Trixie found herself in Sweet Apple Acres, apple bucking again. Even though she had a professional career as a birthday entertainer and a family, she still enjoyed the smell of fresh apples in the morning. She loved to help her friends. She offered Applejack to work for free, as favors, but the farmer pony refused. Ah wouldn’t feel right. She said. Ah’m takin’ yer time. Time you could be usin’ to be with Rarity and Clementine. At least allow me to give you a little compensation for yer hard work. And so they did. They arranged a new payment. Lower than before, just enough to not make Applejack feel guilty.
Trixie was about to finish, when she received visits. After filling one of the last buckets of the day, she removed the sweat from her face, when a glass of cold apple juice appeared right next to her. “Oh, thanks, Applejack.”
“The name’s Rarity, my darling.”
Trixie’s eyes widened and looked at her side to find her wife smiling at her, while Clementine was sleeping in his saddlebag. “Sweetheart!” The magician smiled. “What a pleasant surprise. What are you doing here?”
“Can’t a lady visit her love without being questioned?” Rarity faked to be upset.
“I-I didn’t mean that. It’s just… aren’t you going to open your boutique?”
“Our boutique, and no. There aren’t many customers at this time of the year, so, I decided to take a day off. I suggested Clementine to visit you, and he was excited, but our cute little son fell asleep on the way.”
“Aww, well, I’m almost done. Maybe we can do something.”
“I was hoping you would say that.” Rarity said before kissing one of Trixie’s cheek.
“Sweetheart, I have sweat all over my body…”
“I don’t care…” Rarity said as she shook her head with a smile.
Trixie blushed and returned the smile, before continuing with her work.
Once done, Rarity and Trixie walked around the trees, looking for Applejack.
“She should be around.” Trixie commented as they walked. “She told me she would take a quick break, and that was almost half hour ago.”
“Maybe she’s inside, baking apple pies.” Rarity spoke.
“Maybe… let’s go and see.”
As they were approaching to the house, the doors from the barn opened. A certain Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane peeked. Upon seeing that two of her friends were nearby, she closed the door. But it was too late. She was seen.
“Rainbow Dash?” Rarity was the one who saw her.
“Where?” Trixie instantly looked above.
“There.” The fashionista said as she pointed towards the barn. Both Rarity and Trixie went to investigate. They opened the doors, and closed it immediately. Both of their faces turned red.
“WH-Where they…?” Rarity could barely speak. Before Trixie could speak, the doors of the barn opened again, this time Applejack walked out, her hair was a mess, her Stetson was upside down, and her face was red.
“It’s not what you think! We were just…”
“Making out.” Rainbow Dash casually said as she walked out. Just like Applejack, her hair was a mess.
“Ah prefer the term ‘kissing’.” The farmer pony said, looking straight at her wife.
“We were doing more than that.” Rainbow Dash smirked.
“Girls, girls…!” Trixie stopped the argument before it got worse. “No need to explain. We’re all grownups here… Except for Clementine Jr.”
“What Ah’m tryin’ to say…” Applejack said, finally calming down. “Is that we were not… you know.”
“Making love.” Rainbow Dash said, still casually.
“Could you please, just…” Applejack turned her head again to face Rainbow Dash.
“What’s wrong with that?” The cyan Pegasus was half confused, half angry.
“There’s a foal right there!” Applejack yelled in whispers while pointing at a sleepy Clementine.
“He’s asleep!” Rainbow Dash whispered yelled back. “Plus, I didn’t say se-”
“I think I better stop you there, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity was the one to speak. She sounded slightly angry.
Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked down, ashamed. “We’re sorry…” the blonde mare spoke. “B-But ah’m honest, we were just kissing, that’s all.”
“We believe you, Applejack.” Trixie said, smiling. “Don’t be ashamed, I’m glad to see that love is still in the air for you two.”
Applejack blushed and looked away while Rainbow Dash smirked.
“I’m impossible to hate. Applejack is lost in my awesomeness.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Applejack joked.
“Hey! Take that back!” The cyan Pegasus faced her wife.
“Make me!” The farmer pony said before trotting away.
“Oh, I’ll make you, alright!” Rainbow Dash proudly exclaimed before chasing Applejack, leaving Rarity, Trixie and a still sleeping Clementine alone and with their jaws dropped.
“Umm…” Trixie was speechless. She looked at her wife, hoping she would have an answer.
“Th-That’s how they show their love. Even before they started to date, they always did these sort of things…”
“Okay then.” Trixie cleared her throat. “Since they’re gone, what should we do?”
“Well…” Before Rarity could answer, somepony else did it for her.
“Hey, look! It’s my big sis and sister in-law with my nephew!”
Both grown mares looked behind and they found Sweetie Belle, alongside her friends Scootaloo and Apple Bloom.
“Hey there, girls!” Trixie greeted. “What are you doing?”
“We were just hanging out in the old tree house.” Scootaloo replied.
“So many good memories in there.” Apple Bloom said, feeling nostalgic.
“Were you here to visit Applejack and Rainbow Dash?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Yes, but they… well.”
“Oh, sis, not again…” Apple Bloom said as she shook her head and with her hoof on her face.
“We haven’t hanged out with them for a while and we were hoping to do it now. Maybe next time.” Rarity said. “I didn’t want to waste my day off.”
“We’ll be going now. It was nice to see you, girls.” Trixie said before she and Rarity turned to the opposite direction and stared walking away.
“Wait!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. She trotted to her family, who turned to see the teen mare. “We can help!”
“You can help with what?” Rarity asked, confused.
“We can help with what?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Yeah, what are you planning, Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo wondered.
“Well, my sis took the day off, we can help her to fully enjoy it.” Sweetie Belle explained.
“How, exactly?” Apple Bloom asked.
“We’ll take care of my nephew so she can spend the day with Trixie!”
“Are you serious?!” Scootaloo was shocked.
“Sweetie, dear, I know are trying to be nice, but, are you sure about this?” Rarity asked. She was worried.
“Yes! Why not? I did look after him before.”
“Yes, but for four hours the most. You’re going to look after him the entire day. Do you think that you’re ready?”
“We will never know unless you give me the chance.”
Rarity looked at Trixie, unsure of what to do.“What do you think, Trixie-boo?”
“I believe Sweetie Belle is mature enough, besides, she won’t be alone. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo are with them, plus, Applejack and Rainbow Dash are here.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Rarity said before looking at her sister again. “Alright, you’ll look after Clementine…”
“Yay!” Sweetie Belle cheered before being stopped by her sister.
“But you must promise me that you’ll stay here, in the farm, and find an adult if you need one, understood?”
“Yes, Rarity. I promise we won’t leave.”
“Okay, then.” Rarity said before giving the Cutie Mark Crusaders her son. “Take good care of him.”
“We will, sis, don’t worry.” Sweetie Belle said with a smile.
Rarity returned the smile and gave the teen mares the saddlebag she was carrying. “You should have everything you need here. If you need something else, send someone to our house to get it. We’ll come to pick him up by sunset.”
“Okay.” Scootaloo replied.
Rarity kissed Clementine’s forehead and Trixie patted his head before walking away.
“Were shall we go, my lady?” Their voices could be heard at the distance.
“We haven’t been in Canterlot for a while. Maybe we can get…” Their voices could no longer be heard after they walked away.
“Well done, Sweetie Belle. We now have to take care of a foal all day.” Scootaloo complained as soon as the mares left.
“Come on, Scootaloo. It won’t be so bad.” Apple Bloom spoke. “Mah sister will help us.It can’t be so bad.”
15 minutes later
Clementine was crying since he woke up, which was ten minutes ago.
Scootaloo was covering her ears and Sweetie Belle was trying to cradle Clementine with her forelegs. Apple Bloom went to look for her sister five minutes ago. “Really, Sweetie Belle, what a great idea you had…” Scootaloo said in an angry manner,
“At least try to help! All you have done the past fifteen minutes is complain!” Sweetie Belle was annoyed by her friend’s behavior.
“What am I supposed to do?! Just the same things you’re trying now!”
“You could at least offer your assistance!”
“Don’t yell at me, you’re the one who brought us into this mess!”
“I’m yelling because you’re not being supportive at all, and, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m carrying a crying foal!” The argument only caused Clementine to cry more and louder.
“Both of you, stop!”
Both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo stopped arguing and slowly looked to where the voice came from. They saw an angry Applejack glaring at them. Next to her, were Rainbow Dash, also looking angry, and Apple Bloom, who was worried. She just saw two of her closest friends having a heated argument. Clementine was still crying.
“Arguing won’t make Clementine stop crying, girls.” Rainbow Dash said.
“Sweetie Belle, give me Clementine.” Applejack said with seriousness. Sweetie Belle didn’t hesitate and quickly passed the foal to the farmer pony. “We’re goin’ to the house and try to feed him.”
During the way back to the house, Scootaloo avoided looking at Sweetie Belle, while the later kept staring at the ground. Apple Bloom was walking in front of them, sad. Rainbow Dash, as usual, used her wings to move. Silence ruled during the way back to the farm. Once they arrived, Sweetie Belle gave Applejack Clementine’s bottle. The farmer pony put the bottle in boiled water. Fortunately, Clementine was calming down. He was still sobbing, but he stopped crying.
“Umm… sis…” Apple Bloom tried to talk, but her sister didn’t listen.
“Apple Bloom… you did nothin’ wrong. Go to yer room. We need to have a word with yer friends.”
Apple Bloom nodded and trotted out of the room. Once she was gone, Sweetie Belle spoke.
“Are we in trouble…?”
“Sweetie Belle. Foals don’t like arguments. It makes them cry. You two should have kept yer voices down.”
“Why were you two arguing, anyway?” Rainbow Dash inquired.
“She offered us to look after the foal without consulting us. We’re stuck with him all day!”
“I was trying to be nice! I didn’t want my sister miss her free day.”
“Where did Rarity and Trixie go?” Applejack asked.
“They’re in Canterlot.” Sweetie Belle was the one to reply. “They’ll come back by sunset.”
“Scootaloo…” The young mare in question quickly moved her head to look at her idol, however, her surrogate sister didn’t look happy at all. “You shouldn’t have yelled at Sweetie Belle. You should have supported her decision, not question it.”
“B-But… I was here to have fun. Looking after a foal isn’t my idea of fun!”
“It was the right thing to do!” Rainbow Dash continued. “You have to stand up for your friends, be by their side, you must never give them your back.”
Scootaloo opened her mouth to keep arguing, but no words came. Rainbow Dash was right. She should have been supportive to her friend. “I-I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle…”
“You really hurt my feelings, Scootaloo…” Sweetie Belle still couldn’t look at her friend.
“I know… it wasn’t nice of me… I thought about myself instead of you or Rarity and Trixie… I hope you forgive me…”
Sweetie Belle remained silent for some moments. The only sound heard was their breathing and the feeding bottle in the pot. After thinking, Sweetie Belle turned, smiled at Scootaloo and hugged her. “Of course I forgive you, Scootaloo.”
“Th-Thank you…” Scootaloo smiled and hugged her friend back.
“Alright, alright, this got too cheesy for my taste.” Rainbow Dash said as she covered her eyes. “AJ, save the situation!”
“Alrigh’, everypony! The bottle is ready. Do you want to feed Clementine, Sweetie Belle?”
The young mare in question raised her hoof to take the bottle, but Scootaloo spoke.
“Wait! Let me…”
Applejack chuckled. “Sure, sugarcube.” She said as she gave the bottle to Scootaloo.
The orange Pegasus took the feeding bottle and sat. Sweetie Belle gave Clementine to her friend. Scootaloo put the bottle close to Clementine’s mouth and immediately opened it. “Oh, so you WERE hungry.” Clementine happily drank the formula while everypony watched him. Never would Clementine be alone. Never. He was surrounded by ponies who loved and cared about him. He would always have someone or somepony to count on. Always.