(SiC) Part 8 - They Will Know By Our Love

by Brian Jacko

Prayer and Pizza

Twilight Sparkle and her friends stepped inside and was surprised to see that no pony was currently here reading books.

Spike was standing on a ladder and was busy putting books back up on the shelf. He noticed the girls and said, "Hey, Twi. Did you come back with flanks of steel like Applejack?"

Twilight face hoofed and said, "No, and now might not be a good time to talk about Applejack's flanks, Spike."

Spike put the last book back in it's proper place and hopped off of the ladder. "So, I bet that you girls are hungry and Applejack wants to eat like ten boxes of pizza again, right?"

"He can read minds, Twi?" Applejack asked.

"Um, I think it's pretty obvious that everypony in town knows that you eat like a starving horse, Applejack. It's not really a secret," Twilight answered. Twilight looked at Spike and said, "Hey Spike can you take an order?"

Spike brought out a quill and a scroll, "So what will it be tonight? Oriental, Pizza, or something new?"

"We're going to have pizza again. I think that we're going to need to order a lot more food today. I haven't worked my body this hard since I can't even remember! Does everypony want at least one box of pizza? I'm going to order an entire box for myself."

"I'll just have half a pie, if anypony wants to share with me," Fluttershy said.

"I'll share with you, Fluttershy. I am a lady and must watch the calorie intake also," Rarity said.

"Ok, so that's five boxes of pizza so far," Twilight said and then turned to Applejack. "Oh, boy. How many boxes of pizza do you want, Applejack?"

"Ten! At least ten!" Applejack said. "And I want organic Gala apples on the pie too!"

"Ok, I really don't understand where you put it all. I almost feel like this is borderline gluttony, like the time when Pinkie Pie went on a sugary eating spree, but we need a total of fifteen boxes of pizza and ten of them with organic Gala apples. Is that all girls?"

"I want eggplant and basil on mine!" Rainbow Dash said. "Oh, and I think I want two boxes of pizza instead of one."

"Do you want any pizza, Spike?" Twilight asked.

"And two pies for Rainbow dash with eggplant and basil," Spike said. "Ok! I got it all, and no, I already ate dinner. I'm good, thanks. I'll send it to your favorite pizza shop." Spike used his magic dragon breath and sent the order to the pizza shop for delivery.

Twilight Sparkle pulled out six Bibles and placed one on each cushion on the floor. She turned to Spike and asked, "Spike? Would you like me to bring out another Bible so that you can join us and read?"

"Nah," Spike said. "I still have to clean up a bit around here. I can hear you anyway and I'll be listening to your discussions."

Everypony sat down on a cushion and then jolted up when they heard a very loud growling sound coming from a certain pony's belly.

"Applejack? It sounded like a bomb just went off inside your belly? My goodness. No wonder you ordered so much pizza," Twilight said.

Applejack put her two front hooves on her belly and said, "I reckon that Granny Smith told me that I had the appetite of a full grown stallion when I was just a newborn foal and ate a bunch of apple fritters."

"That doesn't surprise me one bit, Applejack," Twilight said as she opened up her Bible.

Rainbow Dash was thinking about that incident with those two bullies earlier today and said, "Hey, Twi. I think that I should tell you this. There were two really cruel mares at the gym and I'm really not one to complain or be scared, but they really seemed like they were trying to physically harm me and they did nothing but insult me."

"One had an emerald green colored coat and the other one had an orange colored coat, right?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Rainbow asked.

"I thought I saw them giving you a hard time while you were on one of the machines earlier. You should have really reported them at the front desk if they were being mean, especially if you feel that they were trying to physically harm you in any way," Twilight said. "What did they say to you or do that made you feel like they wanted to hurt you?"

"Well, I found out that the emerald colored one was Soarin's ex and she was rubbing it in my face that she was the first one to take his virginity and she said that my Christian values are stupid. They are both training to become Wonderbolts like me and they tried to insult God and tell me that He wasn't real. That orange one tried to drop a heavy free weight on my head, but it somehow just missed me when I bent over to pick up the weight pin that I had accidently dropped. They told me to watch my back too. I'm a little scared girls, but I think that I did a good job about keeping my cool though. I really think that God held my rage back because I just wanted to tear them apart. Especially that emerald colored one."

Twilight Sparkle put her front hoof to her mouth in shock. "Oh my goodness, Rainbow Dash. You should have contacted the police or at least the employee at the front desk. They could have killed you!"

"I know. They are an incredibly jealous couple it seems. They don't want me to succeed in becoming a Wonderbolt," Rainbow said.

Twilight Sparkle flipped through some pages in her Bible and found the verse that she was looking for. "But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice."

"What's the best thing we can do for them?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Pray for them and show them love, but I'd stay far away from them and out of harm's way if they are acting like that. The world will know that we are Christians by our love and the Bible says to show compassion and love for our enemies. By showing them love, you will heap burning coals on their heads, and the Lord will reward you."

"What exactly is love, Twi, and what does it look like?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight Sparkle flipped the pages of her Bible open to the book of Corinthians. "The Bible says that love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

"Why are ponies so against God and His children?" Rainbow asked.

"The Bible says that in the end times, mockers will come to mock and that in the end times, there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions," Twilight answered.

"It's really kind of hard to love your haters," Rainbow said.

"We need to pray for our haters, Rainbow. Let's pray right now," Twilight suggested.

Each pony bowed their heads and closed their eyes.

"Dear Father God," Twilight said. "We come before You with great concern about two ponies who are in deep need of Your love. We pray for hearts to be changed no matter how hateful and unrepentant they may be. We pray that You may use Rainbow Dash to somehow show them Your unfailing love. I thank You for holding back Rainbow Dash's anger. I would be angry in her situation as well, but we need to promote love and peace to even the most hostile ponies. We pray that You may take Rainbow's fears out of her mind so that she may go about her mission that You have already written out in Your will for her. We also pray that we may enjoy each other's company and have a great feast tonight. Thank You for blessing us and providing for our every need. In Jesus's name we pray, amen."

"Amen," everypony else said.

Just as they said amen, the door bell rang and Spike rushed over to get it. The pizza pony stood there with what seemed like a tower of pizza boxes. He was a dark blue Pegasus pony with a yellow colored mane and tail. He also had a pizza delivery case as his cutie mark.

"Is this the right address?" the pizza pony asked. "I have an order for fifteen boxes of organic whole wheat pizza and ten of them topped with organic gala apples?"

"That's us," Spike said.

"That will be two hundred bits," the pizza pony said as he placed the boxes of pizza next to Spike inside the library.

Twilight Sparkle got out of her seat and walked over to the door. She summoned a pay check and a quill with her magic and then looked back at Applejack, "My goodness, A.J. I'll definitely need you girls to pay me back on this. Applejack, how is it that Sweet Apple Acres can afford to stay in business the way you eat? It's almost like you have a tape worm stuck in your tummy." Twilight Sparkle leaned the check against her Bible and wrote out the payment with a tip for the pizza pony.

Fluttershy perked up and said, "Tommy the tape worm!"

Everypony stared at Fluttershy with great concern.

"Please don't tell me that ya have a pet tape worm, Fluttershy," Applejack said. "I reckon that would be mighty weird. Wasn't it bad enough that ya had a pack rat ruin your life and we had to rebuild yer cottage after ya burned yer cottage down? Parasites and parasprites do yer animal critter friends no good just like any other parasite, or parasprite."

"I, um, sometimes, they are fascinating to study......from a distance," the yellow mare said.

"Stay away from him, Fluttershy! The last thing we need is endin' up havin' to make you drink some kind of poison to get rid of the lil' rascal if he ever gets inside yer body."

Fluttershy bowed her head low and said, "Well, he does ask to enter my body often so that he can be happy and sometimes I stand in the lake so that my little leech buddies can swim up to me and attach onto my belly. They need to be fed too. Kindness is what counts, right? They all have feelings and..."

Applejack stomped her front hoof on the floor and cut her off. "Don't do it, Fluttershy! Dern things are no good no matter how hard parasites try to worm their way into yer hearts and stomachs! I keep my lil' dog, Winona away from the woods or tall grassy areas. The Holy Spirit should be the only thing that ya should care 'bout enterin' yer body."

"And your husband too, if you do end up getting married," Rainbow Dash added.

Applejack was so startled by Rainbow's words that she jolted upwards. "Gah! Rainbow Dash that was totally uncalled fer, and Fluttershy is sort of datin' my big brother! Don't ya start bein' funny with me in other ways now!"

Rainbow Dash shrugged and said, "I thought that we were all big girls here and could discuss mature topics."

"Um, what are you all talking about in there, if you don't mind me asking?" The pizza pony asked.

"Huh!?" Twilight Sparkle turned back to him. "Oh my goodness! I am so sorry! I was listening to what they were saying and forgot about you." Twilight Sparkle shook her head quickly as if all of the discussion that she had just heard would magically fall out of her ears. "Never mind what they are discussing. Here is your check!" Twilight Sparkle levitated the check into his pizza delivery bag and waved good bye with an awkward smile. "Take care! I'll see you again soon, I'm sure!" She quickly closed the door and then leaned back against it and was breathing heavily.

"That was kind of awkward," Spike said.

"It sure was!" Twilight said as she backed away from the door. Twilight Sparkle used her magic and placed the boxes down in front of the ponies. "One box for Fluttershy and Rarity. One box for me. One box for Pinkie Pie. Two boxes for Rainbow Dash and....Lord have mercy!" Twilight Sparkle crossed her chest with her front hoof. "Ten boxes of pizza for Applejack!" Twilight looked down at Spike and asked, "Spike, would you mind getting us some drinks?"

"Right away!" Spike said.

"Yee-haw! Let's dig in!" Applejack cried out.

"Wait!" Twilight Sparkle said. She used her magic and levitated several towels over for her friend. She placed them under the boxes of pizza and around Applejack. She then tried to use her magic to lift up Applejack in the air. "Mmmmph! Hnnnnnng!" Twilight's face was scrunched up and she was desperately trying to lift Applejack up in the air so that she could put a towel under her too.

Applejack looked down and noticed that her hooves were glowing with Twilight's magic. "Twi, what are ya tryin' to do to me? Yer not gonna try to turn me into a toad or somethin', are ya?"

"Wow! Applejack as a toad?" Pinkie Pie asked as she watched Twilight struggle. "That would be toadally cool!"

Twilight Sparkle yanked her head upwards as if it give it one last effort, but it was no use. The magic around Applejack's hooves and Twilight Sparkle's horn died down. Twilight Sparkle looked like she had strained herself. "I was just trying to pick you up with my magic. I thought that my magic was strong enough, but apparently not."

Applejack gave her a disturbed look as she took the towel and put it over the spot where she would be sitting. "Ya couldn't have just asked me to get up and move?"

"It was for science," Twilight replied.

"But with enough faith, yer supposed to be able to move mountains," Applejack said.

"You're about as heavy as one, Applejack," Twilight said. "My experiment was really like trying to move the mountains."

Applejack shrugged. "Maybe ya need to work on yer faith then." Applejack opened up the box and drove her face inside. Red sauce splattered about the towels and it reminded Rainbow Dash of the blood that flew off of the video game characters from all of the shooting and fighting games that she played with her boyfriend, Soarin'. "OM-NOM-NOM-NOM!" Applejack feasted on the pizza pie as if she were some kind of starving wolf devouring its prey. Crumbs went flying throughout the room.

Rarity noticed an umbrella near her and used her magic to levitate it over and opened it up. She positioned it so that it would be facing Applejack and she shielded herself from any incoming barrages of crusty crumbs that went flying about.

Twilight Sparkle watched Applejack with a look of horror on her face. "Applejack does some major splash damage with her pizza, doesn't she? Spike, would you please vacuum the library when she's done?"

Spike sighed and said, "I had just vacuumed the entire library while all of you were out. Fine, I guess I can vacuum it once more."

Rainbow Dash opened up her box and took out a slice of her pizza. "Wow, you could really put Soarin' to shame in an eating contest, A.J."

Applejack picked her head out of the box. She was already finished with her first box of pizza. Her face was covered with red sauce and there were bread crumbs stuck to her face in such a way that it appeared as if she had some kind of beard. "A hard worker knows how to eat, R.D., and organics taste delicious! As Granny Smith always told me, eat food that rots the fastest, but eat the food before it starts to rot. It's an indication of healthier and more nutritious food!" Applejack felt her face with her front hoof. "Do I have a little food on my face?"

Twilight laughed and said, "A little? Rarity would be horrified if she saw your face right now!"

"And this is why I refuse to even look at Applejack while she's eating," Rarity said in an annoyed sounding tone of voice.

"Well, I have been tryin' to use a napkin instead of wipin' my face with my front leg, but ya don't even appreciate that. Say Twilight, where are the napkins?" Applejack asked as she held her front hoof.

Twilight Sparkle levitated over a towel and placed it in Applejack's front hoof.

"I asked fer a napkin, not a towel," Applejack said.

"Giving you a napkin would be like putting a band aid on a bullet wound. You need a towel."

Everypony except for Rainbow Dash, looked at her with curiosity. "What's a bullet?" They all asked in unison. Rainbow Dash was the only one who knew.

"It's just a fantasy idea," Twilight answered. "It's like some kind of projectile that comes out of a weapon that's intended to make killing other ponies with greater ease."

Applejack finished wiping her face with the towel and said, "Twilight, do we need to be concerned about ya and these fantasy thoughts about how to kill other ponies with greater ease? Yer not conductin' top secret experimental weapons in yer basement, are ya?"

"No! Of course not! I have seen this idea in video games and read about it in books," Twilight said and then took a bite of her pizza. She looked at Rarity who had cut her pizza into tiny little bits with a fork and a knife and was eating each little bit of pizza with a toothpick. She was also wearing ear plugs so that she wouldn't have to listen to Applejack chew with her mouth open. Twilight Sparkle put her front hoof out to the side and spilled over a cup of apple cider that Spike had brought her. "Oh skubala!" Twilight said in anger. Twilight Sparkle then covered her mouth with her two front hooves.

Everypony's ears perked up.

"Twi, what in tar-nations did ya just yell out?" Applejack asked.

"Oh, it was nothing, just nothing at all. Please go back to eating," Twilight said.

Pinkie Pie gasped and started talking as fast as she could. "Twilight Sparkle! Did you just say a very naughty Greek word from the book of Philippians in the Bible that Paul said?"

"Uh, what do you think it means Pinkie Pie?" Twilight asked.

Pinkie Pie took out a megaphone and angrily yelled into it. "You said the word shit, Twilight!"

"How on earth did you know that, Pinkie Pie?" Twilight asked. She was shocked that Pinkie Pie somehow had knew.

Pinkie Pie shrugged and then giggled madly. "It was just a wild guess," she said.

Twilight Sparkle hit the side of her head with her front hoof and said, "I really should know better by now." Twilight Sparkle used her magic to take the megaphone away from Pinkie Pie. "I don' think that it's a good idea to be yelling into megaphones in the library."

Spike came back with another drink for Twilight Sparkle and cleaned up the mess.

The ponies went back to eating and somehow, someway, Applejack had finished all ten of her boxes of pizza before anypony else was able to finish their food. She went around asking if any of her friends were full. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie rejected her. Applejack came over to Twilight and said, "Hey Twi, are ya gonna eat all that? I'm really hungry and I..."

Twilight Sparkle summoned a spray bottle that had freezing cold water in it and sprayed Applejack in the face. "Back! Back, you voracious beast! You had your share! Stop being greedy!"

Applejack backed away from being sprayed with the bottle. "Hey! Cut it out! Ya act like I'm some kind of greedy house cat like Rarity's kitty, Opalescence."

"My little kitty, Opalescence, has better table manners than you, Applejack. She doesn't even go around from pony to pony begging for food. I bet that your dog, Winona has better table manners than you too," Rarity said.

Applejack thought about that comment and said, "Aw shucks, my dog really does have better table manners than me. I can't help that I'm still hungry! I ain't bein' greedy. I'm just bein' honest!"

"Um, Applejack can eat the rest of my pizza if she wants. I don't want to see her go hungry," Fluttershy said.

"No!" Twilight Sparkle yelled out. "Fluttershy, finish your pizza and do not share with Applejack. If she's still hungry, then she can go home and get something else to eat! Applejack, there are ponies who are homeless and starving and you just went through ten boxes of pizza! Think about how blessed you are to even be able to eat like that."

Applejack felt convicted and said, "Aw shucks, I'm sorry girls, but I really am still hungry. I should be more grateful fer what I do have. Food is somethin' that's really important to me and I just love eatin'. I'm sorry girls. I'll just sit back down and reflect on my actions and the poor who can't eat as much as they want to."

"That sounds like a good idea, Applejack," Twilight said. "I can't figure out how you can eat so much, but I'll take your word for it that you're really that hungry. Maybe one day you should try to fast."

"I uh....I feel like I'm fastin' now," Applejack said.

"Oh, dear," Twilight replied. "Some ponies can't fast because of blood sugar problems, but it still might be worth it if you give it a try, unless of course you seriously need to eat all that food for your work on the farm."

Applejack patted her belly with her two front hooves. "It's not like I'm fat or anythin' I'm kind of just solid as a rock."

"Well, if you were overweight, then I would be much more concerned, but you do work hard on the farm and at the gym."

"I just hope that I won't be sore in the mornin' from my work out. I'm worried that it might hinder my performance on the farm."

Pinkie Pie began giggling. "Did you just say that you hoped that you wouldn't become Rainbow Dash's boyfriend in the morning? I sure hope that wouldn't happen either!"

"WHAT!? There ya go again with bein' funny with me! Why would ya even say such a thing?" Applejack cried out.

"You didn't get the joke? You said that you hoped that you wouldn't be sore in the morning. It sounded like you said Soarin'," Pinkie Pie said.

Applejack smacked her lips together in disappointment and said, "You know what? Be quiet!" Applejack shoved one of her empty pizza boxes into Pinkie Pie's mouth. Somehow, it fit. "Let's just try to have a normal conversation fer once."

Pinkie Pie spit the box out of her mouth. She rubbed her hind leg with her front hoof and said, "Wow! My muscles are really getting sore!"

Twilight Sparkle became afraid and summoned a helmet on her head. "Uh-oh, Pinkie Pie! I haven't heard that one before. Twitchy tail, shaking, chasing your tail in circles. What kind of Pinkie sense do you think you're getting now?"

"I just think that I'm sore from working out at the gym," Pinkie said.

"Twilight Sparkle blinked a few times as she processed that vital piece of information and then took off her helmet. "Why didn't I first consider that possibility?"

"Hey!" Pinkie Pie said. "Do you think if Applejack were around during Biblical times, that she'd eat all of the food when Jesus fed the five thousand ponies during Passover?"

"Feeding Applejack is like feeding five thousand ponies, Pinkie Pie," Twilight said. "But if you want to know another little fun fact, when Jesus fed the five thousand ponies at Passover, it was more like ten thousand to fifteen thousand to even twenty thousand ponies that He actually fed."

"But the Bible says five thousand, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie said.

"This is true, but the reason it says only five thousand was because it was not a part of Jewish culture to include mares, fillies, or colts."

"That's a neat little fact, Twilight. You're such a smarty smart pants sometimes!" Pinkie Pie said.

"Oh, Pinkie Pie," Twilight said. "This mare knows plenty more fun little Biblical facts like that." Twilight Sparkle smiled and then sipped her apple cider as she watched her friends finish their meals.

The rest of the girls finished eating and looked over at Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight was busy flipping through the pages in her Bible. "I'm really sorry, girls, but I feel like we need to go over some verses about jealousy and loving our enemies. I'm scratching my original plans for tonight."

The ponies had their study together until a certain stallion entered the library.

Rainbow Dash noticed out of the corner of her eye who it was. She instantly got up and ran over to him and threw her front legs around him. "Soarin'! Did you come by to visit me?"

Soarin' rubbed his hoof in her mane and said, "I sure did. Are you busy, Dash? I know that it's late, but I just had to stop by and see how you are doing." Soarin' looked at Twilight and asked, "Is it ok if I steal her for the night?"

Twilight smiled and said, "Sure! I had a few more passages to go over, but I think she got what she needed to hear. Take care!"

"See you girls later," Dash said and then walked out of the door with Soarin'.

Rainbow's friends wished her well and then went back to studying.

Comments

[sapiking]

Leeches sucking on Fluttershy? Ew.. EW... EWWWWWWWW!!!!

Big Mac inside of Fluttershy??? EWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!

[DarthWill3]

We all gotta love our enemies somehow.
Really, Applejack! You have the appetite of Scooby and Shaggy!
Dashie, you really know how to push Fluttershy's Big Mac button.
You watch your language, Twilight Sparkle!
Pinkie, you need to take a long rest.

[TheLordInsanity]

Pinkie said the actual s-word instead of saying s-word which is actually commiting the sin when you say it as an "example".

And your makin a claim tat te Bible as a curse word in it, really? Before the s-word as really invented? Or is it one of those things where the bible uses the alternate words for "donkey" and "urine"?