It has been three days since Wild Heart was first publicly seen in Ponyville in her second "Welcome To Ponyville" Party, and it was strange that nopony never walked up to her and talked to her. It seemed that they saw her as just another filly on the street. Wild Heart felt a bit uneasy at how she was ignored and unnoticed. But Fluttershy comforted her and told her it would take some time. The closest that she got from ever meeting a pony was getting a merchant in the market to greet her and her mother.
Throughout those three days, Wild Heart was taught about certain things about pony life. She was taught how to pick up things with her hooves and mouth, how to trot and gallop with her hooves and even how to move her hooves in a different way then what her wolf form would do. It seemed that today would be a regular day for Wild Heart
But fate decided to change the schedule a little.
~
"Yemei! Can you come down please?" Fluttershy called down for her.
"Coming Mom!" Yemei called as she skipped a few steps before she was in the kitchen with her mom and sitting down on the table. She saw that breakfast was made for her and she started eating her eggs and toast.
"Uhm, Yemei. I need to let you know on what we're going to do today. Or, more like me." Fluttershy spoke after some time.
"Huh? What do you mean, momma?" She asked before taking another bite of the toast.
"Well, I have to go and count the new baby bunnies that were just coming out of their homes. Applejack is going to help me, but I want you to not be there. You remember the last time what happened."
Yemei looked down as she didn't need to say anything yet. "I thought Angel would let them know that I was that wolf." She mumbled.
"It's okay sweetie, accidents happen." She said, but it's fine. Now you can explore the town with Apple Bloom since her sister is gonna be quite busy." She said. "And don't worry about her being a bit surprise about your change. Applejack made sure to let her know." A knock then came from the front door. "Oh. That might be her right now."
Yemei was left on the table as Fluttershy put her dish in the sink before she went over to the door and opened it, showing a worried looking Apple Bloom.
"Where's Yemei? Is she okay? What happened?" She frantically said to Fluttershy.
"Now, now, Apple Bloom, Yemei is perfectly fine. But please don't look so worried, it might make her worried about you instead." Fluttershy said, watching how Apple Bloom calmed down and soon looked relaxed and normal. "There, that's better. Now would you like a snack? Maybe we can go to the town meeting where we'll give your sister her gift."
"No. I'm okay miss Fluttershy. And to be honest, Applejack seems a bit different." Apple Bloom said.
"Different? What do you mean?" She asked, to which the yellow filly just shook her head.
"Nevermind. Maybe it's just me. Ah mean, Granny and Big Mac didn't really look that worried." The little farm filly just said out loud as she started walking inside the hut as she sat down on the couch. Fluttershy just mentally shrugged and went back in the house.
Yemei was finished with her breakfast as Apple Bloom walked in. "Howdy Yemei!" Apple Bloom said.
"Oh. Hi Apple Bloom." Yemei said with a smile as she got off of her seat and got a strong hug from the apple filly.
"Yemei, ah heard what happened and ah'm sorry I didn't warn ya of the Everfree Forest." She apologized as she broke the hug and bowed down in apology.
"No, no. It's okay. It was my own fault." She said.
"So, ah heard that sumthin' went wrong with your wolf form." Apple Bloom said after awhile.
"Oh! That thing. That's actually a great thing that happened, but my momma still wants to find out what went wrong." Yemei said, in a small flash of light, Yemei changed form from a regular human girl to a little filly that's also part wolf with the added appendages and fluff of added fur.
Apple Bloom was quite shocked on Yemei's new form, but was happy on the inside that she didn't have a cutie mark either. She got a good look at her as she walked around her and saw that she had a bit of a plain color scheme where their were different shades of brown. "Wow, Yemei. You practically look like a little filly." Apple Bloom finally spoke.
"Yeah. I do. And when I put on some socks to hide my paws, I pretty much look like any filly you'd see on the block." She said. "Speaking of, I gotta put them on. Can you wait for a little bit?" Yemei asked.
"Sure. Ah don't mind." She said as she waved her hoof off a little. Yemi only smiled as she quickly galloped up the stairs and to her bedroom to get her socks. Apple Bloom took a seat on the couch as Fluttershy just sat down on the floor. After some time, Fluttershy was the first to break the silence.
"Uhm, Apple Bloom?" She said.
"Yes?" The small filly answered and her attention was on her now.
"Can you promise something?" She asked.
"Of course Fluttershy. What is it?" She replied.
"I...I want you to make sure that Wild Heart will have a good time with you today." She said.
"Wait, Wild Heart?" AB tilted her head.
"That's Yemei's pony name, Wild Heart." Fluttershy simply said.
"Oh! Well don't worry miss Fluttershy. Nuthin' will happen and we will stay clear of the Everfree Forest." Apple Bloom said. "Again, ah'm sorry for lettin' that happen. I should've told her 'bout it before we even started ta play." She added.
"Don't worry Apple Bloom, accidents happen and I know it wasn't all your fault." Fluttershy said as she placed a gentle hoof on the yellow filly's shoulder. Apple Bloom only looked up at her with a small smile on her face.
"I'm ready!" The voice of Wild Heart broke the minute of silence as she came down with the socks, collar and bow on her, as well as her purse that was strapped around her neck and resting on her side. She had a big smile on her face as she couldn't wait to go outside with Apple Bloom and actually talk to her while in public.
Fluttershy of course made sure to let them know of the certain rules that they had to follow while outside, in which the two nodded and affirmation that they would follow them. The yellow pegasus smiled as she decided to take them to the celebration of Applejack's bravery last week when she saved the town by steering a stampede of cows from the town and most likely cause lots of damage in the town. That happened a day after Yemei's transformation.
By the time they got there, a lot of ponies were already there and the three soon found Twilight and the others as they were standing together for the great celebration. Yemei heard from her mother that they set up a party for Applejack and the small filly was a bit excited on how the farm mare would react by this whole thing being dedicated to her.
'I would really be happy about this if it was me.' She thought as she realized that ponies were being quiet as Twilight got up in font of the stage behind a podium. She had a stack of flash cards as she spit them, brought them together, and aligned them as she pulled the first one up.
With a small smile on her face, she began. "Welcome, everypony! Today we are here to honor a pony we can always count on to help in matters great and small." She switched the flash card to another one. "A pony whose contributions to--" She was then interrupted as Rainbow flew in and slammed her hoof on the podium, making the flash cards scatter out of Twilight's magical grasp and started talking.
"Did you see Applejack's slick moves out there? What an athlete. This week she's gonna help me with my new flying trick, and I know it's gonna be so awesome."
Before he could continue, Twilight shoved her off the podium with a hoof. "Exactly. And..." Twilight levitated her notes again, only to lose her concentration as her face was met with the puffy pink mane of Pinkie Pie.
"This week, I get to run Sugarcube Corner for the first time." She randomly stated.
Twilight leaned to the right of Pinkie and pretty much asked what most of the ponies watching was thinking. "What does that have to do with Applejack?"
Pinkie blinked twice before she spoke again. "Oh. Applejack, one of the best bakers ever, is gonna help me. Applejack makes everything great, so free samples for everypony!"
At that, everypony including Wild Heart and Apple Bloom cheered at the announcement. 'I know that me and AB are going to be the first to try those treats!' Wild Heart thought.
Twilight didn't seem all that amused as she pushed Pinkie off the podium and the pink pony was easily knocked down as a puff of dirt showed at her impact to the floor. "Oh-kay, that's great. Now if I could just make a point without being inter--"
That was when Fluttershy shyly approached the podium and lightly tapped the unicorns side. "Twilight?"
"--rupted." Twilight seemed a bit ticked off, but still moved out of the way as Fluttershy was behind the podium now. She dropped the flash cards again as she moved out of the way.
"Twilight, I'm so sorry, but I just wanted to mention that Applejack is also helping me this week with the official bunny census, where we count up all the new baby bunnies that were born this season. She's gonna help gather them using her wonderful herding skills."
As Fluttershy explained her small statement, Twilight seemed to relax a little as she seemed to be thinking of something. But that soon came to a halt as Fluttershy looked over at Twilight as she was saying the last of her announcement. But Twilight was still showing that she was a bit angered that she kept on being cut off by her friends. Fluttershy soon noticed as she slowly moved away and off the stage.
"Anyone else? Anyone?" Everyone was back where they were and they were either looking away or paying attention in silence. "No? Well then, as I was trying to say..." She stopped as she saw the mayor looking at her with a small smile. That was her limit as she threw the flash cards everywhere and groaned as she walked off the stage. "Urgh! Never mind."
Mayor Mare calmly walked behind the podium as she cleared her throat. "And so, with no further ado, it is my privilege to give the prize, Pony of Ponyville Award, to our beloved guest of honor, a pony of the utmost trustworthiness, reliability, and integrity. Ponyville's most capable and dependable friend: Applejack!" She waved a hoof as the curtains were pulled away and the crowd cheered to see...nothing.
Applejack wasn't here.
The crowd immediately went silent as she saw she was missing, but Spike didn't see as he was the only one cheering. "Cool! Way to go Applejack, that was awesome! I mean-- heh." He quickly went silent as he showed a fool of himself.
But the mayor seemed to be the most embarrassed as her ears went down and she cleared her throat.
"Awkward." Spike said out loud but low enough that the mayor didn't seem to notice.
After he said that, they all heard the voice of the guest of honor through the crowd.
"I'm here. I'm here." She let out a yawn and a sigh "Sorry I'm late--whoa--I was just... whoa... Did I get your tail?" While she was walking through the crowd, she sounded like she was bumping into a lot of ponies and even stepped on somepony's tail. She went up the stage and was soon behind the podium with Mayor Mare. But it only lasted for awhile as she pushed the tan mare away. "Miss Mayor. Thank you kindly for this here... award thingy." She let out another yawn as she got out from behind the podium and went to the trophy itself. Wild Heart could tell that she seemed really tired and she was acting like Fluttershy did when she came back from the Everfree; tired and bags under her eyes.
"It's so bright and shiny and," She seemed to be looking at her reflection as she started to laugh a little. "I sure do look funny heh."
Yemei couldn't help but smile at how silly Aj was acting and started going back and forth as the apple mare's reflection did the same.
"Ooo-ooo." Applejack was making some sounds as she kept on moving around to see her reflection on the trophy change. Soon Pinkie was right next to the other earth pony as she too joined in.
"Woo-ooo." Pinkie was doing the same sound with Applejack.
The whole time, Twilight was watching the two, until she noticed that they stopped Woo-ing and were just leaning back and forth in front of the trophy. "Okay. Well, thank you Applejack for saving us from that scary stampede, and always being there for everypony."
Applejack seemed to be done with fooling around as she let out another yawn. "Yeah. I like helping the ponyfolks and" She let out a much longer yawn. "and stuff." Not even a minute and it seemed that she fell asleep while standing on stage. Both Twilight and Pinkie were watching if maybe she'll wake up quickly. Twilight looked away just for a second before Applejack quickly woke up with a shake of her head. "Oh, uh, yeah. Uh, Thanks."
She then grabbed one of the handles of the trophy and started dragging it while she was walking backwards. The sound of scraping medal was heard as the trophy was being dragged. Everypony watched her as she was still dragging the trophy off the stage, through the crowd, and obviously back to her farm. While she was dragging it through the crowd, Twilight was the first to speak.
"Was it just me, or did Applejack seem a little--"
"Tired?" Rainbow Dash tried to finish.
"Dizzy?" Fluttershy spoke next.
"Messy?" Rariry said, making the others look at her with a raised eyebrow. "Well, did you see her mane?" She said, looking at Rainbow.
Pinkie did her signature bounce walking as she was right next to Twilight. "She seemed fine to me." She then went on with making the same sound that she and Applejack were making earlier.
"Hmm." Twilight hummed as she cast another glance at the small orange speck that was the tired farm pony.
Wild Heart looked at Apple Bloom for an answer she may have. "Well, she might be tired cause she's working on applebuck season by herself cause Big Mac can't buck anymore cause of his injury." She said.
"Do you think we could help her?" Wild Heart asked.
"Ah don't think so. She seemed pretty determined to do the whole harvest by herself." The farm filly replied. "Either way, why don't we see Rainbow Dash do a few tricks fer us?" She asked with a smile. "Ah can't wait to see what my big sis is gonna do to help Rainbow."
"I guess we could watch for a little while." Wild Heart smiled.
"Race ya there!" Apple Bloom quickly shouted as she started running to where the blue pegasus left after awhile.
~
To say the least, it wasn't as fun as they thought it'd be. Rainbow did a few tricks for them, but not for long since she said that she wanted to be ready to do this amazing trick that she needs Aj's help with. When the two fillies asked what, she simply said she'll explain when Applejack comes. All they could do was figure out what the trick was with a large see-saw and a large platform that was a meter or two off the ground.
By now, Rainbow seemed to get a bit impatient as she was tapping her hoof on a fence post she was standing on. Wild Heart was about to question how she's able to balance on it, but she saw Applejack galloping over and decided to forget about asking. 'It might be a pegasus thing.' She thought.
Rainbow was quick to notice as she still had her impatient look on her face. "There you are."
Applejack's mane and tail seemed a bit disheveled as she let out a loud yawn. "I'm a mite sorry, Rainbow. I was busy applebuckin' and I guess ah, I closed my eyes for a second and, when I woke up, I was late. Now, what's this new trick a' yours?"
Rainbow smiled a little as it seemed she understood her situation. Bit she quickly pointed a hoof at the see-saw and large platform that was both made out of wood. "See this contraption?"
"Uh... Yeah."
"Well, I'm gonna stand on one end, then you're gonna jump down from that platform, launching me into the air faster than I can take off on my own. Once I'm in the air, I'm gonna do some amazing flips and spins that are sure to impress the Wonderbolts." Rainbow explained as she seemed to be giddy with excitement, but Applejack thought otherwise.
"Isn't that a mite dangerous?" She asked, still looking at the contraption.
"Pfft, Heh, not for a pony who can fly." Rainbow answered as she hovered in front of her before she flew off to get ready on the see-saw.
Applejack only smiled as her pegasus friend flew over her. "Well, all right-y then." She said as she started climbing up the wooden tower.
"This is gonna be great!" Apple Bloom said with a smile as she was just as excited as Rainbow. Wild Heart thought differently.
'Even if this does work, wouldn't the impact hurt Applejack?' She thought, not wanting to ask out loud and maybe stop all this from happening.
Soon, Applejack was atop of the tower and she started looking down at the other side of the see-saw that had a red X on it. It was a bit blurry cause of her tired eyes. "Oh my."
Rainbow looked up at her with a smile as it seemed she was the one that gives the signal for Applejack to drop. "Ready? One... two... THREE!"
Applejack jumped off, but missed the mark as she crashed into the dirt floor beside it. Both Wild Heart and Apple Bloom winced, not wanting to know the pain the orange mare was feeling. Rainbow Dash went off the plank as she walked over to Applejack that was still on the floor.
"Umm... maybe I wasn't clear. You're supposed to land on the other end." While she was talking, Applejack was getting up, but it seemed that her muzzle was a bit stuck on the floor. Her muzzle quickly popped out of the ground and her eyes were spinning at the hard impact.
"Got it." She said.
"Are you sure you want to try again?" Wild Heart asked.
"Don't you worry a bit Apple Heart. Ah'll be fine." Applejack roughly petted the wolf pony as her mane was ruffled a little.
After that, every time Applejack jumped, she would miss it and hit the floor. After the fourth time, Applejack got up and Rainbow started to question Applejack's strange behavior. "Applejack, what the hay is going on? I mean, I thought I was working with Ponyville's best athlete!"
Applejack started shaking her head as it seemed she was trying to stay awake. "You are. I'm okay. Really. I-I have an idea. Watch this." Applejack then reached over to the other side of the see-saw that was still in the air. With the strength she still had, she pushed the plank down to touch the ground, climbing onto the other side of the see-saw and making Rainbow go up on her side of the plank. Rainbow seemed the least amused "Ta da!" Applejack soon noticed the angry glare that Rainbow was giving her. "Oh... Maybe not. Okay, one more try. I'm sure to get it this time." Applejack got off the plank as her weight was off and the side Rainbow was on quickly went down, making the blue pegasus loose her balance and fall off her hooves with a "ugh!"
Rainbow was a bit dizzy as she didn't get up for awhile and Applejack was on the platform before she could regain focus. Applejack was squinting down at the mark on the see-saw as she seemed to got a clearer sight of the mark she was supposed to land. She chuckled a little. "Here I go!" She went back a little before the two fillies and one pegasus saw her jump off.
Rainbow's eyes shrunk down to pinpricks as she waved her front hooves frantically. "Wait," But it was too late as Applejack hit the mark and Rainbow was catapulted into the air. "Applejaaaaack!" Her voice faded as she only got farther away from the group of ponies left back.
The two earth fillies watched in shock as they saw the rainbow streak of the blue pegasus' mane trail behind her as she was soon a speck in the sky.
"You're welcome!" Applejack shouted back as she turned away and was making her way back to the apple farm.
After some time passed, Apple Bloom was the first to snap out of her shocked state. "D-do you think she'll be okay?" She asked the wolf-filly.
"She did say that it won't be dangerous for her. Maybe she'll focus in the air and try to stop herself from crashing." Wild Heart answered.
"Ah guess. Wait, if Applejack is gonna be like this all day, she might ruin the treats her and Pinkie are gonna make!" Apple Bloom quickly realized.
"And mommy's bunny census!" Wild Heart added.
"We gotta warn them!" Apple Bloom said.
"Yeah! You go tell Pinkie while I tell my mommy." Wild Heart said.
They both nodded as they went their separate ways to do their part on their little mission.
~
After some time, the two met up by the fountain and they both had a sad look on their faces.
"Ah'm guessing it didn't go well with Fluttershy." Apple Bloom said, sounding as if it was a question.
"Same?" Wild Heart asked, in which they both nodded at the same time.
"Pinkie just went on 'bout how awesome mah sister is and that she'll never ruin a good dish." Apple Bloom explained.
"And mommy just thought I was a bit loopy after seeing what Applejack did and said it was just my imagination going wild." Wild Heart did the same.
They both sighed as they knew the town was going to be in ruins by how tired Applejack has been.
"Do you want to just hang out in the park?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Sure." Wild Heart showed a small smile. "Race ya!" She quickly shouted as she started running off, Apple Bloom having to take a while to start running as well.
"No fair!" Apple Bloom shouted as she started to catch up with the brown filly.
~
Once they arrived at the park, the ran to the highest hill in the park and stopped. They stopped running and were now busy catching their breaths. Wild Heart was leaning against the tree atop of the hill while Apple Bloom just went limp on the floor and was laying down on her side.
After some time, Wild Heart was the first to speak. "I...I beat ya." She said with a smile.
"Th...that's cause ya got a head start." Apple Bloom replied.
"You did that when we were racing to see Rainbow's stunt." Wild Heart said as she walked over to her and sat down next to where Apple Bloom was laying down.
"That is true..." Apple Bloom said as she slowly got up into a sitting position.
When some silence went over the two again as they looked at the other fillies and colts playing in the park, Apple Bloom broke the silence instead. "So, Wild Heart." She started, in which she got the wolf-filly's attention. "How are ya taken' a likin' to being a pony?" She asked.
"It's alright. Not any different except that I can talk in public without trying to not catch anypony else's attention." She answered. "Why do you ask?"
"Oh, nothing really." The apple filly couldn't help but look back at Wild Heart's bare flank. "Ah can see that yer a blank flank too." She smiled a little.
"A blank what?" Wild was a bit confused on that.
"Ya know. A blank flank. A pony who doesn't have a cutie mark yet." She explained. "Ah know it might be wrong of me to say, but ah'm kinda happy that ya don't have a cutie mark yet. Only me and mah friend Twist don't have our cutie marks in mah class."
"You mean that place you go to sometimes have other ponies as well?" Wild asked.
"Yeah. It's called a school. And fillies and colts around mah age go there and learn a lot of things. Like math, equis, science and history." Apple Bloom said. "And by how ya look, ah think you can fit right in if ya join."
"That would be really awesome. I could learn so many things, and I can hang out with you and that other friend of yours." Wild smiled as she was now gitty with excitement as she wanted to go to school and meet all the ponies around her age and make so many friends.
"That would be awesome. Maybe you can make yer mom join the class. It'll be so much fun with another friend." Apple Bloom smiled just as big as Wild Heart.
But before they could even get up and go on their next mission, they heard the shout of Rainbow Dash's voice.
"STAMPEDE!"
As soon as she said that, she saw the many mares, stallions and fillies running to their homes, leaving Apple Bloom and Wild Heart the only ones left in the park. They heard another mare in the crowd shout the same thing and both Apple Bloom and Wild Heart saw a stampede of bunnies run through the town. The ran around an earth pony mare that seemed to have fainted after she saw the large group of bunnies.
It was finished before it even started as the two fillies saw the bunnies start eating gardens, potted plants and baskets of fruits and veggies. Wild Heart saw her mother soon catch up with the crowd of bunnies. Twilight seemed to come at the same time when the results of the stampede was showing. Twilight let out a surprise gasp as she saw three mares on the floor.
"The horror, the horror." A tan earth pony with two-tone red mane and tail said. Wild remembered that her names was Rose.
"It was awful." A pink mare with yellow mane and tail, who her name was Lily Valley.
"A disaster. A horrible, horrible disaster." The last mare on the floor who was a different shade of pink with green mane and tail instead, her name being Daisy.
Twilight looked at the town, not seeing any problems with no destruction at all.
"I don't get it." Twilight said, looking rather confused.
Lily Valley was the first off the ground as she saw her garden that was now nothing but trampled flowers and stubs of what used to be other flowers that were eaten. "Our gardens, destroyed."
"Every last flower, devoured." Rose said as she was in front of a bunch of potted plants that were nothing but stems and leaves.
"By... by... THEM!" Daisy pointed a hoof by the crowd of bunnies that were either roaming around or still eating flowers or food. It seems that Fluttershy was't doing such a good job.
"Oh my. Oh... Please stop, little bunnies. Oh no! Please, let's go home. Oh my goodness." Fluttershy was trying to make them go back to the field in which they lived in.
Wild Heart quickly ran over to her mother. "Momma, what happened?" She asked.
"Oh, Ye-I mean, Wild Heart, I thought that Applejack would make this bunny census a bit easier, but it seems that she caused more trouble then when you tried to help. N-not that Applejack is bad at d-doing her job or anything." Fluttershy explained.
"Do you...do you think I could help this time?" Wild asked.
"Well, I guess they won't be scared of you now that your a pony. I guess you can help out." Fluttershy said.
"All right. Enough is enough." Twilight said as she started walking off to Applejack's farm.
~
Wild Heart wiped her brow as she, Fluttershy and Apple Bloom finished herding the bunnies back to the field in which there homes were, the apple filly wanting to help out after Wild Heart asked to.
"Thank you so much Yemei and Apple Bloom." Fluttershy said, seeing as they were alone and she could call Wild Heart by her real name.
"It was no trouble momma, I had fun herding the bunnies." Wild Heart said.
"Me too. And maybe I got a bunny herding cutie mark." Apple Bloom turned her head to see that their was no cutie mark on her flank yet. Her ears went down as she was upset that she was still a blank flank.
"It's okay Apple Bloom, maybe your cutie mark might be even better then bunny herding." Wild Heart said.
"Yeah, ah guess so. So Yemei, are ya gonna tell yer mom about...ya know." She nudge the brown filly a little before she remembered.
"Oh yeah!" Wild Heart tugged her mother's mane lightly to get her attention. "Momma? Can I go to the same school Apple Bloom is in?" She asked.
"Sc-school? Well, I, uhm, don't you like being taught things with me?" She asked in response.
"I do momma, but I want to meet more ponies, make some friends my age. Can't I make more friends?" She said.
"Of course you can, I'm just a bit worried is all. I mean, some ponies aren't as nice as I am." She said, remembering how she was bullied in flight school cause she couldn't fly properly.
"It's okay mommy, I know that if anypony tries to be mean to me, I can just ignore them, or I can just be nice to them and they'll just be bad about being mean to a nice pony." Wild Heart said.
"I...I just have to think about it." Fluttershy said.
"Oh, okay." Wild's ears went down as she looked upset that she didn't get a yes for an answer.
Before Fluttershy could say anything else, Rainbow Dash flew in. "Hey Flutters, we gotta help Applejack with applebuck season. Come on!" And as soon as she came, she left.
"I...I guess I have to go now. If I don't come home before the sun goes down, just wait in the cottage for me." Fluttershy said, only to get a small not from her daughter, the small filly's head pointing down at the ground. Fluttershy sighed, right before she started flying off to Applejack's farm.
"It's okay Wild Heart. Ah bet that miss Fluttershy will tell her friends and they might convince her to come to mah school." Apple Bloom said as she rubbed the wolf-pony's back.
"Yeah. I guess that might happen." Wild Heart kicked a small pebble as she thought that she'll never be able to go to any school cause of her mother.