//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 
// Story: My Little Pony: A New Apple 
// by Hopeful Soul 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 6


For the next eight years of the young creature’s life the Apple Family worked hard in taking care of him. They taught him how to live in a world not meant to house somepony like him and while it was hard, they had their friends and the townspeople helping them out. They taught him how to read, write… mainly with his mouth, though he couldn’t help but use his strange hooves as well as walk on two legs instead of four, because of that Spike taught him how to walk on both his legs. Plus they taught him all about Equestria and the entire Apple Family, and because of their teachings he sometimes acted like a pony himself, or at least as well as he could be due to the unknown nature of his foreign species. 
During that time, Applejack loved every second of being a Mom. She hadn’t felt that good or that happy since Apple Bloom was born and the first time he called her ‘Ma’ was one of the best moments of her life. Johnny adapted quickly to his new environment and tried to act like his adopted family as best he could, with mixed results but he loved being an Apple. He and Applejack did everything together, they played, they laughed, they even had fun when Johnny was in the bathtub. They were practically a perfect family.
For a long while the only ones who interacted with Johnny the most were his new family, Applejack’s friends, as well as the other Cutie Mark Crusaders, which his Auntie Apple Bloom was a part of, plus some of the townsfolk. As such, he learned a lot about friendship from them and wanted to make friends of his own, but because of his adoptive mother’s protectiveness and fear of how some of the others kids else would act around him like they did before, it was difficult for him to make friends. But on a certain day, all of that would change in an instant.
The first thing eight year old Johnny heard when he woke up was the sound of two birds chirping outside his window while the sun shined in his face. He slowly sat up and stretched both of his arms before stretching similar to how a pony would stretch. Johnny then hopped out bed in his red pajamas, landing on all fours before standing up on just two.
Johnny had grown quite a bit since he first arrived in Equestria and was now a bit taller than his adopted mother, though she still treats him like her little boy, which he enjoys. He still had a short head of hair and his cute little face also. He did a few stretches to loosen his joints, he quickly found out that he could stretch into various positions that other ponies could not, giving him good flexibility. He sighed when he was finally done and gazed around his bedroom.
His room had now become slightly messy due to all the knick-knacks that he had gotten from all over Ponyville, plus various toys he had gotten from Pinkie Pie after every birthday party she threw for him, they made the day Applejack got him his birthday since they didn’t know his actual birthday. He also had a Wonderbolts poster on his wall and a bed with a green comforter covered in apples. Johnny then stared at a family picture of him and the entire apple family and smiled at it before he heard a voice.
“Johnny! You’re gonna be late for your first day of school!”
“Coming, Ma!”
And with that, Johnny quickly got to work and changed out his pajamas and put on a nice, simple red t-shirt, blue jeans and black and white sneakers, all designed by Rarity, who was practically family to him and his mother.
“There! Ok, here I go!” Johnny declared as he raced out his room, down the hall and slid down the railing to the stairs before rushing into the kitchen, where his adopted mother, Applejack, was preparing breakfast for him.
“Morning, ma!” Johnny said, cheerfully.
“Well, good morning, Johnny. Sleep well?” Applejack asked.
“You bet!” Johnny smiled as he sat down in his seat, similar to how a pony would sit. “I also had that weird dream again!”
That caught Applejack’s attention. “You mean… the one where you kept hearing two ponies talking over you?”
“Yeah! I still couldn’t see their faces but… it sounds like… a mare and a stallion and they… they were talking about me! They knew me!” Johnny said, excitedly.
“Has… Princess Luna said anything about it?” Applejack questioned, slowly and curiously.
Johnny shook his head, a bit dejected. “No… she still can’t go into my mind… it’s like… something’s blocking her and I don’t know why…” he admitted. “Any ideas why?”
“Sorry sport, not a clue.” Applejack shook her head.
Johnny sighed. “Ma… what am I anyway?”
Applejack froze upon hearing that question and began sweating bullets until she managed to force a smile and turn to her son. “Uh… so how do you like your eggs again?”
“Scrambled. And why do you always do that?” Johnny inquired, innocently.
“Do what?” Applejack asked.
“Well… whenever I ask about what I am or where I came from you always avoid it.” Johnny pointed out.
“Not always…” Applejack denied before Johnny raised a brow at her, knowing that she was lying, and lying badly. “Ok, always, truthfully I’m still searching for answer but once I know… I’ll tell ya, ok?”
“Ok…” The eight-year old said a bit disappointed. Applejack saw the look on his face and attempted to change the subject.
“So… ready for your first day, sport?” Applejack inquired as she then placed his scrambled eggs in front of him.
“Yeah, I can’t wait! Finally I’ll get to be able to learn with other kids like me!” Johnny smiled, while digging into his meal.
Applejack frowned a bit upon him mentioning that important fact about him being with other kids, secretly she didn’t want him to go to school since she knew he might get picked on by them simply for being different. But she didn’t want to deprive him of having a normal childhood so she said ‘yes’ to his request to go to Ponyville Elementary.
“Ma? What’s wrong?” Johnny asked, noticing his adoptive mother’s depressed look.
“Huh, oh it’s nothing hon, just go get your lunch from your Uncle once you’re finished your breakfast, ok?” she said.
“Ok, ma!” Johnny nodded before he quickly finished up his meal in a jiffy and then ran off. “Later!”
Applejack chuckled, amused. “Always rambunctious.” 



Johnny then rushed into his living room where his good old Uncle McIntosh was waiting for him. The bipedal eight-year old ran up to him.
“Morning, Uncle McIntosh!” he beamed.
“Morning,” he responded with a wise smile.
“Got my lunch for school ready?” Johnny asked, hopefully.
“Eeyup.” His uncle confirmed as he picked up his lunch bag with his teeth and held it out to him. Johnny tried to grab it with his teeth also but was only able to hold it in his mouth for so long until it fell out and nearly hit the ground before he caught it with his strange hooves. Granny Smith then entered and saw what he did.
“Ho-ho! Nice catch there sonny!” she complimented him.
“Thanks Great Granny Smith! Wish I knew what they were though…” Johnny admitted.
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll figure it out sooner or later.” Granny comforted him.
“Darn tootin I will!” Johnny declared, smiling.
“Well then, you’d better get a move on!” Granny said.
“Ok!” Johnny nodded before he began to head for the door, only to stop when he sees a now older Apple Bloom who now had her own Cutie Mark, which was an heart shaped apple.
“Hey, aren’t you forgetting something?” she inquired.
“Oh! Right! Sorry!” Johnny said, quickly before hugging her, which she returned. “Goodbye, Auntie Apple Bloom.”
“See ya soon, Johnny.” Apple Bloom smiled as they ended their embrace and Johnny headed for the door.
He soon began to walk away from the house, but along the way he turned, saw his whole adopted family watching him go then waved at them as he then began to walk backwards.
“Bye, Ma! Bye, Uncle McIntosh! Bye, Auntie Apple Bloom! Bye Great Granny Smith!” Johnny waved.
“Bye, Johnny!” Applejack waved back.
“Have fun!” Apple Bloom added.
“Don’t let the rustlers get ya!” Granny Smith added. Johnny then turned to her wide eyed, as did the others.
“She’s just kidding son, just have fun, ok?” Applejack told him. He nodded and soon headed off to school.



Johnny soon arrived at the Ponyville Schoolhouse, which hadn’t changed much in the years since Johnny’s arrival. Just by looking up ahead Johnny could see multiple fillies and colts rushing to the school in a hurry, he sighed deeply before he began to make his way towards it as well. As he walked past some ponies some looked at him with wonder and/or amazement while others gazed at him suspiciously, not that he really noticed.
He soon stepped through the front door of the schoolhouse and sat that everypony was already seated in their little desks while a purple pony named Cheerilee stood in front of them. They all turned to him when he entered.
“Ah, Mister Appleseed, you’ve arrived.” Cheerilee said, pleased.
“Hi, are you Miss Cheerilee?” Johnny asked.
“Yes I am, sweetie. Now could you please step in front of the class?” Cheerilee offered.
“Uh… ok.” Johnny said, shyly as he walked forward and gazed at all the faces staring at him expectedly.
“Class, I’d like you to meet the newest addition to our class; Johnny Appleseed.” Cheerilee said, gesturing to Johnny.
“Uh… howdy there everypony!” Johnny waved, looking a bit nervous. “Nice weather we’re having here in Equestria, huh?”
The class just stared at him blankly, some still even gave him suspicious looks and glares. A cricket could even be heard somewhere close by.
Sweat dripped from Johnny’s face as he now looked very anxious, thanks to their stares. “Uh…” he said.
“Thank you, Johnny. You may now take your seat, please.” Cheerilee said.
“Yes ma’am.” Johnny nodded as he began to walk down the aisles of seats in front of him. As he did so, he failed to notice a certain colt named Gold Bar glaring at him as he walked by. 
Gold Bar had a green coat, a golden mane done in a fancy style, green eyes that matched his coat and had three bars of gold as his Cutie Mark.
As Johnny began to pass him a nasty smirk appeared on his face just before he subtly stuck out his hind leg and caused Johnny to suddenly trip and fall right on his face hard. Everypony around him laughed.
“Oh, I’m sorry Mister ‘Furless Wonder’, did that hurt? It looked like it did!” Gold Bar observed, laughing at him mockingly. Johnny groaned as he tried to get up.
“Are you alright, Johnny?” Cheerilee asked, concerned.
“Yeah… I’m ok…” Johnny groaned.
Cheerilee turned to Gold Bar, looking quite displeased. “Gold Bar, what do you have to say for yourself?” she asked.
“Sorry Miss Cheerilee, it won’t happen again…” Gold Bar said, lowering his head while also shooting Johnny a snide look that frightened him as he got back up.
“Well, see that it doesn’t.” Cheerilee said as she then walked back to her desk while Johnny sat down at his seat. “Alright, now that we are all here let’s begin our lesson.”
As Cheerilee began to talk Johnny struggled once more as he tried to sit like all the other kids, but he always revert back to sitting with his legs stretched out and under the desk, a position most of the other kid ponies found very strange and chuckled when they saw it.
“What’s the matter two-legs, having trouble sitting?” Gold Bar taunted. Several others chuckle at this. “Guess you country folk really aren’t that bright after all.”
The kids chuckled and mocked him again, while Johnny lowered his head.
Cheerilee turned to Gold Bar. “I’m sorry, did you have something you wished to add?”
“Uh… no. No, thank you.” Gold Bar shook his head.
“Good, then back to our lesson.” Cheerilee said, turning her attention back to the board.
Johnny noticed everypony else was writing down what she said using their mouths and attempted to imitate them. He put his  ‘hooves’ on the deck, picked up the pencil using his mouth and began to write with it. Johnny struggled to keep writing with his mouth and felt a residual urge to use his ‘hooves’. He began to shift between his mouth and claw like hooves constantly before Gold Bar finally spoke up.
“Dude, hooves… mouth… pick one! Come on, make up your mind, freak, or is your little country having trouble figuring it out?” he whispered, making some of the other kids chuckle while Johnny and dropped his pencil.



Later on, during lunch time while everypony was either eating their lunch or playing pony games Johnny was just sitting down and preparing to eat his own lunch. His eyes brightened when he saw a juicy red apple inside, no doubt picked from his adopted family’s orchard. He then dove into the bag and took out the apple using his teeth, he took a big bite out of the apple but nearly dropped it. He tried to catch it with his ‘hooves’ clenched, but he just bopped it around until he uncurled the ‘claws’ on his ‘hooves’ and caught it. 
Johnny sighed and then noticed some kids apparently wanting him to come and play with them until he heard  familiar voice call out to him.
“Hey, you!” The voice called out. “Over here, monkey boy.”
Johnny slowly turned around and saw Gold Bar standing nearby, he shook a bit with fear.
“Come over here,” he told him.
“Um… no thank you.” Johnny shook his head.
“What’s the matter? Afraid you’ll trip again?” Gold Bar smirked. “Come on, I won’t hurt ya… much.”
“Uh…” Johnny muttered.
“I said get over here!” Gold Bar said, sternly.
While frightened and nervous, Johnny eventually complied with Gold Bar’s demands and started to walk over to the side of the school, where he waited for him.
“What… what do you want?” Johnny asked, stuttering.
“I want to make something clear to you.” Gold stated.
“Make what clear?” Johnny inquired.
“That you’re not welcome here!” Gold told him, bluntly. “Look at ya! You’re a two-legged freak with no fur and a small nose! Not to mention those freaky things you call ‘hooves’. Plus you don’t even have a cutie mark and I don’t think you ever will! You honestly think you’ll fit in here?”
“Well, I think I can if I work hard enough and believe in myself, that’s what Ma always tells me.” Johnny said.
“Ha! Well, then your ‘Ma’, is just trying to make sure you keep your hopes up.” Gold Bar scoffed.
“My Ma’s not a liar!” Johnny protested.
“And she’s not you ‘Ma’, either.” Gold pointed out. “You’re just something that she took pity on and took in.”
“But…” Johnny began to say.
“Face it freak, you’ll never fit in here. You might have been raised by one of us, but you are not or will you ever be one of us, understand?” Gold Bar asked him.
Johnny gulped, with tears in his eyes. “Yes, I understand…”
“Good. See ya.” Gold Bar said as he turned away and left while Johnny sat down on the ground and curled up into a ball before beginning to cry.



Later, Johnny walked all the way home after school with dejected look on his face. On the front porch, Applejack was waiting for him and greeted him with a warm and welcoming smile.
“Heya sport, how was your first day of school?” Applejack asked before her son quickly walked right past her looking very upset. Applejack saw the look on his face and quickly understand why he was upset. “Oh no…”
Applejack watched her son sadly as he continued to walk into the dark house.



Later, that evening, Johnny was sitting on the front porch of the house looking out toward the horizon looking sad and depressed and trying to sit like a pony and failing every time. As he sighed, his adopted mother approached him looking empathic. 
“Johnny… you ok?” Applejack asked him.
“No… I’m not…” Johnny responded in a dull tone. “School stinks…”
“Aw, I’m sorry things didn’t go the way that you thought they would sugarcube.” Applejack told him, sympathetically as she sat down next to him. “But don’t worry, things will get better, just you wait.”
“Yeah? When?” Johnny asked, doubtfully.
“Now don’t be like that, you know nothing good ever happens if you pout about it.” Applejack reminded him.
“Yeah, I know, I know… Ma.” Johnny nodded. “But still I…”
“You still what?” Applejack inquired, curiously.
Johnny sighed. “It’s nothing Ma…”
“Now don’t you lie to me Johnny boy, you know how I feel about lying.” Applejack reminded him, sternly.
“Sorry Ma…” Johnny said, shamefully.
“It’s ok, hon.” Applejack assured him. “You’re just stressed, that’s all.”
Johnny stared at his now murky reflection in the puddle again and sighed, depressed.
“Gah… why am I so different, Ma?” Johnny asked his adopted mother, frustrated. Applejack feared this questioned would come up sooner or later and it made her sad, but she did her best to hide it.
“You’re not different Johnny, you’re just special.” Applejack told him, comforting.
“No I am different, I know that and they know that too.” Johnny stated. “I can barely do anything without having to rely on these.”
Johnny held up his hands and wiggled his fingers.
“Aw, come on that’s not so bad…” Applejack said. “It’s actually pretty cool to me. And I’m not the only one who thinks that way.” 
“Yeah? Name one other pony besides you, Great Granny Smith, Uncle Mac, Auntie Apple Bloom along with everyone else in our family plus your friends…” Johnny requested, sounding a bit tired.
“Oh… besides us… well there’s…” Applejack began to say.
“I need to find my place in this world but… I don’t think it’s here anymore…” Johnny admitted to her.
“Yes, it is, we just haven’t found it yet. But we will!” Applejack assured him.
“You don’t know that…” Johnny pouted, before mumbling. “I mean look at me…
Applejack leaned closer to him. “What was that sport? I couldn’t…”
“I SAID LOOK AT ME!?” Johnny hollered, as he stared at his adopted mother stressed out. She started back at him, sympathetically.
“I am, and you know what I see?” Applejack asked.
“What?” The eight-year-old asked, curiously, as Applejack put her hoof on his head.
“I see somepony with two eyes, just like mine,” she began before putting her hoof on his nose next. “And a nose, a bit smaller… but just like mine.”
Johnny giggled a bit once she touched his nose. “That tickles!” he said, before she then placed her hoof on his chest.
“And I feel a heartbeat… go on, try to feel mine.” Applejack encouraged. Johnny then slowly placed his hand on her own chest and started to feel a beat as well. “Can you feel it?
Johnny nodded. “Yeah… I feel it,” he confirmed.
“See? Aside from a couple of… obvious things, we’re not that different.” Applejack told her son, as she pulled him in a hug, which he returned. “Other ponies just… don’t see that.”
Just then, something clicked inside of Johnny as he raised his head and looked his adopted mother straight in the eye. “Then I’ll make them see it! I’ll show them just how great I can be, by being the best hard worker they’ve ever seen as well the best pony I can be!”
“I’m sure you will.” His mother smiled. “Now come here.”
Applejack then began to rub his belly and tickle him. He then started laughing joyfully.
“Mom! Cut it out!” Johnny cried as he continued laughing. She soon ceased tickling him and smiled.
“Well, don’t worry sport. I have a feeling that the next time you go to school, things are gonna be different.” Applejack stated.
“Really?” Johnny asked, surprised before he lowered his head sadly. “But everypony at school calls me ‘the hairless wonder’… and they all laugh at me…”
“Did they now?” Applejack remarked, while Johnny nodded sadly, she then looked out into the distance thoughtfully. “Well, let me tell you something, sport. Ain’t none of those kids, have as kind a heart as you do.”
Johnny looked at her, surprised.
“And someday… your gonna have a group of real friends who see that quality inside of ya and respect ya for it.” Applejack smiled. “Trust me Johnny, you will make friends, friends who believe you, who trust you completely. You got cherish those friends Johnny, ya hear me?”
Johnny smiled. “Ok ma, but… you really think somepony like me… could really have friends like that?” he asked, intrigued.
“Yeah, one-hundred percent.” Applejack nodded, with a warm smile as she wrapped her hoof around him and held him tightly which he greatly appreciated. They both then gazed upon the starry horizon before them. While Johnny felt happy nuzzling next to his adopted mother, questions about what he is and where he came from still plagued him. He may be satisfied now, but soon…