"Come on everypony, dig in," calls Granny Smiths elderly voice over the table. Her statement is followed by a chorus of agreements of the other apple family members that live in Ponyville.
After some minutes of them eating there is a knock at the front door. Applebloom jumps from her seat and exclaims, "Ahm gonna get it!" When she opens it, she shrieks and jumps back a step.
"Everything alright Applebloom?" asks Applejack from the side, walking towards her little sister. The little earth pony doesn´t answer and just points to the open door. "Applebloom, ya..." begins the older of the two sisters before she frezzes when she sees what stands at their doorstep. On the swell of her door stands a stallion like she has never seen one before. His coat is as black as it can come, with his mane in stark contrast to it with it's blinding light white and his eyes pierce her soul with their deep crimson. He is a muscular earth pony just a bit smaller than Big Mac.
The stallions mouth opens, "Ah Applejack, the pony I´ve been looking for."
The voice is familiar to her. Applejack cocks her head. "DNA, that you?"
He nods. "That´s right. It´s me! The one, the only..." he strikes a dramatic pose, "DNA!"
Applejack pinches the bridge of her nose and sights at his antics before smiling at him again. "So, what brings ya here?"
"I came because of two things. First I wanted to give you this here," answers the human turned pony, reaching into his cloak, which the orange mare hasn´t noticed so far, and brings for a square item that is covered in some kind of fabric. She accepts it and inspects it. It has the shape of a book and is as heavy as one of that size. She is about to unpack it when a hoof from DNA on her own stops her. "Piece of advice from my side. Don´t open it until you´re alone." The farm mare isn´t sure what this can mean, but decides to listen to him.
Another set of hoofsteps are comming closer. They are heavy and are in no real hurry. A large red stallion arrives at the entrance and just starts to stare at DNA with a neutral expression. "Brother, this here is DNA, he´s new ´round here. He´s a..." she thinks about their relationship, "...friend?"
Big Mac looks the other stallion up and down. Although smaller than him he is kind of intimidated by his apperance, but upon seeing that warm and honest smile on this new strangers face the larger stallion extends a hoof. "Big Macintosh the name, but please call me Big Mac."
DNA accepts the offered hoof. "It´s a pleasure meeting you Big Mac. My name is DNA Hochburger, but please call me DNA."
The farm pony raises an eyebrow and states, "Ya got an intrestin´ name there."
The other male chukles. "Yeah like Applejack already said: I´m not from here. And as nice it was meeting you, I´m afraid I have to get going. I still have some things to do." With that he turns around, just so he can continue his spin so he is face to face with the three at the door again. "Actually I forgot something." Curious the Apples lift each one eyebrow. "Could it be possible if I purchase some apple products?"
Big Macs features relax as a topic comes up in which he is well versed. "Eeyup." He isn´t a pony that socializes a lot, other than with his family, but he knows how to do buisness.
"Ok then. If you could prepare one barrel apple juice, one barrel apples, three barrels apple cider and five barrels hard apple cider for me to pick up later today? How much would that make?"
The big, red farm pony does the math quickly in his head. "That´d be 385 bits."
DNA nods. "Sounds fair," he waves a hoof, "Ok, I´m going to see you guys later then," and with that he leaves.
The large pony closes the door and they return to the table. "He´s quite an intrestin´ stallion," states the stallion.
"Well he sure is interestin´," agrees Applejack as they sit down at the table.
"Hey big sis? Who was that stallion jus´ now?" inquieres Applebloom.
A couple of hours later.
Applejack and Big Mac are in the barn, finishing the last of DNAs order, when they hear laughter from outside. They go to look from where the noise comes from. But what they find gets two very different reactions. One can´t decide if he should be angry, scared or confused, while the other one just sighs when she sees the first ones responds.
Big Mac is about to start running at the unknown creatures, when he is stopped by his sister. He turns his head to her, "Sis, watcha doin´? Ah have ta save our little sister!"
The orange mare shoots her brother an angry glare. "Ah didn´t thought ya of all ponies would judge some... one by how they look." She let´s out a sigh while lowering her hoof she had been holding out infront of him and looks at the approaching group. "Ah know he ain´t the most normal looking one and he does even stranger things, but he´s a nice fella."
The red stallion turns to the group too. He´s still unsure about what approaches him, but he has faith in his sister and besides Applebloom seems happy, as he realizes.
DNA waves at them. "Hi."
Applejack waves back. "Howdy there, pardner," she chukles, "Looks like ya got yerself some company there."
He chukles too. "Yeah I met them by accident and since I was finished with my errands I played with them a bit." He goes down on one knee to let the CMC climb off of him. "So, is my order ready?"
"Eeyup," answers Big Mac, still a bit wary of the human.
"I owe you 385 bits, right?" When the large red male nods in confirmation, DNA pulls out a rather large bag of bits from behind his back and situates it infront of him. The farmer puts one hoof on it, closing his eyes.
After a couple of seconds he opens and let´s out a satisfied, "Eeyup." When he sees that the human gives him a confused look, he clears his throat and starts to explain, "Ah think Ah should explain mahself," he turns sideways and points to his cutiemark, "Mah cutiemark has two meanigs. The first one is obvious: Growing big apples. The other one ain´t that obvious. Ah can count things in somethin´ without having ta see them. Fer example seeds in an apple or bits in a bag," he chukles, "Pretty useful fer a farmer."
DNA nods understanding. "I can only imagine. But as much as I´d love to stay a bit and have a little chat, it´s getting dark and I have to get home."
Applejack nods in agreement. "I reckon yer right, Everfree can get mighty dangerous at night." The other four ponies ears stand up and their eyes go wide at the mention of where he lives.
The human scratches himself behind the head. "Yeah, I think you´re right."
"Ya wanne that Ah give yer company?"
He waves a hand dismissly. "Nah, I don´t think that will be necessary." He turns to the three filies. "So and now to the three of you," they lay their ears flat against their heads and smile sheepishly at him. "I don´t want that you do something like this again... without proper supervision." At that not only the foals ears go up. "It´s okay to have fun, but always be safe when you do so. Can you promise me that?" The CMC nod eagerly. "Good." He turns to Scootaloo specifically. "Could you do me a favor and bring Sweetie Belle home, I´m sure Rarity doesn´t want her being out too late."
Scootaloo salutes and says, "Aye, sir!"
The earth bender ruffles her dark pink hair. "Thanks and afterwards please go home too."
Her expression drops just for just the blink of an eye and it goes by mostly unnoticed. She salutes again. "Yes, sir!"
DNA mimes her gesture before going with his hand through her hair once again. "Good to hear." He then takes the cart and makes his way to his home. And the whole way the single, most important question, at that time, swirls inside his head: Do penguins have knees?
The sun has already set and the moon is making his climb to the peak with a bunch of stars to cheer it on, when a little filly sneaks around town. It is mostly deserted on the streets, the only other pony is a drunken mare that is presumably stumbling home... or to the next bar. Either way she doesn´t care. So it´s not necessary that she is so stealthy, but she wants to take no risks. Nopony is allowed to know. Nopony. Not yet at least. Maybe in a couple of years she would be able to tell, but not yet. Anyways it takes her an hour to reach the edge of the town, after dropping of Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo walks further away from Ponyville, down a path she walked countless times already. Ok, to be precise the first time she moved along this path was about four years ago, but she traveled it almost everyday since then and that adds up.
A bit to the side of the road that is leading out of the quaint little village are trees. Nothing big just some trees standing close enough together that you can´t look inside from the outside. And in the middle of said trees stands a little shack. It contains a broken table, an old couch, a freezing box, a rusty lamp, a worn out pillow, a bench and a suprisingly well intact blanket. They are all things she gathered over the years. At the beginning it had been hard, but in the past months her life has taken a pleasent turn. It all started shortly after Twilight came to town.
At the beginnig of every week there would be a bag of bits on her table with just enough bits in it for her to go for another week. Before she always did little odd jobs so she could surive, but it often wasn´t enough to still her hunger. She assumes that is the reason why she can´t fly yet, but it´s better than going back where she was before. Scootaloo sighs thinking about the changes in her life, as she makes her way further home. Her life is changing ever so fast and she is happy to say it´s for the better. The filly begins to smile. She is better of alone, than in that stupid orphanage, even if it is hard at times. That thought elicts a chuckle.
She jumps over the last of the roots and now stands on the clearing where her home stands. Scootaloo is about to finish her journey, when something steps out from behind her shack. The filly goes into something that could have been explained as an attack position, but when she realizes who it is she goes rigid. He is a biped, the arms crossed infront of his chest, his white hair gently flowing in the cool night air, his eyes two glowing orbs and his usual smile replaced by a stone cold expression.
"I tought I told you to go home," states DNA, his voice matching his facial features.
Her ears drop. He knows. He will tell them and then they will bring me back to that place. I... I will lose all my friends. She begins to cry. The tears flood out of her eyes, as she falls on her haunches. As she sits there and sobs, she doesn´t notice steps growning closer. Scootaloo first notices something changed when she feels the human enveloping her in a warm embrace.
"Why are you crying?" asks the earth bender with a soft voice. She explains him everything from her time in the orphanage, how she escaped and landed here and then about her life the last four years. He nods. "I... see. Then, when you don´t want to go back to the orphanage, come live with me."
She stops weeping and looks up at him with both suprise and hope. "Really? B-but I don´t wanne be a burden."
DNA laughs at that. "A burden? Don´t be silly! I´m living in a castle. I have more rooms than I could use in my entire life and you should see the treasures that were left behind. So yes, you really can stay with me."
Scootaloo let´s out a happy squee, throws herself against the human, throwing both of them to the ground and starts crying again, but no tears of sadness and grief but ones of joy. As the little filly lies on top of him he can only share her happiness.