//------------------------------//
// No Place 
// Story: Soft Soil, Bab Seed 
// by ILurvTrixie 
//------------------------------//

"Alright ladies, listen up!" 

An exhausted Applejack patrolled in front of her friends, who all snapped to attention. All three of them.

"Wait a second. Where's Rarity?"

"Oo, oo! She had a big 'do not disturb' sign on the front of Carousel Boutique and was crying into her fainting couch." Pinkie grinned cheerfully. "Then I stopped by Twilight's, and tried to tell her to come here too, and got reminded that if Twilight was here you'd be able to talk to her about the apples, and-" 

"Raight." Applejack took a deep breath. This could still work. "I'm afraid that after some recent assistance from the newly crowned Princess of Friendship, we are finding ourselves up to our necks in apples."

"That's good though, isn't it?" Rainbow was starting to look impatient. Bad enough Applejack had requested cloud cover around the whole of Sweet Apple Acres.

"Normally I'd agree. But since we can't sell these apples until we're sure they're good, and they seem to make other apple trees start making more of their apples, we're sitting between a rock and a hard place with a stick of dynamite."

"Oh, um, are they dangerous?" Fluttershy managed to somehow look intimidated by the fenced in ocean of apples.

"We're pretty sure they ain't gonna start bitin' anypony Fluttershy. But they may not be safe to eat, which is why we need Twi here to figure things out. The trees seem to make apples a lot faster in sunlight, so these clouds are hopefully going to be all the assistance we need until Twi returns."

Rainbow went wide eyed, before starting to laugh uncontrollably. Applejack blinked and glared at her. "And what the hay is so funny?"

"Nothing." Dash barely managed to hide a smile and stifle another laugh with a hoof. "Nothing at mmmph all. Nope."

"Raight." Applejack massaged her throbbing head with her hooves. "As happy as I am you're findin' this funny, we do have a problem. Sweet Apple Acres is full to the brim with apples. The home is full, the barn is full, the well is full, we even filled up the Crusader's clubhouse!"

"Hey!"

"Sorry Applebloom, but we needed the space." Applejack turned back to her friends. "This means we need someplace to stay until Twi' gets back."

"So what am I doing here?" Rainbow looked confused.

"Whaddya me- oh. Raight, raight." Applejack sighed. "Cloud home."

"Yup, fliers only, unless you can find someone else who can cast that cloud walking spell, and I'm pretty sure Twilight was the only one with that."

"Well if nothing else, Sweet Apple Acres is going to be relying on your ability to keep clouds in place. The trees make apples a lot faster when they get sun. Alright Dash?"

"Yeah sure AJ." Rainbow resumed her out of place huge smile as Applejack raised an eyebrow at her, shaking her head and looking to Fluttershy and Pinkie.

"Alright then, looks like I need to ask the favor of you two. Me, Big Mac, Granny Smith, Applebloom, and Babs are all gonna need a place to stay. Pinkie, I know your apartments aren't that large, since you keep a lot of supplies there."

"But they'd be perfect for one more pony! How about it Applejack?" 

Applejack nodded. "Sounds fine to me. Fluttershy, I know you have a lot of animals, but do you think-"

"I, um, oh my, yes, I can find space for Big Mac and Granny Smith. They're both pretty quiet, so I wouldn't have to worry about the animals getting too upset. I mean, not that I think you're too loud Applejack, but, umm-"

"I get where you're coming from sugahcube. Alright, and that leaves Applebloom and Babs." Applejack frowned at the two fillies, who shuffled uncomfortably.

"Hey Applejack, why was Pinkie-"

"Hey! Spike! Excellent Timing!"

The purple and green dragon froze, blinking from where he had just passed the gate. "Should I even ask?"

Applejack grinned hugely. "Twi's thing went wrong. We're not sure how wrong."

Spike rolled his eyes as Applejack continued. "So now we're trying to figure out lodgin' arrangements until the Ponyville Princess gets back."

"Well, the library is pretty spacious, I think we could fit you and Big Mac easily. Probably even Granny Smith."

"Appreciate the offer, but we've already been spread out between Pinkie and Fluttershy. But we do have some fillies still in need of a good night's sleep."

Spike raised an eyebrow as Applebloom and Babs waved sheepishly. "Well, I guess it's okay. But you guys will need to keep the crusading down. It is a library."

"Hey! There's an idea!"

"Gyah!" Spike flinched away from Scootaloo suddenly appearing from nowhere. Or at least seeming to, having been uncharacteristically silent while the Apple Crisis was being handled.

"We could all go! Sweetie, do you think Rarity would let you do a sleepover?"

"I'm pretty sure she'd say yes, she's been trying to keep me out of the Boutique while she's been working on this order."

"Great! Cutie Mark Crusaders Sleepover is go!"

Dash rolled her eyes tousling Scootaloo's hair. "Just don't drive Spike crazy Scoots."

Spike narrowed his own eyes, pointing at Scootaloo. "Yeah, don't drive me crazy."

"Oh come on! What could go wrong?"