacious look.

“What!? No, no, no, nothing like that! I’m actually just roaming around, looking for some work,” said Ion.

“Work, huh, so what were you thinking of doing,” asked Rainbow.

“Well I wanted to try my hoof at farm work, and folks around town say that Sweet Apple Acres is the best around here.”

“Cool, so where are you staying tonight, going to the Inn?”

Ion seemed to hesitate at that question, eliciting looks of concern from the two mares.

“…I was hoping to barter with the Inn Keeper, once I was able to get said job.”

“Darling, are you saying you have no money,” asked Rarity.

“Not at the moment, no,” confessed Ion.

The white unicorn mare shook her head. “Well that simply won’t do at all.” Rarity’s horn glowed; she then produced, in a flash of light, a few bits. “Here, this should get you a room, at least for the night.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t,” said Ion, astonished by the generosity of the mare before him.

“Think nothing of it; a new resident to Ponyville shouldn’t have to sleep on the streets, not after the fabulous party Pinkie Pie has thrown.”

Rainbow Dash clasped Ion the shoulder as she shot him a grin. “Yeah, and I’ll do you one better. Sweet Apple Acres is run by a friend of ours, her name is Applejack. I’ll take you there tomorrow and we can talk to her. It shouldn’t be too hard, considering Cider Season’s coming up, she’ll need all the help she can get.”

“I really don’t know what to say…thank you,” said Ion, sounding a bit overwhelmed.

“Guess we have a reason to really party now, c’mon Ion!”

Before he could say anymore, Rainbow Dash grabbed the stallion and started having him cut a rug. It was awkward, clumsy, and sporadic, but to tell the truth, Ion was having fun, and admittedly, everyone else was either bad or worse than he was.

I really like this place!








(The Next Day)


Ion’s sleep was a peaceful one, best he’d had in a long time. The green earth pony stallion stared out through his window, watching all the citizens of the town move about their day. He saw a little gray unicorn filly running around, while a pegasus mare with same coat and mane color caught up with her. She then drew the little filly into a hug and the two trotted along. The sight of the mother and daughter warmed his heart; even now it still amazed him how happy this world was.

Just then Ion saw a rainbow streak fly across the sky; it looped around and headed straight for the Inn. Ion already had a good idea about who this was and proceeded downstairs. His timing was perfect as the speedster mare landed a foot away from him, flashing him a confident smile.

“Mornin’ Ion, ready to head to Applejack’s,” asked Rainbow.

“Ready when you are.”

Rainbow Dash wasted no time in showing Ion the way to Sweet Apple Acres. Along the way Rainbow pointed out the different places in Ponyville that she liked to take a nap in, and Applejack’s orchard trees were one of them. There was something that Ion did find particularly interesting. When the two of them trotted, or in Rainbow’s case flew, he couldn’t help but notice that the pegasus mare held her gaze upon a tree that appeared to have been fashioned into a house.

“Miss Rainbow Dash –”

“Call me Rainbow, I don’t like all that formality stuff.”

“Okay, Rainbow Dash, what is that place exactly, that weird tree,” asked Ion.

“Oh there, that’s Golden Oak Library, my ma– uh – I mean – my best friend Twilight Sparkle lives there, and she’s the librarian as well. She’s kind of an egghead, but she’s awesome, well not as awesome as me, but still pretty awesome!”

“She’s also one of the Princesses, right? It must be nice to have royalty living so close.”

“Y-yeah, she’s not all that used to being a Princess yet, so she’s still the same as she was before she became one, which is fine with me. I like her the way she is,” said Rainbow.

Ion smirked a little. “Oh, Twilight must be a very dear friend to you?”

Rainbow nodded, but quickly shook her head upon feeling a warmth grow on her cheeks. “C’mon, we need to get AJ’s!” The cyan pegasus increased her speed, moving on as fast as she could.

If Predator was here she’d have a field day with her reaction. 







Sweet Apple Acres, it was rustic, quaint, and as advertised, a large farm. A big red barn house was offset beside secondary barn; the air was filled with the smell of fresh apples and of fertile soil, wafting on the winds that blew through the orchard to the any who inhaled their scent.

As Rainbow and Ion entered the farm through the white fence they trotted towards the main house. On the porch there was an old mare sitting in a rocking chair, her coat was bright lime green, and her mane white from old age. Next to her, lying on a cushion and looking miffed, was a large red stallion, with an orange mane and green eyes. His midsection seemed to be wrapped up in bandages.

“Hi there Granny Smith, hi Big Macintosh,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Hello there youngin’,” replied Granny Smith.

Big Mac only snorted and nodded in their direction, noting the new face that was accompanying the rainbow maned mare.

“What can we do ya’fer?”

“Well we needed to talk to Applejack, is she around?”

“Oh she should be off in the orchard buckin’ down some apples with Apple Bloom, with Cider Season comin’ and all.”

“Thanks, c’mon Ion.”

Ion followed Rainbow Dash as she hovered off to the rows of apple trees. For many ponies, the trees just looked like regular apple trees, but to Ion, they were more. Through his eyes, Ion could see the energy shimmering off of them, a great deal of hard work and willpower put into caring and nurturing their growth. Even the land beneath his hooves radiated a similar light, all a green tint. It filled him with joy to see such an abundance of this energy.

After walking for about ten minutes Ion could hear a weird thudding noise echoing through the trees. Rainbow Dash moved faster, invigorated by the noise, a possible indicator that they were getting closer. Once they cleared another row of trees that’s when he saw her. She was an orange earth pony mare, with a blonde mane and tail that was tied off at the end with a red string, and lovely green eyes. Her cutie mark was that of three shiny red apples, while atop her head she wore a Stetson hat.

Ion watched the mare as she balanced on her forelegs, folded her hind legs, and kicked the tree, loosening its contents of red apples. The multitudes of delicious fruit fell out of the tree branches, landing in the neatly placed baskets, filling them up to the brim. A couple of trees down from the orange mare, there was a filly, with a yellow coat and red mane and a pink bow tied in it. 

The little filly was doing the same thing as the older mare, kicking the apple trees and making the apples fall from the branches. The mare with the Stetson hat took a moment to scan her surroundings, at which point she finally noticed both Rainbow and Ion standing across from her.

“Howdy Rainbow,” she called out.

“Hey Applejack!”

The two mares met each other halfway and performed a “hoof bump” as they did. Ion followed behind, trying not to interrupt the two friends. It wasn’t long before Applejack became curious about the new face among them.

“Hey there, Ah don’t reckon Ah’ve seen ya around these parts, name’s Applejack.”

“Ion and it’s nice to meet you Miss Applejack. You have a beautiful orchard,” said Ion.

“Thank ya kindly, so what brings you and Rainbow here?”

Ion started to fidget nervously, “You see…I was hoping that I could come and work for you on your farm Miss Applejack.”

“You wanna work on Sweet Apple Acres? Well Ah don’t normally turn down hard workers, but as it stands, Ah can’t take ya on,” said Applejack.

That was a bit of a disappointment to Ion, he really liked the way it felt around there, and the mare who exhumed great willpower from her soul. However, Rainbow Dash seemed to take this rejection a little more seriously than he did.

“C’mon Applejack, you can’t –!”

“Applejack!?”

“Yeah Apple Bloom,” she responded while glancing over her shoulder.

“Ah’m gonna go and keep buckin’ more of the trees further in,” said Apple Bloom.

“Alright, just don’t go too far. Ah’ll be there in a minute.” Once Applejack was certain that Apple Bloom was far enough not to hear their conversation she turned her attention back to Ion and Rainbow Dash. “Like Ah said, Ah can’t afford to hire help right now.”

“I really don’t mind the amount you give me; as long as I can assure the Inn Keeper that I have a job, and that money will be coming, I can make do,” said Ion.

“Ah appreciate yer enthusiasm, but at the moment Ah can’t, and any amount Ah can pay ya probably wouldn’t be that much to cover a month’s rent at the Inn.”

“Applejack c’mon, cut the guy some slack! We just came here from your house and we saw the condition Big Mac is in. You’ll need help, especially with Cider Season, you need someone like Big Macintosh to help you buck, carry, and press apples,” said Rainbow Dash.

Applejack looked over Ion, to which he stood completely still. He wasn’t an overly muscular stallion, but he was well toned, the kind of build you’d expect of a fighter.

“Ah don’t know…Ah want to, but Ah gotta think about the long run, plus we’re about to make a huge investment in land later this year, and we need every bit we can save up…”

“I understand…”

“Ion!”

“No, it’s okay Rainbow Dash, I’m not going to force the issue. Thank you anyway Miss Applejack.”

“Look, if it’s any constellation, Ah’ll recommend ya to some other farmers around Ponyville, Ah’m sure they’d –!”

“APPLEJACK!!!!!!”

Ion, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash turned in the direction of the voice. It sounded like Apple Bloom, but there was a level of fear and distress in her tone. Not wasting any time, Applejack galloped off in the direction her sister last went. Ion and Rainbow Dash followed close behind to offer whatever help they could. It wasn’t long before they saw Apple Bloom galloping at full speed towards them, her eyes wide as saucers, with a frightened expression on her face. She skidded to stop as the three older ponies met up with her.

“Apple Bloom what’s the matter, are ya alright little sis!?”

“Ti-ti-ti – TIMBERWOLF!!!”

Ion was confused by that name, but it appeared that Rainbow Dash and Applejack were aware of what it was she was talking about, and it filled them with fear that he knew all too well.

“That’s impossible; Timberwolves don’t come this far out of the Everfree Forest!”

“Apple Bloom, are ya sure it was a Timberwolf? Are ya absolutely sure!?”

Apple Bloom pointed her hoof in the direction she was running from. Straining his ears, Ion tried to listen for whatever danger the little filly was pointing to. Soon he heard the sounds of many trees snapping and breaking, and a low tremor vibrated beneath his hooves that came in succession, as if something were drawing closer. What confirmed the suspicions of the two mares was the loud, horrible roar that echoed through the tree line ahead.

“Run?” Rainbow asked.

“Run!” Applejack confirmed.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Apple Bloom took off, leaving Ion standing there looking confused as to what the creature was. He didn’t have to wait long before his question was answered. A large beast came bursting through the tree line, its body made up of wood and leaves. A crown sat upon its head, with glowing eyes and sharp fangs. The Alpha Timberwolf spotted Ion, snarled, and roared. Now knowing the identity of the beast, Ion quickly did an about face and galloped like the wind after the three ponies.

Ion managed to catch up to the two mares and filly, surprising Rainbow and Applejack at the incredible speed of the stallion. “What in Equestria is that thing!?”

“A Timberwolf, it comes from the Everfree Forest,” shouted Rainbow.

“Only they aren’t supposed to come out this far, they only roam around the edge of the forest or hunt inside of it! This is definitely not normal!” Applejack shouted.

“Sis, didn’t ya mention a Timberwolf that looked like that that Spike saved you from last year,” asked Apple Bloom.

“What?! Oh shoot, it must be the same one! It’s trackin’ me, and it probably smelled mah scent on ya, that’s why it found us!”

“Ah’m sorry,” apologized Apple Bloom.

“Don’t worry about it Apple Bloom, just run!”

Ion glanced over his shoulder, and then back in front him. A clearing was coming up, and the beast was just a few yards behind them. No doubt it would continue hunting them, and most likely harm other ponies trying to find Applejack. That’s when Ion made his decision. Once they got to the clearing, the green earth pony stallion skidded to a halt, doing a one-hundred and eighty degree turn, facing in the direction of the oncoming Alpha Timberwolf. The other three ponies stopped abruptly, watching the stallion stand his ground.

“What’re ya doin’, keep runnin’!”

“No! That thing will just keep coming after us! I’ll take care of it!”

“You’ll WHAT!!!?” Rainbow shouted. “Have you lost your mind!? You can’t take on that thing alone!”

“I don’t plan on fighting it; I plan on leading it away long enough for you three to get away! You can bring help later, alright?!” Ion shouted.

Rainbow Dash looked to Applejack, Applejack looked to Rainbow Dash, they then glanced down at Apple Bloom and that’s when they reluctantly made their decision.

“C’mon Apple Bloom…”

Apple Bloom gazed up and gave her big sister and incredulous look, as if not believing what she just heard. “Applejack ya can’t be serious?!”

“NOW!!!” AJ ordered. 

Rainbow Dash flew down quickly and scooped up the little filly, even as she continued protesting what they were doing. As Applejack turned around to gallop after them, she turned her head and stared directly into the stallion’s eyes.

“Don’t ya dare die on my farm…!”

Ion simply nodded and watched as Applejack ran into the trees behind him, following Rainbow Dash. The green stallion then stared down the tree line, the sounds of the beast approaching were becoming louder and louder with each passing second.


“In Brightest Day, in Blackest Night 


No evil shall escape my sight,
 

Let those who worship evil’s might
 

Beware my power, Will’s grand light!”
 

Ion’s cutie marks began to glow, covering him in a thin layer of green energy; his eyes glowed, pulsating with the same power. At that moment, the Alpha Timberwolf burst forth from the tree line ahead. The beast snarled as it spotted Ion, quirking its head at the odd glow coming from the earth pony’s body.

“Come beast, attack me if you dare,” said Ion in a calm even tone, his voice sounding deeper, stronger, and ancient.

The Alpha Timberwolf howled, answering his challenge. The lupine creature ran towards the stallion, narrowing its glowing eyes as it charged for him. The Timberwolf lunged for Ion, baring its fangs and claws.

Ion’s eyes flashed, sending out a wave of energy flying towards the Alpha Timberwolf. When the blast hit it engulfed the creature, completely freezing it in place. The Timberwolf floated just three feet from Ion, its eyes wide with shock. It then let out a deep breath, allowing Ion to get a nose full of the wolf’s malodorous breath. Ion then waved his hoof in front of his nose, coughing from the scent that evaded his nostrils.

“Ugh, foul stench. Well, compared to the Butcher’s, it’s like a fresh spring breeze.”

Ion’s right hoof shined with power, he then waved it from left to right, causing the Alpha Timberwolf to fly off into the other direction! It tumbled a few times on the ground before coming to a stop. The creature’s body lit up, its scattered bits recollecting and fusing back into its body. The monster lupine roared in anger at the stallion who threw him like a rag doll. Apparently not learning its lesson from the first attack, the Alpha Timberwolf charged for Ion yet again.

Ion let out a disappointed sigh. The green stallion rose on his hind legs, Ion’s left and right forehooves burned with the light of willpower. He thrust his forelegs forward, sending out another wave of energy at the Alpha Timberwolf. Suddenly two ball and chain weight constructs appeared around the wolf’s hind legs, jerking the monstrous lupine back and sprawling onto the ground. 

Two more constructs formed around its paws, clamping them to the ground. Ion raised his hooves into the air, just above the Timberwolf, a pair of giant swords slammed down on either side of its neck, forming an X with the head sticking through the gap.

“I see your body is made up of a collective consciousness. One connected to many, melding your individual portions to form a whole.” Ion approached the Alpha Timberwolf, staring directly into its eyes. “Listen to me, you will go back to your home and stay there! You will never come out to harm any ponies or…” Ion’s eyes shined brighter, incasing the Timberwolf in green energy yet again.

The Alpha Timberwolf could feel it’s body become unstable, every part of it threatening to burst apart at the seams.

“I’ll use all my power to break you down to your atomic structure, it’ll be years before you can gather enough of yourself to form even a single thought…Are we in agreement,” asked Ion.

The creature nodded carefully, making sure not to anger the powerful stallion.

“Good.”

With a flash of his eyes the Alpha Timberwolf burst apart into a thousand plus pieces. Ion’s other constructs had vanished without a trace to be seen.

“Now let’s make sure you don’t come back for a while.” Ion raised his left hoof and fired another collection of green energy. The blast exploded a few feet away, transforming into a giant catapult construct. Ion pointed the same hoof towards the pieces, levitating them into the catapult. “Happy landings!”

With a wave of his hoof the catapult released, hurling the pieces of the Alpha Timberwolf clear across the sky, aiming towards the Everfree Forest where they disappeared beyond the tree tops.

Once that was done Ion closed his eyes, the green aura around him started to dissipate till it was gone completely, his cutie marks no longer glowing. With a heavy sigh Ion glanced in the direction where Applejack and the others ran off to.

“As peaceful as this world is, there still seem to be some dangers. I’ll keep that in mind. Now…time to work on my cover story.”







Applejack galloped as fast and hard as she could, knowing that she just probably left a pony to die made her angry, partly at Ion, but mostly at herself. But she had no choice, she had to think of Apple Bloom’s safety, and Rainbow Dash’s. Soon they came upon the farmhouse, AJ noted that Big Mac had shot up from his resting spot, and that Granny Smith jumped out of her rocking chair at the sight of the three of them.

“GRANNY, BIG MAC, WE GOT A PROBLEM!” Applejack shouted as she dug her hooves into the ground, bringing herself to a stop.

“What’s all the commotion about,” asked Granny Smith.

“Timberwolf, a big one, chasing us,” answered Rainbow Dash.

“WHAT!!? Where is it,” asked Big Macintosh.

“It was right behind us, but Ion stayed back to lead it away from us,” said Apple Bloom in dismay.

“Ya mean that stallion that stopped by here earlier?” Granny asked.

“Yes! Now listen, we need to get some ponies together to help drive that thing away before that fool stallion gets himself killed,” said Applejack.

“I guess that makes me the fool stallion?” All eyes quickly snapped into the direction of the voice. Applejack gasped as she saw Ion trotting leisurely towards the worried group of ponies. “Although I will admit, it was a stupid thing to do.”

“ION!” Applejack ran ahead of the others to Ion. When she arrived Applejack quickly inspected the green earth pony, circling around him to make sure that he didn’t sustain any injuries, to her relief, he did not.

Soon the others gathered to Ion with expressions of surprise and curiosity.

“I can’t believe it, you got away,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Is it comin’ for us,” asked Big Macintosh.

“No, trust me, the Timberwolf won’t be coming back for a long time,” said Ion.

Apple Bloom pushed past the older ponies and stared in awe of the stallion. “Seriously, how’d ya do it?! What happened to it?!”

“Well I ran as fast as I could, I didn’t have clue where I was but the next thing I knew I was staring over the edge of a steep cliff. When the Timberwolf lunged for me, I ducked down and rolled under its legs. Once I got behind it, I kicked that thing as hard as I could over the cliff and broke it into a thousand pieces.”

Rainbow Dash came up and patted the green stallion on the back, giving her congrats on not dying. Granny Smith came up and mushed his cheeks and thanked him for saving her granddaughters. Big Mac just simply smiled and nodded in Ion’s direction. Applejack just stood back, her mind at work as she looked at the stallion.

“Applejack, again, thank you, I’ll see you later,” said Ion.

“Hold on now.” Ion froze. “Cider Season is comin’ up, and with Big Macintosh injured, we could use an extra hoof around here.”

“Applejack?”

“So, fer the time bein’, you can work at the farm.”

“Really,” asked Ion completely astonished.

“But yer on probation, we’ll see how ya do durin’ Cider Season, afterwards we’ll negotiate. You’ll also be livin’ in the barn beside the house till Ah’m more sure about ya, so you won’t have to worry about rent at the Inn. The least Ah can do since ya saved me the trauma of having to find yer body out in the orchard,” said Applejack with a smirk.

Rainbow Dash gave Ion a hard slap on the back, knocking him off balance, her little way of congratulating him. The other Apples came up and officially introduced themselves, with Ion doing the same, everypony smiling and laughing from today’s ordeal.

Applejack didn’t know it at the time; after all, she just invited a complete stranger to live with her and her family. But something about Ion intrigued her, she didn’t know what or why, but there was definitely something about him. Something…more…