//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12 - The Apple Doesn't Fall Far..., Part 1 
// Story: I'm gonna cuddle you. And you're gonna enjoy it! 
// by Shin Guyviroth 
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As much as I wanted to give the little sugar lump a hand with his haul, I couldn't risk being spotted. Not at the moment, anyway. But I did give him a hand shovelling all those gems into one hell of a burlap sack. By the end of it, the thing was nearly twice the size of Spike. Even watching him drag it away was painful to watch.

But we had to split paths for the time being. As he made his way back to Ponyville, I carried on in the opposite direction, following a curving path of tightly packed dirt and soil, littered with handfuls---or rather, hooffuls---of cobblestones. The path seemed awfully familiar, and yet my mind couldn't bring it to surface.

I didn't let it get the better of me, though. The whole change of pace of my hiking---from running like a headless chicken to walking a casual pace---brought with it more relaxation than I had felt in some time. I was away from Ponyville, distanced from crazy ponies, and I met a real dragon. God, I love dragons!

But as the moments became minutes, the cobblestones were becoming more dense in their amount.  Where they had once only been light scatterings, they now became almost invasive, gradually becoming more of a presence until, finally, there was no dirt to show. Then I found myself once more caught flanked by looming trees on either side of the pathway. I was fairly sure that this path was taking me back to Ponyville. 

I guess I wasn't too bothered about it. The pathway wasn't one that I had known, so maybe it would take me to someplace else that I'd not been to. Preferably one that's deserted. 

Until I saw the barn house in the distance, dipped past the hills.

"Oh, God, no," I muttered to myself under my breath, shaking my head. "But I guess now would be a good time to say sorry to Applejack." The thought wasn't exactly a pleasant one, considering I'd probably end up getting bucked in the chest as a welcome. 

The trek wasn't particularly long, and the downward slopes helped with picking up a faster pace without the added effort. But the measure of distance wasn't nearly as enveloping as the scenery was from a top of the hills. In the backdrop I could see the setting sun shine upon a huge orchard or apple trees. It was like a scene out of Lord of the Rings or something. A truly marvellous sight to behold.

And then I heard several steps from over the hill. 

"Ah'll tell you what, Big Mac," I heard a familiar voice in the distance, "If I ever see that varmint again, I'll do---I'll do somethin' terrible to him! Ya can give us a hoof, too."

"Eeyup."

… Or maybe now wasn't such a good time to apologize as I had thought. 

I panicked, scurrying on my feet like a rat lost in a maze. I backtracked the best I could, trying to find a decent enough sized tree to hide behind, but they were all so thin and loosely packed that you couldn't even hide a Halfling, let alone a human. 

And then I saw something down the right side, just off several tens of meters from me---something that I hadn't even noticed before; a rather large tree house sat upon the thick branches of a large apple tree. 

I didn't have much choice. I could either run back, probably be spotted on the way back up the hills, and get killed; go and meet Applejack and say sorry, and get killed in response; or I can run down the hill and hide in the tree house, but probably kill myself while running down the steep decline. 

Well, if I was gonna get killed, then it'd might as well be in style. And something that will probably be uploaded to YouTube by tomorrow. 

I turned and dashed down the hill, trying to keep my footing as the decline hastened more and more, until I ended up tripping on a loose mound of dirt and sent myself launching forwards. Face-planting the grass, all I could do for the next twenty or so meters was to let out pained yelps as I felt my body roll faster and faster down the hill like an old tyre. 

It didn't take too long till my body stopped, collapsed in a curled up heap on flat ground just some meters from the bottom of the hill. Though it was pretty irritating having my freshly washed clothes get dirty so quickly, my distress was severed from my mind by the sight of a large tree house sat upon thick branches of an old apple tree.

I pushed myself to my feet the best I could, having felt a stabbing pain rush right up my right leg despite having no visible injury. I staggered towards it, slowly making my way to the stepped ramp. It was quite an impressive structure, too; looked like a small cottage than a mangy excuse for carpentry work like most others.

But as I planted my foot on the ramp, another jolt of pain shot up my leg. I winced, gritting my teeth as I took the climb slowly. It was a hassle trying to push off only the left leg, having to take the time to make sure I didn't lose my footing on the right, but I'd eventually make it.

And when I did, I wish I hadn't.

"H-hey! What're you doin'…?" a tiny voice spoke out. Strong accent, too. Just like Applejack's, actually. Then it hit me as to who she was. I was truly screwed.

"Hi there," I spoke up as I moved under the doorway slowly. "Please, whatever you do, don't scream. Okay?"

"Applejack! Sis!"

The bloody pony screamed at the top of her lungs as she tried to run past me. At first I flinched at her ridiculously loud voice, but before she could move past me I wrapped my arms around her belly, pulling her off the floor before retreating back into the tree house, huddling as far back as I could.

"Help! Applejack! There's a monster tryin' ta---"

I clamped her mouth shut with a hand, but she was still yelling muffled words from behind my palm, squirming and wriggling and kicking as I help her tight and close to my body.

"Listen to me," I muttered in her ear, "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm not gonna hurt you. I just need a place to hide for a while." The more I spoke, the more I realized how much of a crazed axe murderer I sounded like. "But I need you to keep quiet and---"

"You up there, sugar cube?" Great. Now Applejack's found us. "You okay in there? I heard ya screaming!"

I looked down at her, and she back at me. "I'm gonna take my hand away. But please, don't scream or tell her I'm up here. I really need you to do this for me…"

I didn’t wait for her to agree or deny. Slowly I took my hand from her mouth and placed it down at my side.

"Uh… No, it's okay, Applejack!" she cried out. "Ah thought ah, uh, ran out of glue! But ah found some! Heh…"

"Oh. Okay, Apple Bloom. If ya need any, then you can find some in the barn. My an' Big Mac are gonna mosey on into Ponyville for a while. We'll be back soon, okay?"

"'Kay, sis! See ya soon!" I heard their hoofsteps drift further away, but I still couldn't help but hold my breath for longer. For a moment, I had completely forgotten I had even stopped breathing until Apple Bloom's struggling forced me to take a lungful of air. "Could ya please let go of me now?" she whimpered. 

"Oh. Yeah. I'm sorry." I quickly loosened my grip from her, letting her jump off my lap. "Thanks a bunch for not grassing me in, by the way."

But Apple Bloom kept glaring at me with a mix of suspicion, confusion, and caution. "Did you do something bad to Applejack?" she asked. "Why're ya hidin' from her?"

"I… Uh, it's a long story." 

"Was it you who knocked over those haystacks earlier?"

"… Um… Yeah, it was…"

"And you're also the one who told Applejack she couldn't have a cuddle?"

"That depends."

"On wha?"

"Are you gonna hit me if I say 'yes'?"

"No! I ain't gonna hit ya!"

"Okay. It was me." She lied. She punched me in the stomach. Or you know, whatever it's called when a pony jabs you with her foreleg really hard. "Ow! You said you weren't gonna hit me!"

"Jus' cuz my sis is the Element of Honesty doesn't mean I am." Her sharp words were only matched with a second punch to my stomach. "And that's for foal-napping me!"

"Hey! I said I was sorry!" I groaned as I tried to rub the pain away. "Would ya please stop hitting me already?"

"Ah'm done."

Note to self: Apple Bloom is a big fat liar who hits people.

"So… Who are ya, anyway?" As much as I enjoyed having to go through my life story over and over again with every pony that asked me who I was, I decided to give the filly the abridged version. She was still pretty astounded by the tale, regardless of its shortened version. "So, uh, you come from a different world to ours? That sounds really weird."

"Not as weird as me talking to ponies, I can assure you that much," I jested with a chuckle.

"So ponies don't talk in your world? Then who do ya talk to?"

"… Other humans."

"Then how do the ponies talk to other ponies?"

It was fairly evident that Apple Bloom couldn't wrap her head around the concept. I guess probably in the same way some humans can't wrap their head around how they evolved from apes. "In our world, ponies are on equal intellect to… pigeons."

"… Pigeons."

"Right."

I think I saw one of the cogs in her brain dislodge and roll out her ear.

"If I go to your world, will I turn pigeon-brained?"

"I've no idea. Would be pretty funny to see though."

"No it wouldn't!"

I didn't bother to continue the teasing, mainly out of fear of getting a third punch in the abs. "By the way, Apple Bloom," I said, "what are you doing up here on your own? This your own little club house?"

"This is the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse," she spoke up energetically, clearly prideful in the place, "and Ah'm workin' on a new banner to hang up outside." She galloped to the doorway and stood on her hind legs, gripping a length of string that hung from the ceiling with her teeth and yanking it down, revealing a hidden staircase. For a moment, she disappeared up the steps before coming back down with a rolled up length of thick paper in her mouth. As she came back, she whipped her head upwards, unravelling the long banner in front of me. "This is what Ah've got so far…"

I didn't know what I expected from a child. The paper was rough and off colour kind of like recycled paper, with 'Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse' hastily scrawled in multi-coloured lettering that alternated red, blue, then yellow repeatedly—the yellow was especially hard to see on the paper. There were little swirls and stars in the corners too, along with striped borders around the edges. It was kinda cute, but it was pretty bland and basic.

And I felt pretty bad for thinking bad of it. Was kinda hard being a graphic designer and to not be so critical of it.

"So," she blurted out as she looked up at me, "what d'ya think?"

My lips forcibly curled at the ends to an awkward smile. "It's… pretty cool, Apple Bloom," I half-heartedly applauded. "I like what you did with the swirls… And the stars… And the border looks good too…"

Her ears flattened against her head as she turned back to look at it. "It ain't that great, is it…?" Her voice was bass and gravelly.

And it made my heart sink into the pit of my stomach.

"Hey, it's not all terrible," I tried to cheer, but it felt more like an insult than anything else. I kneeled down next to her, resting a hand on her withers and petting her. I felt her body lean slightly towards me. "I mean, we just need to change a few things—we can change the paper, and use some better paint that isn't so thick, and we can put some glitter and stickers too!"

She turned back to me with a glint in her eye. "You… You're gonna help me…?"

"Of course I am! We can totally make this banner look awesome together—you and me. We'll make the best banner ever."

"Ya darn right we will!" I'd not seen her this excited, this happy, before now. It made me feel good. Made me feel great about myself. I felt like I was really helping out. 





"Hey, Jay-Jay—can ya help me out with my costume? I can't get the shoulders to sit properly."

"Hold still, would you? I can't fasten the straps with you squirming around like that! I don't care if you're ticklish; just sit still for a moment!"

"That looks about right. Thanks so much, Jay! You're a real good friend, y'know that?"





"…lo?… Hello?" 

I didn't know what happened. For a moment I felt like I blacked out; like I was thrown out of my body and thrown back in time. I don't know why that memory popped into my head, but it wasn't something I wanted. Not something I needed. 

Why did I think of her?

"Hey! Anyone home in there?"

I didn't even realise Apple Bloom was still talking. "Huh? Sorry, Apple Bloom—I just kinda spaced out there…"

"You feelin' okay? Do ya need to go to the hospital?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine."

"Okay… Anyways, I said I'ma go over to Rarity's and see if she's got any glitter 'n' other stuffs. I'll be back soon." She made her way to the doorway, but stopped just at the frame. "By the way—what's yer name?"

"Summers."

"Okey-dokey! I'll be back in a lil while, Summers!"

And just like that, she shot out the door and ran as fast as those tiny lil legs could carry her. I glanced out the window, watching as she sped off into the distance with a smile on my face. She's a real cute kid.

Then it hit me. She was going to Rarity…

"Oh God! What if she tells her I'm here!?"