//------------------------------//
// Ch. 6 Help Wanted 
// Story: Strange Yet Wonderful 
// by Bionic Slime 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 6: Help Wanted


It was a bright and warm beautiful day in Sweet Apple acres. The sun’s rays created a glistening shine over the red barn and the juicy red apples in the orchards, hardly any clouds were visible in the pristine blue sky. Applejack and the rest of the Apple family were doing their daily chores, each one taking care of a different task. Big Mac hauled away apple carts, Applejack bucked the trees, Apple bloom collected them and Granny Smith separated the good apples from the rotten ones.

The orange mare smiled, “Ah think that takes care of the South Orchard big Mac. Why don’t ya get a plow over that area and start clearing some room for new crops?”

“Eeyup,” the red stallion nodded and headed for the plow.

Apple bloom continued to bring the buckets to Granny Smith, that is, until she spotted something in the sky. The elderly Smith blinked curiously at Bloom’s distracted gaze.

“What’s wrong there Apple Bloom, did ya just think of another crazy, hair brained plan to get yur cutie mark?”

“It’s that there in the sky granny. It looks like a Pegasus is headin toards Sweet Apple Acres,” the little filly squinted her eyes to see. “But ah don’t think its Rainbow Dash.”

Applejack stopped suddenly upon hearing Apple Blooms words; she knew exactly who that was. The Earth pony remembered he was coming but she forgot to tell her family about him coming to help out with the chores. Mostly because AJ was worried what kind of reaction her family might give her over inviting a boy over, even if he was the one who insisted. She looked past her brown hat and saw Hopeful slowly flying towards the farm. Hopeful had a cheerful smile on his face, he raised a hoof and waved at Applejack; she shyly waved back.

“Hey sis, who is that pony; do ya know him from somewhere?” Apple Bloom asked.

Applejack motioned for Big Mac to gather with her and the others before answering her sister’s question. The orange mare wasn’t worried Hopeful would embarrass her or anything like that; she was more worried her family would embarrass her in front of the red Pegasus.
“Uh sorry bout this ya’ll but ah kind of forgot to tell ya: ah met this pony at Pinkie’s party a few days ago” Applejack explained.

Before the honest mare could even continue, her family responded in exactly the way she feared they would.

Apple Bloom beamed, “You met a pony and he’s comin over? That is so cool!” The little filly hopped around AJ like a bouncing rabbit. “My sister finally has a special some pony, my sister finally has a special some pony.”

“Well how do ya like that? My granddaughter finally met a nice feller, bout time if ya ask me” Granny Smith added.

Big Mac glared at the approaching Pegasus. The red stallion looked Hopeful from top to bottom; searching for any kind of reason to distrust the pony. He practically growled and acted like a bulldog fiercely defending its master. The orange mare slapped her face and shook her head. She knew this would happen, half of her family wants her to marry Hopeful and the other half wants to run him off the farm with a pitchfork.

“Now ya’ll cut that out. Ah just met this pony so ah don’t want any of you to be doing anythin or thinkin bout doing anythin til you get to know him” AJ instructed firmly.

Granny Smith and Bloom smiled and nodded to AJ’s demand. Big Mac maintained his scowl and didn’t respond to his sister; until she grabbed him by the chin and looked him dead in the eye.

“AH SAID, ya’ll are going to keep an open mind before making any judgements; GOT IT?” Big Max gulped and nodded. AJ sighed and stepped back. “He said he wanted to help with the chores and even though ah said no, he insisted; so just let him help and that’ll be that.”

The Apple family turned to greet the dark haired Pegasus as he touched down. Hopeful smiled and approached the family, once again bowing and kissing AJ’s hoof as he did at the party. AJ blushed slightly; still not getting used to that kind of treatment…especially not in front of her family. She could practically hear the death threats screaming inside her brother’s mind.

“Hehe…n-n-nice to see ya again Hopeful; ah see your greetin style hasn’t changed. Welcome to Sweet Apple acres, mah home” Applejack said nervously.

“It’s a real honor to be here Applejack. You really do have a beautiful home, I could smell the apples from a mile away; I bet they’re delicious!” Hopeful said.

“You’d win that bet partner; we all take real pride in our farmin and the quality of our apples. The business, the farm, all of it’s been our family’s way of life for generations” Applejack said with a nod.

The colt smiled warmly at that statement. “That’s such a wonderful thing to hear, I know exactly what you’re talking about. I’m real close to my family and we take our traditions and values very seriously.” He briefly looked at the orange bow on his tail and smiled.

AJ could feel her heart grow warmer after hearing what Hopeful said. The orange mare represented the element of honesty, as such; she could usually tell when some pony was lying to her or not. Most ponies would say anything to get on a girl’s good side just to make a good impression. But when Applejack listened to how important family was to Hopeful, she could tell his heart was sincere and that family was indeed very important to him.

“Allow me to introduce mah family; this is Granny Smith and Apple Bloom and-”

“Oh good grief, where are my manners? I should be introducing myself; I am the guest after all.” Hopeful approached Granny Smith and Apple bloom; he took a bow and offered two pink roses to the young and old mares. “I’m Hopeful Romantic from the Heart family; it’s a pleasure to meet both of you.” He looked to AJ and then leaned in close to Granny and Bloom. “And might I add, I can tell now that being beautiful comes naturally to the women of the Apple family.”

Bloom giggled and sheepishly turned red in the face upon accepting the rose. Granny giggled loudly and kissed Hopeful on the cheek, ruffling his slick black hair. The pony chuckled and quickly tried to smooth his hair back.

“My, my, such fine manners for a youngin. Ah can see yur mom and pop raised quite the gentlemen” Granny said happily.

“Absolutely ma’am, my mother always taught me that ladies deserve to be treated with the utmost respect and care. And my dad made it very clear that you never touch a mare unless she gives you 100% permission” Hopeful explained.

The orange mare couldn’t believe how proper and sappy this guy was…and not one bit of it is an act. Ah knew he was friendly with females but ah didn’t think he was this serious bout this whole Prince charming routine. AJ’s thoughts were shaken when she saw Big Mac standing firmly in front of Hopeful. He intentionally looked as imposing and threatening as possible.

“Um h-h-h-hi there, and you are?” Hopeful gulped, his body was trembling.

Big Mac flared his nostrils. “Big Mac…her BIG brother,” he extended his hoof to Hopeful’s and crushed it like a toothpick. Hopeful winced as he pulled back a throbbing bruise instead of his hoof. “So you’re here to help with the chores” Big Mac leaned in close, “Riiiiiiiight?”

Hopeful nodded.

“And that’s ALL you’re here to help with?” Mac insisted.

“Um I’m afraid I don’t know what your-” Hopeful started to say.

Big Mac pressed his head against Hopeful’s; causing him to shrink in fear. “Mah sister is OFF LIMITS, GOT THAT? Ah don’t care what kind of squeaky clean act you’re pullin here and ah don’t trust it. You just try to help yourself to mah sister and ah swear; OW.”

AJ violently yanked Mac’s ear back as hard as she could. He squirmed and fumbled, anxiously shifting as his sister pulled him back like an immature child. Hopeful blinked in awe at seeing such a large colt being pulled so easily by his smaller sister.

“Ya’ll need to excuse us, ah believe Big Mac here has a hearing problem. Ahm going to see if ah can clear things up for him inside” AJ said.

Granny and Bloom smiled at Hopeful’s confused reaction. Apparently Applejack was stronger than Hopeful thought, or maybe it was just when certain lines were being crossed.

“Hey Mister Romantic,” Hopeful looked down and spotted Apple Bloom curiously eying his cutie mark. “That’s some fancy lookin cutie mark ya got there; ah don’t think ah’ve ever seen one like it.”

Granny chuckled, “You’ll have to excuse Apple Bloom; she’s been trying for what feels like an eternity to get her cutie mark. She and her friends even started their own cutie mark club.”

The Pegasus chuckled and patted Bloom’s hair. “Oh it’s all right; I take it as a compliment.”

“It kind of looks like its 3 cutie marks all stuck together. What does each one mean?” Bloom asked, tilting her head to the side.

Hopeful was about to answer the young filly but he stopped once he saw Applejack returning. He told her he’d explain his cutie mark later, Apple Bloom was a little disappointed but she understood. Big Mac stepped out hanging his head; like a dog after being scolded for making a mess. It seems Applejack ‘straightened’ her brother out, the red Pegasus however knew this wasn’t a permanent solution. If he wants to get in AJ’s good graces; then he definitely has to be on good terms with her family as well.

“All right, now that Hopeful is here, you can take a rest Granny Smith and let all of us take care of the remaining chores” Applejack instructed.

“Awe fiddlesticks! Ah may not be no spring chicken but ah can still do plenty to help round here, if ahm alive then that means ah can be helpful” Granny Smith protested.

AJ chuckled, “All right you can help clean up the kitchen if you really want to help out. Me and Apple Bloom will buck and collect the apples in the North orchard. Big Mac, why don’t you and Hopeful plow the fields and plant the seeds? I reckon the two of ya working together will get it done faster than two shakes of a hog’s tail.”

Big Mac loathed the idea of having to work with Hopeful, but unless he wanted another good ‘talking to’ from his sister; he’d bite the bullet and work with him. The two sisters headed off into the North orchard while the two stallions approached the fields and the steel plow. Big Mac approached the steel plow but was cut off by Hopeful; he flew to Mac’s eye level and shook his hooves.

“No wait, let me pull the plow. You’ve already done a lot of hard work today and I want to be helpful. Let me take a load off your back.”

“Sigh…eeyup” Mac said, rolling his eyes.

The Pegasus ignored Mac’s pessimism and remained positive he could win the Earth pony’s trust by using the plow. Hopeful secured the plow line to his neck, positioned himself on the field line and flapped his wings as hard as he could. He pulled, tugged, yanked and flapped so hard he’d swear his wings were going to fly off on their own…but Hopeful could barely budge the plow. Mac painfully watched as Hopeful very slowly pulled the plow, inch by agonizing inch. It was like the plow was a 50 ton anvil being pulled at a snail’s pace by a child, and the grunts and groans Hopeful made sounded like he was passing a kidney stone. Finally, Mac couldn’t wait any longer. He walked up to Hopeful and yanked him out of the plow line. 

“Look ah appreciates you trying but this just ain’t going to work. You’re not strong enough,” Mac attached the line to his own neck and started to pull the plow. “Just sit back and watch, or plant the seeds behind me or somethin; ah don’t care.”

The Pegasus sighed and nodded. He knew he wasn’t really cut out for all this physical farm work, but he made a promise to AJ he would do it and he intended to fulfill it. Hopeful spotted a cart full of seed bags. He picked one up and followed Big Mac’s lead with the plow; dropping seed after seed into each marked area.

One hour later…

“Now we need to shovel dirt over the freshly planted seeds” the red Earth pony said.

Big Mac picked up a small shovel and placed it into Hopeful’s hooves. The red Pegasus frowned at the child sized shovel, it was like Big Mac was treating him like a newborn foal. Hopeful dropped the shovel and hovered towards a larger one.

“Look, I get that you don’t like me but you don’t have to treat me like a child. I can handle a bigger shovel you know” Hopeful snapped.

Hopeful reached for a shovel with a dark brown pole with scrapes and dents by the helm of the shovel. Big Mac knew exactly which shovel the Pegasus had grabbed, he quickly tried to reach out and stop him. The Pegasus quickly raised the shovel above his head.

“No wait; not that one! The top isn’t-”

SLICE!

The shovel blade flew off the pole and went right across Big Mac’s head; slicing his orange hair style into a buzz cut. Hopeful stared wide eyed at his now “headless” shovel. He realized that Mac was trying to warn him that the shovel blade wasn’t screwed on as tightly; it was an older shovel that had been thoroughly used and worn down.

Hopeful chuckled nervously, “Hehe….oops, my bad.”

Mac was about to explode with unrelenting rage, veins pulsated around his neck. Hopeful could actually see Mac turning a darker shade of red. If he didn’t get out of there soon, Big Mac was going to crumple the Pegasus up into a pretzel and punt him across Equestria like a hoof ball!

“I’m uh g-g-gonna go see how AJ and Apple Bloom are doing…heh…bye!” Hopeful said, darting off immediately.



Applejack slammed her powerful legs into the base of a tree, apples showered like red raindrops around the orange mare. Apple Bloom quickly ran to catch as many apples as she could with her basket.

“Hey ladies, how’s the apple bucking going?”

The sisters turned to see Hopeful flying right towards them; he touched down softly and wiped his brow clean of sweat. Bloom smiled cheerfully at the friendly colt.

“Hey there Hopeful; it’s going great! We got about half our work done so far. You wanna lend us a hoof?” Bloom asked cheerfully. 
Hopeful bowed to them; raising a hoof like a professional gentlemen.

“Absolutely fair maidens; it’d be my pleasure to assist two beautiful damsels in their dire apple related crisis” he said in his most “princely” sounding voice.

The filly giggled at Hopeful’s voice. AJ tossed a few more apples into Bloom’s barrel and headed to the next tree, she looked back to Hopeful with curiosity in her emerald eyes.

“So lover boy; how’d the planting go with Big Mac?” the orange mare asked.

Hopeful gulped, “Oh uh yeah…that…well…let’s just say that um Big Mac seems to have things under control.” Applejack could clearly sense there was fear and hesitation in the colt’s voice; did her big brother threaten Hopeful again? “I don’t think he will need my help any longer.”

“You sure you’re okay partner? You’re twitchier than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs” Applejack curiously asked.

“I just think it’d be better for every pony if I helped you gals out” Hopeful explained.

“Well…all right if you say so; there’s plenty trees left to buck” Applejack said, raising her eyebrows slowly.

The Pegasus thanked Celestia that AJ changed the subject. He knew AJ would find out he screwed up eventually, but he was hoping he could salvage this mess by succeeding with the apple bucking where he failed with Big Mac. Applejack demonstrated her technique; slamming her powerful hind legs into a tree. He was amazed at how powerful the orange mare was; making every thrust of force and power look like it was foal’s play. A goofy grin and cherry red blush warmed Hopeful’s cheeks as he thought about those lovely, powerful and curvaceous legs. The romantic stallion had always had a crippling weakness for girls with nice legs and this mare had the finest hind legs he’d ever laid his eyes on. His pink eyes shined vibrantly with reflected images of AJ kicking trees while her golden blond hair flapped side to side, it was downright hypnotizing.

“HEY, lover boy; wake up” Applejack’s shout snapped Hopeful out of his love struck stupor. “Mind coming back to reality here and taking a crack at bucking apples, partner?”

He quickly shook his day dreaming moment off, he felt so foolish for staring at her like that. Hopeful quickly flew to the nearest tree and instantly focused on his task. The dark haired stallion looked up at the tree and swallowed, he felt like he was staring down the leg of a giant he had to topple. Being charming, witty and passionate where some of Hopeful’s best attributes. Unfortunately; he knew none of them were even remotely useful when it came to physical labor. The fact the mare of his dreams and her sister were watching him only added to the paralyzing pressure. Still, Hopeful said he’d help Applejack out and he always keeps his word.

THWACK!

The Pegasus bucked the tree as hard as he could. AJ and Apple Bloom waited and watched for the apples to come crashing down, except nothing but leaves came falling down. Hopeful frowned and kicked again, even harder this time but still; nothing. He kicked again and again and refused to stop or let up until it worked.

“Look sugar cube; you can stop now. It’s not a big deal if yah can’t get the bucking right” Applejack explained.

Hopeful ignored AJ and continued kicking the trees.

“Come on now don’t be stubborn just let me do the buckin,” the orange mare approached Hopeful but he refused her help. “You can help through other ways.” His face was looking increasingly fiercer and more determined; nothing AJ said or did was connecting with him. “Will ya please calm down? It’s not the end of the world just cause the farmin life isn’t for you.”

The mare’s words actually caused Hopeful to react this time, only instead of stopping; he tried a different tactic. Hopeful flew off the ground and aggressively slammed his whole body into the top of the tree branches.

THWACK!

The crashing sound was twice as loud when Hopeful kicked the tree, the apples almost instantly dropped and showered over Apple Bloom and her basket. He dropped out of the tree with a crashing thud. The poor Pegasus was wobbling side to side with a huge bump on his head, stars spun before his drooping eyes. The two mares gasped as they watched Hopeful slump onto the ground.

“Oh mah stars! Are you all right?” Applejack ran to the fallen colt and sat him up. Her emerald eyes shimmering with concern over her friend’s disoriented state. AJ had heard Granny Smith mention that boys tend to do crazy things to impress mares but this was just too much, neither one of them could take much more of this. She cupped his cheeks with her hooves, “Now why in the wide world of Equestria would you do somethin crazy like that? You might’ve split yer noggin open like a melon.”

Hopeful staggered to his hooves, “Nonsense; I feel just slime…uh I mean fine.” The black haired Pegasus walked like he was inebriated, unable to say or do anything without shaking or wobbling. “Look, I got all these mangos down without any possums, now watch and log as I f-f-finish the r-r-rest.” Apple bloom looked to her sister with fear filled eyes; both visibly concerned that Hopeful might injure himself again.

“Um I don’t think that’s a good idea mister,” Apple Bloom said. The little filly slowly gathered up the fallen apples and tossed them into the bin.

“I can do this, REALLY I can, just watch me,” the Pegasus shook his head and focused his blurry eyes on the next apple tree.

Hopeful flapped his wings and hovered in mid-air, preparing to launch himself like a rocket once more. AJ tried to stop him but Hopeful vanished in a rose colored blur before the orange mare could even snag her hooves around him. He crashed into another tree; creating the same apple showering he did before, and then proceeded to skull bash another tree and another and another. Hopeful rammed into 5 different trees headfirst and continued to feel skull splitting pain with each crash, but still he refused to give up; even after his vision became nothing but a foggy sea of swirling blurs of red apples and brown trees. AJ and Bloom’s voices became nothing but static in his ears and getting weaker with each apple bucking. Eventually, Hopeful collapsed and dropped to the ground while attempting to buck his 9th apple tree. The Pegasus felt his world turn dark and distant, his eyelids growing heavy while his head felt numb and tingly.

“Get Big Mac over here right away Apple Bloom, and make sure he brings the wheel barrow. Hurry now!” That was the last thing Hopeful heard before he passed out completely.



SPLASH!

“GAH, I didn’t eat all the chocolates; I swear!”

Hopeful’s pink eyes flashed wide open; he jolted off the ground looked frantically looked around. The colt was surrounded by the Apple family. Applejack sighed in relief to see Hopeful was all right, Big Mac rolled his eyes as he placed the empty water bucket down next to Apple Bloom. The beefy stallion was clearly still pissed at his new “haircut,” Apple Bloom couldn’t help but giggle quietly at it. Granny Smith stood behind Hopeful; she had a soft smile on her wrinkly face; pleased and relieved to see the young boy hadn’t been seriously injured.

“Ya’ll gave this old mare a scare there youngin. When Applejack wheeled you back to the house,” the green mare pointed to the blond mare. “I was worried somethin mighty nasty had happened to ya.”

“Ugh, the last thing I remembered was a loud pounding in my head.” The young colt rubbed his hoof along his hair, feeling a white bandage wrapped around his head. “I thought I could handle bucking the trees my way, but it looked like I bumped my head one too many times.”

Granny Smith chuckled and slapped her knee. “Now that there is one wild idea you had sonny; looks liked it worked for a little while anyway, judgin by the haul.” 
Hopeful turned his head to see several large bins stuffed to the brim with lush, juicy red apples. He must have been out for a while if they had time to pick him up, bring him back, tend to his wounds and then go back to get the rest of the apples.

Hopeful nervously chuckled, “Yeah it didn’t exactly work how I thought it would; head butting is OW,” he winced after touching the bandage; “A poor and very painful substitute for bucking.” He turned to look at Applejack but found only a stern frown waiting for him. The orange mare was looking increasingly angry at him; he could practically taste the disappointment coming off her. “But at least everything worked out in the end, right?” he asked cheerfully.

BONK!

The Pegasus cried out in agonizing pain. He clutched his throbbing skull after Applejack had violently smacked it; the mare’s siblings stared wide eyed at AJ’s reaction.

“Are you out of yer DAMN MIND ya bucking blockhead!?!?” Applejack angrily shouted. “What in tar nation is wrong with you? Ah told ya to leave the bucking to me but like a certain sky diving filly ah know, ya’ll thought scaring every pony to death was a better idea than listenin’ to me.”

“Hey,” Apple Bloom flashed a snarl at her sister. “Ah wasn’t the only crusader who tried that, we all thought it was a good idea at the time!”

“That is not the point right now Apple Bloom, the point is that ah was scared somethin’ bad was gonna happen to you.” Hopeful tried to reply but Applejack quickly jammed her hoof into his nose and silenced him. “Just like how ah KNEW somethin’ bad would happen to you!" You were out for a half hour, 30 whole minutes and ah had no idea if you’d be all right or not.”

“But if you were so worried, why didn’t you take me to a hospital?” Hopeful weakly asked.

“Because Granny Smith said it wasn’t as bad as ah thought and ah trusted her wisdom” Applejack snapped back. She turned her head to Granny who nodded in affirmation. “You have no idea how lucky you are that yer bumps to the noggin weren’t that serious. But now that yer up and able, ya’ll can mosey on since yer help with the farm work is done.”

Those words crushed Hopeful’s heart like a hydraulic press, he felt his throat tighten and his eyes swell up with sorrow. Helping out on the farm was turning into a total disaster for the red Pegasus. Not only did Hopeful fail miserably at helping out with the chores, but now AJ was mad at him and wanted him off the farm, and based at the steaming look of anger brewing on her adorable freckled cheeks; she might never want to talk to him again! Hopeful shook his head frantically and pleadingly approached the orange mare.

“N-n-n-n-no, please, don’t be mad. I swear I was just trying to help,” Hopeful placed his hooves together in a begging fashion. “I just wanted to get a chance to know you and I thought I could do that by helping you with your chores, I’m just not used to farm work.”

“That’s mighty sweet of ya partner but ah just don’t got time to be getting cozy with any colts right now.” The orange mare pushed down Hopeful’s hooves and sighed. “Thanks for the help but ah got a lot of work to do so; let’s just leave it at that, okay?”

Applejack and Apple Bloom walked past Hopeful back to the farm. Granny and Big Mac followed but not before looking back at the sulking Pegasus, neither one saying how they truly felt about this. Granny felt sad seeing the spirited gentlemen reduced to such a blue and gloomy state; he could have been the potential pony that could give her granddaughter a lifetime of happiness if they got to know each other better. Big Mac however was all too pleased to see his sister set this “so-called romantic” straight, he grunted and returned his sight towards the farm.

“Wait, just give me another chance, I promise I won’t screw it up this time,” Hopeful called out to the Apple family. He waved his arms and wings around frantically. “I can do other things besides bucking apples, I can wash the floors, scrub the toilet, cook dinner; anything you want.”

“Nope, nope and nope” Big Mac replied curtly.

If Hopeful blew this then the most beautiful mare he had ever laid his eyes on was going to literally walk out of his life and lock him out forever! He flapped his wings and soared up towards the top of the barn, Applejack and Big Mac stopped and turned to look up at Hopeful.

“Now what in the hey is he doing flyin around our barn?” the orange mare asked; irritated.

“See? I can be useful; I can fly and retile the barn roof or something. My wings make it super easy and it’d save you guys’ trouble and time,” the red Pegasus explained. “Or I could clean out the hay track for you; I wouldn’t even need a ladder to-”

Something strange inside the barn’s top floor caused the Pegasus to cease his rambling. Curious eyes looked inside the barn to get a closer look, he saw a dark purple blob that was curled around several hay blocks like a nest; there were eaten apple cores everywhere.

That’s weird; they didn’t mention any other relatives living on the farm. And even if there were, why would one of them be living IN the actual barn? Does Applejack even know this pony? Hopeful thought to himself, he floated closer inside to examine the shadowy figure.

“We all appreciate the offer Hopeful but really, you’ve helped out plenty” Applejack shouted to the flying stallion.

“Hey, um guys?” Hopeful replied nervously, “Do you by any chance have any weird relatives who like to sleep inside your barn? Cause if not, then I think you got a problem here.”

The Apple family looked at each other in confusion; neither one of them had any clue who would be sleeping in their barn. Suddenly a crimson magical blast launched from the shadowy pony and struck Hopeful down. He crashed to the ground and cried out as his wings skidded across the earth, gravel and grass cluttered the colt’s wings.

“HOPEFUL” Applejack screamed in horror. She ran to the fallen Pegasus as quickly as possible, the rest of her family followed her. Applejack clutched Hopeful’s head in her hooves as tears started to run down her cheeks. “Come on sugar cube, tell me your all right; ah don’t think ah can go through all this again.”

Apple Bloom, Big Mac and Granny Smith watched the orange mare tend to the fallen flyer. Granny clutched Bloom to her chest and compelled her to look away; fearful of the worst. Hopeful’s eyes flashed open in seconds; they appeared to be a mix of green and red colors instead of his usual pink.

“No, no, NOOOOOO! Wild Heart I’m sorry; I’m so, so, sorry I wasn’t there,” Hopeful screamed. He began thrashing wildly and trying to cover his face with his wings, eyes filled with unfathomable fear and sadness. “Please, it’s not my fault; you have to forgive me Wild Heart, PLEASE.”

“What’s he talkin about Applejack, is he talkin about the pony in the barn?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Ah don’t know, ah j-j-just don’t know. He looks like he isn’t even lookin at me,” Applejack stuttered. She noticed right away that Hopeful’s eyes were pointed at the sky, as if he was seeing some pony that wasn’t even there. “Ah think he’s in some kinda trance or somethin, he doesn’t seem to see any of us or even know where he is right now. Who knows what he’s seeing or talkin about.”

The shadowy pony leapt from the hay rack and landed in front of the Apple family, he used his magic to slow down his descent. The Apple family turned their attention away from Hopeful towards his attacker. It was a dark purple unicorn, silver chrome eyes, dark spiky green hair and a fiery red magic aura. The unicorn’s cutie mark resembled an ordinary full moon but with a very distinct and disturbing difference. The base of the moon featured a snarling skull like face, as if the moon itself was a skull face, featuring razor sharp animal fangs instead of normal teeth. No one recognized the unicorn but were all certain of one thing: he was going to pay for hurting Hopeful.

“I’m sorry but I had no choice, you need to just forget you ever saw me and keep this to your selves. They’ll be looking for me soon enough and I still have much to do,” Moonstruck said. He looked solemnly to Applejack holding the squirming red Pegasus, her emerald eyes boiled with rage and wrath.

“Ya’ll ain’t going anywhere, how DARE you hurt mah friend like that” Applejack said. “Big Mac, what’s say we teach this freaky freeloader a lesson or two?”

“Eeyup” Big Mac answered with a fierce snort, he pumped his hooves like a bull; preparing to charge.

“No, wait! This is all just a big misunderstanding, I can explain everything but you have to let me go first.” Moonstruck’s words fell on deaf ears. Big Mac and Applejack charged towards the unicorn, preparing to unleash all of their muscle and anger on him for blasting their friend. The unicorn shook his head frantically, “I never wanted to hurt anyone, honest, but if you’re not going to stop then I’m afraid you leave me with no other choice. Please forgive me.”

Moonstruck bowed his head and blasted a red beam at the 2 charging ponies; Big Mac gasped and quickly shoved his sister out of the way of the blast. The beam struck Big Mac and his eyes flashed green and red; just like Hopeful’s did. The red stallion looked at Moonstruck with his cursed eyes and screamed in horror; he jammed his hooves into the ground and skidded to a halt.

“NOOOOO, SOME PONY HELP! IT’S A CRAGADILE, THE CRAGADILE IS AFTER ME” Big Mac shouted. He dropped to his knees and covered his eyes with his hooves.

“Big Mac, what are you talking about?” AJ asked. She looked to her brother with confusion, unable to see any Cragadile anywhere. The only thing Applejack could see was Moonstruck running away. She nervously looked back and forth between Moonstruck and Big Mac, unable to make a decision. “Ah’m sorry big brother but ah can’t let that varmint escape, ah promise ah will be back soon as ah get’em.”

Applejack left Big Mac and raced after Moonstruck at full speed. She felt bad leaving her brother cowering like a foal, but she knew Granny and Bloom would be there to take care of him while she settled this. Moonstruck looked back and gasped seeing Applejack was hot on his tail. He hated having to harm these friendly farm ponies but he had no choice, if they catch him and find out he’s an escaped criminal from Tartarus; he’ll be thrown back into that Hell hole for the rest of his life.

“I can’t keep this up. Hiding in the barn gave me time to recharge my magic but I’m going to expel all of it at this rate, I need more time.” Moonstruck bit his lip and tried to force his horn to generate more magic, he felt his horn glow bright red and fizzle out. The white wing like bone pattern on his back glowed and he felt a surge of pain throughout his body. “What is with this weird ass hex, it’s like it’s blocking my magic from-”

“Gotcha ya stinking rat” Applejack shouted as she tackled Moonstruck to the ground, cutting him off before he could finish. The ponies rolled in a struggling ball of punches and kicks. Moonstruck yelped as the blond mare sat on top of his chest and pinned him to the ground, she panted heavily. “No pony messes with mah friends and family and gets away with it, no pony.”

“You don’t understand what you’re doing, I had to hide here or else they were going to find me and take me back.” Moonstruck’s eyes widened with terror at the thought of going back to Tartarus. “PLEASE don’t let them take me back, I’m innocent I swear.”

“Ya’ll ain’t making a lick of sense, and frankly, ah’m too ticked off to give a flying buck about whatever nonsense yer going on about” Applejack said. She raised a hoof, preparing to slug the unicorn unconscious.

“Wait, wait, you can’t do this” Moonstruck said, wiggling his hooves frantically. “Please let me go, I promise your friend and brother will be just fine. It’s a temporary spell. In a few minutes they’ll be back to normal, now please, you HAVE to let me go.”

Applejack tilted her head at Moonstruck, frowning. “Let some snake wiggle his way out after hidin in our barn, stealin our hard earned apples and then assaultin mah friends and family? Not a chance,” she grabbed Moonstruck by the throat and yanked him up. “Ah’m draggin your sorry behind back to the farm so you can tell us everything.”

“Then please forgive me for what I must do,” Moonstruck said with a sigh.

The purple unicorn blasted Applejack’s face with his fear spell at point blank range. AJ closed her eyes shut due to the red light; she slowly opened them up and saw a completely different creature in Moonstruck’s place. She saw a walking, snarling pile of logs, branches and wood fragments in the form of a ferocious wolf. The creature had glowing, neon green eyes, yellow jagged fangs, two pointed stick like antlers and breath so fowl; it would strip paint.

“AHHH TIMBERWOLF” the mare shrieked out loud.

Moonstruck felt awful for doing this to such a friendly and kind mare, the pain was written all over his face. He quickly turned and ran off before Applejack or anyone else snapped out of their fear trances. Applejack scooted backwards in fear of the phantom Timber wolf, her eyes glowing red and green just like the others. Unfortunately, the orange mare hadn’t realized how far she had chased Moonstruck. The two ponies ended up near a small cliff which lead to a river, a river filled with jagged rocks. Applejack was slowly inching back towards the edge of the cliff, too terrified by the illusion to realize how close her rump was to the edge.

“Some pony help; he’s gonna eat me! Any pony, please, HELP” AJ shouted.

Suddenly the Timber wolf vanished like a mirage; the mare saw nothing but clear skies and an empty landscape. No sign of Moonstruck anywhere. Applejack blinked and slowly tried to stand up, but she found her hind legs struggling to find a stable piece of land. The mare turned around and gasped, she just realized she was right by the cliff’s edge.

“Oh dang, oh dang, oh dang” Applejack said, her voice getting louder and more fearful.

The pony slipped off the edge and began plummeting straight down to the river, eyes shimmering with images of jagged rocks waiting to impale her body in a bloody, mangled mess. Applejack screamed out with every bit of breath in her lungs. The sound echoed and carried all the way back to the farm where Hopeful and her family were, still under the fear spell of Moonstruck.

“Wait a minute…that voice…I know that voice” Hopeful said groggily. His eyes were slowly returning to their natural color, the spell was fading away. Applejack’s scream banished the dark magic clouding his mind and returned the Pegasus to his normal state. “That’s Applejack…and she’s…SHE’S IN TROUBLE!”

Wings of rose red flapped into action; catapulting Hopeful into the sky like a scarlet missile. Nothing would stop him from reaching the girl of his dreams in time. He soared towards the sound of Applejack’s scream and dove down to catch the falling mare, his heart racing with adrenaline and fear. If Hopeful missed, then she’d fall to her death and he’d be forever haunted by yet another life he failed to save. The shape of Applejack’s body came into view; Hopeful pushed himself even harder and flew directly under the Earth pony’s form.

“I gotcha…I gotcha…I gotcha” Hopeful repeated nervously. Applejack slammed into Hopeful’s arms like a sack of potatoes, the Pegasus grunted and briefly descended due to the extra weight. “I GOTCHA” he cheered proudly. Hopeful stabilized his flight stance with Applejack, slowly rising back up to the edge. “It’s okay fair maiden; you’re safe. You can open your eyes now.”

Applejack was stunned to hear that soft and familiar voice. She was so terrified during her fall that she hadn’t realized she stopped so suddenly, her eyes slowly opened and looked towards the face of her soaring savior.

“H-h-h-hopeful, is that you?” the mare weakly asked.

“Sorry I got here so late,” Hopeful said with a small chuckle. “I tried to get here as fast as I could; I just hope you didn’t hit anything on the way down. Do you feel okay?”

The blond mare was the strongest of her 6 friends, in fact, aside from Big Mac; she was the strongest pony in all of Ponyville. But for the first time in a long time; Applejack felt weak all over. Her emerald eyes shined like diamonds with the fiery red color and shape of Hopeful’s body. She originally thought Hopeful didn’t have much strength after having trouble with all the farm equipment. Yet here he is, holding her like a baby with hardly a strain in his voice or a sweat upon his brow. While she and Big Mac suffered from the crippling magic of Moonstruck’s fear beam, Hopeful broke through it once he heard her voice. He soared to her aid without a moment’s notice and saved her from certain death. This nervous, bumbling, sweet little Pegasus just transformed before her very eyes into her knight in shining armor.

“Ah…ah…don’t believe it. You saved mah life, ah thought I was a goner for sure” Applejack said.

“Not on my watch fair maiden” Hopeful said, giving her a charming smile and a wink.

“Your mah hero!” Applejack beamed. She wrapped her hooves around him and tightly embraced him, nuzzling her freckled cheeks against his.

Hopeful’s face turned dark red with blushes almost instantly, his pink eyes flashed into a pair of pink hearts. The colt felt his heart and mind simultaneously explode with fireworks of wonder and delight. That one hug turned his whole world upside down and made every mistake he made today worthwhile. Hopeful’s wings slowly stopped; the shock of Applejack’s warm embrace causing him to lose concentration. The two ponies momentarily plummeted down towards the river. The Pegasus quickly came back to reality and rapidly flapped his wings in order to regain his altitude.

“Oops…sorry about that I guess I just hehe…got a little excited” Hopeful said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

The orange mare frowned and just looked at Hopeful silently until he landed. Once Hopeful was back on the ground, Applejack hopped out of his arms.

“Yeah…ah noticed that,” Applejack said dryly. “Ah appreciate the rescue partner; ah do, but maybe next time you could not drop the pony yer tryin to save?”

“Yeah that sounds like a good idea” Hopeful said with a weak laugh.

The ponies heard the sound of hoof steps approaching; they turned to see the rest of the Apple family walking towards them. Applejack saw her big brother was back to his usual self, just like Moonstruck said he would be. Still, the orange mare didn’t like the idea of that creepy unicorn walking around town and casting fear spells on people. She still didn’t know what he was talking about when she caught him.

“Ah think ah’ll check with my family and then head on into town. Some pony has to warn others about that freaky unicorn we ran into, can’t let him go runnin hog wild with that fear spell of his.” Applejack nodded to Hopeful and started walking towards her family, she stopped when she felt Hopeful tugging on her tail.

“Hang on, I’ll go with you. Together we could find him a lot-” Applejack quickly stopped Hopeful with her hoof.

“Like ah said before Hopeful, you’ve done plenty today and ah really do mean that.” Hopeful sighed and looked to the ground disappointed, releasing her tail. “Aw don’t take it like that sugar cube. You’re a fine stallion that any mare would be lucky to have, ah just don’t think ah’m that mare. Ah think were too different and we want different things. You understand, right?”

Hopeful tried to remain cheerful but his sulking heart weighed his optimism down like a ton of bricks. Still, the pony forced a smile and nodded to Applejack and she seemed to be satisfied with that. The orange mare trotted off into town after talking to her family. The sulking red Pegasus felt like he went from zero to hero to back to zero again; all in the course of one day. Everything Applejack said to him makes sense, and yet, it didn’t make the pain of rejection hurt any less.

“I guess I was a fool to think this was going to work. After all”, Hopeful rested his chin onto one of his hooves. His sorrow filled gaze looming over the cliff he rescued the girl of his dreams from. “What could a screw up like me offer such a gorgeous girl with a big heart like her?”

“A lot more than you think,” a voice from behind said.

The Pegasus turned around to see Big Mac standing behind him. He couldn’t believe the huge red stallion was actually talking to him, and paying him a compliment to boot! Hopeful shook his head and scratched his ears.

“Um I’m sorry but, did you actually say something…nice…to me?” Hopeful asked softly.

“Eeyup, ah sure did and ah meant it too” Big Mac replied.

“B-b-b-but you hate me; you didn’t want me lending a hoof with the chores OR going near Applejack. You wanted me out before Applejack did, why the sudden change of heart?” Before Big Mac could reply, Hopeful looked down and pouted. “Oh what does it matter? Applejack wants nothing to do with me and frankly, I don’t blame her. I’m a weak little screw up who can’t even plant apple seeds without messing up.”
The big red stallion placed his hooves on Hopeful’s shoulders and picked the Pegasus up onto his hooves. Hopeful looked to Big Mac with woeful eyes, feeling too defeated and depressed to curb the colt’s ill-fated attempts at cheering him up.

“We’ve been farming since we were foals and it’s unreasonable for any pony to expect to get it right on the first try. You did yer best and that’s what matters, and believe it or not, Applejack did see that.” Hopeful looked to Big Mac curiously after he said that. “Mah sister is strong enough to defend herself from any creep who wants to get fresh with her, still, ah feel as her big brother it is mah job to protect her. I’m stubborn like that, but then again so is she. Sis doesn’t like admitting she needs something, even when every pony knows she needs it.”

“So what’s your point?” Hopeful asked.

“Mah point is you risked yer life to save mah sister when none of us could do anything to help. Ya might think any pony would have done the same thing were they in your hooves, but you broke free from that weirdo’s magic because of yer strong feelings for mah sister.” Big Mac smiled and shook Hopeful’s hoof. “And that makes you one very special pony in my book, Applejack’s too. You didn’t let anything or anyone stop you from caring for mah sis and she needs a pony like you in her life, she just doesn’t know it yet.”

“But she’s made it clear she’s not interested” Hopeful insisted.

“Give her time and keep at it Hopeful. You already got the pie cooking in the oven, now you just need to let it cook for a while and keep checking on it to make sure it comes out just right. Trust me mah friend,” Big Mac winked and headed back to the farm with the apple family.
A slow smile formed on Hopeful’s lips, he could feel his confidence and hopes restoring little by little. Hopeful stood up; tall and proud and more determined than ever. He looked over his shoulder at Big Mac and uttered two simple but very heartfelt words.

“Thank you.”



To be continued…