The adventures of Bright Mac and Pear Butter's first son. A human they found on their doorstep.
One stormy night, a newlywed couple, Pear Butter and Bright Mac become parents to a human baby left on their doorstep. With nothing but a name, the two take him in as their own.
What sort of adventures will the child have? What hardships will he have to go through? Only time will tell.
Inside the living room of the Apple Family Homestead, Bright Mac and Pear Butter, now going by Buttercup, sat in front of the fireplace with a blanket wrapped around them, riding out the storm that raged outside.
While Buttercup leaned her head on Mac's chest, listening to his heartbeat, the crackling fire, the rain, and the occasional lightning strike, she caught the sound of something else. "Honey, do ya hear that?"
Mac lifted his head from his wife's head and stared listening for what she had heard. "Can't say that I do. What is it ya hear?"
"I'm not quite sure. But... it almost sounds like" She concentrated on the sound a bit more closely before it hit her what was making that sound. "A baby!" She heard the sound coming from the front door and she bolted off the couch and headed for the door.
Mac flung the blanket Buttercup threw on his head before following after her. "What in tarnation do you mean you hear a baby?" He asked while following after her.
Buttercup didn't answer as she was too concerned about the noise. When she reached the door, she flung it open and gasped at what she saw on the step. "Sweet Celestia!"
Bright Mac ran up alongside Pear and looked down to see a basket was left on the front porch. And in that basket, swaddled in a blanket, was a crying baby. Though what confused the two of them, was what kind of baby was it. "What in the hell is that thing?" Bright went and poked the basket with his hoof before shaking his head. "Definitely ain't no pony."
"I rightly don't care what it is. It's a baby and it's out here in the pouring rain." Buttercup picked the basket up and brought the baby inside. She knelt down by the fire and took the crying baby out of the basket and into her arms. Getting a better look, they saw the baby had pale white skin, a small tuft of brown hair, and when it opened it's eyes, they saw it had green eyes. "Shh, shh, it's alright, mama has you."
"Mama?" Bright asked while sitting down next to his wife. "Honey. I'm not sure we should keep it."
"He." Pear retorted.
"What?" Bright asked.
"It's a he." Pear showed her husband a card that was in the basket.
Bright took the card and read it aloud.
If you're reading this, I beg you, please look after my son. I love him very much, but I'm not long for this world and my son's father died many a year ago. All I could offer him is life and a name. John. Please love him as if he were your own.
John. When you're old enough to read this, please know I only want the best for you, and if I could, I would never let you go. Mommy loves you very much. There was a kiss mark at the bottom, where the mother gave her son her last goodbye.
At the end of the card, the two of them were in tears while Buttercup gave a kiss on the little guy's cheek. "Ooooh, you poor thing. Don't worry, we'll take good care of you." Her kiss and reassurance made little John cease his crying. "Here, meet your new daddy."
"Hon, I'm still on the fence about all" He was interrupted when Buttercup placed the baby in his arms. Letting out a sigh, he looked down at the strange baby creature. He gave him a grimace of uncertainty, not really sure if keeping him would be a good idea.
Suddenly, John reached out with his tiny hand and grabbed hold of Bright's thumb. He gave out a cute yawn before falling asleep in Bright's arms, still holding his thumb.
Bright's lip quivered into a smile while holding the baby close and nuzzling him while Buttercup hugged him. "Should I have him call me Dad or Pa?"
"Pa, and he can call me Ma." Buttercup looked at the grandfather clock and saw that it was getting late. "Come on, it's time for bed." The two went up to their room and made a small bed for John from the sheets in the linen closet, and set it between them on their bed. "Goodnight, my precious little angel," Buttercup told her son before kissing his forehead.
"Goodnight son. Tomorrow, we'll show you to your grandma," The two ponies chuckled at the future prospect before settling in for the night.
Soon, one by one, sleep took the new mother and father, with their son sleeping peacefully between them. "Mmmm. Mwaaah!" For about two minutes.
The two parents groaned before Buttercup sat up against the headboard and brought John in her arms. "Come here, sweetie. Mama forgot to feed you, I know," She told him before lifting her nightshirt and had him suckle from her right breast. "There you go, drink up."
As Buttercup kept feeding her son, Bright couldn't help but look at his wife feeding their new son. "I could get used to that sight." His comment earned a small kick from Buttercup. "Hehe, worth it." He then left them alone and went back to sleep.
Buttercup chuckled at her husband before feeling her baby boy let go of her nipple. Putting him over her shoulder, she patted his back till he let out a small burp. "There's my good boy." Buttercup went to put him back in his makeshift crib, but then a loud crack of thunder shot across the sky, and it deeply upset John.
"Waaahh!!! Waaahh!!" John cried out in fear of the thunderstrike.
"Oh no no no no," Buttercup tried to do her best to calm her son down. After five minutes with no progress, she had an idea. "Come stop your crying, it'll be alright. Just take my hand, hold it tight. I will protect you from all around you, I will be here, don't you cry." John started to calm down and held onto his Ma's finger. "For one so small, you seem so strong. My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm. This bond between us, can't be broken. I will be here, don't you cry." Buttercup started to cradle him and kissed his forehead. "Because you'll be in my heart. Yes, you'll be in my heart. From this day on, now and forevermore." As John started to drift off to sleep, she put him in his sheet crib. "You will be in my heart, no matter what they say." She placed a blanket over him. "You'll be here in my heart, always." John soon started to snore soundly. Buttercup kissed his forehead before drifting off to sleep with her son. "Always."
I had woken up, just a little bit before the rooster crowed, and got ready to start the day. Letting out a stretch, I felt a pop in my back. "God dammit. Every morning I find a new pop or crick." Throwing off the blanket, I got up and dressed for the workday ahead of me.
After putting on the last bit of clothing was on, I went to wake up my son and daughter-in-law. When I passed their room, I gave a hard knock on the door. "Come on, you two. let's get going before Celestia raises the sun!" I went to head downstairs to get breakfast started, but then something caused me to stop in my tracks.
"Waaah!! Waaah!!" I heard a baby crying in their room and alarm bells just went off in mah head.
I raced back to their room and opened the door to find a very odd sight. My son and daughter-in-law, trying to calm down a small baby in Buttercup's arms. "What in tarnation!?"
"Hold on a minute, Ma." Bright got out of bed and came up to me. "Listen, we need to talk."
"Talk about what? The fact that my son is a daddy within the span of two weeks since you two got hitched?" I asked him out of shock, not anger. I let out a sigh before walking into the room. "Well, at least let me look at the little one."
"Uh, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. You see, he's not actually"
"Oooh, a grandson." Now, this was getting exciting. "Let me get a good look at" My voice was caught in my throat when I got a good look at the thing swaddled in blankets, and it wasn't no pony. "The hell is that thing?!"
"Ma!" I heard Bright say.
"He's not a thing! He's our son! His name is John," Pear told me while protecting that thing.
"You named it? Whatever, as soon as you two get dressed, we're heading to the orphanage and dropping that thing on their doorstep." I turned around and waited for them to follow me.
“We ain’t doing nothing of the sort!” Pear snapped at me.
“What’s gotten into you?! How dare ya talk back to me, girl!” I yelled at mah daughter-in-law.
“MA!!” Bright screamed, glaring at me so fiercely, Ah never imagined seeing such a look in his eye. “Fir zap apple's sake! Would ya just take a damn minute to let us explain?!”
“Explain what?!” Ah said, until Bright pulled out a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and held it out to me.
“Read it! And you’ll understand!” My son demanded.
I took the paper from him and read it. While I kept reading, it just ticked me off more. "Just looks like someone left their garbage on our doorstep."
“GARBAGE?!” Pear gasped.
“Ma…” Bright clenched his fists at me, something that shocked me even more as his glare seemed to intensify. “Ah’m only warnin’ ya once, and Ah don’t give a damn how it makes me look, but if you call mah son garbage one more time, Ah’m liable to do somethin’ that’ll be very unpleasant for everypony.”
Not being a stranger to violent behavior and the like, I knew my son was liable to do such things, even to his own mother. Letting out a snort, I turned away from the three of them. "Just get yer asses out of bed and get to work."
"No." That one word stopped me in my tracks and had me wheel back around to my son. "Not until you apologize to your grandson."
"That, thing, is not my grandson, and it ain't your son. Now quit messing around and dress for work. Harvest season is coming in a week and we need to prepare," I told him while getting in his face.
"Well then, I guess you'll have to do it by yourself, 'cause we ain't lifting a finger to help until you say you're sorry," Bright told me with a stern gaze like the ones his Pa used to do.
"Grah! Fine! I don't need you to help with the harvest! I can do it all by myself!" I stormed down the stairs and out the door. "Grah!"
The moment the door was slammed shut, I could hear the little thing start to cry as my son and his wife did their best to calm it down and I could even hear them on the front porch as I tried to enjoy a glass of apple juice before starting today's harvest.
"Ohh there, there Johnny, mama's here." I heard Pear Butter say to the strange little thing as it began to calm down before my son chimed.
"There now see? nothin' to be scared of. Not when your pa's got you."
Pa?!? My son actually thought of himself as that varmints father. Not wanting to hear any more, I went off to the western orchard to begin the harvest along with some visiting relatives and all could tell I was sourer than a rotten apple.
"Hey, Granny. Where's your boy at?" Strudel asked before kicking another tree, letting the apples fall into the baskets below.
"I don't wanna talk about it!" I yelled before kicking a tree so hard, it left a crack along the trunk, damaging the tree for good. "Dammit!"
"Uhh, Granny? You okay?" Gala asked before I furiously kicked another tree that didn't even have any apples.
"Oh of course, why wouldn't I be okay?" I asked aloud with sarcasm as I kicked the tree again. "I mean what mother wouldn't be upset that her son and daughter-in-law just took in a strange-looking baby, adopted it, and expect ME to treat it like it's one of our own?!?" I shouted before accidentally toppling the tree with my last kick before finally calming down. "I MEAN THAT THING ISN'T EVEN A PONY!!"
Strudel and Gala stepped away from me before heading off toward the other side of the orchard. "Hmmph, some help you two are."
(The next day)
“Who’s my special boy?” Bright said as he sat in front of his new son. “Yer gonna be the best dang Apple, that I swear.”
Little Johnny cooed and giggled up at his Pa while reaching up for his hair, like the bright color of his pa's hair.
"Still calling that thing yer son, are ya?" I asked while making breakfast.
"A father should call his boy, son." Bright turned to me while Pear took the kid in her arms. "Ma, what do you have against John? He hasn't done anything to ya, and there ain't no real reason to hate him."
"It's-it's-it's just wrong! A pony should raise a pony. You wouldn't see a cow raise a chicken, a snake raise a mouse or a manticore look after a deer, would you?" I asked before pouring the coffee.
"Funny, I seem to remember you saying an Apple and Pear would always despise each other." Mac's words struck a chord with me.
I thought about all the years I've hated Grand Pear and his kin, and how it almost cost me, my own son. I looked back at the little boy in Pear's arms and my hatred melted. I still had reservations about him being here, but I suppose if he doesn't cause trouble. "Sigh I guess I just need time." I took my coffee and went over to the living room. When I passed by Pear, I gave the little tyke a pat on the head.
(The next day)
Pear and Bright finally caved and started working out in the field. Of course, they only agreed if I watched their son. I would object, but my back has been giving me problems and I needed the break. After fixing some iced tea, I sat down and opened up the old family album.
After drinking a third of my tea and looking through my long-lost teenage years, I felt a tug on my dress. When I looked down, I saw that John was looking to get my attention. "Not now," I told him before sipping my tea. When I felt him pull even harder, I got a little irritated. "I said not now!" I yelled at him before giving him a small kick, off me.
When he fell on his rump, he stared blankly at me before tears welled up in his eyes and he started bawling. "Waaaahahaha! Waaaaaa!" Realizing what I had done, I got up and picked him up.
"Shhh, shhh. I'm sorry little one." I did my best to calm him down with him in my arms. "Alright. Buck up. You don't your ma and pa to see you cry, do ya?" When he kept crying, I thought back to the days when Bright would get all fussy. "Here, let's look at some pictures."
As I carried him in my arms, I couldn't help but admit that this little feller was cute in his own way even as he was crying. After wiping his face clean I sat him on my lap and opened the family photo album to show him some pictures of my youth.
"Now see here? This is our last family reunion and everypony was gathered at the table for a big feast." I explained while pointing at the picture as John stared and saw a familiar-looking face.
"Ah!"
"That's right, that's your pa!" I smiled at the little fella before turning to the pages of Bright Mac and Pear Butter. "This is when your Ma moved in with us, Oh your pa was so happy that he couldn't contain his excitement."
"Ohhh." John cooed at the photos of my son and Pear Butter and the moment I saw his eyes light up I felt happy for some reason. For the rest of the afternoon, we continued to look through the album until the little fella fell asleep on my shoulders and both of us were snoozing on the couch like there was no tomorrow.
"John?" Pear called out for her little one after finishing the harvest. "John? Granny have you see-Oh." She stopped to see both of us asleep on the couch with John curled up in my arms as I held him tight so he wouldn't fall.
"Buttercup did you find-"
"Shh. Look."
Bright looked where his wife was pointing and he nearly choked at the sight. "Aww, looks like Ma's ready to be a grandma after all." Off to the other end of the room, Pear grabbed the camera off the shelf. "And what are you doing?"
"Capturing the moment." Pear winded the film before taking her son's first picture with his grandma. "So cute."
Click
Kra-kroom!!
I awoke with a start when the lightning cracked outside my window. "Ugh. That weather team needs to calm down with those storms." I was about to go back to sleep, but I heard a cry going off in Bright's room and I just bolted out of my room with my bathrobe.
"Waaaaa! Waaaahaaa!" I kept hearing John cry and I felt like a new mother again as I burst through the door and picked the little guy up from Bright's old crib.
"Don't worry, Granny has you. Shh, shh, it's only lightning. Nothing to be scared off."
"Mmm..." John was so frightened that I could feel him shaking like a leaf when Pear and Bright Mac rushed over to check on him.
"Ma! How's John, is he okay?!?" Bright Mac shouted when another thunderbolt boomed and shook the house.
"Shhh! For fucks sake Bright Mac, it's bad enough we got thunder scaring the youngin'!" I lectured my son who immediately covered his mouth while Pear Butter just giggled and came to check on her son.
"Aww did the thunder scare you?" She asked as John clung to me.
"Why don't you come to mama?" Pear said while holding out her arms.
I gave my grandson a kiss on the cheek before handing him to Pear, who started cuddling and kissing him to keep him calm. While she was doing that, I patted my son's back. "You were right, son. That boy is your son, and he is my grandson."
"I'm glad you see that, mom." Bright gave me a hug just as John started to calm down. For the next five minutes, we moms held our sons before going back to bed.
The sunlight pierced through the window of Bright, Pear, and for the time being, John's room, and brightened the room. Pear was the first to wake up and put on her bathrobe. She gets up and heads over to the crib of her son. "Hello, my sweet baby boy."
John squirmed in his crib before opening his eyes and meeting the eyes of his mother. He gave a happy squeal before reaching up for her.
"Hehe. Mama's happy to see you too." Pear picked up her son and cradled him in his arms. She went back to bed before sitting next to Bright. "Honey, wake up."
Bright stirred from his side of the bed and woke up with Pear kissing his cheek. "Mornin' dear." He returned the kiss before giving John's cheek a pinch. "Mornin' son."
John swatted his father's hand away with a playful laugh as Bright Mac ruffled his hair and all three went downstairs to find Granny Smith preparing breakfast.
"Good mornin' youngins and how's my little Johnny Apple today?" Granny asked as she nuzzled John's cheeks.
John cooed at his grandmother's touch, a new sensation he seemed to relish since Granny Smith accepted him. A faint gurgling sound came from the infant's belly, making Pear giggle a little.
"Somepony's hungry." Pear adjusted John in her arm as she lifted her shirt up to expose her nipple and positioned it in front of his little mouth. John immediately latched on and started to nurse his mother's milk. "There we go, sweet pea, drink up."
"Uh hon, do you have to do that at the table?" Bright Mac asked as he turned away, blushing a little.
"Oh hush Bright Mac, I used to nurse you at this table all the time when you were a foal." Granny scoffed at her son while setting down some pancakes.
"Ma!" Mac protested, making his wife giggle as she stroked John's head.
"Now first thing's first. After breakfast, we head straight to the mayor's office to make the adoption official." Granny said after slicing herself up some pancakes. "Then this little one will officially be part of the Apple Family."
Whether he understood or not, John giggled at the notion. "It looks like this little guy is happy," Bright said before sipping his coffee.
"Good boy, now burp for mama." Pear Butter smiled as she rested John on her shoulders and patted his back til he let out a little burp. "Good job."
The family finished breakfast and headed straight into town with their new bundle of joy being carried by Bright Mac but as they did so they began to notice everypony was staring and muttering to themselves after seeing the strange little infant in his arms.
A few of the townfolk muttered about John. Mostly about what is he and why Bright was carrying him in his arms like he was his son. When they reached town hall, they were greeted by their longtime friend, the mayor. "Pear, Bright, Mrs. Smith, so good to see you." She gave the two mares a hug and was about to do the same to Bright, but stopped when she saw the bundle in his arms. "Oh. And who is this?"
Bright jostled his son a little and had him face the Mayor. "Mayor Mare, meet our son, John." John let out some baby noises before reaching out and managing to grab some of the Mayor's pink locks.
As he held onto the fringe sticking out, the Mayor could only laugh at his playful spirit. "Hahaha! Hehe, he certainly seems to like my hair." She tickled his arm a little to make him let go before she turned to Pear. "So, what can I help you with?"
"Well, you see..." Pear butter explained the situation to the mayor and needless to say she was absolutely stunned.
"Oh my, poor little dear. Being left alone like that." The mayor said as John played with his father's hand. "And nopony has come to claim this little dear?"
"Not a soul your honor." Bright Mac answered as John gripped his finger.
"Hmm normally there's a waiting period but it seems you are all really attached to this little darling." Mayor Mare smiled as she looked at the little baby giggling and cooing at his parents and grandmother. "I'll have the papers drawn up by this afternoon."
"Thank you, your honor," Granny told the Mayor while Pear gave her friend a hug.
"You're a good friend," Pear told her before squeezing her a little harder before releasing her. "Meet us at Sugarcube Corner for lunch."
After finishing up their business at town hall, Granny headed to the market to sell this month's harvest while Bright Mac and his wife took their son to Sugarcube Corner for an afternoon snack but just like before they were met with odd stares from the crowd.
As they sat down at a table, Pear gave them a smile, hoping they'd go about their day while she bounced John in her arms. "How long do you think this will last?" She asked Bright.
"I think it'll be a while around here, but give it time, they'll treat him the same. Besides," Bright leaned over and wiggled his finger over John's face, making him giggle. "who could ever be afraid of this handsome face?"
While John played with his father's hand, Cupcake came over and gave a surprised yelp when she saw the baby in Pear's arms. "Oh, dear!" She collected herself before sitting in the booth with them. "Who's this little guy?"
Pear smiled at her friend before gesturing to the bundle in her arms. "This is John." She then leans against Bright. "He's our son."
Cupcake let out a surprised gasp before smiling brightly. "Oh my goodness! That is so great! Oh, wait here, I gotta go get Carrot." She got up from the booth and went to go get her husband. A minute later, Cupcake came back with a lanky stallion that is her husband, Carrot Cake. "Look, honey. Pear and Bright have a son."
"Sweet berry glaze, they do," Carrot said before giving the kid a questioning look. "But um... what exactly is he?"
"We're not sure ourselves." Bright brought out the card that John was found with. "Just a letter giving us his name."
"All we know for sure is that he's our son and a member of the Apple family," Pear said while rubbing her nose against John's nose.
"Well, he will be, once you two sign these papers." Mayor Mare walked in and sat across from Pear and Bright and handed them a couple of papers. "Just sign these papers real quick, I'll get them notarized, and then this happy little camper." She reached over the table and gave John's foot a little tickle, making him laugh up a storm. "Will have you two as his legal guardians."
Pear and Bright wasted no time in grabbing the offered pen and signing their names on the dotted line. Once they did, they both gave little Johnny a kiss on the cheek. "Ooooh! Mama's gonna love you to the ends of Equestria and beyond!"
Bright chuckled at his wife's enthusiasm before hugging the two of them "I never thought I'd be a parent at this age. But I'm glad I am."
"You know what we need? We need something sweet to celebrate. Carrot, get some chocolate cupcakes." Cupcake told Carrot.
"Can do, dear." Carrot tickled the baby's tummy before going to get some cupcakes.
"Well now, what's all this?" Another voice called out when the new parents turned to see their long-time friends and business partners.
"Well bust my buttons, Stinkin Rich! Back from the hospital already?" Bright Mac said with a friendly smile as they shook hands.
"Yes and with our newest addition." Stinkin Rich smiled as he stepped aside to reveal his wife and newborn grandson. "Meet Filthy Rich."
In Bit Pincher's arms, a newborn colt with a brown coat and black mane squirmed in his mother's arms. He gave a small sneeze before waking up. "Mmmm. Waaah." They all coed at the newborn as he made cute noises.
"Isn't he something? I'm officially a grandpa," Stinking then sees John being held in Pear's arms. "And it looks like the two of ya became parents." Stinking Rich bent over to look at the newest Apple member. "Who's this little guy?"
"That'd be our son, John Apple. We just made it official," Bright said while patting the papers that were on the table.
As the adults started to talk among themselves and enjoy their treats, John and Filthy locked eyes and to the untrained eye, it looked like the two were waving at each other. Creating what might possibly be a long-time friendship between each other.
Three months have passed and the town has gotten used to the strange child that Pear and Bright call their son. For some, the residents noticed and tolerated the boy while most saw him as adorable and couldn't stop cooing at him.
As for the parents, they couldn't be happier with their son. Sure, some nights he would wake them up with his crying, but what parent doesn't go through that hardship?
That morning, the family was getting ready for the reunion tomorrow. "I can't wait for John to meet everyone," Pear said while fitting John with some clothes Granny knitted for him. Of course, John could not help but squirm as his mother tickled him while getting his clothes on and then let out a big laugh as she blew a raspberry on his belly and nuzzled him. "Ohh you are so cute!!" Pear said as her son giggled from his mother's affection.
While Pear played with her son, Bright watched the two from his chair with a smile, before it faded at the thought of tomorrow. He's seen what his own mother did when she first saw his son. He can only imagine what his other relatives would do or say.
Just as he kept that train of thought going, he felt his mother's hand on his shoulder. "It'll be alright, son. Once they meet that boy's smiling face and hear him laugh, they'll know he's an Apple, through and through."
Bright smiled before patting his mother's hand. "Thanks, Ma. I needed that." He then got up and walked over to his wife and son. "Come here, ya little rascal."
John giggled as his father picked him up and held him high. Whether the rest of the Apples accept him right away or not, he had two ponies that meant the world and beyond to him, right there in the living room with him.
The next day
John was being bounced on his daddy's knee while Pear and Granny put the finishing touches to the picnic tables. "Looks like someone's happy about today," Bright said while giving John's belly a couple of pokes.
"Haaa Hahaha!" John laughed from the pokes.
"You made sure he has a fresh diaper on?" Granny asked.
"Don't worry, Ma. This little guy is dry and ready to mingle," Bright said with a smile.
"Ah!" John squeaked as he bopped his pa's nose.
"Oh! Why you little sneak." Bright Mac said as his son giggled.
"Looks like he'll grow up to be a tough little guy. Aren't you, aren't you?" Pear said before giving John a raspberry.
Granny watched the young parents play with John before she heard a rumbling over the hill. When she looked off into the distance, she saw the first of what will soon be many family members coming over the hill. "Here they come!"
Soon numerous wagons came rolling in with ponies cheering and greeting each other with hugs and smiles since today was the day of the Apple Family Reunion.
"Look John, your cousins are here." Pear said while letting her son look at the foals jumping out of the wagons.
John let out a happy sound before reaching out to his new family. "You ready to meet them?" Granny asked while Mac carried him over to the front gate.
As the family got closer, they started to get a good look at John, and it stopped them in their tracks. There was a little tension in the air that made the new parents a little nervous. Luckily for them, Granny stepped up and held John's little hand, making him wave at everyone. "Well? Ain't you coming? The little guy wants to meet you all."
"What is that?" One of them asked after seeing John play with his pa's fingers.
"His name is John Apple. Buttercup and I adopted him a while ago." Bright Mac corrected one of his cousins before tickling his son's belly.
"Boop!"
"Ahh!" John squealed as some of the mares in the group decided to get a closer look at him.
"Oh, my star apples."
"He is just precious! Look at those cheeks!"
"Now don't crowd him, girls," Granny smirked.
Two of the mares from the crowd came up and went absolutely nuts over little Johnny. One of them, a mare with fading pink hair and glasses, gently pinched the baby's cheek. "Ooooh, look at that cute little face. I remember when your daddy had a cute face like yours."
"Yeah, what the hell happened?" An older mare with false teeth joked before kissing the top of John's head. "I'm your great aunt Applesauce. And this lovely young lady is your cousin Apple Rose."
John laughed as he grabbed Apple Roses's hand and giggled when Bright Mac handed him over to Aunt Applesauce.
"Mind his head." Bright Mac said with worry as his aunt scoffed.
"Mac darlin' I held you when YOU were this small, I'm not so old that I'm out of practice."
As the older mares cooed over the baby, the colts and fillies came over to see their new cousin. And all of them had questions for the parents. "What is he?" A filly with pigtails asked.
"How old is he?" A colt with sandy blonde hair asked.
"Where did he come from?" A filly holding a doll asked while jumping up to get a better look at John.
"Why is he soo ugly?" A teenaged colt asked, only to get his arm pinched by his mom. "Ow!"
"Bite your tongue, boy!" The colt's mother scolded him "He is adorable!" She said as she gently tickled John's cheeks, making him giggle and grab her finger.
Pear came over and Aunt Applesauce handed her son back to her. "To answer most of those questions. The doctor told us he's a few months old. We found him in a basket on our doorstep, crying out in the rain of all things." That earned a few gasps from the gathered family. "As for what he is."
"He's an Apple and our son." Bright came over and kissed the top of his boy's head. "As far as I'm concerned, that's all that matters."
Many of the apples approved of Pear Butter's love for her new son but some remained skeptical even as they watched the little one laugh at his mother's touch.
"Now enough chattin', I'm sure you all must be hungry after such a long trip."
As if he understood, John reached out for Pear with pleading eyes.
“Seems like we ain’t the only ones,” a relative said.
“He’s a hungry little colt, I’ll give him that,” Pear said. Bright handed her a blanket as she picked John up in her arms.
Pear covered the blanket over herself and John as she undid her shirt button to let John suckle on her nipple for her milk. John wasted no time and latched on to his mother and drank away, making Pear smile lovingly under the blanket.
"Come on y'all, this reunion and gonna start itself!" Granny cheered as she opened the gates and the family marched on to the picnic table where a feast was laid out.
After everyone sat down, they all ate a delicious spread of pies, cakes, tarts, and fritters, all apple flavored.
"Mmm, you outdid yourself, granny." Apple Rose said after taking a bite out of a fritter.
"Mmm, that's good eatin'!" One of the uncles said loudly as John finished nursing and was burped by his mother.
"There we go, such a good boy." Pear said with a warm smile when John noticed the apple treats on the table.
"Ooh."
"I think the youngin' wants a taste of some good old home cooking." Auntie Applesauce said as John managed to grab a fritter.
John put the fritter in his mouth and gummed the treat, doing his best to bite off a piece. Unfortunately, all he could do was get drool all over it and get crumbs on his chin and shirt.
"Aww, it's alright, honey." Pear placed the fritter down before grabbing a bowl of applesauce. "Until you get your teeth, you'll just have to be happy with applesauce." She got a spoonful and fed it to her son.
The moment the sweet apple mush hit his tongue, John squealed in delight before reaching for the bowl, tipping it over, and making a mess. While John played and ate the applesauce, Bright got out the camera. "Now this, is one for the album."
Bright took a quick photo as Pear continued to feed their son until he was nice and full and ready to be put down for his afternoon nap.
"I'm gonna go put this little munchkin in his crib. It's night, night for you!" Buttercup cooed as he let out a big yawn.
"Such a sweet kid, he'll be great practice for when you have foals of your own." One of Bright Mac's relatives said.
Bright stood up from his seat and stared down at his cousin from Manehattan. "What did you say about my son?"
"What? All I said was the kid will be good practice for your real kid. Then once he or she is born, you can drop the kid off to somepony else." The cousin went and drank from his fourth cup of cider. He was then grabbed by his shirt by Mac and was sucker punched. "What the hell, cuz?"
"You don't talk about my son that way! Any of you!" Bright yelled to the rest of his family, namely the ones that gave John a disgusted look when they saw him. "He's mine and Buttercup's son and your relative! If you don't like it, then ya'll just shove it right up your ass!"
"Mac, simmer down!" Granny smith said sternly to her son.
"But ma-"
"Mac, let your ma handle this." She said in the same tone before standing up from her seat.
She walked over to the relative Mac punched and grabbed him by the ear. "Owww, ow, ow, ow! That really hurts, auntie Smith!"
"Good, you deserve more for what you've said to your second cousin. Now, I want you to think about what you said about a child and no more of this!" She swiped the mug from him and kept chewing him out.
Back inside the house, Buttercup had put John in his crib and sat in the chair next to it. She heard her son let out a yawn before slipping her hand through the bars to hold his little hand. "I love so, so much." Pear soon got tired and joined in her son's nap.
"Honey. Honey, wake up. It's Hearths Warming!" Pear said to her baby boy before picking him up out of his crib. "You're in for a big surprise." Pear brought a tired-looking John into the living room where Bright and Granny were already waiting. "Look who's up?"
"There's my big boy." Bright got up from the couch and went over to his wife and son. He kissed John's forehead. "Happy Hearths Warming, son." He then shares a very intimate kiss with his wife. "And a very, happy Hearths Warming to you."
After the kiss, Pear giggled before going over to Granny. "Happy Hearths Warming."
"Happy Hearths Warming," Granny said before giving John a kiss on his cheek. "Your first Hearths Warming. It's always a special moment when a child has their first holiday."
"Mmmm. Wah. Wah ha ha!" John started to cry while his stomach growled a little.
"Okay." Pear pulled her robe down so she could feed John. "Let's get you fed, then we can start the holiday fun."
After John was fed and burped, Pear dressed him in something warm while Granny put a red wool cap on his head. "Alright, first things first. We take a family ride down the hill," Bright said before they all went out into the snow for winter fun.
"Ohh!" John smiled after seeing the snowflakes fall and giggled when one landed on his nose.
"That's right sweetie, it's snow." Pear butter cooed while watching him try to catch the snowflakes.
While John kept catching snowflakes and giggling when one landed on his face, his daddy brought out the sled for them to ride. "Alright, time for the sled ride."
"Now make sure the youngin' doesn't get hurt Mac," Granny said before giving her grandson a quick cuddle. "Have fun now sweetie."
The family went up to the tallest hill in the orchard as Mac set up the sleigh and ensured his wife and son were secured before seating himself behind them.
"Ready?" Mac asked.
"Ready," Pear said while hugging John tightly.
"Okay, here we go." Bright gave the sled a little push and they were off.
"Weeeee!" John squealed in excitement as the three of them rode down the hill, shredding through the fresh powder and laughing all the way. After going down the hill, they went further and hit a pile of snow, making it snow like a blizzard around them.
"Ha ha!" Bright laughed before hugging his wife and son. "Now that was fun."
"Yes, it was, but also cold." Pear got up and bundled up a little more. "Let's head inside for some hot chocolate."
"Achoo!" John gave a squeaky sneeze as his nose became a little runny.
"Uh oh, better get this little fella inside where it's warm," Mac said while helping him and Pear butter off the sled. "We're gonna eat some apple treats, sing carols, and have some hot chocolate. How's that sound little man?" He asked his son who clapped in delight as if he understood him.
The two brought their son into the house, where Granny had just fixed them both a hot cocoa, and a bowl of warm applesauce with cinnamon on top. "Did you three have fun?"
"Sure did." Pear butter said as John kept laughing and smiling before he let out another sneeze.
"Oh dear, we better warm this little dumpling up before he catches a cold."
Pear and Bright brought John over to the fireplace where they both hugged him and warmed him up. After the sneezing was over, John started to drift off in his mother's arms. "Looks like the little guy's all tuckered out." Bright wiped a bit of drool from his son's cheek as he slept.
"When he wakes up, we'll open presents. I've been knitting something special that I believe everyone will love," Pear said while leaning on Bright to enjoy their small nap.
An Hour Later
When little John began to wake from his nap, the first thing he heard was his family chatting and laughing around the fireplace when he saw his mother greet him with her usual bright smile as he let out a big yawn and blinked a few times before looking around.
"Well look who's awake." Granny smith said while taking her grandson into her arms. "Did you have a nice nap youngin?" She asked as John let out another yawn and cuddled with her.
"Alright, now that the little guy's up, we can exchange presents," Pear said while bringing out a wrapped box and handing it to Granny. "This is from the both of us."
"Thank you. Both of you." Granny unwrapped her gift and gasped when she saw what was inside. "Oh, it's beautiful." She brought out an apple-patterned shawl and wrapped it around her person. "I'll never take this off, trust me on that."
"We'll hold ya to that, ma," Bright said before he gave Pear a small box. "Here you go, darling. I hope you like it."
Pear took the box and opened it. When she saw what was inside, she smiled and took out a pair of earrings. One had a red apple, and the other had a green pear. "Thank you, honey." She gave Bright a kiss before bringing out a shirt box for him. "I hope you like yours."
"I'm sure I will." Bright lifted the top before quickly closing it. Just to make sure he wasn't mistaken, he opened the box again, and he definitely saw what was giving him an erection.
"For later tonight~." Buttercup winked at her husband before pulling up a present for John.
"And this is for you, sweetie." Granny smiled while giving the baby his present.
John cooed as he was given his present and began tearing it open to find a brand new teddy bear in a box, with a squeal of excitement he grabbed his new toy and squeezed it tight making everyone smile.
"Aww."
"Well, I guess that just leaves my gift to our little man," Pear said while giving John's belly a poke, earning a few giggles from him. She got up and took John with her. "Be right back."
As Pear took John into the other room, Bright and Granny wondered what she got him that she has to keep a secret. A few minutes later, Pear came back with John, and he had his blanket around him. "You got him his blanket?" Granny asked.
Pear shook her head with a smirk. "It's what's under the blanket." She looked at her son and gave him a little bounce. "Ready to show them, honey?" John laughed and moved his hands up and down under the blanket. "Okay, here we go." Pear removed the blanket, making both Bright and Granny gasp.
"Oh, my stars!" Granny said while looking at John's gift.
Bright got up from the couch and approached his wife and son. "Dear. Is this true?"
"It is." Pear looked down at John, who was wearing a blue knitted onesie with red lettering that read, 'Best Big Brother'. "I'm pregnant!"
Bright Mac and Granny shouted with joy as they gathered for a family group hug and began asking Pear the usual questions.
"When did you find out?" Bright Mac asked with excitement.
"About three weeks ago. I'm not sure if it'll be a boy or a girl." Pear smiles with tears in her eyes before bringing everyone in for a hug. "Our family's getting bigger, and our little boy's gonna have a little brother or sister."
As the adults sat on the couch and already started talking about the newest addition to the family, John reached out with his little hand and touched his mother's belly. Letting out a small laugh, John leaned into Pear's belly, wanting to be closer to his new sibling.
"John! Wake up or you'll be late for school!?" I blinked away the spots from my eyes before stretching. "John!?"
"Coming, Ma!" I called down before getting out of bed. I stripped out of my PJs and into some clean clothes before heading down for breakfast. "Morning, Ma, Pa, Granny, Big Mac." I greeted them while sitting at the table.
"Morning, my sweet boy," Ma told me while handing me a plate of eggs, toast, and apple jam.
"Ready for your first day of school, son?" Pa asked me while reading the paper.
"Yeah. But, I'm also a little nervous," I told them before digging in.
"And why's that sweetie?" Granny asked while serving Big Mac his baby food.
"Well...what if nopony likes me?"
“Boy, are you kiddn’?” Pa scoffed. “Why the hell would nopony like you?”
“Hey!” Granny Smith snapped, whacking his nose. “Language!”
“Sweet pea, listen,” Ma said as she knelt down in front of me. “Ya got nothing to worry your precious little head about. All ya gotta remember is always be yourself. Remember, honesty is the best policy.”
"Okay, Ma. I will," I told Ma before having a spoonful of mush splashed on my face. "Mac!"
"Hahaha!" My little brother laughed in his highchair while flinging food everywhere.
"Alright, enough flinging your food, little stallion," Pa said while cleaning my brother's mess. "I swear, you like to wear your food more than you do eating it."
"Reminds me of you at that age," I heard Granny say over to Pa, making me laugh. "Oh, you were no better there, Johnny boy."
"Hehe, sorry, Granny," I told her before finishing up my breakfast and clearing my dishes. I grabbed my coat and lunchbox before walking over to Ma and Pa who were waiting for me at the door.
"There's my little man, on his way to school and make some new friends," Ma said while straightening my jacket.
"I'll miss you while I'm gone, Ma," I said while holding my lunchbox.
"I'll miss you too, but your Pa and I will be here when you get back," Ma kissed my cheek before Pa knelt in front of me.
"Son, I wanna give you some advice my father told me on my first day of school." Pa then looks off into the distance.
'Bright, you're as dumb as a mule and twice as ugly. If a stranger wants to take you home, I say go with them.'
"Lousy traumatic childhood," Pa said under his breath before hugging me. "Just do your best and learn all you can. And don't be afraid to make friends."
"Thanks, Pa." I kissed both my parents' cheeks before running up to my little brother. "I'll be back, Big M." I gave Big Mac a hug before heading out the door.
"Bye-bye Johnny," I heard Mac say before going back to his blocks.
As I kept walking down the dirt path, I kept thinking about what school would be like. But I was most excited about making new friends. And I already had a headstart with my best friend, Filthy. "Johnny!" Speaking of.
I turned around and saw my best friend run up to me. "Howdy, Filthy." We gave each other a hug before walking toward the school. "What do you think school's gonna be like?"
"My dad told me it's like a cool place some days, and Tartarus the other times. The only really good part is that it doesn't last very long, and you can make some very good friends there," Filthy explained as the schoolhouse drew near.
"Well, at least we'll have each other," I told him before we fist-bumped.
"Yeah, that's true." Filthy smiled as we entered the classroom together to see faces both familiar and new. Most of the foals I recognized from around town and as we took our seats at the front of the class our teacher appeared and called us up to introduce ourselves.
"Alright, now let's have... Cheerilee, come up and introduce yourself to the class." I heard the teacher say before I saw a magenta filly walk up to the front of the class, and when I got a good look at her, I couldn't stop looking at her.
When she stood at the front of the class, she waved at the class. "Hi. My name is Cheerilee. I moved from Fillydelphia with my mom and dad, and I like to read adventure stories." She nodded her head before going back to her desk, all the time, I couldn't look away.
"...Mister Apple!" I shook away the cobwebs when the teacher called me. "Please come up and introduce yourself," She said with a bit of an irritated tone.
"Sorry, Miss Ruler." I got up and went to the front of the class. "My name is John Apple. I live at Sweet Apple Acres with my family, and I like to climb trees."
When I went to take my seat, I heard someone speak up. "What are you?" One of my classmates asked as they all gave me funny looks.
"His mane is too short."
"He's got no tail."
"And look at his nose!"
"Alright, that's enough!" Miss Ruler shouted at the class, making them go quiet. "Thank you, John. You can sit down now."
I nodded at my teacher before going over to take my seat. When a colt was introducing himself as Caramel, a piece of paper landed on my desk. After opening it, I saw that it only had one word on it.
Freak!
Lunch
I sat on one of the outside benches and ate my lunch with Filthy. "Hey, your mom pack you any pie?" Filthy asked through his daisy sandwich.
"Nope. Just a PB and J, an apple, and a couple of fritters," I told him before offering him one of the fritters. "Ma knows you like her baking."
"And how," Filthy said before chomping down on the treat.
"Gross." A voice said when we looked up to see the the colt who probably left me that note standing with two others who were likely his goons. "You're eating with that thing?" He asked Filthy with a look of disgust.
"He's my friend. There's nothing gross about him." Filthy tried to defend me, but one of the goons flicked his ear. "Ow!"
"Shut it, rich boy!" The skinny goon said while the fat one giggled.
"Who the heck are you?" I asked the big jerk
"Cedar Pine," The leader said before placing his hands on the table and leering at us. "Listen jerks! Around here, I'm the boss. If you have a problem with that, then you can answer to my fist," He said while shaking his fist at us.
"Leave them alone!" A voice yelled from behind the three bullies. When we looked to see who it was, I saw that it was Cheerilee standing up to them. "Go on, leave them alone!"
"Ooooh!" Cedar said sarcastically before walking up to her. "And what do you plan to do about it?" He asked before shoving her into a puddle of mud.
When I saw her land in the puddle, I saw that she was about to cry, and that got me really angry. "Hey!" I got up and walked toward Cedar. When he turned around, I punched him right in the muzzle, getting him to fall flat on his back and his nose to bleed. "That'll teach ya ta pick on others." Cedar and his goons scrambled away before I went over to Cheerilee. "Are you alright?"
"Mhmm," She said before I helped her up and led her back to the table Filthy and I sat at. "Thanks for that," She said with a smile.
"You're welcome. That guy's a jerk." I offered her my apple which she took and nodded thanks. "My name is John."
"I know. You said it in front of the class." All three of us laughed before she patted my hand. "It wasn't right for them to call you names and stuff like that."
"Yeah, but what are you gonna do?" I shrugged while eating my sandwich. "Hey. Um, I don't suppose you'd like to be friends?"
"I'd like that," She said while leaning on me. On the other side of the table, Filthy was making gagging noises, making us all laugh.
Back home
I got home after spending time with my new friends, thinking today was a pretty good day until I went into the kitchen and saw both my parents sitting in the kitchen with their arms crossed.
"Sit, son." Pa said sternly as I gulped and sat in front of them.
"We heard from the school that you punched another student. Care to tell us the whole story?" Ma asked as I folded my hands and told them what happened at the playground today.
"I see. While I am proud of you for sticking up for others, you should no better than to lose your temper like that. Understand?" Pa asked me with a raised brow.
"Yes pa..." I told him with my head down.
"Alright then. For now, you're grounded for a week."
I nodded in acknowledgement of my punishment as Ma left to prepare dinner and once she was out of earshot my pa leaned in to whisper. "How does the other guy look?"
"Worse." I said with a smile while pa kept an eye on the kitchen.
"That's my boy now go freshen up." He whispered back while ruffling my hair.
"Okay, Pa," I told him before going to wash up. As I washed my hands and thought about the days events, I reached into my pocket and pulled out Cheerilee's address. As I looked at the piece of paper, I couldn't shake the feeling of being the luckiest boy alive, even if I am grounded for a week.
"John, you be careful on your class trip to Canterlot," Mom told me while straightening my jacket. "Don't wander off and do as your teacher says, alright?"
"Yes, Ma, I will," I told her before hugging her. "Do you think I'll meet with the Princess just like Granny did?"
"Oh I have no doubt about it, youngin'," I heard Granny say as she walked over to me with something behind her. "Close your eyes, youngin'." I did as she said and felt a plop on my head. "Alright, you can open 'em."
When I opened my eyes, I saw the brim of a hat on my head and I took it off to see a tan Stetson, just like Pa's brown Stetson. "Wow! Thanks, Granny."
"You're welcome. A young man needs a good hat on his head. Now do as yer Ma tells ya and get to school," She told me while lightly smacking my back.
"Alright, I love you," I told my Ma and Granny before hurrying off to school.
"My little boy is growing up," Ma said to herself as I ran towards the schoolhouse while rubbing her belly.
As I walked down to the schoolhouse, I was surprised by someone tipping my hat over my eyes. "Hey!" When I pulled my hat back to yell at who did that, my words were caught in my throat when I was met with a pair of green eyes. "Cheerilee?"
"Hi, John. That's a nice hat," She told me as she walked beside me. "Ready for our trip to Canterlot?"
"Been ready since Miss Ruler told us last week," I told her as we kept walking.
Over the last few weeks, Cheerilee and I became the best of friends. On the days we were off school, we would hang out in the treehouse Pa built for me.
We would teach each other things the other didn't know. She taught me how to read better. I taught her how to hang from a tree. She taught me to sing. I taught her to dangle.
"My mom told me there's a shop that makes the most delicious cakes that even Princess Celestia herself has declared the best in the land," Cheerilee told me while thinking about cakes.
"In that case, I'll buy us two slices of cake for lunch," I told her as we saw the carriage we'd use for our field trip. "Race ya!"
As the two of us raced, my hat nearly flew off my head and I stumbled to get it as Cheerilee ran ahead of me with some of the others cheering her on I struggled to catch up and ran out of breath by the time I made it to the carriage.
"I see you two have had your morning exercise." Miss Ruler smiled while pointing towards the carriage.
"Yes, Miss Ruler." We both said before taking a seat on the carriage.
A carriage ride later
We were at the foot of the Princesses castle, staring up at all its splendor while Miss Ruler told us the rules of the field trip. "Now remember class, you're free to roam about but no wandering off on your own. The last thing we need is to tell your parents that you went missing on a class trip and if we're lucky, we might just see Princess Celestia herself."
I and the rest of my classmates liked the idea of the princess coming to see us as Cherilee took down some notes. This seemed like it was going to be a fun field trip with the exception of a certain Cedar Pine being present.
As we were shown around the castle, Cheerilee dragged me over to a stained glass window. "Look! It's Princess Celestia defeating Nightmare Moon."
"Wow! And look, she's using the elements of harmony to defeat her," Filthy said while pointing to another window.
"Hey, I have another thing the Princess can blast," Cedar said before taking my hat.
"Hey!" I went to grab my hat back, but Cedar threw it to one of his buddies who went and threw it to the other. For the next two minutes, I tried to get my hat back from those three creeps. Finally, I was able to corner Cedar. "Give me my hat back, or I'll break your muzzle again."
"I got a better idea." To my horror, Cedar opened a window and threw my hat through it. "Go get it!"
I pushed past him in hopes to grab it, but it was out of reach and it flew over to a building where the guards were training. While Cedar and his goons walked away laughing, Cheerilee came over to comfort me. "John, I'm sorry about your hat." She squeezed my arm a little before she started to head off.
"I gotta get it back," I said out loud before heading back toward the main door. As I kept going, Cheerilee ran up to try and stop me.
"Are you crazy?!? Miss Ruler will go ballistic!" Cheerilee told me while grabbing my arm.
"That hat was a gift from my granny! I gotta get it." I said more sternly as I jerked my arm away from her and went after it. As I left out of the palace, I could hear Cheerilee whimper from what I did. I'll have to do something to say I'm sorry, but right now, I need to get my hat back.
Once I was outside, I headed for the training grounds. I hid behind a barrel and glanced around for any guards. I could see my hat just a couple of meters away and it was just sitting there. I swallowed a small lump in my throat and made a mental note to kick that turn Cedar in the balls once I got it back.
“Okay…okay…just go get it, and run straight back,” I said aloud.
I glanced around to make absolutely sure I wasn’t spotted. Once the coast was clear, I jumped out from the barrel and sprinted toward my hat. My hat was at arm’s reach as I skidded across the dirt and picked it up. I examined it closely to make sure it wasn’t torn and patted the dust off.
“Whew! Glad I didn’t lose you. I best get back before-“ I said when I was cut short after a large shadow loomed over behind me.
I froze in place and began to sweat. I tried to move but my body wasn’t listening to me. One of the guards was definitely behind me and probably glaring daggers at me. I was finished. I knew full well I was trespassing and they’d throw me in jail forever.
“Hello there, little one,” a surprisingly soothing voice said.
After managing to regain control of myself, I slowly turned my head and looked up. My eyes almost bulged out of my head when I was met with the most beautiful figure I’d ever laid eyes on. She wore a very fancy-looking white dress, her mane and tail looked like a rainbow, and her fur and large wings were as white as snow. She looked down at me with a warm smile, and I was opening and closed my mouth like a fool.
“I…uh…I-I…” was all I could spout out. There was no doubt in my mind, Princess Celestia herself was standing in front of me! It was like a dream come true.
"Princess!" Coming up behind her, a unicorn mare with white almost grey fur and a mane with purple and white coloration came up beside her with a clipboard in hand. "Sorry for lagging behind, but my son had to use the little colts room." Behind the mare, a colt with a white coat and blue mane stood behind her.
"It's alright, Velvet. I was just having a little chat with my friend..." She looked down at me, waiting for me to give her my name.
"Uh, John. John Apple, your highness," I twiddled my hat before bowing my head.
I felt her hand raise my chin a bit to look into her eyes. "No need to be afraid, Little Johnny." We both chuckled at the name she gave me before she stood at her full height. "What brought you all the way to the armory?"
Clearing my throat, I answered while lifting my hat a bit. "I was on a class trip from Ponyville, and some jerks threw my hat out the window. My Granny gave me this hat today, and I didn't want to lose it."
"Oh, that's terrible," Velvet said while ushering her son forward. "My son Shining gets bullied from time to time."
"Mom....!" Shining whined while looking at the ground.
"Well, why don't you young colts join me? I just have to watch the guards show off their training before meeting with your class, John."
My eyes widened at the prospect and I nodded while putting on my hat. "That would be great!"
“Quill Pen?” Celestia said and a pegasus mare suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She had light blue fur and her mustard-yellow mane was tied up in a bun.
“Yes, your majesty?” The mare said with a bow.
“Please send word to this little colt’s instructor that he shall be accompanying me for the duration of his class’s field trip,” Celestia said.
"Right away, your majesty," Quill said before flying off back to the castle.
"Well then, first the guard training and then I believe lunch. How does that sound, boys?" Princess Celestia asked us with a smile.
"That sounds great!" Shining said as we followed her. While we followed her, Shining and I made conversation. "My name's Shining Armor," He told me while holding his hand out.
I took his hand and gave it a firm shake that Pa taught me. "John Apple. By the way, how come you're not in school?"
Shining had a sheepish smile before looking at his ma. "I sort of played the sick card so I wouldn't be bullied today. Mom didn't believe it, so she brought me to work with her."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Who bullies you?" I asked, hoping to give him some advice.
"Some snobs at the academy, they said I only got in because my mom is friends with Celestia." Shining sighed as we walked behind our chaperones. "So where you from?" He asked as we continued our chat.
"Ponyville. I live at Sweet Apple Acres with my Ma, Pa, Granny, and brother, Big Mac. Ma says she's having another baby soon, so I have that going for me," I told him.
"That's so cool! Mom said I'm gonna be a big brother too," Shining said. "I hope it's a little brother. That way we can play O&O together."
"What's O&O?" I asked when Shining suddenly gasped in shock.
"You've never heard of Ogres and Oubliettes?!? It's only the greatest board game of all time!"
"Sorry. I'm more into fishing and climbing trees when I'm not doing farm work," I told him as we stopped to look at the guards.
"Here's where young recruits train to become Equestrian guards," Princess Celestia told us as we watched a few guards hit a dummy with either swords or spears.
"Wow!" Shining gawked while watching them train. "I'd love to be a guard one day. Maybe even captain. What about you John? You going to be a farmer all your life?" When he didn't hear me, he looked over at me. "John?"
As I kept looking at the guards, my eyes kept wandering back to their weapons. Suddenly, I kept getting visions of weapons, strange weapons that were loud and acted like a bow, but went a lot faster and hit harder. My vision stopped when I felt Princess Celestia shake my shoulder. "Huh?"
"I asked if you were alright?" She asked me out of concern.
"Yes, your majesty. I just... was really interested in the weapons," I told her. Didn't know what those visions were, but they were interesting.
"Can't blame you." One of the guards said after noticing us. "Any youngblood would give an arm and a leg just to hold one of these and wear this armor."
"Oh, lieutenant Shield. Good to see you again." Celestia greeted him with a warm smile. "I was just showing these young ones the training grounds, perhaps you'd like to help?" She inquired with a smile.
"It would be an honor, your majesty," Lieutenant Shield bowed to the Princess before ushering us to one of the dummies.
"Now here we train in our combat skills both physical and magical. Gotta be in top shape if we need to protect her majesty, you there." The lieutenant looked at Shining Armor. "You seem like a strapping young lad, how's about grabbing a training sword and giving this dummy a few strikes?"
"Really, can I?" Shining asked while looking at his Ma. She nodded yes before Shining grinned and picked up one of the dummy swords.
While he was hacking away at the dummy, I got a better look at the guys firing arrows at the targets. Suddenly, the visions came back. This time, the weapons were bigger than before and fired more rapidly.
The visions stopped when the Lieutenant offered me a dummy spear. "Wanna give it a try, son?"
"Uh, sure." I took the spear from him and started making practice swings at the dummy.
"Widen your stance and don't lunge forward so much." The lieutenant instructed us as if we were his recruits.
"Hey, the kids have some spunk." One of the other guards complimented us as they watched us.
"Maybe they're guard material after all," A guard mare complimented.
We both liked the sound of that as we redoubled our efforts and did as our instructor said. As it turned out, Shining was a natural with a sword, and when the dummy's head fell, he put up a shield that launched it clear out of the training grounds. The guards were impressed with that display and I could see his Ma was very proud of him.
As for me, I stabbed the dummy in the chest and head multiple times before swiping at the neck, decapitating the dummy. Being a bit of a showoff, I stuck the dummy's head with the spear and paraded it around a bit.
"Ohh look out boys, we got a headhunter here!" Another of the guards joked before I gave the spear back to the lieutenant.
"You boys got some skills, maybe one of these days you might lead your own squad."
Both Shining and I smiled at the thought of us becoming members of the royal guard before I spotted my class walking into the courtyard and saw misses Ruler was not in a very good mood.
I went up to her with my hat in my hands, the same way Pa does when he's in trouble with Ma. "Uh Miss Ruler I can explain-"
"Princess Celestia informed us of the details in her letter. Honestly, Mister Apple, you should know better than to go galavanting off on your own." My teacher said while shaking her head in disappointment.
"Yes ma'am," I said with an apologetic look.
"Now get back with the rest of the class and we can continue our tour."
As I went to join my class, I felt a tap on my shoulder. When I turned around, I saw that Shining was holding out a piece of paper. "My address, in case you ever want to write me."
I smiled at the gesture and took the address from him. "Expect a letter from me, friend." We shook hands before departing. Before I returned to the rest, I bowed before the Princess and stood back in line.
"Hehe, you got in trouble," I heard Cedar snide as I walked past him.
"And you'll be in more trouble when we get home!" I growled at him before walking up to Filthy and Cheerilee. "Sorry for leaving you, guys."
"It's alright, and we got to see the Princess out of this," Filthy pointed out.
Cheerilee looked away, guess she's still sore about me ditching her. Guess I'll need to make it up to her. And I think I know how. I went up to Miss Ruler and asked to speak with the Princess.
Later
We were heading back in the carriage to go home, and I sat by Cheerilee. "Cheerilee."
"What!?" She asked with a huff. I placed a plate under her nose with a slice of cake. When she saw it, her smile returned. "Oh, wow! You got the cake?"
"I mentioned to the princess how you were looking forward to it, and she let me have it to give." I looked down in shame for a minute. "I'm sorry for snapping at you and pulling away from you."
Just then, I was given the surprise of my life when I felt a pair of lips smack against my cheek. My cheeks turned as red as an apple when I looked over at Cheerilee, giving me a smile. "All's forgiven. Now, help me eat this before anyone else sees it."
For the rest of the ride home, we talked and ate the sweetest cake in all of Equestria. When we had an hour left, we both got tired and fell asleep, with Cheerilee's head on my shoulder.
It was a beautiful Saturday morning. Cheerilee had come over to play and help me with the last of my chores today. She wore a sundress and had her hair done in a ponytail held by a hair clip. We were playing by the creek near the Everfree Forest when Cheerilee decided to have a race. "Come on! The last one to the bend is a rotten apple!" She challenged me before racing along the creek bed into the forest.
"Oh, you are so on!" I answered her challenge before racing after her. She may have had a head start, but my legs were longer and stronger thanks to all that apple bucking. "I'm gaining, Cheery!"
"You wish, Johnny!" She taunted back as we kept racing. When we neared the bend, she tripped on a root, slamming me into her and causing us both to tumble. "Oof!"
"Ow. Are you alright?" I asked Cheery as I helped her up.
"Yeah, I think so." Cheery stood and brushed herself off before noticing her mane was loose. "My hair clip!" She looked around frantically for it with me joining. "Oooh! That was my mom's! If we don't find it, she'll kill me!"
As we kept looking for it on the ground, I looked at the stream and saw her clip float downstream. "Cheery, I found it!"
"You did!? Where?" She asked while getting up off the ground.
"It's heading down the" I was about to tell her where the clip was going, but a paw grabbing it from the water stopped me.
When we both looked at what picked it up, we saw that it was a wild Diamond Dog, actually, three diamond dogs, armed with knives and the one who had Cheerilee's hair clip had a tomahawk around his belt. I saw them giving Cheerilee looks that were creepy and she didn't like it one bit.
Cheery hid behind me while I put on a brave face and held out my hand. "Give it back," I demanded from who I thought was their leader.
The dog smirked at me before bouncing it in his palm. "Take it," He challenged.
"I said give it!" I demanded, feeling more courageous.
"Can you believe this boy?" The leader asked his buddies, making them laugh. He then takes out his tomahawk. "Tell you what. I'll trade you, for... this!" He then throws the weapon at me.
As the weapon drew near, I thought mine and Cheerilee's life were over. But as it drew ever closer, I had another vision, one where I was more animal than anything, with heightened senses and fighting wild animals.
When the visions stopped, the reflexes in my arm worked independently and caught the tomahawk. Suprise struck all of us, but none more than the diamond dog leader.
I heard him growl before commanding his two lackeys. "Kill the boy. Take the filly." With that, they charged me and Cheery.
The first dog tried to slash my face with a knife, but with quick thinking, I dodged under the blade and stuck the tomahawk in his gut, spilling his blood into the water.
The second dog tried to get at me with an overhead stab, but I had other plans and cut off his arm that held the knife.
With his friends dead, the leader growled before brandishing his own knife. "I'll skin ya alive!" He threatened me.
Griping the tomahawk tight, I reeled it back before launching it. The weapon sailed through the air before sinking into the leader's chest, making him drop to his knees and drop Cheery's hair clip.
Walking up to him, I picked up the hairclip before grabbing the handle of the tomahawk. "You should've given it back when I asked." With that, I pulled the weapon out from his chest and blood poured down, killing him near instantly.
When I finally took a moment to breathe, everything I just did came rushing to me and I dropped to my knees. I stared into the blood-filled water for what must have been hours as my body shook in a trance. It wasn't until I felt a pair of arms wrap around me did I come out of it. I turned to see Pa was holding me while Cheery was by Ma. Guess she went to get them While I fought them.
As Pa held me, I cried in his chest while he did his best to calm me down. "C'mon, son. Let's go home." Pa picked me up in his arms while we all went to the house.
Ma and Pa set me and Cheerilee on the couch while they went to go get her parents. Granny wrapped us up in a blanket and made us hot cider to help ease what happened. As we both warmed up next to the fire, I held out Cheerilee's hair clip and put it back in her hair. "There. All better."
Cherilee just gave me a quick smile and held my hand as we cozied up by the fire before our folks finally got back. Needless to say, her parents were shocked after hearing about what happened and hugged their daughter.
"My precious baby!" Cheery's mom cried while holding her close. "Thank Celestia that you're okay!"
While her mom was busy cuddling her, her dad walked over to me and he did not look very happy. "So you fought those three on your own?" Not really knowing what to say, I just nodded my head. His frown quickly turned into a smile before he took my hand and shook it to the point I thought he'd take my arm off. "Thank you for saving her! You have no idea how thankful we are for you! You're welcome to our place anytime!"
"Come on, dear. You're going to take the poor boy's arm off," Cheery's mother told her husband, making him stop shaking my hand. While shaking the feeling back into my arm, her mom kissed the top of my head, making me blush. "Thank you again, John."
"You're welcome, ma'am," I told her as she put her daughter down.
"We're going to get going now. Cheerilee, honey, tell your friend goodbye." Cheerilee's dad told her.
Cheerilee ran up to me and wrapped her arms around me. As I returned the hug, she whispered in my ear. "Thank you." She then surprises me by giving my cheek a peck before leaving with her parents.
As I sat on the couch, thinking how that was the second time she kissed my cheek, my little brother jumped on the couch and started to tease me. "John and Cheerilee, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
"Why you little!" I went to grab him but he jumped off the sofa while screaming in delight.
"First comes love, then comes marriage! Then comes a baby in a baby carriage!" Mac kept singing as I chased him around the house.
Monday
"I'm sorry, I must have something crazy in my ear, 'cause it sounded like you said you fought three Diamond Dogs all by yourself!" Filthy shouted as I told him what happened to me the other day.
"When have you ever known me to tell a lie?" I asked him as we ate lunch.
"Weren't you scared?" He asked while I fiddled with my lunch.
"I was terrified..." I admitted. "But when I saw that axe coming at me, something just snapped and everything just became a blur...next thing I know, I was looking at their leader lying in a pool of his own blood..."
"Wow... so I guess that makes you a hero then," Filthy surmised.
"More like an animal that needs to be caged," Filthy and I groaned as our least favorite pony and his cronies came to greet us with their presence. "Won't be long before he kills the entire class or even his family."
I had enough of Cedar and grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him on the picnic table. "Maybe I'll just kill you so I don't have to listen to your crap!"
"Mister Apple!" I and everyone else looked over to the front of the school to see Miss Ruler. And she did not look very happy. "Come inside and see me."
"Off you go~." Cedar teased before Miss Ruler shot him a glare.
"I will see YOU later mister Cedar." She told him before I walked into the classroom ready for what was probably going to be a long lecture.
"Don't expect me to apologize, because I won't," I said with my arms crossed and I had no intention of apologizing to that prick even if the fate of Equestria depended on it.
"And I don't expect you to." Miss Ruler said, surprising me. "Cherilees parents told me what happened the other day."
I looked down at my hands before saying, "And you still want a killer like me in your class?"
"John." Miss Ruler got up and came around her desk. She placed her hand under my chin and had me look up at her. "You're not a killer. You were just in a dangerous situation and defended both you and Cheerilee from three dogs that wanted to kill you." She then smiles and brings me into a gentle hug. "You were very brave, both for yourself and Cheerilee."
I started to tear up again as I returned the hug. "Thank you, Miss Ruler."
"Anytime, John." She lets me go before looking me in the eye. "Now, I won't tell your parents about what happened today. But I want you to promise me that you won't threaten anyone again. Even if they do start it first."
"I promise," I told her while drying my eyes.
"Good boy. Now, enjoy the rest of recess." I nodded before going back outside.
I was walking by the bathroom, getting ready to start the day, when I heard my pa yell out. "Bitches and Bastards!"
Wondering what that meant, I knocked on the door. "Pa, what do those words mean?"
Pa opened the door and I could see that he was shaving. And it looked like he knicked himself. "Well, um. Those words mean... Aunts and Uncles."
Not knowing him to tell a lie, I just nodded my head. "Okay, Pa."
I was about to leave and get breakfast, but then I heard Pa again. "Dicks and Pussies!"
Wanting to know what those words meant, I asked Pa. "Pa, what do those words mean?"
Without missing a step, he answered. "Hats and coats, son. Hats and coats." I nodded and reached the stairs when I heard dad yell out. "Fucking! Grr."
"Pa?"
"It means to cut, son! Cut!" I could tell he was upset, so I went downstairs to eat breakfast.
Family Reunion
The family was getting a big lunch ready, and Ma asked me to greet the relatives. When I heard the knock on the door, I raced over and answered. "Hello, Bitches and Bastards! Hang up your dicks and pussies, Pa's in the kitchen fucking the pie." I heard Granny gasp and Ma dropped the fritters. "What?"
"Now, what have you learned?" Ma asked me after taking the soap out of my mouth.
"If I don't know a word, look it up in the dictionary," I told Ma while spitting out the bubbles from my mouth.
"Good." Ma then looks at Pa and takes the soap out of his mouth. "And what have you learned, dear?"
"Don't curse around our children, and when they ask, tell the truth and tell them not to say it," Pa said before trying to get the soap film off his tongue.
"Good. Now, wash up and join us when you've got the taste outta yer mouth," Ma told us.
"Oooh! My little boy is becoming a man!" Ma squealed while looking me over, making sure I was ready for tonight. "My precious baby." She kissed my cheek before looking me in the eye. "You look so handsome."
"Ma. You're embarrassing me," I told her while trying to avoid her thumb from rubbing my cheek.
"Now hon. Leave the poor boy alone. He's going on a date, not getting married," Pa chuckled while making Ma stand up. He then gives me a small noogie. "Ready for your date, son?"
"As I'll ever be, Pa." I fidgeted a little while fixing my shirt. "It's odd. I faced three Diamond dogs without flinching, and this is what scares me?"
"Hehe. You should've seen your father when we were dating. He was scared that your Granny would catch us," Ma teased Pa before hugging me. "You'll do fine, baby. Just be yourself."
"Yes, Ma."
Knock Knock
"That must be her," Pa said as I answered the door and for a second and for a second I thought I was staring at an angel.
"Hi, John, ready for our date?" Cherilee asked me as she appeared in an amazing outfit.
She wore a simple white dress with yellow trim and had her hair in a ponytail. But to me, she was the angel I had first seen on our first day of school. Shaking myself out of my daze, I greeted her. "Y-y-you l-l-look lovely, Cheerilee."
"Thanks." She gave a little twirl before smiling at me. "You look very handsome."
"Thanks." I met her outside and held out my arm. "To Sugarcube Corner?"
"You read my mind," Cheery said while taking my arm.
As we made to leave, Pa stopped us. "Now just hold on a minute there." Pa reached behind him and brought out a small bag of bits and gave it to me. "Figured you two could catch a show as well."
"Wow!" I shook the bag and felt what had to be at least fifty bits in there. "Thanks, Pa."
"You're welcome. Now have a good time you two," He told us.
"We will. Thank you, Mister Apple," Cheery told Pa as we walked into town.
As usual, the streets of Ponyville were packed for the weekend with almost every pony in town running about to get to their destinations but no place was busier than Sugarcube Corner. The bakers; Mister and Misses Cake were good friends of my parents and had helped me plan for our date by reserving a table for us but I could hardly think straight with Cherilee linked to my arm dressed the way she was.
I was in heaven.
"Welcome, dearies!" Misses Cake said as we entered her shop.
"Hi, Misses. Cake." I greeted her with a hug while she led us to a booth.
"Alright." Misses Cake took out her pencil and pad. "What will it be?"
"Cherry oatmeal cookies with rainbow sprinkles," Cheery ordered first.
I ordered next. "I'll take an order of Macadamia nut cookies."
"Alright. I'll be back as quick as I can." Misses Cake wrote down our order and went into the kitchen.
"And here's a little something for the two lovebirds." Mister Cake smiled as he gave us a milkshake with a straw for each of us. "On the house."
"Thank you, Mister Cake," Cheery thanked before we stared at the frozen treat. "So... do we... um."
"I guess so," I said nervously before we each took a straw and drank the vanilla shake. Both of us saw that our lips were very close to each other and our cheeks both turned red.
Luckily, Misses Cake came with our order. Though I saw her smirk at how close we were. "Here you are, you two."
Once our orders were placed on the table, we immediately got to enjoy our treats and enjoyed the atmosphere of the bakery but I couldn't help but notice some of the other customers were staring at us like they were watching a romantic scene out of a movie.
"Everyone's staring..." I mumbled when Cherilee held my hand.
"Don't mind them, let's just enjoy ourselves." She said before offering me a piece of her pastry. "Say ah."
I smirked at her antics before opening my mouth and letting her place one of her cookies on my tongue. As I chewed the treat, I saw her open her mouth, waiting for me to do the same. Chuckling, I took one of my cookies and placed it on her tongue. She chewed and we both laughed at how ridiculous we were acting. Though, we both did like where it was going.
With our cookies devoured and our shake drunk, there was only one thing left. The cherry. "Here. You can have it," I offered while taking the stem off.
"Such a gentleman," She told me while taking the fruit and I popped the stem in my mouth. Cheery looked at me curiously, no doubt wondering why I did that. After sticking my tongue out, the stem was in a knot. "Wow. That's so cool."
I took the stem from my tongue and put it on the table. "Thanks. Pa told me that it shows you're a good kisser if you can tie a cherry stem into a knot." The second I said that I realized who I was talking to and my cheeks went as red as the cherry.
"My my John you're so forward." Cherilee teased as I panicked while some of the older mares in the shop began to tease me as well.
"Oh my, quite the charmer isn't he?"
"Reminds me of my husband when we were young."
"You got yourself a keeper there Cherilee!"
We both smiled nervously at the compliments and catcalls from the mares. Unfortunately, our moment was ruined by what I've come to call a Pine in my butt. "Aww, look at this. The freak and the loser." Cedar Pine walked up to our booth, alone this time, and was eating a bar of chocolate. "You know, you two make the perfect couple. Gives us normal ponies the chance to be with each other."
I was about to tell him off, and maybe give him a fat lip, but stopped when Mister Cake came up behind Cedar and pinched his ear. "I'll thank you not to bother the other customers. And I don't believe you paid for that." Cedar was dragged outside, and we could only imagine what Mister Cake was doing.
"He just never learns." Cherilee huffed as we finished our snack and bought a few pastries before we left.
"So what do you wanna do now?" I asked as we linked arms again.
"There's a movie we can go and see." She suggested as we walked toward the theatre.
"That sounds good. Wonder what's playing?" I asked mainly myself.
(Two hours later)
We both walked out of the theatre, laughing at the comedy we'd just seen while making our way to the park. It was getting late, and the sun was beginning to set. "That had to be the funniest movie I've ever seen," Cheery laughed while holding my arm.
"W-when the pony with the spittoon haircut made it look like he was sawing the top of the bald pony's head, I nearly lost it!" I laughed with her, almost spilling the rest of our popcorn.
As we walked through the park, we reached the small pond and sat on the bench overlooking it. For the longest time, we sat on that bench, eating and feeding the rest of our popcorn to the fish and ducks. While we sat there, Cheery leaned on me and I held her close. "John."
"Yes, Cheery?" I asked, only to be met with her eyes.
"I think we can safely say that we're more than just friends, right?" She asked with a serious yet loving tone.
"Yes. I think I can say that," I told her while leaning closer to her.
She smiled at me before standing on her knees. "Then... would it be alright if... if we could be... special some ponies?"
The question caught me off guard and made my mouth dry. When I found my saliva, I answered. "I-I-I'd like that very much, Cheery," I told her while taking her hand. "I'd love to be your boyfriend."
Her smile got bigger before she said, "Then that'll make me your marefriend." We both hugged before sitting back down and watching the sunset. "So. Your Pa said that tying a cherry stem with your tongue makes you a good kisser?"
"Mhmm. That's what he told me," I told her before she sat up and looked down at me with a smirk.
"Prove it." That was the last thing she said before she locked her lips with mine.
It caught me off guard, but I soon melted into the feeling and kissed back, holding her gently.
I ran into the living room, jumping and cheering at the best date of my life. The only date so far, but still. Granny saw me come in and chuckled. "I take it went well, Johnny boy?"
"The best, Granny! I have a Marefriend!" I shouted before hugging her.
"Icky!" My little bro said as he and ma showed up to greet me.
"So how'd it go?" Ma asked.
"Great ma! Better than great!" I told her.
"Seems your son has himself a marefriend," Granny told Ma, making her smile, and Mac was gagging.
"Haha! That's my boy," Pa said before picking me up and putting me on his shoulder. "Only eight years old and he's already got the ladies chasing after him."
"Alright, hon, put him down. He's still our little boy, not a stud," Ma told Pa before sitting down.
"Not yet anyway," Pa told Ma before letting me down. "Good job son. I hope you and Cheerilee stay happy."
"Thanks-Yawn-Pa." I started to feel sleepy while rubbing my eyes.
"Alright, youngin'. You had a long day and had a lot of excitement. Time fer bed," Granny told me before sitting in her rocker.
"Yes, granny." I gave everyone a hug before going upstairs and plopping o the bed. "Best. Day. Ever."
"Come on. Just two more." I was near the end of this week's extensive test and so far I thought I was doing pretty well. But these last two questions were really gettin' on my nerves. "How in Equestria am I supposed to know what 'X' equals to 'Y'? Where are the numbers?"
"Alright, class. Five more minutes and then pencils down." Miss. Ruler announced before going back to her papers.
"This sucks. Maybe if I just put 'Z'?" As I contemplated the answer, the door slammed open to reveal Granny.
"Mrs. Smith! What are you doing here?" Miss. Ruler asked as my granny came in.
"Sorry to bother you like this, but I need to get my grandson. There's a family emergency over at the hospital." As soon as she said that, I already knew what she meant.
"Granny, do you mean?" She smiled and nodded, confirming my suspicion. "Yes! I'm getting a new baby brother or sister!"
"Um, but Miss Smith we're in the middle of a test." Miss Ruler said before I just jotted down a random number and shouted.
"DONE!!"
"Come on, youngin, we got a new family member to greet!"
"Yeah, better hurry to see your new replacement," Cedar said smugly before Miss Ruler suddenly slapped his desk with her textbook.
"Cedar Pines? Detention. All weekend."
Granny sat with Mac and me in the waiting room while we waited for Ma to have her baby. Huh, so that's why it's called the waiting room.
"Granny, is Ma gonna be okay?" Mac asked while playing with that thing that has all the wooden beads on a wire. What is that thing called?
"She's gonna be just fine, deary. She's in there with your Pa right now, and they're gonna come out with a new baby brother or sister," Granny explained to us.
I let out a big sigh that didn't go unnoticed by Granny as I leaned back in my chair and just stared at the clock while waiting for the nurses to come out to give us the good news.
"Why what's wrong, sonny?" She asked as I let out another sigh.
"This will be another baby Ma and Pa will have...one that wasn't found alone like I was."
"And you think we'll love this foal more than we ever loved you? Nonsense." Granny said while wrapping an arm around me.
"Now you listen here John Apple. Family is more than looking like your parents or having the same blood it's about the love we all share with one another. That bond is why I love you, boys, as my grandchildren and why your ma and pa love you as their children. Never forget that."
With her sage wisdom, Granny gave me more comfort than I could ever ask for as we shared a big hug.
"John!" Over at the entrance, I saw Cheery and Filthy run over to us. I got down from my seat and went to greet my friends. Cheery was the first to reach me and brought me in for a hug. "Did we miss anything?"
"No. We're still waiting for them to tell us something." I gave Cheery's cheek a kiss before shaking Filthy's hand. "Did ya'll just get out?"
"We just got out when we heard the news. Thankfully, my father understood the situation and allowed me to come here instead of going to cram school." Filthy sighed as we sat back down.
"Glad my family moment was able to get you out of there," I nudged him while Cheery handed me a piece of paper. "What's this?"
"Miss. Ruler was able to grade our tests. This is yours," She handed me my test and leaned on my shoulder.
I unfolded the piece of paper and had to do a double-take at the result. "A+!! Woo, Hoo!"
"Well, congrats son! We'll tell yer parents once the nurse gives us the good news." Granny smiled when we saw the light above the delivery room turn green and the doctor came out, smiling under his mask.
"Good news everypony. The delivery was a complete success," The doctor told us. "You can go in if you like."
"Come on John! I wanna see the baby!" Mac said while eagerly pulling my arm.
"Alright alright but we gotta be quiet," I said in a hushed voice to my little brother as we walked in to find our ma resting on the bed with her mane completely frazzled and her eyes were looking heavy while holding a little bundle in her arms.
"Hey, boys." She said in a hushed voice as we noticed the little pink blanket.
Mac and I went up to the bed next to Pa and we looked at the baby in Ma's arms. Pa put a hand on our shoulders and introduced us to the baby. "Boys. Meet your sister, Applejack."
The two of us stared in awe at the little filly being held by our mother and couldn't help but give our biggest smiles, especially when she opened her eyes and looked at us curiously.
"She's looking at us!" Mac said with excitement while I waved hello to our new baby sister.
"Meet your big brothers, Applejack," Ma said while gently rocking her when she slowly began to reach out for me.
"Well look at that, she wants to say hello." Granny cooed as I let her grab my finger.
As Applejack held my finger, I felt the urge to smile and cry at the same time.
I was too young to remember Big Mac coming into the world, in fact, I just assumed for the longest time he was already there with me. But seeing her in Ma's arms and knowing what happened really put things into perspective.
"Can I hold her?" I asked. Pa had Mac and I sit in the chairs before he took Applejack in his arms. After giving her forehead a kiss, he let me hold her. "She's so tiny."
"I wanna hold her," Mac begged while holding out his arms to get a chance to hold our baby sister. With calm and steady hands, I handed Applejack to Big Mac.
The little filly squirmed a bit as she felt his hands tickle her side before she looked at him and honked his nose making us laugh.
"Look Pa, she likes me!"
"She likes you both so you boys better do a good job and protect your little sister," Pa said with a proud smile.
"Yes sir!" We both said with firm nods.
"John." I turned to see Cheery and Filthy walk in the door. "Brother or sister?" She asked me.
"Sister. Her name's Applejack," I told her as we watched Mac make funny faces at her.
"She's adorable." Cherilee smiled as Applejack laughed and the nurse came in.
"Alright, everyone. Mother and baby need their rest so I'm afraid it's time to go." The nurse told us.
"Aww, do we have to?" Mac asked as Ma took Applejack back in her arms.
"Afraid so sweetie but don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to play with her when we get home," Ma assured us.
Big Mac and I gave Ma a hug before we left with Pa and Granny out of the hospital. As we kept walking home, I couldn't stop smiling and shedding a tear at how cute my new baby sister is. Cheery saw this and kissed my cheek while holding my hand. "I saw that, you big softie."
"I can't help it. She's just so cute. I can't help smiling to the point it hurts," I told her while lightly squeezing her hand. "Not as cute as you of course."
"Charmer," Cheery told me before we kept walking back to the farm.
Later that night
"Waaahaha! Waaaaa!" I woke up from my dream of eating a giant pie when I heard Applejack crying. I jumped out of bed and headed toward my little sister's room.
When I went in, I saw she was crying in her crib. I went over and put my hand in her crib and started massaging her belly. "Shhh, shhh. It's okay. Big brother John's here."
Applejack's crying started to slow and she started to calm down a little. When her crying stopped altogether, she reached up and grabbed my index finger. I sat down in the chair by her crib and stayed there until she was ready to go back to sleep.
Morning
"John. John, wake up honey." I was woken up from yet another dream, this time by Ma. "Honey, were you here all night?"
"Mmmm, all night where?" I asked as my eyes adjusted. When they did, I saw I was in Applejack's room with my hand through the little bars. And in the crib, she was still sound asleep, holding my hand close as she did. "Oh, I guess I did."
"Well, butter my biscuits. Ain't this the cutest thing I ever done seen," I heard Granny say as she came into the room as well. "Oh, don't move! Let me go get the camera."
As Granny went to go get the camera, Ma came over and hugged me. "That was a very nice thing for you to do. You're being a very good big brother."
"Thanks, Ma," I told her as she kissed my forehead.
After Granny snapped a quick photo, my little sis began to stir from her sleep as she let go of my hand to rub her eyes and give a big yawn with maw standing over the crib.
"Go wash up hon, I got her."
"Right, ma." I yawned before gently ruffling Applejack's head and headed off to brush my teeth and get ready for another day of school.
"Come on boys, breakfast time!" Granny called us down from upstairs as Mac and I raced each other to the table for that first stack of her famous pancakes.
As usual, I was the first to make it to the table, so the first stack of fluffy goodness was mine to claim. While I poured syrup onto my stack and Big Mac got his breakfast, Ma came down with Applejack in a green onesie. "Morning boys."
"Hi, Ma!" Mac cheered while Ma seated herself next to him and he waved hello to our baby sister. "Hi, Applejack." He smiled happily as she gave a few cute babbles and flailed her arms around clearly trying to wave hello.
Ma sat next to me and I was able to give Applejack's belly a tickle, making her laugh out loud. "Alright, enough playing around. Eat your breakfast and get ready for school, young man."
"Yes, Ma." I went back to my pancakes but I also kept making faces at Applejack, making her giggle some more. She's fun to be with.
I was waiting for the clock to let us out for the day, and just as we had five minutes to go, Miss. Ruler made an announcement. “Alright, before we leave for the weekend, I have a special announcement.”
“This should be good,” I heard Cedar say in a bored tone.
“Next week, we’re holding an outdoor science fair. You’ll have the opportunity to show what you’ve been learning. And as an added bonus, the Princess herself will be judging the fair.” That got us all excited and we cheered until the bell rang. “Alright, have a good weekend. And remember, you can do this alone or in pairs.”
"Science project eh?" I thought to myself as I packed my stuff and headed for home. I tried to think of what I could do for the fair that would blow everyone's minds but I seemed to be drawing a blank.
As I kept walking and thinking, thinking and walking, I hadn't noticed Cheery come up behind me and wrap her arms around me. "So, I was thinking that you and I could be partners."
"P-p-partners!?" I asked in surprise.
"For the science fair, silly," Cheery laughed at my expression before kissing my cheek.
"Oh! The fair, right. Whew!" I wiped away sweat that hadn't even accumulated yet
"What did you think I meant?" Cheery asked making my cheeks turn a little pink.
"Nothing! I wasn't thinking of anything!!"
"Mhmm, sure you weren't," She teased me as we walked to my house together. "Anyway, I don't think we should enter the usual science project, you know, like a volcano or wind reader. If we can, let's come up with something no one has ever seen before."
"Oh yeah, like those just grow from trees. I'll just go ahead and buck one out and we'll get started," I joked back just as we made it to the porch where Granny was knitting a onesie for Applejack on her rocking chair. "Hi, Granny."
"Hey there, John Boy. Cheerilee. Did you two have a good day at school?" She asked us.
"It was great, Misses Smith," Cheery said for the both of us before we sat down next to her. "Miss. Ruler said we have a science fair next week, and that Princess Celestia herself will judge it."
"Well hot dang. That's something to be excited for. I remember when I was just a young mare and I met with the Princess. She was a sight to behold. Course you two already know that," Granny said.
"We sure do. Alright, we're going inside to get started on the project," I told Granny before kissing her cheek.
"Don't do anything suspicious now youngins, I got these ears for a reason." Granny winked making Cheery blush while I tried not to have an outburst from the embarrassment.
"Hey big bro!"
"Hey mac."
Macintosh was already in the living room with his coloring book when he came to greet us and was already treating Cheerilee like she was one of the family.
After giving him a hug, I heard Ma come down with Applejack in her arms. "Afternoon, son. And hello to you to, Cheerilee," Ma greeted while Jackie reached out for me. "Looks like little sister wants her big brother."
"Come here, Jackie. I got ya." Ma handed me Jackie and I went over to the couch with her and Cheery.
"She's so cute I can't even stand it!" Cheery gushed while Jackie grabbed her finger.
Just then, I saw that Pa had snapped a photo of the three of us while Ma giggled. "It's like they're married," I heard Ma whisper to Pa, making him and Cheery chuckle while I did my best to try and turn invisible.
"They sure do. So. Your Granny tells me you have a science fair coming up," Pa said while sitting in his favorite armchair.
"We do. The problem is, we don't know what to do for our project," I told him.
"Well, honey, it's the first you're hearing of it," Ma said while taking Applejack from me. "I'm sure you two will come up with something."
"Only if that boy can keep his hormones in check. Why I remember when me and your Grandpappy-rest his soul-were supposed to do a botany project together in the orchard but then-"
"OKAY MA! Thanks for the stories." Pa cut off granny at the last second while the rest of us shared a quick laugh. "There's a workshop in the barn son. Why don't you try tinkering in there? Might give you some inspiration."
"He can do that tomorrow. Right now, he has some chores before dinner," Ma said from her chair while feeding Jackie.
"Yes, Ma." I got off the couch and hugged Cheery. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
Cheery surprised me with a kiss right on the lips. "Count on it," She told me before leaving.
"Ha. Kids these days," Granny said before heading into the kitchen.
Later that night
As I slept that night, I had one of my odd dreams again. But this time, it was with one of my own kind again, at least I think it was one of my kind, and he was yelling at me like a drill instructor.
I saw him point to various objects that seemed odd yet familiar at the same time. One of the most interesting things was a kind of black powder that burst with explosive force when lit. After that, I saw the powder and a ball be shoved into a metal tube and saw the small ball blast out with a loud bang as it destroyed a clay target from 70 yards away.
As I stood there in amazement the instructor got in my face. "Get the lead out and wake up!"
Morning
I woke up from the dream and headed right for the barn..... after getting dressed.... and eating breakfast.... and saying good morning to the family. Wow, I had a lot to do before heading to the barn.
Anyway, after all that was done, I got started to work on the project.
I found some extra metal tubes left over from when we replaced the irrigation system, powder from the fireworks we had leftover from last years Summer Sun celebration. Now all I needed was a way to light it safely.
As I stared at the stuff before me, I didn't see this coming. "Hey, John!" Cheery startled me from behind and kissed my cheek. "Working on the project?"
"Morning, Cheery," I gave her a kiss in return. "And I believe that I have the perfect project for us to work on," I told her while measuring the metal tube.
"And what kind of project would that be?" She asked me while dipping her finger in the powder.
"To be honest, I'm not really sure myself. I had this odd dream the other night about all this stuff. Long story short, it can take this piece of metal," I took a ball bearing. "and shoot it across to the far end of the orchard faster than any pegasus can fly."
"Really!?" Cheery asked before taking one of the ball bearings. "But, wouldn't something going that fast... kill?" She asked me nervously.
"Well... minor detail. But in the dream, I saw it destroy a clay vase like Pa does Ma's flower pots when he trips," I told her while cutting the pipe with Pa's hacksaw.
"I see. Well, we might as well get to work. What can I do to help?" Cheery asked me while getting a piece of wood.
I smiled at her before going over the shape of what our project will be.
We took a break for lunch in the orchard but that did little to stop my brainstorming as I found myself munching on a sandwich while drawing up the blueprints for my idea and began scribbling down calculations I didn't even know I could do. It was like all of this was somehow wired into my brain. "You're really committed to this." Cheerilee said while watching me work.
I put in the last calculation before setting the blueprint aside. "I guess I am." I split the last apple and gave the larger half to Cheery. "It's just... I feel a connection with this. It's hard to explain really, but it makes me feel like I'm connected to my own kind."
"Oh... I see." Cheery had a sad tone when she said that.
Realizing what I just said, I gave her a hug. "Hey. You and my family are the most important ponies in my life. And I wouldn't trade you for an entire world of my own kind."
"You're sweet." Cherilee said as she gave me a quick peck, much to the dismay of my little brother who came to spy on us.
"Eeew!" He said from the bush he was hiding in.
"Why you little!" I went running after him while Cheery laughed at the whole deal.
The next day
With the supplies and blueprints ready, we got started on making the project. After three hours and a few mishaps, we had our first prototype.
"Hmm, we still need a name for this," I said while working on the tube.
"Well it shoots a projectile and it's mechanical." Cheerilee said as we brainstormed a name together.
"Hmm. How about," Cheery and I held hands while looking into each others face.
"Boomstick!"
"Perfect! All that's left is to test it out," I said as I took the device into my hands, making Cheerilee a bit uneasy since we were working with black powder.
"Now John, you sure you know what you're doing?" She said while watching me load the powder and ball with ease like I had done this before.
"Don't worry, I know a safe way to do this." I said while taking a thin metal rod and began packing down everything into the barrel.
Using an old chair and a piece of string, I set up a target for the Boomstick to shoot while the two of us hid behind a haystack in case anything went wrong.
"Alright then." I said while taking a deep breath. "Test fire in 3...2...1!"
I pulled the trigger, causing the mechanism to activate the flintlock hammer, hit the powder pan, ignite the powder, sparking the powder in the tube, and blasting the ball bearing head to rocket out.
BLAM!!!
A thick powder cloud obscured our vision and made us cough. After getting up and fanning away the smoke, I took a look at the target. "Sweet Celestia!"
"What?" Cheery asked me before looking at the target. "Oh, wow!" We saw that the target had a one inch hole right above dead center. "It worked! You did it!"
"We did it, Cheery. We did it." I gave her a hug before smelling something burning. "You smell that?"
"My tail!" Cheery screamed before I stomped on the flame putting it out. "Maybe we need to lessen the powder a little?"
"Agreed," I told her before we saw Ma and Pa run up to us.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA WAS THAT NOISE?!?" Pa screamed while fanning away the remaining smoke.
"Sorry Pa, testing out our project!" I cringed after putting out the remaining embers on Cheerilee's tail.
"You kids alright?" Ma asked us.
"We're fine Misses Apple." She told her.
Ma and Pa were relieved to see we were alright and brought us into a hug.
"What in tarnation did this?" We heard Granny shout while looking at the target we had set up. "Looks like someone has gotten good with their pitches."
"Actually, Granny." I stepped out from the hug and showed her the Boomstick. "It was our science project."
"What in Equestria even is that thing?" Ma asked, looking concerned as I held it up.
"It's called a Boomstick. Me and Cherry are gonna nab first place with this!"
"Heh. And here I thought you two were gonna make a volcano," Pa said while ruffling my hair. "So, a Boomstick, huh?"
"Yeah, pretty cool, right?" I asked while handing him our project.
"It seems a bit dangerous." Ma said while Pa tried to figure out how to hold the thing before showing him.
"You'll wanna keep it just a ways from your shoulder, it's got a kick when it fires."
"Hey this might solve our boar problem!" Pa said when he was struck with an idea. "Son, after the fair, you mind testing this thing out on a few bog boars in the east orchard? they've been uprooting the crops and trashing the fields."
"Really, can I?" I asked, hoping it wasn't a joke. When Pa nodded, I jumped for joy. "Alright!"
"Come on, John. We still have to figure out the powder ratio," Cheery said before we went back to the barn to make more calculations. "We're not gonna tell them about my tail getting caught on fire, right?"
"It'll be our little secret," I winked at her before she kissed my cheek.
"No need hon, I know the smell of burnt hair!" Ma shouted from the distance, making us both blush before we shared a quick laugh and made the finishing touches on our project but little did we suspect that somepony else had heard the noise and was spying on us the whole time.
After successfully testing out the Boomstick one more time, Cheerilee and I congratulated ourselves on a job well done and began cleaning up the barn when I heard a rustling in the bushes nearby. I figured it was probably some rabbits or other critters and chose to ignore it before I wrapped up the device and blueprints and escorted Cheerilee home.
When we got to her house, we saw that her Ma and Pa weren't home yet. She invited me in and we had a snack. We sat on the couch while I helped her cut the burnt hair from her tail. "Sorry that our project burnt your tail, Cheery."
"It's okay. The price of science, right?" We both laughed at her joke before I felt her hand on mine. When I looked in her eyes, I saw she was gazing at me like Ma does with Pa. "I love you, John."
I was caught off guard by what she said. I mean, I know we're special someponies to each other, but we never said the 'L' word before. Now that I heard her say it, I felt a burden lift from my chest as I finally spoke. "I love you too, Cheery."
After hearing me say that, she squealed and jumped from her side of the couch and onto me before she kissed me on the lips. I just wrapped my arms around her back and kept the kiss going. We stayed like that for what felt like forever before we both broke away for air.
We just stared into each other's eyes as we kept panting for air. "Best kiss of my life~," Cheery said before laying her head on my chest.
"Best kiss of your life so far~," I told her while holding her in my arms. Just then, we heard the front door open.
"Are we interrupting?" Cherry's mom asked while our cheeks were still pink from almost getting caught.
"Nope! Everything's good here mom!" Cherilee said as her mother leaned on the doorway with her arms crossed.
"Uh huh then you don't mind letting go of your new boyfriends hand so he can leave?" Her mom asked when we looked down to see we were still holding hands.
We blushed at being caught before I got off the couch. "I need to head home anyway." I kissed Cheery on the lips before whispering, "I love you." As she smirked I waved to her mother. "Goodbye,"
As I was leaving, I heard what Cheery's mom said to her. "He's a keeper."
"MOM!!" She said in embarrassment.
As I headed home blissfully unaware of what was about to happen, I returned to the barn to put some last minute touches on the Boomstick only to find the barn had been completely ransacked.
"What the?" I exclaimed and began looking around for our project before furiously turning over everything in the barn, alerting my family. "No..NO! NO NO NO!!!" I shouted while tossing the barn equipment just as Ma and Pa came rushing in.
"John?" Ma called out when she noticed how distressed I was.
"It's not here! It's gone!!" I shouted some more.
"Calm down son. What's gone?" Pa asked after managing to get a hold of me.
"The Boomstick, it's been stolen!" I said, tears welling up in my eyes.
Ma grabbed hold of me and did her best to calm me down. "I'm so sorry, honey." She kissed my forehead and rubbed my back. "We'll do all we can to find it."
"My question is, who would do this and take just that?" Granny said while helping to clean the barn. "And when I catch whoever did this, I'm gonna put my foot up their ass!"
"Point taken, ma. Now, let's get everything cleaned up," Pa said while picking up some overturned barrels.
As I wiped away the tears and helped clean up, I found that my blueprints were still here, so at the very least I wouldn't have to start from scratch. And better yet, I can make some improvements.
"Now don't fret son, we can still fix this." Pa told me.
"But Pa, the fair is in a few days and we've used up ALL the materials we needed to make the first one! We'll never finish in time!"
"Never say never sonny!" Granny snapped with a scolding finger pointed at me. "Why I'll bet we can make that new fangled contraption of yers faster and better if we all work together."
"You mean...you'll help?" I asked all of them.
"Of course we will sweetie, we're family." Ma said while giving me one of her best hugs.
I smiled while returning Ma's hug, which turned into a group hug with all of us, even felt Jackie squeeze my nose as Pa held her. "I love you all."
Tomorrow
"It was stolen!?" Cheery said after I explained what happened after I got back from her place. "Why would someone steal our Boomstick?"
"I don't really know. All I know is, the barn was ransacked and they took our project. Luckily, they didn't take our blueprints, so we can make another, and better still, we can make it better." I showed her the new tube that would make up the barrel of our next project. "I realized that the inside of the barrel was smooth."
"Yeah? Should it not be smooth?" She asked me.
"Well, it can, I mean, you saw it shoot yesterday, so it's fine if it is. But then I thought, what if the bullet-"
"Bullet?" She interrupted.
"Got tired of saying ball bearing. Anyway, what if the bullet could spin? Like how when you throw a football, it spirals and flies faster and straighter," I explained before showing her the inside of the new barrel. "Pa helped me put some grooves in here, so when the bullet leaves the barrel, it'll spin and fire straighter. Also, I figured out how to make it go farther."
"Let me guess, more powder?" Cheery asked before grabbing her tail. "May I remind you what happened last time?" She said with a smirk while tickling my nose with the end of her tail.
Fighting back a sneeze, I shook my head. "No, no. In fact, I found the perfect amount of powder to use without burning ourselves. But anyway, I theorized that the longer the bullet stays inside the barrel, the more energy it'll create behind the projectile."
"So what, we just call that muzzle velocity?" Cheery asked while helping to make the trigger.
"......Wow. That's a lot better than what I was going to call it," I said before attaching the barrel to the stock.
"Oh! You know what else this could use. Front and rear sights," She suggested before I wrote that down.
"Well don't just stand there yapping, let's get to work!" Granny said while rolling up her sleeves as we got started.
"Glad we finally got to put all those broken farm tools to use." Pa said as he wiped the sweat off his brow while working the smithy to form more bullets.
"Oh! What can I do? What can I do?" Mac asked while holding my arm and jumping in place.
"Hmm how's about...you help ma keep the place clean? we got sawdust everywhere and don't want Applejack sneezing now do we?" I winked as my little brother gave a quick salute and went to grab the nearest broom while our little sister was fast asleep in the corner despite the ruckus we were making.
"Thanks for helping John with this Granny." Ma smiled while Granny carved out the stock for the barrel.
"Aw anything fer my grand kids, and besides that lowdown thief robbed us of a good pest control tool!" Granny said while carving the wood some more.
"Damn straight," Pa said while making more bullet balls, and even a second ramming rod. "So, what you gonna call this one? Boomstick 2?"
"Maybe. But maybe we should call it something more sophisticated." As I thought about names, I started to remember the dream that started this, and it hit me. "A rifle."
"I like it!" Cheerilee said as we began to assemble the rifle piece by piece and even though the first one was amazing, this new improved version looked a hundred times better. To add to the flare of our new tool, Granny carved an apple into the stock before coating it with varnish to give it a nice shine to go along with the barrel.
"Well, if that isn't the finest looking science project I've ever seen," Ma said as she brought Jackie over to look at the finished project.
Jackie giggled and lightly batted the stock with her little hand. "Bam! Bam, bam!" She babbled, making us all laugh.
Taking hold of the rifle, I gave it a look of approval. "Alright, we have it assembled. Let's test it out."
Back outside, we decided to test my theory of the bullet traveling further with the longer and grooved barrel. Pa set the target at a hundered and twenty yards while Ma had us wear our ear muffs. Once Pa made it back, I took the rifle and loaded it.
"Hey," Cheery told me before whispering in my ear. "Make it dead center," She said before kissing my cheek.
Feeling my cheeks warm up, I shouldered the but of the rifle and took close aim. Letting out a few calming breaths, I squeezed the trigger.
BLAM!
Day of the fair
Cheery and I were setting up our both on the school ground while we kept our rifle under a tarp. "You nervous?" Cheery asked me.
"Not really. I figure, win or lose, we made something that'll change the world," I told her before giving her a hug. "And I couldn't have done it without you."
We decided to keep our rifle covered when we noticed most of the crowd had gathered around one booth in particular booth just opposite of ours and once we were able to get a good view of what was going on, my blood instantly boiled. The one responsible for the sudden uproar in the crowd was Cedar Pines with his usual smug and behind him was our missing Boomstick.
"Feast your eyes mares and gentlecolts!" He said while showing off our project like it was his.
"That no good rotten theif!" I was about to go and punch his lights out, but Cheery stopped me.
"Don't. I have a feeling he'll be the butt of the joke," She told me with a smirk.
I chuckled along with her before setting up our two targets a few hundred yards away. When I got back, the judges were going through the projects. Among them was Princess Celestia and two of her guard. Perfect.
"Why if it isn't young John and Cheerilee. Good to see you both again." The princess greeted us both as we bowed in respect.
"Good to see you too your highness," I told her while Cheery and I stood from our bow.
"I trust your project is ready for the fair?" She asked us while looking at the tarp.
"It is your majesty, we worked hard to make this." Cheerilee said while taking my hand, not caring for some of the onlookers.
"I'm sure you both did. I look forward to your presentation." She winked at us.
Princess Celestia went over to the judges to start their rounds. Meanwhile, Cedar came over and started taunting us. "Ha, good luck. I have the best project in all of Equestria!"
"Yeah, the one you stole from us, you thief!" I accused him before reaching for the rifle, only to remember something and smirk. "Actually, you're right. Amazing project. Hope you win."
"Hmph, glad to see you know your place for once." Pines scoffed as he strutted back to his booth while Cheerilee raised her brow at me with a smirk of her own.
"What are you up to?" She asked while bumping my shoulder with hers.
"Nothing." I replied as we awaited our turn.
For the next half hour, we saw the Princess and the other two judges go from one project to the next, from a simple wind reader to a volcano made of mud. Soon, they came over to the last two booths, ours and Cedar's. And as luck would have it, Cedar was to be judged first.
"Alright son, let's see what you got here," The lead judge said.
"Gentlemen, I present to you a mechanical marvel! The Boomstick." Cedar presented his stolen idea with eagerness as the judges marveled at the creation before them.
"Impressive but what does it do?" Celestia asked, sensing something was off as very few could hide secrets from the princess.
"Glad you asked that princess! Simply take one of these ball bearings and drop it into the barrel of the device." Cedar happily explained while Cheerilee and I shook our heads in amusement. "Then pull back this little device here, aim, pull the trigger and fire. Allow me to demonstrate." With his usual arrogance, Cedar Pines walked right past us with a smug grin as he took aim at the target he set up for himself. "And...now!"
Tink...
From the look on Cedar's face, it looked like he was very shocked by what happened, or rather didn't happen. "Umm, hold on, maybe I didn't set up right." He pulled back the hammer again and tried to fire the ball bearing again, only for the same thing to happen again. "Why isn't this working!?"
"Oh dear, I guess we'll chalk it up as a failure," The lead judge said while marking something on his clipboard.
"No! Wait, I can make it work!" Cedar kept trying to fire the Boomstick, and he even smashed it a few times on the booth he had set up. When nothing happened, he threw it on the ground. "Why isn't this working!?"
"Young colt, shouldn't you know how it works? Since you created it?" The Princess asked him, making Cheery and me snicker at the comment.
"Umm, well I mean, it's complicated. It sort of just fell in my lap," Cedar explained.
"And he forgot the powder," Cheery whispered to me, making me giggle and try to shush her.
After they judged Pines, the three of them came over to our both. "Okay, what have you two got?" The lead judge asked us while pointing to the tarp.
"First, we want to show you this." Cheery bent down and got out the blueprints from our original design and showed it to the judges. "As you can see, John is the original inventor of the Boomstick, and it was stolen last week. And we just found out today by whom." She pointed over at Cedar, who was getting glares from Celestia's guards.
"That's not true!" Cedar pointed a finger at us. "They stole my blueprints! That's why I can't get it to work!"
"That," I started before unvieling my rifle, getting surprised gasps from the judges. "and you forgot the powder." I took the rifle and stood where I would fire at the target, before turning to Celestia. "Your highness, may I borrow one of your guards, please?"
"I don't see why not," She turned to the earth pony guard on the left and signaled him over to us.
When I got a closer look at the guard, I saw that it was Lieutenant Shield. "How you doing kid?" He asked before standing beside me.
"Doing pretty good. Ready to help with my project?" I asked him while getting my rifle ready.
"Sure. What do I have to do?" He asked me before Cheery pointed at the two pumpkins I had set up.
"Pick one of those pumpkins, run up, and attack it,"I instructed him before putting in the bullet and ramming it down.
"You're the boss," The Lieutenant told me before drawing his sword and running over to the target and after a few seconds of running, he sliced it in half before running back. "So, how did that help?"
Cheery brought out the stopwatch she had and showed off the time it took to attack."Two minuttes and thirty four seconds to run over, attack your opponent, and run back."
"Impressive work Lieutenant," I told him before turning to the judges and showed off the rifle. "This here is what I call a rifle. An upgraded version of my original Boomstick before it was taken from me." We all glared at Cedar, who was fixing me with a death glare.
"I see. And tell me, what can it do?" The Princess asked me.
"It can fire a projectile, in this case a bullet, yet another invention of mine, and it will hit a target at great distances without the weilder to actually get up close and personal." I told them before taking aim.
"As a precaution, please cover your ears. It can get very loud," Cheery instructed while showing them to cover their ears and for her to put my ear muffs on my head.
Taking in a breath, I aimed for the center of the pumpkin and squeezed the trigger.
BLAM!
The whole fair cringed at the sound before they were mesmerized by how fast the bullet traveled and made the pumpkin explode. Cheery held up the stopwatch and yelled out. "Three seconds!"
Hearing that, the judges were awestruck, the mare with the hair bun even dropped her clipboard before the whole fair erupted in applause and I held up the rifle in celebration.
Lieutenant Shield clasped both mine and Cheery's shoulders and laughed. "You two are gonna make a killing with this. Hell, I could use a few hundred of these for the guard."
The Princess then came over with a huge smile. "You two have done a tremendous job. In fact, you did so well, that I would like to make you this offer." She turned over to Quill Pen, who I haven't noticed until now. She came over and handed the Princess two slips of paper. She takes them and offers them to us.
We take them and I ask, "What are these?"
"An acceptance letter, to my school for gifted youngsters." The moment she said that, I thought I was going to have a heart attack.
"Oh my sweet... well, you!" Cheery said over to Celestia before hugging me and peppering my cheek with kisses.
"Wait until my parents hear about this," I told her before I bowed before the princess. "Thank you for this honor. You won't regret this one bit," I told the princess.
"NO!! THIS CAN'T BE!!" Cedar shouted in outrage before everyone glared at him.
"As for you Cedar Pines, it seems very clear that you stole your classmates original design for his project and tried to plagiarize it as your own. Therefore, you are disqualified from the fair," Celestia said without so much as batting an eye to cedar while turning her back. "I will be notifying your parents about this incident as well."
Cedar was angry beyond belief before and stormed out while grabbing my Boomstick and ran off to who knows where. I thought about going after him, but I had more important things on my mind. Like celebrating mine and Cheery's acceptance into the most sought after school in Equestria, and we weren't even trying.
That evening
"Oh my stars! My grandboy's going to a private school!" Granny shouted the minutte I told everyone. Now I was stuck in her arms and being spun around.
"Granny! Please, I'm getting dizzy!" I told her, hoping I wouldn't throw up.
When she finally put me down and the room stopped spinning, I saw that Ma was crying softly and Pa was doing his best to comfort her. Concerned I went over to them. "Ma? What's wrong? Why are you crying?" She answered by bringing me into a hug.
"My first boy, the one I raised since you were a little baby, is leaving me at the age of twelve! And so very far away from home!" Ma cried while she and Pa held onto me like I was going to disappear into thin air. "I'm goona miss you soo much!"
I hugged Ma back before doing my best to calm her down. "Ma. I won't be gone forever. The Princess gave me and Cheery a train pass, so we can visit you on the weekend. And we'll always have the summers," I told her, feeling her sobbing lessen.
"But, what about us?" Mac asked me while holding Jackie in his arms. "We won't get to see our big brother very often."
I went over to them and gave them both a hug. "You'll both be fine. Jackie has you as her big brother. And you get to be the big brother of the house." I reassured them while Jackie grabbed my hair. "I will miss you though."
"We'll miss you too, big brother," He squeezed me tight before I ruffled his hair and kissed Jackie's cheek.
"Well, I think Johnny boy here is in need of some celebratory pie. And I just happen to have a hot one sitting in the window sill." Granny went over to the kitchen to get the pie, though I saw that she wiped a tear away. Guess she wasn't all that happy to see me go.
The next day
My family was up in celebration as they set up a little party to celebrate my acceptance into the most prestigious school this side of Equestria. Jackie and Mac were helping themselves to some of Granny's famous apple pie along a few other of her home recipes.
"Eat up youngin! Yer gonna need your strength."
"Granny don't make him eat so much or he won't even be able to leave for the station." Ma said while giving Jackie a taste of pie.
"It's fine Ma, I can just walk this off when I go to the station." I smiled while popping another morsel into my mouth.
After my third piece of pie and fourth fritter, I was brought into a massive group hug by my family. When I went out the door, Cheery was already waiting for me. "Hey, Cheery. Ready to start our new journey?"
"A bit nervous actually. It's not often that you get accepted to a fancy school on a scholarship." She said while fidgeting with the bag in her hands.
"Like I told my Ma and Pa, we won't be gone forever. And besides," I took her hand and kissed her cheek, making her giggle and smile. "we have each other still."
"Hmhmm, you're right. As long as we're together, there's nothing that can't stop us," She told me before kissing me back.
"Amen to that," I told her before we headed for the train station.
As we headed down the dirt path, Cheerilee heard a rustling in the bushes nearby and clung to me thinking it might be something scary, not that I minded the attention though. "What was that?" She asked while hugging my arm.
"Oh probably just some pests." I scoffed before hearing a very familiar and unpleasant voice.
"A pest am I?" Both of us froze up when we saw none other than Cedar Pines coming out of the bushes with a bruised face and a black eye and in his hands was the Boomstick. "Because of you, everyone calls me a thief and a cheat! Even my own family thinks I'm a disgrace!!"
"You did that to yourself!" Cheerilee said in my defense when he gave her a murderous glare.
"You know Cheerilee, I really did like you. I even thought of asking you out until you fell for this...CREATURE!" Cedar spat before pulling out some powder and a single bullet. "Thanks for showing me how this works by the way. Now I can take away everything from you just as you did to me."
Before I could say anything, we watched as he carelessly poured in the powder before loading the bullet and packing it down with haste as he pulled back the hammer and took aim at Cheerilee. "Cedar wait! That's too much-"
"Too much?!?" He screamed, cutting me off before I could warn him.
"Having to be outdone by a mongrel like you that's too much! Having to live EVERY DAY in humiliation is too much! HAVING TO BE CALLED A FAILURE BY YOUR OWN FATHER! IS!! TOO!! MUCH!!" Cedar shrieked before calming down. "But now...now it ends."
"DON'T!!" I screamed as he pulled the trigger. I went in front of Cheery to protect her, only for the Boomstick to burst into flame and the metal and wood to blow up in Cedar's hand.
"Aaaargh!!" Cedar screamed in pain while clutching his hand. Before we could do anything, he ran back into the bushes, leaving behind his right pinkie and ring finger.
I thought about going after him, but after all that he said and his wound, I consider him dead already and tended to a shaken Cheerilee. "Cheery, are you alright?"
"I-I think so." She said when several of the towns residence came rushing over to see what was happening.
"Is everything alright? we heard a scream."
"You kids okay?"
"It was Cedar Pines, he attacked us." I said while calmly keeping my arms around Cheerilee.
As the guards went off into the woods to find him, Cheery and I headed for the train station, hoping to put what happened behind us.
When we finally got to the station, we waited on one of the benches to wait for our train. As we kept on waiting, I took Cheery's hand in mine and she leaned her head against my chest. "I'm sorry this happened."
She hugged me around the waist and whimpered a bit. "He pointed our weapon at me, and you got in front of it." She then looks up at me with tears in her eyes. "If it didn't explode, you could've died, and I would never see you again." She starts to sob as I hugged her.
"If I didn't and the Boomstick didn't explode, then you would've died, and I would never see you again," I told her before we just held each other. "And I would never let anything happen to the mare I love."
Hearing me say that seemed to calm her down before she sat up and we kissed. When we pulled back, the train was pulling into the station. "I love you too." She kissed my cheek before grabbing her bag. "Come on. We have a new adventure ahead of us."
"That we do." I grabbed my bag and joined my marefriend for our next great adventure.
I awoke to the sound of the alarm going off on the nightstand. I was about to shut it off, but someone already beat me to the punch. "You know, for a farm boy, you have a very hard time getting up in the morning." Cheery told me on her bed on the other side of nightstand.
"Ma and Granny's cooking is what got me up in the morning," I told her before getting up. "And no offense to your uncle, whom I'm grateful for letting us stay here while we go to school, but his cooking is terrible."
"Hehe, I know. It's all I can do to stomach his carrot stew," She told me from her side of the room as I looked away while she dressed. Occasionally, I would sneak a peek at her in the mirror. "It's not polite to stare, Johnny." I saw her smirk at me.
"Like you don't sneak peeks at me." I got on my boots and hat before holding our bedroom door open. "My lady."
"Thank you, my lord." We giggled at the banter before we headed down for breakfast. "Are you nervous?" She asked me as we stopped at the top of the stairs.
"A little. We always seem to find ourselves in situations where we face the unknown." I took her while smiling at her. "But at least we'll face it together."
Cheery smiled back at me before kissing my cheek. "I wouldn't want anyone else by my side but you." We cuddled for a bit atop the stairs before hearing her uncle call us down for breakfast.
"Hurry up you two before your food gets cold!" The old stallion said while flipping some pancakes as we rushed downstairs. "I hope you two weren't up to anything while up there."
"No, uncle. We were just talking about our first day at Princess Celestia's school," Cheery told her uncle while we sat down for breakfast.
"Well, I hope that's all that happened, otherwise someone's gonna be sleeping on the sofa from now on," He directed that at me, which I guess was fair, but still.
"Wouldn't even think about it," I told him before taking a bite of the super dry pancakes. "Cough! Pass the syrup."
An hour later
After stomaching breakfast, Cheery and I stood before the gates of Princess Celestia's school for gifted youngsters. As expected, most of the students were from elite families around the city and were escorted by their parents with some giving us odd looks as we walked by. "They're staring at us, John," Cheery told me as we walked up to get our schedule.
"Must have something in your hair or something," I joked, trying to lighten the mood a little.
"Excuse me." One of the ponies standing at the entrance addressed us wearing some overly sized glasses and holding a clipboard.
"I've never seen you two before, what are your names?"
"Uh...I'm Cheerilee and this is John Apple." Cheery answered for us as the pony checked his clipboard before slamming his finger down in excitement.
"OH! The ones who were recommended on a scholarship! We've been expecting you two." The stallion handed us a class schedule each, as well as a student ID. When we looked at our schedule, we were happy to see that we had all the same classes.
"Commoners at this school? what are they thinking?" One of the parents scoffed as we were let through the gates and already, several students began giving us scornful looks.
"What's got them all sour?" I asked as we stopped at the courtyard in the center of the school.
"I don't know," Cheery said as we sat down and waited for the first bell.
As we kept to ourselves, we were met with a disgusted sound from behind us. "Ugh! Who let this trash in here!?" We both looked to see a white unicorn colt with blonde hair and a permanent smug look on him.
"Who the hell are you?" I asked while standing up and bowing up to him, even though I was a foot taller than him.
"I am Blueblood, PRINCE Blueblood and you'd do well to remember that you...what even are you?"
"John Apple, of the Apple Family." I announced myself while everyone around me laughed.
"Apple Family? So you're from a family of lowborn farmers?" The prince laughed.
I grabbed the entitled prick by his collar and spun him around til he was about to hit the ground, if not for me holding him. "Listen here, crotch stain! I wouldn't be making fun of others if I looked like you! Cause to me, it looks like the best part of you ran down the crack of your mama's ass and left a brown stain on the mattress."
Many of the students gasped in shock while Cheerilee just facepalmed, knowing I had a temper especially with those who thought themselves better than others.
"Unhand me at once you brute!" He barked at me.
"If you insist." I smirked letting him drop to the ground with a very audible oof! as the whole class laughed.
As he was left in the dust, the first bell rang and everyone was heading for class. As Cheery and I walked away from the prince, she gave my arm a hard pinch. "Our day hasn't even begun and you're already making enemies!"
"And a few friends as well," I directed her attention over to a few ponies that gave us a thumbs up or a smile. "Besides, he had it coming. And better he get it from me now, then later from the wrong person."
"You my friend have nerves of steel." Said one of the other students behind me. "Not once in all my years at this school has anyone been bold enough to stand up to Blueblood."
When I looked back, my mood turned a complete 180 at seeing who said it. "Shining!?"
"Hey, John." We stopped in the middle of the hall and gave each other a hug. "What are you doing here?"
"Cheery and I got a scholarship. What about you? I thought you were in the academy?" I asked him.
"I go here for general education. The academy is mainly a weekend thing," We squeezed each other again before letting go. He then saw Cheery standing behind me. "Is this the Marefriend you've been writing to me about?"
"Oh, so you write about me?" Cheery asked while going to introduce herself to Shining. "My name is Cheerilee."
"Shining Armor. And let me tell you, John's letter does little justice on your beauty," He told her, making her blush.
"Alright, alright. Jeez, not even here five minutes and you're trying to woo my marefriend," I teased before the second to last bell rang. "Alright, we'll catch up at lunch."
"See you there." Shining said when I noticed some of the other students were giving me jealous looks, some of them were even mares.
When the time came for our next class, I was surprised to see a copy of my rifle on the teachers desk as we took our seats. From what I could tell, the one who made this was able to copy it just from a single glance of the one I presented at the fair which could only mean they were one of the judges from that time. "Alright students, sit down and pay attention."
As we sat down, I felt a little angry that a teacher is using my blueprints to make him look good. Though looking at them more carefully, I could see that he was missing a few things.
As I was busy contemplating whether or not I should call the teacher out on theft, He called me over. "Mister Apple, please come up to the front." When I went up there, the teacher handed me my original blueprint, the one I gave to the Princess. "Would you like to tell the class the difference between your original blueprint, and the one I drew up?"
The whole class was stunned when they heard I was the original inventor as I gave the teachers rifle a close examination. "Well the barrel’s a tad too heavy, there's no sight to help aim your shot, plus the stock is too long, and seems to have been made in a hurry."
"Excellent observation Mister Apple! You heard right, students, this brilliant young man is an inventor."
"Wait. You mean he is the one who won first prize at the science fair last week?" One of the upperclassmen asked.
"Yes. He and Miss Cheerilee here came up with the design of the, you called it a rifle, correct?" The teacher asked us.
"Yes sir," I said while Cheery joined me. "Our original design was the Boomstick, but then we had to re-design it." I took the rifle the teacher had and aimed it at a random window. "Also, the barrel isn't rifled, so the ammo will stray from the target."
"Oh please." A student next to Shining scoffed. "Are we expected to believe that this lowborn invented such a device? What good is that thing even for?"
"Well aside from hunting pests in your gardens, it can put a hole in your chest from at least three hundred yards." I replied, making some of the students feel nervous. "Thankfully, we have no black powder or shots available so I am unable to demonstrate." I joked before checking the firing pin and trigger. "Also sir, the trigger is jammed, you might wanna look into that."
The teacher chuckled before scraping his blueprints and placing his rifle on the bookshelf behind him. "And there is your first lesson. Failure is a better teacher than success."
As the class continued, Shining and I snuck a quick fist bump before taking our seats as the teacher continued his lessons on mechanics, which is why he created his own version of the rifle. Cherry and I took notes right up until the end of the lecture and as planned, we went to rendezvous with Shining for lunch when we ran into an unexpected dilemma.
"John was it?" One of the upperclassmen from earlier came over to our table. "I actually saw how well your rifle performed that day at the fair, my father and I were intrigued."
The Upperclassman was a filly about two years older than me and Cheery. She had... well to be honest she looked like my Ma or Aunt Orange with a horn on her head. Unlike most of the students here, she had a simple but beautiful purple dress. She had a kind smile and went ahead and sat across from me and next to Cheery.
Shaking my head, I introduced myself. "Yes, I'm John Apple. This is Cheerilee, who helped create it with me, and my marefriend. And this is my friend, Shining Armor."
"A pleasure to meet you all," The filly greeted us with a nod. "My name is Primrose, and I was hoping for two things."
"Really? And what are they?" Cheery asked while crossing her arms.
"First, is to offer you this." She took out a business card and offered it to me. "My dad is a weapons developer for the royal guard. When he saw your rifle, he saw that you could be the best employee he could ever have, whenever you're old enough of course."
I took the card and flipped it around a couple of times. "Well, that does sound very interesting. Uh, what's the second thing?"
"I was wondering if we could be friends?" Prim asked with a nervous look. "I... don't have many friends here, not since Blueblood."
"You were friends with that prick?" Cheery asked.
"Not really. Two years ago, he asked-no-demanded I be his marefriend. When I refused, he got made and started saying things about me behind my back, and put my name through the mud. So it's very hard for me to make friends." When she was done explaining, I could see a tear forming in her eye.
Before I could react, Cheery brought Primrose into a hug. "No need to ask. I can already tell we'll be friends already."
"And I look forward to discussing any future business together." I said before inviting Primrose to join us for lunch, once there, the four of us sat together at one of the empty tables and just like before, the mares of the school were giving me jealous looks as I chatted it up with Shining and shared a few laughs. I'm glad he didn't change after all this time and he was still the same nice guy I knew back when we first met.
"By the way, what happened to the guy who stole your original design? Cedar Pines right?" He asked as I put the fork down and sighed.
"Last anyone heard he was seen running down south towards the desert lands. That's buffalo territory and I heard they don't take kindly to strangers." Serves him right for pointing a weapon at my Cheery.
"Right after he got his hand blown off," Cheery said, causing Shining and Primrose to gasp.
"Yeah, he used too much powder and it blew up in his hand. It actually has me thinking of a new design, one where it's meant to blow up," I said while doodling a design.
"Uhh a rifle that blows up? Are you right in the head?" Shining asked as I got into the zone.
"No, not a rifle, an explosive device. About the size of a hoofball or apple. You light the fuse, throw it, and the explosion and shrapnel will take down the target," I told him while showing them a stick figure throwing a ball that blew up on the other side of a wall.
"But we already have dynamite, how is this any different?" Shining asked as I put my notebook into my shirt pocket.
"It's made of metal but that's all I can say for now." I told him while finishing my lunch.
"Where do you come up with these ideas?" Primrose asked as the bell rang for our next class.
"Mainly through dreams," I told her before we headed towards history. "I have other dreams too, but they seem to be random and in different places entirely."
"Sounds like you should see someone about that. They might not be dreams but memories." Primrose suggested before bumping into one of the other mares at the school.
"Watch where you're going."
"I could say the same to you." I snapped back at the one who bumped into my friend.
"Excuse me?" The mare tilted her head at me with a strange, nasally voice that seemed annoying.
"I might, if you apologize." I demanded.
"Apologize? For what? For being bumped into by this little hussy?" Hearing her say that, Prim started to cry a little, and for me to ball up my fist.
Before I could say another word, Cheery accidentally spilled some ink onto the mares expensive looking coat. "Oops! Better go wash that off before it sets." The mare let out an outraged gasp before running toward the nearest bathroom. With her gone, Cheery hugged Prim close. "Don't let them get to you."
"Thanks Cheerilee." Prim said as she dried her eyes.
The rest of the day seemed to go off without a hitch until the mares of our school caught me talking to Shining again and decided to do something as they stormed up to us like an angry mob.
"I had a dream like this once. Except the mares were all Cheerilee and they didn't look pissed off at me," I told Shining as the mares circled us.
"Shining Armor, what are you doing talking with this commoner trash?" One of them asked and I noticed she was in charge of the group.
"I'm pretty sure he can talk to whoever he wants." I said when they glared at me.
"Nobody asked you, peasant!" Who the hell uses the word peasant anymore?
"Who are you calling, peasant, you uptight bitches!?" I roared at them before getting in the lead mares face. "Shining and I are friends! If you can't get that minuscule detail through all that crappy expensive make-up and hair product, then you can complain to your therapist after you're done bitching about how your Mama dolls you up and how daddy touches you!" The lead mare backed away with a tremble in her lip. When her friends or rather lackeys went to comfort her, she turned tail and ran away crying.
The rest of their group immediately turned tail and ran as I took a breath to calm down with Shining looking impressed and a bit surprised at how I handled the situation.
"You sure you didn't go to boot camp when we were little?" He joked while Cheerilee helped wipe the sweat off my brow.
"That was tense." I huffed in relief.
"And a little hot," Cheery told me with half-lidded eyes, causing me to have butterflies in my stomach.
"Hehe, that was pretty funny," Prim said before we made it to history class.
After School
Shining invited me and Cheery over to his house after school. He invited Primrose to join, but she said she had to be home before dark. Next time I guess.
"Mom! I'm home!" Shining announced when we entered his house. "And I brought some guests."
"Oh that's nice sweetie who did you-!" Shining's mom, Twilight Velvet, gasped when she saw me and Cheery at the entrance. "John? Little John Apple is that you?"
"Been a while Miss Velvet." I said as she came over to give me a big hug.
When she let me go, she noticed Cheery. "And who's this lovely young lady?"
"This is Cheerilee. She's my friend from home," I told Velvet as Cheery came over and held my hand.
"I'm also his marefriend. And he's my boyfriend," Cheery smirked my way.
"Oooh well someone's been a busy boy. If only I could say the same about Shining." Velvet teased while smirking at her son.
"MOM?!?" Shining whined to his mother.
"Oh honey you know I'm only teasing. Truth is, he gets so many love letters on a daily basis that it's hard to keep track of them all." She teased further.
"MOM!!" Shining complained some more.
"So that's why all those mares were pissed at me. Wait a minute, I thought you were being bullied in school. That's how we met," I told Shining.
"Yeah, I was. Then the girls started to see me in a different light. Now I get bullied for a different reason," We shared a laugh at his little joke.
"Anyone you like?" Cheery asked with a smirk.
"Well, there is somebody, but I don't think she's interested in me," Shining said in a sad tone, but he quickly shrugged it off. "So, what to do first?"
"How about homework?" Velvet asked all three of us with a knowing smirk. "Get set up at the table and I'll make all three of you a snack." Just then, we all heard a baby crying. "As soon as I get Twilight up from her nap."
"Gasp Can we see her? Please, please, please, pleeeeease?" Cheery begged while hopping on her toes. She always did love to see babies.
"Alright. But homework right after," Mrs. Velvet told us while leading us to the baby's room.
Once we entered the nursery, we could hear the baby scream more loudly as Velvet approached the crib and gently reached down for her little one.
"Ohh oh oh it's okay my precious Twily. Shh there, there." She whispered while bouncing the little filly. "Everyone, meet Twilight Sparkle."
The second Cheery saw the baby, her face lit up brighter than a fireflies as she gazed at the little unicorn, nomming on her thumb with her eyes still closed. "She's adorable!"
"Yeah but she can be a handful." Shining chuckled. "Last week she almost burnt my homework. Magic flux, normal for baby unicorns."
As if to demonstrate, Twilight took in a couple breaths of air before sneezing and a few sparks flew from her horn, causing grass to grow where the sparks fell on the wood. "Wow."
"Aww, cute and magical," Cheery said while tickling Twilight's chin, making her laugh.
"Alright, that's enough play time. Time for Homework," Mrs. Velvet told us before going into the living room.
As we got started on our homework, we would fall into random conversations. "Sooooo, who's the lucky girl, Shiny?" Cheery asked, making him groan.
"You're both gonna think I'm stupid for saying this. I bumped into her a week ago, literally, and she helped me up before she went to her class," Shining told us.
"Well, don't leave us in the dark, give us a name," I told him, pushing my reading assignment aside.
He looked a little nervous before whispering. "Princess Cadance."
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that, who?" I asked. He whispered the name again. "What?"
"Princess Cadance! There! I have a crush on Princess Cadance! You happy!?" He pretty much yelled in my face.
"Say it, don't spray it," I told him before wiping away the spittle from my cheek. "Anyway, congrats. Granny always said to aim high, and you can't aim higher than that, unless you count Princess Celestia."
"Or me," Cheery jokes while switching to her history homework. "Anyway, I think it's great, and I'm sure if you approach it delicately, you'll win her heart."
"Uhh about that..." Shining then said something we didn't see coming.
"WHAT?!?" We both screamed.
"She's dating someone already?!?" Cheery said in outrage.
"Yeah...the head of the buckball team." Shining said in a depressed tone.
"Oh man, I feel depressed now. I know! We'll split them up! What's the name of the guy?" I asked, already getting ideas that bordered the line of legal and illegal.
"It's okay, I don't mind." Shining sighed. "Besides she's the most popular girl in school, EVERY stallion wanted to date her...me included."
"I see. Well, don't worry about anything. You know why?" I asked him.
"No, why?" He asked me.
"Because from this day forth, I will dedicate my entire life so that you and the princess will be together!" I bellowed while striking a pose.
"Really?" Shining asked with a gleam of hope.
"Hell no. But I will make it a personal side project and help you out wherever I can," I reassured him before finishing my homework.
"Oh ha ha, you're a comedic genius." Shining said while we continued to work until everything was done.
Once the books and papers were put away, Cheery immediately went to little Twily as she scooped her up in her arms and began to practically smother her with affection. ”OooH! You are Soo cute!!"
Shining and I watched as Cheery played with Twilight. She would hold her and make funny faces while making the little foal laugh and reach for her. Shining saw her little sister laughing with a new friend, but for me, I started to see something else.
I saw Cheery and me as adults, sitting outside on the porch in the early morning. I had my head resting atop of hers while she leaned against my chest. In her arms was a little foal wrapped in a blanket being fed by a bottle. I'm not sure when this is, or how it happened, or it was even a reality, but I knew that was my future.
"Equestria to John!" I was so busy fantasizing, I didn't realize Shining was talking to me.
"Wah, huh, what? Sorry, what were you saying?" I asked him, trying to clear my head.
"I asked if you wanted to learn how to play O&O," Shining said while showing me a game board and strategy guide. As I sat down across from him and he got the board set up, he looked at me strangely. "What made you black out like that? Another dream?"
"No. No, not a dream." I looked over at Cheery reading Twilight a story on the couch and a loving smile made its way on me. "A wish."
"John! Hurry up or we'll be late to the Nightmare Night party!" I heard Cheery call downstairs as I was putting on the last bit of my costume.
"Just about done, Cheery!" I put on the last piece of my costume before going downstairs. Once I made it to the living room, my breath was caught in my throat at the sight of her costume. "Wow."
Cheery giggled and did a little twirl in her princess costume. She may be dressed as one tonight, but to me, she'll always be my princess. "I thought you would like it." She then looks at my head and sighs. "Where's your helmet?" We decided that we'd go in a Couples costume. Her as a princess, and me as her knight. The only drawback, they ran out of helmets.
"They sold the last one. There was one left, but this little colt wanted it for his first Nightmare Night. So, you can see why I had to let him have it," I told her while patting my thigh.
Cheery smiled before kissing my cheek. "Truly, you have the heart of a knight." She then pushes past me and goes into the kitchen. "Still. A Knight must have a helmet. Even if it is," She comes over and brings over a pot of all things. "This."
I took the pot and gave it a look over. I let out a chuckle before placing the pot on my head. "Just call me Pothead." We both laughed at the joke before we left her uncle's house.
"Have fun you two but not too much!" Her uncle called out as we left the house and found ourselves on the bustling streets of Canterlot. Despite being a home for the elite, the city was no stranger to Nightmare Night as spooky decorations were put up on every street and neighbors everywhere were giving out candy to the foals passing by.
"This is amazing!" I said as we headed towards the castle.
"Shining and Primrose said they'd met us at the castle stairs. Let's not keep them waiting." I took Cheery's hand and we raced for the castle.
When we arrived, we saw many of the guests dressed in elaborate costumes, some looked spooky while others looked either silly or downright mesmerizing but nothing could keep me from staring at my marefriend. I don't know if it was the moonlight or the way she just smiled but each time I looked at her it was a knockout.
Cheery pushed my arm with a giggle. "John. Quite staring. People will think I have something on my face or something."
"Forgive me, my princess," I did a low bow, earning me a small slug in my arm. "Haha! Can't blame me for trying."
"Hey, you two!" Cheery and I looked over to see Shining and Prim walk up to us. Prim was dressed as a zombie with a fake clever on her head and fake blood on her clothes. Shining, in an ironic twist of fate, or as a joke, dressed up as a farmer, wearing overalls, a straw hat, and a piece of wheat in his teeth. "Howdy, ya'll"
"You look like my cousin, Cotton Eye." I brought Shining in a hug while Prim and Cheery hugged each other.
"Wow, Cheery. You look like a real Princess," Prim complimented as Cheery did a little twirl.
"Thank you, Prim. And I love your costume. You look really.... dead," Cheery said, not knowing what else to say.
"Thanks. It took me forever to look for a fake clever." Prim then stares at my head. "Where's your helmet?"
Before I could answer, Cheery came to my side and took my arm in hers. "He gave it up, so a little colt could have it for his first Nightmare Night. So, as his princess, I bestowed upon him a very special pot-shaped helmet."
We all had a good laugh as I gave the pot a few taps. "And the best part is, I can cook my meals in it too!" I joked as we headed towards the party and began to hear festive music.
"Coming through! Excuse us!" A few foals shouted as they raced down the street, their bags nearly filled with candy.
"The quest for candy never ends," Shining laughed as the doors to the castle opened.
Out from the doors, a cadre of guards came out and positioned themselves along the stairs. Then, in all her glory, Princess Celestia came out with her wings spread out, ready to greet us. What we didn't expect, was the fake arrow going through her head, making us all laugh.
"Uhh Princess, what's with the arrow?" I asked when she started to breathe in dramatic fashion with a hand on her forehead.
"I...I...I made it myself!" She smiled while removing the prop from her head.
We laughed at her joke, and even some of the guards started to snicker.
Clearing her throat, she gestured inside. "Now then, let the party begin."
"After you my lady." I tried to sound distinguished as I helped Cherilee through the door.
"Why thank you, kind sir." She replied, sounding like a posh princess as we stepped in.
Our acting was interrupted when a witch came over to scare us all before leading us on. "Hehehehaha! This way, my pretties. The best candies are this way." She gestured to a large room where we were amazed to see small houses and towers made of candy and sweets.
"So many options, so little time," I said while rubbing my hands in anticipation as we gazed at the buffet of sweets.
"Want my opinion, start with the cookies." Shining Armor suggested before popping one into his mouth. "Mm, it's my mom's recipe."
"Ugh! No wonder it's the worst dish here." We all turned to see Blueblood was the one to badmouth Mrs. Velvet's cookies. He was dressed as a king, a delusion no doubt, since I don't see Princess Celestia giving up the throne anytime soon. Especially not to that prick. "Can't believe Auntie allowed common fare to be put in the mix. Might as well have caramel apples."
"I'm about two seconds away from going Prench on him, and put his ass in the guillotine." I cracked my knuckles and was about to give him a piece of my mind when Cheery stopped me.
"Johnny, don't let that prick get to you. Let's just have fun," Cheery told me.
"And for the record, we don't just have caramel apples." Shining winked as he took a bite out of a chocolate-dipped apple and went to a different section of the party to let me and Cheery have some time together.
"Did... was he trying to give us some alone time?" I asked, more to myself than anyone else.
"You know, that isn't such a bad idea," Cheery said before taking my hand and leading me over to the candy tower. "Be my knight~."
Hearing her say that, I took the nearest soda and chugged it, though it happened to be Bluebloods. "Hey!"
"Do something about it, punk!" I told him before leading Cheery over to the tower.
To say I wasn't excited would be a lie. My heart was racing the whole time we were alone together and despite it being a costume she looked like a real princess.
"I heard all these candies are made by the royal chefs, it'd be a crime not to leave with just a few," Cheery suggested.
"A few? Cheery please, I'm a pro." I smirked before pulling out a small piece of cloth from my pocket and unfolding it to reveal a sack big enough to fit a few hundred bits. "Let's fill this up before anyone sees!"
For the next few minutes, Cheery and I went and tore pieces of the tower off and stuffed them in the bag. When we got to the candy cane candlestick, we both grabbed it and our hands touched. We both laughed before Cheery tackled me and stared down at me. "Let me get at those lips." She then dove down and we started to make out.
"MMM?!? MMM!!" I muffled a scream as our lips met and without warning, my hands started to caress her back before gently bringing her into an embrace. It was magical.
We spent ten minutes in there, exploring each other's mouths with our tongues. "Mmm, you truly are my knight in shining armor."
"And you, my princess," I told her before we stood up. I grabbed the bag and gave Cheery's cheek a kiss. "Shall we join our friends?"
"Let's." Cheery smiled as we left the tower with our stolen goods to rejoin the party to find Shining talking with some of his schoolmates around the punch bowl.
"There you two are, we were thinking you'd left." He smiled while pouring us some drinks.
"We're not about to leave our friends in the middle of a party," I told him before we heard a commotion over by the fondue station. "What's going on over there?" The three of us raced over to the disturbance and saw that Princess Cadance was yelling at her boyfriend.
"We're through! You don't listen to me, you flaunt me around to your friends, and you're always trying to get me to jerk you off!" Cadance yelled at Buck, making a few of us cringe or laugh.
"You know what, whatever!" He scoffed while getting in her face. "Mares like you are a dime a dozen, I only dated you cause you're the princess's niece. I could have ANY mare I want! They all want me and Colts want to BE ME!"
"He serious?" Shining couldn't believe the arrogance he was spewing.
"And for the record, the head cheerleader does a better job than you. Yeah, that's right, I had a little something on the side." Scumbag.
"Shining, I hate to be the one to suggest this, but now would be a good time to sucker punch him." I patted his back before pushing him toward Buck.
"Gladly." Shining took a quick swig of punch and as Buck turned around, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his muzzle and his world began to spin before he suddenly found himself staring at the ceiling.
"OH SNAP!! SHINING JUST FLOORED BUCK!!" A colt from the crowd shouted after a collective gasp from a few spectators.
As Buck started to regain consciousness, Shinging stomped his chest with his hoof. "You listen and listen good! If you ever!!! Talk to Cadance like that again! I will curb-stomp your balls to the point you quit the Buckball team and join the choir!"
"You better listen to him, he's crazy!" I said as Buck crawled away and Cadance came over to Shining.
"Shining that was..."
"AWESOME!!" One of Shining's cadet friends shouted as the crowd let out a cheer. Seems Buck wasn't as popular as he thought he was.
"I've been waiting to do that," Shining said with a sigh of relief while watching his rival grab as many napkins as he could plug his bleeding nose.
While his cadet buddies were cheering for him, Cadance slipped him a piece of paper. "Call me sometime. If you want to, that is." She then surprised Shining and all of us when she gave him a peck on the cheek. "Later, farmer brown," She joked before joining her friends.
Cheery, Prim, and I walked up to Shining to congratulate him, only for him to fall backward and into our arms. "If this is a dream, don't wake me up." He then loses consciousness.
"If a kiss on the cheek makes him faint, Imagine what would happen if he'd got some tongue?" I joked as we dragged him out.
It was the holiday season, and Cheery and I were going home for Herths Warming. "I'm home!"
"Hey, hey! There's my boy!" Pa shouted as he greeted me in the kitchen. "Honey! Our son's home!"
"Oooh, my little Johnny's home!" Ma ran into the kitchen and brought me into a bone-crushing hug.
"Ma! Chocking, not breathing," I said as my air supply was running low.
"Oh, sorry sweetie it's just so good to see you." Ma stopped squeezing me to look at my face and could not help but shed happy tears. "Oh, you've gotten so handsome! And it's good to see you too Cherilee."
"Good to be back Mrs. Apple." Cheery smiled while hugging Ma.
The door opened again and Cheery's parents walked in. "Thanks again for the invite, Bright." Cheery's pop, Raspberry, thanked my Pa.
Blueberry, Cheery's Ma came walking in with a few presents in her arms and magic. "It'll be a nice change of pace to do Hearths Warming with friends."
As we helped bring in the presents, I was tackled by a little orange ball of cuteness. "Johnny!" Little AJ started walking and talking a few months ago, and she missed me every day I was gone in Canterlot. "You're home! You're home!"
"Hey, there's my little sister!" I took her in my arms and gave her all the hugs we missed out on, into one big hug. "You out bucking apples with Ma and Pa yet?"
AJ shook her head no. "Nuh-uh. Granny said next spring I can help carry baskets."
Before either of us could react, Cheery scooped up AJ in her arms. "Ooooh! You've gotten so big and cute!"
"Cheery!" AJ squealed before returning the hug.
The two of them cuddled and squeezed each other as tight as they could before we all went upstairs to my old bedroom to unpack. To my surprise, very little had changed in the time I was gone but Ma had kept the place nice and tidy for my return.
"Hey, Ma where's Big Mac?" I asked while unloading my suitcase.
"He's out in the west orchard. He's gotten big since you left," Ma said while helping us unpack.
"I'm gonna go see him," I told them as I left outside into the cold. After trudging through the snow, I saw my brother shoveling snow off the roots of the trees. "Hey, little brother! Need a hand?"
"John!" Big Mac dropped the shovel and raced over. We came into a big hug and that's when I realized just how much he's grown. "I missed ya, big brother!"
"Missed you too little brother." Although, little is stretching it a bit. He'd grown to where he was only a few inches shorter than me. "Ma was right. You got big."
"Ma said I'll be as big as Pa one day. It's good to have you home, John. I missed you." He tightened the hug just as we started for home.
"It's good to be home. I missed the smell of apples and Ma and Granny's cooking. All I ever smell up in Canterlot is smug rich folk with their noses up their own butts." That part got him to laugh as we came back into the house.
"There's my two grandsons," Granny greeted us with a smile and two mugs of hot chocolate.
"Thanks, Granny," Mac thanked Granny while I added marshmallows to mine.
Cheery walked over with her mug and she gestured for me to follow her into the living room. We walked over to the fireplace and she got out her Hearths Warming doll. "I think this will go great over" She went over and placed her doll beside mine, intertwining their hands together. "here." She stood by me and we admired the fire. "Happy Hearths Warming, John."
"Happy Hearths Warming, Cheery." We shared a kiss, and we heard a giggle behind us.
We looked back to see AJ holding her mouth as she kept her giggling to herself. She then ran up to us and held Cheery's hand. "When are you two gonna get married?"
That question made both mine and Cheery's eyes widen and are breath hitched. We then locked eyes and I saw her lips turn into a coy smile. "Maybe in a few years." If I had a mirror, my cheeks would be as red as Big Mac.
"You're funny. You know that?" I kissed her again before picking AJ up. "And you!" She squealed as I launched her in the air and caught her again. "Are too cute for your own good."
“Ah! Ah’m flyin’!” AJ squealed. “Higher, big bro!”
"Alright. Let's go higher!" I threw her higher and caught her again. We kept going as we neared the couch. With one last toss, both Cheery and I caught her as we fell onto the couch and started to gang up on her and tickle her.
“Hahahahaha! Stop! Stop! Ah’m gonna pee!” AJ laughed hysterically.
We both stopped before she could and AJ headed for the kitchen. Once we were alone, Cheery cuddled next to me as we watched the fire crackle. "John."
"Hmm?"
"What's something you want for Hearth's Warming?" She asked me.
I had to think about that. Did she mean what did I want most? Or what I want that she could get me. After a few seconds to think about it, I told her. "I wouldn't mind the newest Daring Do novel. I hear it's got a giant snake in it." Cheery giggled at my answer before laying her head on my chest. "What about you? What do you want most?"
"I'll tell you tomorrow," She said with another coy smile.
Since Cheery was here, our folks decided it would be best if we had a sleepover in the living room. AJ took the easy chair, and Mac took the couch, leaving Cheery and me with the floor. We made a nest of pillows and blankets and listened to the holiday music playing in the corner. As we tried to fall asleep, we watched the snow fall outside the window. "Beautiful."
"It is," Cheery said as we kept watching. "So peaceful."
"I was talking about you," I confessed as she blushed at the compliment.
"Oh, you." She scoffed playfully as the fire cracked a bit and we continued to watch the snowfall. Winter in Ponyville was more peaceful than in Canterlot, where you would find lights strung up around every street, you would see nothing but snow-covered trees as far as the eye could see but what was really amazing was how the moon made the snowflakes glimmer like they were fallen stars.
"I'm glad you came with me Cheery."
"There's no place I'd rather be than by your side," Cheery said as her eyes started to grow heavy. "I love you very much~."
"I love you too, Cheery~." We shared a kiss before settling into our makeshift bed and drifting off to sleep.
"Wake up! Wake up!" I woke up with a start as AJ was running around the room, screaming her head off and waking everyone up.
"Sweet Celestia! Go back to bed," I groaned while covering my head with one of the pillows.
“No time for sleep! It’s time for presents!” AJ cheered.
"Alright AJ, settle down. We need to eat breakfast first." Ma said as she came downstairs in her morning robe with Pa while he let out a big yawn that almost sounded like a fog horn.
"Mornin' love birds, you two get nice and cozy by the fire~?" He teased as Ma slugged him in the arm with a scolding look.
Raspberry and Blueberry walked down as well and smiled at us. "Get a good night's sleep?" Raspberry asked while tussling his daughter's hair.
"Like a couple of peas in a pod," She told him.
"Alright, youngins! Breakfast is served!" We all heard Granny say from inside the kitchen.
The moment we crossed into the kitchen, we could smell Granny's signature pancakes along with the aroma of hot chocolate. Never had I seen a finer breakfast on Hearths Warming day as it was my favorite, Ma had even taken the liberty of decorating each of our stacks with whipped cream and strawberries.
"Alright everypony, gather round so we can give thanks to this year's feast." Granny smiled as we held hands around the table.
We bowed our heads and stayed silent as Granny blessed our food. Once it was done, we sat down and ate. AJ kept shoveling her oatmeal like her life depended on it. Guess she really wants to hurry and get to the presents.
"Now sugar cube slow down, those presents aren't going anywhere," Pa smirked as he sipped his coffee while reading the newspaper.
"So son, anything interesting happen in the city?" Ma asked me and Cheery.
"Well, we ran into Shining Armor," I said surprising my folks.
"Your penpal? That's very nice. You three have the same classes?" Ma asked while passing Pa the biscuits.
"We have a couple of classes together. He's pretty cool," I told them while spreading jam on my toast.
"Don't forget what happened on Nightmare Night," Cheery reminded me.
"Oh yeah! There was this giant tower made of candy, and we got so much candy, it'll last us-" Cheery went and pinched my arm. "Ow!"
"Not that! The other thing," Cheery said.
"What other... Oh yeah! We were able to get Shining and Princess Cadance together." I told them before biting into my toast.
Our parents nearly spat out their food and drinks when they heard we played matchmaker for our friend and Princess Cadance.
"Cadence, the niece of Princess Celestia?" Ma asked to clarify while leaning an ear toward us.
"Yep. We made it our mission to help him find love." Cheery explained.
"Took us just a month or so, so I think that was a record," I explained, just as we finished eating.
"Blech! mush!" AJ said with disgust and stuck her tongue out.
"Sugarcube, mind your manners," Pa scolded AJ a little.
"Yes, Pa." She went back to her oatmeal. After we got the dishes cleaned, AJ ran into the living room and jumped around. "Present time! Present time!"
"Now settle down youngin, they ain't all for you." Granny winked as we gathered around the fireplace. "Now Applejack, since you're the youngest it's your job to pass out the gifts to each pony here."
"Yes, granny." I watched as my little sis grabbed the first present, still dressed in her cute little PJs. "To Granny from Ma," AJ read.
"Thank you, dear." Granny thanked Ma before opening it to see a pair of bedroom shoes. "Oh, how perfect!"
AJ gave a present to Pa from Ma. He opened it to reveal a photo album with pictures of them and us. "Thank you, dear."
Ma then gets a present from Pa. Pa got her a hair clip with a fake Buttercup flower on it. "Bright, you sentimental charmer." She then kisses Pa.
"Next one is for...Big Mac!" Applejack rushed over to Big Mac who seemed eager to open his gift.
When he got the wrapping paper off, he was excited to find a brand-new yolk. "Your mother and I think that you're ready for your own, son," Pa told Mac as he put it on.
"I'll never take it off!" Mac cheered.
For the next hour, we all opened presents from a variety of boxes and bags. When AJ opened a brand new sleigh, she nearly ran out the door in her PJs before Ma and Pa stopped her. "Get dressed first, then you can play in the snow."
"Yes, Ma," AJ said before running up to get dressed.
Since it looked like we were all going outside, we went to get dressed as well. After getting my coat on, I went to go downstairs, only for Cheery to stop me outside my door. "Hey, John. Did you get everything you wanted?" She asked as we went downstairs.
"I did. this was one of the best Hearths Warming's ever." I then remembered what Cheery told me the other night. "By the way. What was it you wanted most, and did you get it?"
She giggled before stopping me under the kitchen doorframe. "I did. Care to know what it was?" When I nodded yes, she had me look up to see we were under the mistletoe. "All I wanted for Hearth's Warming is you." She pulls my chin down and kisses me for at least twenty seconds. When we pulled back, we had nothing but love in our eyes for one another. "Happy Hearths Warming, John."
"Happy Hearths Warming, Cheery." We came in for another kiss as the spirit of the season warmed our hearts.
"Which do you think would look best?" I was in the flower shop, looking over corsages for tonight's prom. There were so many to choose from, but I just couldn't figure out which one would look best on my Cheery.
"If I may interject," The skinny stallion at the register came over. "It's been my professional opinion that a red rose goes with most dresses, and looks good on any mare." The Florist went over and picked out a bright red rose with a tiny bit of dew on it. "You're in luck. This is my last one."
"Thank you." I paid the florist and was about to head out, but then my buddy Shining walked in. "Shining! What's up, buddy?"
"Hey John, can't talk, need a corsage!" Shining said as he rushed to the register. "I need a rose corsage stat!"
"Ooh sorry pal, he just bought the last one but you're in luck aside from roses we got carnations, foals breath, tulips- they call them tulips 'cause it looks like they have two lips ya see that?" The florist rambled on much to my friend's dismay. "But anyway. Aside from roses, you name it we got it."
"Uh... I think I'll go with the tulips." Shining went and bought the corsage and we both headed out. "Excited about the prom?"
"A little nervous actually. I'm not that great at dancing," I admitted as we both headed for his house.
"Oh come on. How bad could you be?" Shining asked as we went inside.
"Ma said I had two left feet and that was her being kind." We both laughed at my description before a purple blur barreled into Shining. "There's my favorite bookworm."
"Hi, Shining!" Twilight, now in magic kindergarten hugged her big bro while he held up the corsage with his magic and gave her a piggyback ride.
"Now Twily. Cadence and I will be out late so behave for Mom and Dad okay?"
"Okay BBBFF!" Twilight said with perhaps the cutest smile I've ever seen as she bent down to nuzzle her brother's nose.
"My my, such strapping young gentlemen." Shining's mom came in to see us dressed in our suits while her husband took out the camera.
"Everyone smile!"
FLASH
Cheery's POV
Prim and I were invited to Princess Cadances' suite in the castle to get ready for the big night tonight. "What do you think? Red, purple, or just no lipstick?" I asked Prim while holding up two sticks of lipstick.
"Red. And a bit of eyeshadow will drive John wild." Prim went and applied the eyeshadow for me while humming. "So."
"What?" I asked while keeping my eyes closed.
"Oh, I think you know what she means," Cadance teased while changing behind a screen.
"You and John have been friends since the day you met, and special someponies almost as long. Tonight is our Junior prom, and we all know what happens to most couples on prom night..." Prim teased.
"Girls, I'm not stupid." I applied the lipstick before continuing. "I love John, and he loves me. But I'm just not sure if we're ready to take that next step." I could feel my cheeks start to turn red. "Though I wouldn't object if he were to ask."
"Cheerilee. My special talent is sensing true love, and even fixing it. The moment I saw you two together, it honestly made me jealous," She admitted while coming out from behind the screen. "With that being said if you two wind up in the same bed, I think you should go for it. I actually plan to do the same with Shining." That got us all to squeal.
John's POV
I jumped out of the shower and put some cologne on that Mr. Light had lying around. Truth be told, it smelt like fermented cider. "Ugh. And Mares like the smell of this?" I asked while sniffing the air.
"Dad said it's what he wore when he met Mom," Shining told me as he walked out of his room fully dressed. "Though mom said his charm drew her, despite the smell."
"Perfect. Let's hope Cheery can stand the smell as we dance the night away." I fixed my bow in the mirror and joined Shining in the living room. "Two hours before we pick up our dates. What do we do now?"
"I've got some comic books we could read." He teleported a couple of comics and handed me one.
"Comics? What are you, twelve?" He smirked my way before lifting the cover to show it was a Playcolt magazine. "Where did you-?"
"My dad's old stash. The one you have has the Princess in it," Shining told me while flipping through his porno.
"If my Ma ever found out I was looking at one of these," I joked while looking at the mares of the royal guard edition.
Later
"Okay, here goes." I knocked on the door of Princess Cadance's suite and waited.
Soon, the door opened and Primrose peaked out and smiled our way. "You two look handsome." She retreated back a moment before opening the door wider. "Here are your dates, boys." When we stepped into the room, Shining and I were greeted with visions of true angels.
Cadence wore a sky blue strapless dress with a gold cord tied around her waist with her her hair done up like usual and teardrop crystal earrings and gold sandals that wrapped around her legs.
Shining was stunned. Literally, he couldn't move. I'd be worried if I wasn't stunned myself. I mean, who wouldn't be with the vision in front of me?
Cheery had her hair done up in a bun, a little eye shadow on her eyes, red lipstick, a purple dress that reached her calves, open-toed shoes, and perfume that smelled like roses. My standing comatose was brought to a halt as Cheery pecked my lip. "You good, John?"
I blinked a few times before looking into her eyes. "It must be my time. Cause I swear there's an angel in front of me."
Her cheeks turned bright red from what I said. "Smooth talker~." Cheery gave me a long kiss while I put her corsage on. "Oh, a red rose. How romantic."
"Only the best for my best gal," My comment made her blush again while Shining gave Cadance her corsage and Prim took a picture of all of us. "Shall we head out?"
"Well, we didn't get all dressed up for nothing," Cheery stated.
"What about you, Prim?" Shining asked as we left the room. "Is your date coming or do we meet him elsewhere?"
"Actually. I decided to go solo. Figured I might find a date at the dance, and if not, then I'll just stick to you all like glue," Prim joked as she brought us all in a hug as we headed out of the castle.
We arrived at the prom 30 minutes after it was given time to really get started. At this point, the music was getting everyone pumped up for what we hoped to be the best night of our young lives. While the band played an upbeat song, Cheery dragged me to the dance floor.
"Cheery, come on. You know I can't dance." I pleaded with her as we went to the middle of the dance floor.
"That's fine. Neither can anyone else," She pointed out as a few of our classmates just moved randomly and the other half just stood in place. "Now come on and show them how bad a dancer you are."
"I'll give it my worst." We both chuckled as we started dancing across from each other. I say dance, but it was more like we were just filling our limbs around, doing our best not to hit anyone with our moves.
The entire dance floor was filled with cheers and laughter as we kept dancing. When one of the guys behind us tripped, he bumped Cheery forward and I caught her in my arms. "Whoa! Thanks, Johnny."
"Anytime," I told her as we held each other. We couldn't stop staring into each other's eyes. As we kept close, the music changed again. A slow romantic dance. "Shall we?"
"I thought you'd never ask~." We shared a kiss before dancing in a slow circle amongst the other dancing couples. "I wish this moment could last forever."
"Me too." I leaned forward and we just held each other. The whole world was empty to us. Only she existed in my world, and only I existed in hers. It truly is a magic moment.
"I love you, John." I heard Cheery say as her head was pressed against my chest.
"I love you too, Cheery." I rubbed her back as we slowly danced to the music.
When the song ended, our class president, Ballot Box, came up to the stage. "Alright, everyone. Are we all having a great time?" We all cheered our answer. "That's what I like to hear." He holds up an envelope. "I have the names of our Prom King and Queen, and I think we all know who they are." Ballot opened the envelope and gave it a quick look. "Your Prom King and Queen are... Shining Armor and Princess Cadance!"
We all applauded as Shining and Cadance took the stage and received their crowns. "No surprise there," Cheery said as Shining and Cadance shared a kiss.
"I don't know. I think you'd look good with a crown," I teased, making Cheery laugh at my bad joke.
"This is an outrage!" And here comes the party crasher. "As a prince of Equestria, the title of Prom king should be my right!" Blueblood yelled at Ballot.
"I'm sorry Prince Blueblood but that's not how it works." Ballot said with a friendly smirk while Blueblood continued to complain.
"And why not exactly?"
"Well, the prom King and Queen are elected by popular vote, and according to the numbers well...you're not very popular." As if to add to the hilarity of the situation, the drummer of the band did a rimshot that gave us all a good laugh while watching the prince storm offstage and out the door. "Well someone's hot under the collar. Anyways, Let's hear it for the king and queen!!"
We all cheered for our king and queen, though we reeled it in when Princess Celestia herself teleported onto the stage. "Congratulations you two." Cadance came over and hugged her aunt as the band started up again. "Oh! I love this song!" She floated down onto the dance floor and danced with us.
After a long night of dancing, drinking odd-tasting punch, and having an all-around good time. Shining and I were taking a break from our dates and headed for the punch bowl. "My liege. Shall I pour you some libations?" I joked with my friend who merely shoved me a little.
"Knock it off. Even if I were an actual king, I wouldn't let you call me that. You're my best friend after all." We clinked our glasses and took a swig. "Damn, that's awful."
"It's like they put orange juice in with dish soap," I added before looking around for Cheery, only to see Prim being harassed by Blueblood. "Aw crap. Looks like I gotta teach that prick a lesson. Again." I cracked my knuckles and stomped over to the entitled prick.
As I stomped closer to my friend, a big galoot I knew to be Blueblood's bodyguard, stepped in front of me. "Not another step, freak." He shoved me back a bit, getting everyone's attention, especially Blueblood and Prim.
Keeping my cool, I just smirked at him. "Hey. You want to be a farmer?" The big guy looked at me funny before I gave his nuts the signature Apple Buck kick, sending him up in the air a few feet before he landed on his face. "There's a couple of acres." All I heard from him was a high-pitched wheeze from him. "Nice, good talk." I went over to Blueblood, who seemed a bit frightened. "Could you please leave my friend alone, or would you like to talk to my boot?"
Trying to save face, Blueblood stood his ground but we all could see he was shaking in his overpriced shoes even as we stood face to face. "I am royalty you country bumpkin, you will treat me with respect!"
"If there's one thing my pa taught me is that respect is earned." I shot back, arms crossed and unflinching at his words.
"You insolent freak! I'll teach you some manners!" He gestures to backhand me across the face. But before he could swing or I could block him, his arm was locked in a golden aura. "What!? Who dares!?" He looked for who stopped him, only to bite his tongue. "Auntie!?"
I've heard tales about the princess being mad. The events that made her mad were few and far between. The legends fell short as she stormed over to her nephew. "Grounded! Two months!" She then grabs his ear and drags him out of the gym.
The whole class let out a snicker as we saw Blueblood get dragged out by the Princess. After another hour, the party started to die down, and people started to leave. The only ones left were the four of us. Prim left with Point Dexter, Shining's O&O buddy. He looked a little nerdy to me, but he's a good guy.
Cheery and I were finishing off our last dance before she leaned into my ear. "My uncle's not home tonight~."
Back home
We crashed through her bedroom door, our hands explored all over each other in ways we'd never done before. "Cheery. I've wanted to do this for a long time~." I helped take off her dress and stared at her lovely figure. "You are so beautiful~."
Cheery blushed and looked away for a moment.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“It’s just…I’m a little scared,” Cheery said. “I wanted to do this first a long time, but I have no experience. I just…love you so much, I don’t want to do anything to ruin this moment.”
I smiled at her before having her look at me. "Cheery. You've been the love of my life the moment I saw you. I'm a bit nervous about this as well." I kissed her cheek, earning a small giggle. "Let's take this one step at a time~." We started making out again and we fell on the bed. After a bit of fumbling and rolling around, we were both naked, on our knees, and kept staring at each other with red cheeks. "So...."
"Yeah..... So, should I? Or do you wanna start?" Cheery asked while tugging at her hair.
"I-I guess I'll start." I crawled over and did what I thought would be best. I grabbed her boobs and started playing with them. "Oh wow. These feel great."
Cheery whimpered at my touch but seeing her face scrunched up was so cute that I could barely contain myself.
"Am I hurting you?" I asked, still feeling nervous.
She shook her head while sucking her lips. "No. It just tickles a little." She then slides her hand along my thigh before grabbing my balls, making me groan a bit. "I'm not hurting you, am I?"
"No... just a little surprised," I told her while getting hard.
"Well?" She looked at me slightly while turning her head. "You going to just massage them or what?"
Giving a very audible gulp, I drew closer to her right breast and could see her nips were already hard from arousal. Without warning my left hand moved on its own and gave her nipple a pinch making her cry out in what I considered the hottest moan ever.
"D-do more~!" She begged as I drew closer and found myself kissing every inch of her boobs while sliding my hands down to her thighs. After a few more seconds I found my prize and began sucking on her breast like a newborn while she held my head in place.
“Ah~! I’ve never had my nipples sucked on~!” Cheery moaned. “I feel strange~!”
I figured I was doing something right since she didn’t stop me. I then decided to slide my hands around and on her flank. As soon as my hands glided over the supple flesh of her flank, I gave it a squeeze over her cutie marks.
"Hah!" Cherry let out a gasp and her grip on my jewels nearly crushed them, making me bite down hard on her nipple. "Ow!"
I backed away as we took a breath. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bite that hard."
Cheery stared at me for a few seconds before looking down at the bite mark on her nipple.
“…do it again,” Cheery muttered.
“Huh?” I said as she cupped her other boob I didn’t bite.
“Do it again,” she said shyly. “Bite my other nipple.”
Hearing her say that made my cock twitch. Licking my lips I grabbed her by her flanks and had her sit on my lap. "I love you so much~." I took her other nipple between my teeth and bit down on it.
Cheery moaned loudly as she wrapped her arms around my head. I kept kneading her ass with my fingers and gnawed in her areola with my teeth but made sure to not bite too hard. However, something told me she’d prefer I do that. I looked up at Cheery and she smiled down at me with that loving gaze I always enjoyed seeing. However, before my instincts took over to go to the next step, I had to do something very important. I gently picked her up off of me, making her wonder what I was doing, and I reached over to the back pocket of my pants. I pulled out a condom packet and turned to her.
“If we’re gonna do this, we gotta do it right,” I said with a smile. “I love you dearly but I think we can both agree we’re too young for a little surprise.”
"I love that you're prepared for this." She takes the condom from me and tears the package open with her teeth. "But one day, we will do this raw~." She starts stroking my cock before putting the condom on for me. "Wrapped and ready to go~."
"Where did you learn to put on a condom?"
"Sex ed. We practiced with bananas and eggplants," She told me with a smile.
"Which of those do I fall under?" She answered by kissing me and shoving me down on the bed before crawling on top of me.
"I'll leave that to your imagination~," Cheery smirked as we kissed once more and she moved me into position. In moments I was on top of her and she somehow became more beautiful, her hair laid out among the pillows, her eyes glimmering in the moonlight, I could swear I was staring at an angel.
"Beautiful," I said out loud while placing a hand on her cheek.
“I’m…I’m ready,” Cherry said, leaning into my hand.
I nodded and aimed my dick towards her pussy. I swallowed a large lump in my throat before lightly pressing the tip on her entrance. She flinched a little but still allowed me to push my dick little by little into her. Even though I was wearing a condom, the sensation of penetrating my mare was almost indescribable. It was tight and moist at the same time, and the more I pushed in the more I wanted to feel. I suddenly stopped when I felt some kind of thin barrier within her pussy. Remembering some biology books I read, I had hit her inner wall that signified her virginity.
"Cheery. There's no going back after this. Are you sure you want me to be your first?" I asked out of concern.
"John." She caressed my cheek while smiling up at me. "There's no one in all of Equestria that I want taking my virginity." She kissed my cheek before lying down in the sexiest pose ever. "I'm ready~."
"So am I~." With a long exhale, I thrust forward, breaking through her wall, and ending both our virginities.
Cheery squealed painfully as she gripped the back of my neck tightly. She trembled in my grasp as we basked in the moment of giving each other our virginity. I glanced down at our crotches to see a trickle of blood leak out from her pussy.
“You okay, Cheery?” I said out of concern.
She scrunched her eyes closed and took tiny breaths. "Yeah. Just... need to adjust a little." We took a moment for us to adjust to each other. "Okay. Go slow~."
"Of course~." We met in a kiss as I started moving in and out of her.
"Mmmm John~." She moaned out my name while gripping my arms as her pain slowly turned to pleasure and she wrapped her arms around me.
"Cheery you're so warm," I said as I pushed a little deeper.
We kept making love before Cheery got on top of me. The light illuminated her to the point I was certain I was making love to an angel. She noticed my expression and giggled. "You alright?"
"Just counting my blessings~," I told her before grabbing her hips. "Come here, babe~."
"EE! that tickles!" She giggled before being bounced on my cock, each time her hips came down, her breasts bounced in such a way that I couldn't stop staring at them and she took immediate notice and guided my hands to her chest while keeping pace. "Don't worry John, I'm all yours tonight~." She declared while still rocking her amazing hips.
"And what about in the morning? Will you still be mine~?" I teased while pinching her nipples.
"Mmm yes~!" She moaned out loud while throwing her head back in ecstasy. "And you'll be mine forever."
"Ohh that's not creepy at all." I joked as she leaned back down for another kiss while my hands worked their way to her cute flank. "Seeing as how we're now together, I hope you can forgive me," I said with a sly smirk.
"For what?" She asked with a cocked brow.
"This," I stated before smacking her ass.
SPANK!
"Aaaah!" She screamed before giving me the playful stinkeye. "You're so gonna pay for that~."
"I'm waiting~." I teased back before slapping her ass again.
"EEE!" Cheery squealed before feeling my hands squeeze her cheeks again while carefully wrapping her arms around me. "Mmm just for that, I get the top for the rest of the night~."
"Hmm, wonder what another smack will earn me~." I teased before smacking her flank again.
In response, Cheery seized my arms and held them above my head as she began slamming her hips down harder with a devilish look in her eyes. "Now you can watch my boobs bounce all you want but no touching~." She teased as we locked our hands together and kissed. "Mmm I hope the next time we do this will be even more magical~." She panted while keeping rhythm with me.
"Here's hoping~." I kissed the end of her nose before thrusting upward.
Cheery let out a gasp and lost her grip on my arms, giving me the chance to grab her hips and slam into her over and over.
"Am I hurting you?" I asked as she cried out.
"No...keep going~!" She cried before hugging me into her breasts.
"Buck! I love you, Cherilee!" I grunted, giving her everything I had.
"I love you, John! I want to do this every night~!" Cheery screamed before she let out a moan and came all over my pelvis.
Feeling her cum, triggered something in me and I unleashed the first of what I hoped would be many more loads inside the love of my life.
Cheery rolled off of me and we lay together. Through heavy breathing, she took off the condom I wore and tied it off. "Mmm, bet that would've gotten me pregnant~."
"Is it wrong to say that turns me on a little?" I asked while sleep was creeping up.
"Maybe one day." She smiled before tossing the used condom into the trash bin and cuddling next to me.
I pulled the blanket over us and kissed her good night. "I think I can get used to this." I held her close and we drifted to sleep.
The next morning
Shining and I met for breakfast at our favorite cafe. When I saw him coming over, he walked with a bit of a limp. "So... you and Cadance?"
"All night. It uh... it got a little scary in the middle, but I will never complain." He grinned like an idiot. "What about you and Cheerilee? Did you two have a little post-prom party?"
"Ma told me not to kiss and tell... But yes. We had a roll in the hay." I told him before drinking my coffee.
With proud smirks, we clinked our mugs and sipped our coffee looking forward to a future with our girlfriends.
