Chapters The train was moving at a steady clip through the brushland. The sights were somewhat familiar to Babs as she stared out the window, much as she had before. She frowned a bit, considering the shifting landscape. It was kind of unreasonable to think that anything dramatic would have happened. Not like a jungle would grow up overnight or anything. Still, she was having trouble keeping her mind occupied to reduce her nervousness.
She stared into her reflected eyes with the obvious question settling into them. Why was she nervous? She was meeting up with friends, staying with family, and this time she was more than ready to stand up for herself if something went wrong. On the other hand she was also returning to a place where she'd built herself a bad reputation.
She groaned a bit, watching groves of scattered scrub trees and brush speed by. She'd gotten better about it since the Ponyville incident, but it was one of those sore points. Like still being a blank flank. Her tail curled its way to her side at that thought. She glared at the traitorous appendage. It took a little more willpower than she would've liked, but she did return it to its more passive state. Sighing, her eyes turned back to the setting passing beyond the window. She spotted a small caravan trailer in the distance, and wondered what it would be like just ignoring what everypony else thought, and what everyone else would say, just wandering from city to city to make a living.
And promptly snorted at the idea. The loneliness would drive her nuts. Might start talking in third person or something silly like that.
She dug into her bag, looking over some of the mail she'd been exchanging with the Ponyville Cutie Mark Crusaders since the 'official' Manehatten branch had opened. It was hard not to smile at the lengths they'd gone through. Alligator wrestling, even with a toothless alligator; skiing, down a gigantic cake; lumberjacking, which ended almost destroying a pony's house; crime scene investigators, for a missing duck; they always seemed to find the most ridiculous ideas to pursue. Or at least the ridiculous ones were the ones most ponies remembered.
She smiled, digging a little further into the luggage, pulling out her official Cutie Mark Crusader Cape, and slipped it over her shoulders. Maybe she wasn't as crazy as those three were, but she still felt a bit better knowing there were still other colts and fillies looking for their cutie marks.
Looking ahead she could just make out the familiar Ponyville station rising from the dirt, as well as some energetically bouncing blobs of white, orange, and yellow around a larger orange blob. Looked like the welcoming committee was in place.
"Next stop Ponyville station! Next stop Ponyville Station!"
Taking a deep breath Babs let her thoughts drift to simpler ones. She was about to get to hang out with friends, and spend time with delicious Apple family cooking. There was no way this could go wrong! With a huge smile she got herself ready to disembark.
***
"Babs!" A hugely grinning white blur approached before the steam from the door even cleared.
"Hey Cuz!" Quickly flanked on one side by a yellow shape she recognized.
"Yo! Welcome back." And an orange shape on the other side.
As the steam cleared Babs was entirely unsurprised to discover the Cutie Mark Crusaders smiling hugely at her, each armed with their own cape. Before she could even get clear, the Crusaders had dragged her into a hug.
"Augh! Hey! Come on! At least let me get offa the train!"
Babs flailed ineffectively for a moment, her smile betraying her intent as she returned the hug a moment later. Applejack smiled at the scene, reaching over to get Bab's luggage as the youngsters started chattering cheerfully. She was worn out, but in the good way that traveling miles with a cart after helping family could bring.
"-Applejack's been out of town and she just got back Babs! It was so lucky we ran into her on the way here!"
"Yeah! Cause now someone else can handle your luggage, and we can handle welcoming you back!"
"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle blinked before looking at Scootaloo. "Huh?"
Scoots couldn't keep her wings from fluttering with excitement as she leapt into the air. "We're going on a crusade! Right now! Cutie Mark Crusaders! Go!"
Applejack rolled her eyes as Babs was dragged away by the enthusiastic Crusaders.
"Be back home by dinnertime! And don't get covered in tree sap this time!"
"""We wooooon't,""" came the chorused reply as the three fillies plus guest vanished in a cloud of stampede dust.
Applejack rolled her eyes again with a smile. She'd heard that one before.
***
"Are you sure this is safe Scoots?" Babs adjusted the green and pink striped crash helmet on her head with a frown.
"Sure I'm sure!" Scoots grinned proudly from under her cyan helmet with Rainbow Dash's cutie mark emblazoned on it.
Sweetie Belle adjusted her paper white helmet with musical notes hovering around her sister's cutie mark. She tapped the four modified party cannons with a frown. "But pony cannonballs?"
The orange pegasus nodded enthusiastically. "We've got the net, we've got the cannons, and we're going to be helped by the best cannoneer in Ponyville!"
Applebloom sighed, adjusting her own apple cut-away view helmet. "And just who the hay is that going to be?"
"Hey Applebloom, remember how you told me never to mention your-"
"ForEV er!"
"Hi Pinkie!" Scootaloo grinned proudly at the pink pony who had appeared from seemingly nowhere in a nearby bush. Level 1 Pinkie Summon was still effective.
"Hi Girls!" The bubbly earth pony smiled hugely looking from one filly to the other, before she gasped loudly, looking over the party cannons. "Oh man! This is so cool, I knew you were going to do something with those party cannons you wanted to borrow but making it bigger like this means I could shoot even more cake! Or confetti! Oh oh oh! I could totally fit a clown in here! But clowns are scary, especially when they're being shot out of cannons at other ponies. Oh, and I think the clown would be scared too but-"
"Pinkie?"
"Yeah Scoots?"
"Could we ask you to fire us out of the cannons at the net down there? Pleeeease?"
Pinkie paused for a moment, staring at Scoots. "Are you sure this is safe?"
"With you shooting the cannons? I think we're safer than we would be otherwise."
Pinkie put a hoof to her chin as she thought about it, then nodded hugely.
"Okay!"
***
Pinkie struck a dynamic action pose behind the 4 cannons. "Canoneer, ready!"
The four fillies adjusted themselves.
"Orange Lightning Ready!" Scoots grinned proudly.
"Orange Lightnin'?" Applebloom sighed. "Do we really need code names?"
"Nah, I just like them."
"Fine, fine. Appleshot, ready!"
"Appleshot?" Sweetie Belle giggled. "Oh, um, Sweet Slug Ready!"
"Slug?" Applebloom peeked over at Sweetie Belle.
Sweetie blushed. "It's a type of bullet!"
Babs took a deep breath to steady her nerves. Even after reading the letters it was still pretty crazy to actually get caught up in one of these crusades. She put a hoof to her helmet and sent a silent prayer to Celestia that it would all work out for the best.
"Bad Seed Ready!"
"On our mark!" Scootaloo grinned hugely, putting her forehooves out in front of her. Applebloom and Sweetie copied her stance as they all joined in together! """Cutie Mark Crusaders! Pony cannonballs, YAY !"""
"Yay?" Babs barely managed to join in after the coordinated strike on her hearing before the cannon went off and the four fillies went flying, screaming the whole way.
"Oof!" Applebloom rolled slightly to the side as she hit her section of net, looking over to the other crusaders.
"Eep!" Sweetie landed with surprising grace on her part in the net, rolling expertly off in one fluid motion. She smiled proudly at her skill.
"Aw yeah!" Scootaloo took a rougher landing, her wings fluttering the whole time until she finally managed to untangle herself from the net, rolling down to join the other two crusaders. They excitedly presented their flanks, only to be met with the usual disappointment at still lacking a cutie mark.
"""Awwww."""
Sweetie blinked, looking around. "Hey guys, where's Babs?"
Scoots frowned joining in the looking. "She should be here by now. She didn't crash right?" Scoots ran a little back towards the cannons, where Pinkie was waving with a huge smile plastered on her face. "No, not back here."
Sweetie frowned. "I don't get it. I even added some extra powder since she's bigger than us. She should've gotten here no problem."
Applebloom blinked. "Extra? How much extra powder did you add?"
***
She was going to die. She was screaming and she was going to die.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
She ran out of breath and had to stop screaming again. Another deep breath, another scream. She was almost into town, and she was going to die.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Where were the pegasi? Wasn't that super fast pony Scoots was a fan of around?
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Babs was not the happiest of crusaders right now.
***
Spike sighed contentedly. Sure Twilight was off at another 'Princess' thing, probably just hanging out with Cadence and her brother while chatting about how they might improve their efficiency through one adjustment or the other. It would still be another two days before she got back, but he'd been keeping up with his chores and by golly, he was going to have pancakes for breakfast. Topped with a nice big ruby, and maple syrup. The ruby was carefully placed on a dollop of butter. He smiled hugely as he began to pour the syrup over the pancakes.
A massive crash rattled the treehouse as a screaming filly burst through the kitchen door, her unlikely angle bringing her outstretched front hooves to grip the pancake plate as she skid to a stop right where the plate once had been. Spike's incredulous stare lasted long enough for the tipping syrup container to spill sweet delicious boiled down tree sap all over the filly.
Author's Note
It's not a good crusade until someone gets covered in tree sap.
...Don't give me that look, this is FRIEND Shipping. For the November Random Shipping contest. (Yes it's late)
"Are you really sure you're okay?" Spike was still sporting a raised eyebrow as Babs nursed her panic and throbbing head with an ice-pack. She was going to need a bath after this to get the syrup off, but she was alive. She was alive!
"I'm fine, I'm fine, thanks. I just. Geez! Even after reading the letters, I didn't think that crusade would go so wrong!"
"Crusade? Oh boy. Yeah, the Cutie Mark Crusader's plans rarely work exactly as intended."
Babs looked around the kitchen for a moment, before peeking out into the main foyer of the library. She winced a bit seeing that her crash had knocked several books off their shelves. "Do you have a lot of trouble with their crusades?"
"Nah. But they always try too hard, which means no matter how innocent an idea starts, it always goes off the rails. What were they.. err.. you all doing?"
"Pony Cannonballs. Scootaloo's idea."
"Yeah, that sounds about right. Well, I don't know about you, but I have a late breakfast getting cold, so if you're sure you're okay, I'm gonna eat."
"I-I should really help you clean up, this mess is my fault."
"Oh no you don't, not while you're still covered in syrup. If you want to help you can go take a bath upstairs first. Twilight would kill me if her books got covered in syrup, and I am her number one assistant."
"R-right. Thanks, uh?"
"Spike, and no prob. If the crusaders stop by I'll let them know where you are."
Babs nodded heading upstairs. It took a moment to find the bathroom, but using a bathtub was rarely a feat. The filly settled into the warm water and started scrubbing at her fur.
***
"Babs? You mean you're Applebloom's cousin?"
"Yeah!" Babs grunted, picking up another heavy tome. It was no wonder these larger volumes had fallen down, from the look of things several of them barely fit on the shelves. She gave the title a curious look. 'Learning to Read, a Pictographic Guide'. There was a picture of somepony puzzled, then somepony reading under the title, giving a vague if unsatisfactory explanation of what was going on. Babs raised an eyebrow at the book, handing it up to Spike on a ladder.
"The one who was doing the bullying?"
"Uh, well." Babs nodded slowly. "Yeah. I mean, I get now that it wasn't a great idea, but..."
"Hey, I'm not blaming you or anything. Sometimes you get so caught up in what you think other people want that you don't pay attention to your own wants. And from what I heard you'd been getting bullied in the first place, so you were trying to dodge that again."
"Y-yeah. So does Applejack bring up a lot of stories?" Babs handed up a copy of 'Super Unnaturals: Magical Ingredients Organized by Potency.' It was dust covered from lack of use.
"Her, Pinkie Pie, the Crusaders, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and" Spike sighed happily, "Rarity. Twilight's pretty much the go-to mare for helping out around here. Heh." Spike couldn't keep the pride out of his voice. "Probably why she's the Princess of Friendship."
"You have a Princess in Ponyville?!" Babs noted her jaw had dropped. "When did that happen?!"
"Oh, a couple weeks ago, now. A few things happened. Twilight really doesn't like to brag." Spike's grin however, implied he did.
Babs grumbled, picking up another oversized book to avoid the obvious questions. 'Advanced Levitation Techniques for Earth Ponies.' Curious, she flipped it open, only to find the pages blank. "What the hay?"
"Huh? Oh yeah." Spike rolled his eyes. "Must be one of the books from Discord's last prank. Let me get that."
"Discord?" Babs blinked as Spike retrieved the tome, walking it over to the kitchen doors, simply creating a new stack for it there. "Ancient spirit of stuff goes crazy? Scary story?"
"He's," Spike struggled for the word, "better now. Fluttershy keeps an eye on him, but he still likes to pull pranks."
Bab just stared at the dragon, unable to fully process that thought. "This town is completely crazy."
"You're not gonna get any argument from me."
"So Pinkie Pie."
"Yeah?"
"She was handling the cannons."
Spike nodded as he climbed back up the ladder. Babs handed up another book. "Makes sense. She has a lot of practice with her party cannons. And you'd be a lot safer with her doing it."
"Scoots said something like that. What are you talking about?"
Spike blinked, looked at Babs, took a deep breath, let it out, frowned, pointed with a finger, dropped it, and finally shrugged. "She's Pinkie. We don't know how she does it, but she's really good at what she does. And things work-" he wiggled a flat hand back and forth "-sort of sideways when she gets involved. Probably why your landing was a lot softer than it should've been."
"But that-"
"Doesn't make any sense, we know. Twilight tried to figure it out, but couldn't find any clues, and after a while you just can't help but smile at her."
Babs sighed, and wondered if she should just spend the rest of her stay at Sweet Apple Acres. She handed up another volume of paper and ink, looking around. "Hey! Looks like we're done!"
The front door slammed inwards, sending all the reshelved books to the floor, and one surprised young dragon off his ladder. He landed on Babs with a mutual oof of pain.
"""CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS PONY TRACKERS, YAY!"""
After the tree stopped shaking, the three crusaders helped Babs and Spike to their feet, giving Babs a triple load of sheepish grins.
"You're okay!" Sweetie looked relieved.
"We've been lookin' everywhere for ya!"
"Didja get your cutie mark? Huh?" Scootaloo's grin quickly resumed a bit of cocksure energy.
Babs frowned. "No, I didn't. And why'd I get shot all the way into town?"
"Sweetie overdid it." Scootaloo nudged the unicorn filly, earning a blushing squee and a smile.
"Good thing Pinkie was on duty, though." Applebloom nodded at Sweetie's comment.
Babs decided not to question that logic, looking around the freshly ruined library with a sigh. Spike was grumbling as he started surveying the damage as well.
"We just finished picking up here." Babs couldn't keep the annoyance out of her voice.
Sweetie looked around confused. "Well it doesn't look like you did a good job. Want some help?" She smiled happily at the mildly annoyed Babs.
Spike rolled his eyes. "As long as this doesn't turn into another crusade. You've already tried being library assistants."
"Oh yeah." Applebloom looked surprised.
Scootaloo grumbled. "Aw man!"
Sweetie smiled hugely. "Well then, this time we don't have to do it fast!"
The other two crusaders shrugged and nodded at that logic. Babs rolled her eyes and resumed helping Spike with re-shelving the books.
***
The girls trotted casually towards Sweet Apple Acres, still chattering.
"You flew all the way into Ponyville? And nopony caught you?" Applebloom looked shocked at the news.
"I lost track of how many times I needed to stop screaming, but yeah. I figure I had enough airtime to get noticed. And was certainly loud enough." Babs shuddered a bit.
Scootaloo pondered. "I heard something was up with the Everfree weather systems again. Big deal of some kind or another. Something about moist rising air and falling cold dry air." She managed to pull her thoughts together, clapping one hoof into the other. "Tornadoes! Right! The weather patrol is on full alert, and all other fliers are on standby. But I'm pretty sure there should've been someone left to catch you."
"Unless something happened." Sweetie looked ahead wide eyed.
"Like wha-" Applebloom and Babs both stared with dropped jaws at the scene unfolding before them.
Sweet Apple Acres was a war zone, piles of apples surging behind hastily erected wooden walls. Several unfamiliar trees were scattered across the landscape, the Apple Family armed with the helmets they had worn during the parasprite infestation. Ponies rushed constantly back and forth as the tide of apples spread outwards from a slowly growing number of trees in the east fields. Every bushel basket was full, the barn was threatening to burst, the home was visibly full past the windows with apples, and there were ponies rushing baskets, buckets, and barrels of apples out of the way as Applejack barked orders.
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow at the madness. "At least it's not our fault this time."
Author's Note
No, really. It's not their fault.
A few hours earlier...
Applejack had just pulled the cart back into the barn and was unhooking herself when she spotted the bushels of apples. The surprisingly large bushels of early season apples that Big Mac was busy handling the storage of. With a rather uncharacteristic frown on his big face.
"Hey Mac, what's been goin' on here?"
Mac turned to his sister with the barest of smiles before frowning at the bushels of apples again.
"You remember how Princess Twilight asked to test somethin' on some of our trees?"
"You know she hates when you call her princess." Applejack teased. "She couldn't get all the supplies for it before I left. So I guess she came by and did her thing?"
"Eee-yup."
"So what's the trouble?"
Big Mac shook his head, picking up one of the apples from the bushel and offering it to Applejack. She eyed it with a curious look. Looked nice and juicy. She sniffed it. Nothing wrong with that. But the discomfort on Big Mac's face revealed that something about this little apple was wrong. She finally took the offending fruit in hoof, and gasped at the sensation. While most ponies probably wouldn't notice, there was a subtle buzz of energy in the fruit. Something the Apple Family had prided themselves on not needing to produce the best fruit in Equestria (by most standards, anyway.)
Magic.
"How- I thought- Twilight said-" Applejack's thoughts stumbled over each other in a desperate attempt to clear a path for themselves.
"She said it probably wouldn't have any kind of effect, and most certainly not magical." Big Mac nodded. "And it looked like it wasn't. Until earlier today when the trees she treated all started filling up with apples as soon as the sun rose."
"And Twi'?"
"She had to head off for her meeting with Cadence-"
"All the way up in the Crystal Empiiiire." Applejack groaned in frustration. "Okay, fine, we'll collect all the apples, can't sell them until we're sure they're safe anyway. Have you had Rarity stop by and take a look?"
"Eeee-yup. Said there wasn't anything obviously wrong with it, but could tell it was magical. Left right after. Busy with her own orders. And since it is Twilight-"
"Most ponies have the good sense not to just try it and hope it doesn't do something crazy." Applejack rolled her eyes. She appreciated Twilight most of the time, but she did have a little trouble with over-thinking things. Or over-doing in this case. She sighed, nodding to Big Mac. "Any other surprises?"
"Twilight only treated three trees. Currently four of them are dropping apples."
"Say what?"
"It might be spreadin'."
A cold horror sunk into Applejack's stomach at the idea of generations of farming being laid low by one Alicorn's mistake. She grit her teeth in grim determination.
"Not on my watch."
***
One hour later...
Contact. All it took was one of the- the- infected apples to touch another tree and that tree would start showing the same signs. Rapid fruit growth. Rapid Development. Fruit falling from ripeness. And New Fruit growing in. They'd lost 3 more trees before they figured that out, and were running out of places to store the apples in the barn.
"We're gonna need some back-up. Mac! Get into town and see who you can rustle up!"
"Right."
"Gonna need some more fences, and maybe start digging some holes."
"But the roots-"
"I know. I know ." She was unwilling to damage the trees, hoping that Twilight would be able to undo whatever it was that she had done. They had already set up all the fencing they could, and that was holding the tide at bay, but they were running out of places to store the apples. The tide was threatening to overflow the fencing, and there wasn't anything they could do about it. Applejack ground her teeth in frustration.
"I'll see who I can find."
Big Mac took off at a gallop into town, Applejack glaring at the traitorous fruits growing in number by the minute.
***
One hour later...
Bottles of cider were being passed around. A wave of clouds had appeared overhead and the tide had slowed to a crawl. All the neighbors in Ponyville had been dragged in to help, and nearly every scrap of available fencing had been used. As well as every single unattended cart, trailer, can, bucket, box, barrel, and anything else that could be even vaguely termed as a container. They had spares for the moment, but filling the containers had slacked off as the pace of the apples had. A cool breeze had been blowing in, nice and dry, cutting through the warm humidity of the day timeless moments ago. Applejack downed a gulp of cider with a satisfied smile. The crisis was handled. A breeze tugged playfully at her hat, which she held onto with a free hoof, smiling.
The breeze became insistent. The sky above going from a calm grey to a dangerous black, rain starting to scatter. This wasn't a controlled pegasus storm. This was something out of the Everfree. Applejack spotted the familiar white cone in the distance, as well as the weather pegasi working to keep the twister under control. Rainbow was out there leading the charge. As another massive gust almost knocked her off her feet, Applejack decided to seek cover until the storm was controlled once again.
--
As a tree launched itself through the air from an unhandled twister, Dash's eyes widened. There were almost a dozen smaller twisters, and each had a chance of becoming something larger. With a glare, she snapped her wings up. "On my mark! We're not going to get beaten by the Everfree. Not now. Not ever. Not Everfree."
She lead the pegasi into the storm front valiantly, dodging the larger debris being sucked up into the cones. The job wasn't hard, but it was going to be time consuming. Especially with even more tornadoes forming.
The tree, unhindered in its flightpath, collided with the fencing tearing a massive gap into the secured barrier, through which poured the innumerable hoards of Infected Fruit. Applejack gaped ineffectively at the damage as the sun began to peek out from the now tattered cloudline.
The apples began to fall again.
***
Now
Applejack had just about yelled herself hoarse. They'd finally, finally managed to get a new perimeter dug, nothing more than an earthen wall acting as a fence against the growing swarm of apples. They'd lost over a quarter of the farm today. And it was going to keep happening. An unknown number of the thrice cursed fruits had already been lost in transit; if anyone came across it and tried to eat a 'free' Sweet Apple Acre apple and instead got sick, or worse, put under some kind of spell-
Applejack shuddered.
"Hi Sis!"
"Applebloom?" Applejack barely managed to croak out the word before coughing. The crusaders had indeed managed to sneak up on the farmer.
"What happened?" Scootaloo looked around the farm in surprise.
"Too. Many. Apples." Came the strained reply.
Babs stared at the windows of the now full of apples Apple Family Homestead. "So, I guess dinner and bed are both pretty unlikely right now, huh?"
Applejack facehooved with all her remaining might, falling over.
Author's Note
Zombie movie tropes? Whatever do you mean?
"Alright ladies, listen up!"
An exhausted Applejack patrolled in front of her friends, who all snapped to attention. All three of them.
"Wait a second. Where's Rarity?"
"Oo, oo! She had a big 'do not disturb' sign on the front of Carousel Boutique and was crying into her fainting couch." Pinkie grinned cheerfully. "Then I stopped by Twilight's, and tried to tell her to come here too, and got reminded that if Twilight was here you'd be able to talk to her about the apples, and-"
"Raight." Applejack took a deep breath. This could still work. "I'm afraid that after some recent assistance from the newly crowned Princess of Friendship, we are finding ourselves up to our necks in apples."
"That's good though, isn't it?" Rainbow was starting to look impatient. Bad enough Applejack had requested cloud cover around the whole of Sweet Apple Acres.
"Normally I'd agree. But since we can't sell these apples until we're sure they're good, and they seem to make other apple trees start making more of their apples, we're sitting between a rock and a hard place with a stick of dynamite."
"Oh, um, are they dangerous?" Fluttershy managed to somehow look intimidated by the fenced in ocean of apples.
"We're pretty sure they ain't gonna start bitin' anypony Fluttershy. But they may not be safe to eat, which is why we need Twi here to figure things out. The trees seem to make apples a lot faster in sunlight, so these clouds are hopefully going to be all the assistance we need until Twi returns."
Rainbow went wide eyed, before starting to laugh uncontrollably. Applejack blinked and glared at her. "And what the hay is so funny?"
"Nothing." Dash barely managed to hide a smile and stifle another laugh with a hoof. "Nothing at mmmph all. Nope."
"Raight." Applejack massaged her throbbing head with her hooves. "As happy as I am you're findin' this funny, we do have a problem. Sweet Apple Acres is full to the brim with apples. The home is full, the barn is full, the well is full, we even filled up the Crusader's clubhouse!"
"Hey!"
"Sorry Applebloom, but we needed the space." Applejack turned back to her friends. "This means we need someplace to stay until Twi' gets back."
"So what am I doing here?" Rainbow looked confused.
"Whaddya me- oh. Raight, raight." Applejack sighed. "Cloud home."
"Yup, fliers only, unless you can find someone else who can cast that cloud walking spell, and I'm pretty sure Twilight was the only one with that."
"Well if nothing else, Sweet Apple Acres is going to be relying on your ability to keep clouds in place. The trees make apples a lot faster when they get sun. Alright Dash?"
"Yeah sure AJ." Rainbow resumed her out of place huge smile as Applejack raised an eyebrow at her, shaking her head and looking to Fluttershy and Pinkie.
"Alright then, looks like I need to ask the favor of you two. Me, Big Mac, Granny Smith, Applebloom, and Babs are all gonna need a place to stay. Pinkie, I know your apartments aren't that large, since you keep a lot of supplies there."
"But they'd be perfect for one more pony! How about it Applejack?"
Applejack nodded. "Sounds fine to me. Fluttershy, I know you have a lot of animals, but do you think-"
"I, um, oh my, yes, I can find space for Big Mac and Granny Smith. They're both pretty quiet, so I wouldn't have to worry about the animals getting too upset. I mean, not that I think you're too loud Applejack, but, umm-"
"I get where you're coming from sugahcube. Alright, and that leaves Applebloom and Babs." Applejack frowned at the two fillies, who shuffled uncomfortably.
"Hey Applejack, why was Pinkie-"
"Hey! Spike! Excellent Timing!"
The purple and green dragon froze, blinking from where he had just passed the gate. "Should I even ask?"
Applejack grinned hugely. "Twi's thing went wrong. We're not sure how wrong."
Spike rolled his eyes as Applejack continued. "So now we're trying to figure out lodgin' arrangements until the Ponyville Princess gets back."
"Well, the library is pretty spacious, I think we could fit you and Big Mac easily. Probably even Granny Smith."
"Appreciate the offer, but we've already been spread out between Pinkie and Fluttershy. But we do have some fillies still in need of a good night's sleep."
Spike raised an eyebrow as Applebloom and Babs waved sheepishly. "Well, I guess it's okay. But you guys will need to keep the crusading down. It is a library."
"Hey! There's an idea!"
"Gyah!" Spike flinched away from Scootaloo suddenly appearing from nowhere. Or at least seeming to, having been uncharacteristically silent while the Apple Crisis was being handled.
"We could all go! Sweetie, do you think Rarity would let you do a sleepover?"
"I'm pretty sure she'd say yes, she's been trying to keep me out of the Boutique while she's been working on this order."
"Great! Cutie Mark Crusaders Sleepover is go!"
Dash rolled her eyes tousling Scootaloo's hair. "Just don't drive Spike crazy Scoots."
Spike narrowed his own eyes, pointing at Scootaloo. "Yeah, don't drive me crazy."
"Oh come on! What could go wrong?"
Author's Note
Famous. Last. Words.
"Wow Spike! This is pretty good!" Babs was surprised. When Spike had brought out several plates of hay fries, daisy burgers, dandelion bites, and a whole veggie pizza, it had been a surprise. When that same food had almost lived up to Apple Family cooking standards, that was incredible.
"Gee thanks. I don't tend to make easy foods like this when Twilight's around, so I might be out of practice."
"Mmph." Scootaloo swallowed her mouthful of hay fries. "Still good food."
"Easy Scoots, you keep eatin' like that and you're gonna get all fat." Applebloom mimed waddling around, earning a giggle from Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo merely struck a pose.
"No way! I'm working hard to be as good as Dash, and I'm gonna burn every ounce of fat if that's what it takes!"
Sweetie and Applebloom rolled their eyes. Babs smiled. Spike chuckled.
"I think you're still going to need to practice Scootaloo. How much air time are you getting?"
"Hey, I might not have flying down, but I can move!"
Babs chewed thoughtfully on a dandelion bite. "So does this sort of thing happen a lot?"
"Huh?" Applebloom looked up from her daisy burger.
"The whole super apple thing?"
"Well, it's more common than we'd like." Sweetie nodded.
Spike shrugged. "I almost tore down the town once."
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that. And those parasprites would've eaten everything after Twilight magicked them." Scootaloo crammed a hoofful of hayfries into her mouth by way of example. Or maybe just because she was hungry.
"The pinkie pie clones-" Sweetie rolled her eyes.
"Trixie taking over Ponyville." Applebloom shuddered.
"Applejack almost poisoning half the town with her Baked Bads." Spike grinned. "They tasted pretty good to me, but I think more ponies remember the bad part."
"Twilight and that Want-It Need-It spell." Applebloom and Scootaloo nodded at Sweetie's comment.
"You three and that Love Poison." Spike grinned at the embarrassed smiles from the Crusaders.
Babs just raised an eyebrow incredulously. "You guys are going to have a lot of stories to share."
Spike smiled. "Hey, we've got time."
***
Babs couldn't sleep. At least at the Apple homestead there was a feeling of home. Family. A familiar setting. But Ponyville was much more quiet than Manehatten, and between that and being in an unfamiliar home, she couldn't get herself to calm down.
The stories had been incredible. The fact that Spike had pictures, and Twilight kept copies of her messages, organized by date even, made it hard to doubt them. Sure, the Big City was more active than Ponyville, but Babs was having a hard time saying whether or not it might be worthwhile to look into a longer stay at Sweet Apple Acres. Maybe some kind of extended stay over the summer?
She rolled over, looking at the sleeping forms of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Applebloom was sleeping soundly. Scootaloo was sprawled on top of her sleeping bag, twitching. Sweetie seemed to be mumbling something about her sister. Spike had moved his basket downstairs to contribute to the storytelling, and was curled up.
"Sweetie, hey?" Babs whispered, trying to see if anyone else was suffering the same effects. Sweetie snorted slightly with a smile. Something about making her sister proud mumbled out of her sleeping mouth.
"Scoots?" The orange pegasus filly tilted her head, letting a long strand of drool ooze out of her mouth. Not much progress there.
"Applebloom?" The young Apple had fallen into the sleep of a farmer, dead to the world and waiting for the dawn. Babs sighed.
"Spike?"
"Yeah?"
Babs blinked in surprise as Spike uncurled himself, blinking back at her.
"Sorry, I can't sleep."
"Yeah, it's sort of weird having a lot of ponies here. You wanna get something to drink in the kitchen?"
Babs nodded, and the two figures headed into the kitchen.
Spike headed to the cabinets, quietly getting out mugs as Babs settled into a chair. He started warming some milk on the stove in preparation for hot chocolate.
"Sorry, I guess it's just.. you know. New place."
"You're fine Babs. Probably a little nervous hearing how crazy this town is normally." Spike gave her an amused smile which she returned.
"Nah, this place sounds kinda cool, since all the ponies seem to work hard to handle any problem that comes up. I did notice you didn't get around to mentioning how you almost tore down the town."
Spike nodded, getting the cocoa powder out.
"Not something I'm proud of, but, well- how much do you know about dragons?"
Babs shrugged. "Big? Scaly? Fire breathing? Mean, generally."
"Think I'm anything like that?"
Babs gave him an incredulous raised eyebrow as he poured the hot milk into the cups. "Do I need to actually say no here, or were you being rhetorical?"
Spike smiled, walking over, handing over the cup of cocoa before taking a sip of his own. "Well, turns out that when dragons start getting really greedy, they can get really big, and really mean. Ponies don't really know a lot about dragons, and dragons-" he made a face "-a lot of dragons are jerks."
"Found that out personally?"
"Oh yeah. See, what happened was that I got a lot of birthday presents. And greed seems to really affect dragons. I guess it's sort of like the Crusaders. You stop seeing the whole picture, and just start worrying about this one thing. I kept growing and growing, wanting more and more presents. I went on a rampage through town. Hang on."
He scuttled back into the main library foyer, leaving Babs with her cocoa. She took a sip and thought about that. Spike as some kind of rampaging monster? Impossible.
He returned with a photo album, flipping through it. "After.... before.... Ah! There we go."
He showed her the picture of the gigantic Spike that had menaced the town. She just stared at it, then at the tiny dragon before her. "You're kidding."
"Nope. See, after all this, I ended up getting helped by Rarity." He smiled and sighed happily. "She ended up reminding me that if I just kept wanting more, I'd never really be able to have friends. And, well, she helped me remember that I really do want friends.
"A while after, I decided to try and go hang out with the dragons, figure out a bit more about being a dragon. And that's where I found out about most other dragons being jerks. Well, I guess I'd had an unhappy run in with a larger dragon before that- my point is, most dragons care about not much more than themselves, and how to make themselves be big and tough. I really think the whole lot of them need some more friends."
Babs gave him an amused smile. "Now if I didn't know any better, I'd almost say you were telling me that a good cure against bullies is friends."
He chuckled. "Kinda obvious, huh? I really think sometimes the best thing you can do is remind someone that there's more to life than just themselves. Bullies try to make themselves better at the expense of others. But sometimes they're just jerks because they don't know any better."
"Mm. So if I now mentioned I hadn't been worrying about the bullies as much recently?"
"I'd say you're lying."
Bab's eyes went wide. "How-"
"Doesn't matter how wrong they are, or how much you shouldn't let it affect you, it always does. Twilight goes through that quite a bit, overthinking things like she does." Spike shrugged, taking another sip of cocoa. "Even if you're not thinking about it right now, I bet it was something on your mind. Part of why you went along with the Crusaders even though you were preeeetty sure you didn't have a Pony Cannonball cutie mark."
Babs rolled her eyes. "Ugh, that's going to be how I get remembered here, isn't it?"
"Probably." Spike grinned. "So what else was keeping you up?"
Babs gave him a glare. "I was pretty sure it was just trying to sleep in a new unfamiliar place, like I said. But now I'm not as sure."
Spike blinked, and blushed, scratching his neck. "Oh yeah, heh, that is a pretty good answer."
Babs took a swig of cocoa, wiping her mouth with her foreleg. "So what's up with Rarity?"
"Huh?"
"You got a crush on her or something?"
"I-uh-that is-uh." Spike blushed, eyes darting from side to side. Babs just grinned viciously. "Fine. Maybe I do. What's it to you?" He gave her his best grumpy glare.
Babs snickered. "Nothing. Just you keep getting all goo-goo eyed when you talk about her."
Spike rolled his eyes. "Ugh. Everyone keeps telling me it's silly. And I mean, they set me up with Sweetie Belle for the dance during the Canterlot wedding, and we get along pretty well so... I dunno. She seems to know I like her, maybe, and I know she likes me, kind of, so." He shrugged helplessly.
"So have you actually said anything about it?"
"Oh no! I mean, I almost did, but she smiled and stopped me, and I mean, I think she already knows, but..."
"Easy Spike. I think you might have your own little nagging thoughts."
Spike blinked and sighed. "Yeah." He stared at his cocoa.
Babs coughed. "How about we just both agree that we're crazy, and that's good enough?"
Spike blinked and smiled, before raising his cup to Babs. "To Friends, craziness, and maybe getting some sleep."
"Hear hear!" The mugs clinked off one another, and the two youths drained their cocoa.
The crusaders sighed as they stared out the library window at the stormy day that had developed. Things were going fine until just after a hearty breakfast of hay bacon and oatmeal. Unexpected lightning had flashed ominously. Then, the clouds let loose with a torrential downpour of cataclysmic proportions. Now the day was wet, dark, and dreary unto the depths of dreariness. Applebloom frowned. "Hey Sweetie, what's another word for dreary?"
"Dark?"
"No, I used that one already."
"Depressing?"
Now the day was wet, dark, and ~~dreary~~ depressing unto the depths of dreariness. Applebloom pondered the thought a moment, than nodded.
"That sounds better. Thanks."
"Sure thing?" Sweetie blinked in utter confusion.
Scootaloo groaned. "I can't believe this! The one full day we had to spend with Babs, and it's pouring buckets! Can't go swimming 'cause of lightning, can't go lumberjacking cause of the rain, can't go out and help Zecora with her potion ingredients because it's a storm; which makes the Everfree like twice as dangerous."
"Maybe three times." Applebloom nodded at the Pegasus' assessment.
Sweetie smiled happily. "Well, we can always try getting our cutie marks in board games. Or maybe in art!"
Scootaloo rolled her eyes with a dismissive snort. "Come on, we need to do something exciting! Memorable! How about scary stories?"
"After breakfast?" Sweetie didn't look enthused.
"Considering how dark it is outside -" Scootaloo grinned "-all we need is less light inside ."
Babs rolled her eyes from her position on the couch, Spike having just walked in from cleaning the dishes.
"Shouldn't Babs be making the calls here? She is the company." The young dragon gave Scoots a curious look, which Scoots promptly deflected by leaping for the nearest light switch.
"Sure! She can pick who goes first!"
As the lights went out and Golden Oaks Library was plunged into gloom, Scootaloo's proud grin avoided any damage from the large number of rolled eyes, by simple virtue of not being able to see them.
***
Maybe it hadn't been the best idea to have Scootaloo go first. Babs, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Spike were all huddled in a single mass on the couch as Scootaloo regaled them with a flashlight under her chin. The campy effect was occasionally broken by a flash of actual lightning outside.
"-all they found were the tracks, leading off into the well. The bodies were never found. Much like the first pony, their loved ones kept hearing... sounds. A scratching. A banging at the door. But there was never anypony there, only cold wet tracks of a drowned pony on land. Those who sought to harm them would go missing, some found later trapped in kelp nets, some simply vanishing into water sources. The survivors would always talk of ponies, wet from head to hoof, dripping, water pouring from their mouth with every labored gasp they made. Drowned Ponies walking.
"The old man? Who set this all in motion? It's thought that he walks Equestria to. this. very. day . Still speaking of his love lost beneath the waves, still trying to gather enough drowned ponies to him, to one day dredge the ocean for his beloved, singing softly 'Shoo be doo, shoop shoo be doo'."
The door slammed open with another flash of light, revealing the watersoaked form of a drowned pegasus and an earth pony with a glimmering eye in a mariner's coat. The fillies and dragon screamed in unison.
***
Rainbow Dash was laughing heartily as she toweled herself off. The lights were all back on again as the abashed fillies glared at the floor of the library, as if it might erase that rather embarrassing reaction. Applejack shook her head as she slipped a dry package of Apple family cooking from under her heavy old fashioned raincoat.
"Honestly, telling scary stories in the middle of the day."
"Looks like they got a scare out of it, so they were doing something right!" Dash wooped as she was hit with another towel from Spike.
"That's not funny." Spike grumbled. "What are you two doing here now anyway? Applejack I get, she's dropping off some food now that the crisis is over, " Applejack nodded at the assessment, "but what about you Dash?"
"It was my fault that this storm managed to brew up since I had to leave a thick layer of cloud cover waiting for sunup-" She shot a small glare at Applejack "-so I've been given patrol duty on the underside of the clouds for the duration. Wet, cold, but I'm still probably the most able flier for the job."
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Hasn't hurt your modesty none either. I'm just checking in on the fillies, the trees are thankfully not making crazy amounts of apples at the moment, but we still have an overflowing section of fencin' to empty of the already dropped magic apples." She shuddered at the thought.
"We're fine Applejack." Applebloom smiled.
Sweetie perked up. "Any news from Rarity?"
Dash snickered. "Screaming. Panicking. Multiple fainting couches spotted through the window. I think she's still a little stressed." Sweetie sighed dejectedly.
Applejack raised an eyebrow at the crusaders, their usual interminable energy deflated like Pinkie's hair when she lost her mind. Well, at least when she got really sad. "Somethin' wrong?"
Scoots grumbled. "Well, we were gonna take Babs on a bunch of crusades today. And- well." She shook a hoof angrily at the storm. "Sometimes living near a place with its own weather really stinks."
Dash chuckled, giving Scoot's mane a ruffling. "Yeah, no kidding. Especially when there's problems if you don't just let it happen." She shot Applejack another glare, pointing a hoof at her. "You owe me. This cider season!"
Applejack chuckled in return. "We'll set some aside for ya extra special, Dash. Anywho, I need to get back out there. Hopefully none of the apples have started to rot and maybe affected the soil. We really need Twi to get back."
"Yeah, I should get back to patrolling, make sure nothing crazy happens while the storm is blowing. You fillies have fun!" With a salute, Dash was back out the door, the several towels sacrifice in vain as she soaked through in seconds. Applejack shook her head and followed her out, leaving Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders to their own devices.
"So how about board games?" Sweetie chirped happily.
***
The meetings had broken down. The Apple Family refused to budge and Carousel Boutique Incorporated was sitting on a healthy pile of money. Dragons and Dragons had completely tied up the gem market, while this upstart from Weather or Not kept a death grip on the low end of town. Seed Money looked over the cityscape laid out before her, frowning.
It'd been an hour, and everypony remembered why nopony actually played Monopony to the end.
***
It was the last match of the day. Hoof wrestling. Babs had unsurprisingly claimed an easy win over both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, but when Spike got a surprise win over Scootaloo, the crusaders had thrown together a more dramatic looking table cloth, raised the table and chairs, added overhead lights, and armed themselves with cameras. Babs wasn't exactly sure how they did it, but couldn't argue with the results.
Scootaloo dinged a bell. "Final Round! Spike Versus Babs!"
Applebloom cheered on her cousin. "Go Babs!"
Sweetie cheered for Spike. "Kick her flank Spike!"
Spike rolled his eyes. "I told you. They always go overboard."
Babs laughed. "Well, at least it's not like anything can go wrong this time."
The two mighty combatants braced themselves, hoof to claw, glaring at each other dramatically.
Scootaloo rang the bell again. "GO!"
The strain was visible from the get go. Teeth were clenched in concentration, both fighters straining to keep their hooves steady. The table creaked ominously under their assault. Flashbulbs popped on either side of them, the spotlight above swinging to focus on the epic battle. If nothing else the crusaders proved themselves adept at dramatics.
***
Five minutes earlier...
"Alright Scoots." Applebloom grinned, looking over her construction. "Just gonna need you to push those into place while we lift the table."
"Yeah yeah. This bell is pretty cool, Applebloom."
"Hnnngrk!" Sweetie and Applebloom applied their full weight to the table as Scootaloo pushed the wooden blocks into place under two of the legs. They repeated the pattern, none of them noticing as Scootaloo grabbed the small cardboard boxes the blocks came in instead of something more solid.
***
"I'm. Gonna. Win!" Babs ground out.
"Not. That. Easy!" Spike was about out of breath, but still holding steady.
The cardboard boxes had decidedly had enough of this, with both youths applying their full weight to the table, and spontaneously decided to go on strike. As the side of the table closest to Spike collapsed, he jerked back in surprise as Babs was half pulled over the table.
"Wha!"
"Hey!"
As they fell into each other, the tablecloth managed to get itself wrapped around them. Their momentum and positioning ended with them wrapped tightly together, stuck face to face in an involuntary kiss. The crusader's gaped for a second, Sweetie Belle's camera flashing once more to save the memory.
"Hlmph!"
"MMph!" Spike and Babs were both struggling to get out, and finally managed to get their faces away from each other.
"Blech. You still taste like breakfast."
"So do you! Now are you going to help us or what?" Babs glared at the Crusaders, who finally sprang into action. Both she and Spike were flushed from the exertions of trying to escape. And nothing else. Nothing at all.
It was not a blush.
Author's Note
Just a little bit of Slice of Life.
DEY KISS! *MWAH*
...What, you didn't think they'd like it, did you? They probably need cootie shots now.
After a quiet and uneventful lunch of Apple family goodies, the group had decided on something less crazy. Pictionary. Without the board, it was more of a party game with the entire group calling out ideas, which worked for everyone involved. They just mixed all the cards together and tried to figure out what the random thing was.
"Oh come on!" Sweetie Belle was complaining loudly. "There's no way that's a duck!"
"Sure it is! It's got wings, a beak, and webbed feet." Scootaloo crossed her forehooves defensively.
"Is that what those were? I thought that was a cockatrice." Applebloom tilted her head at the picture.
Babs rolled her eyes. "I thought it was a ship or something when you started drawing the water."
Scoots growled, before handing the pen to Spike. "Fine! You're up next!"
Spike rolled his eyes, checking the card. "Hoo boy."
He started drawing a big circle.
"Ball?" Sweetie Belle perked up.
He drew lines radiating from the ball.
"Stink bomb?" Scootaloo tilted her head to the right.
He rolled his eyes, and started drawing a pony under it.
"Ball stink pony?" Applebloom tilted her head to the left.
Babs thought about it as he started to draw wings onto the pony, and with the first lines of a horn- "Princess Celestia!"
"You got it!"
The Crusaders groaned. "Aw man!" "So obvious!"
"Really guys, stink bomb?" Spike gave them a confused look.
"Well, the lines were all wavy." Applebloom shrugged.
Spike facepalmed. "Okay, so maybe I'm not an artist." He handed the pen over to Babs, who took it in her mouth with a thoughtful expression, walking over to check the next card in the box.
She frowned, but wasn't about to skip it. First she drew a big circle, and a smaller blackened in circle inside it.
"Ball?" Sweetie Belle blinked.
"No no, that's an eye!" Babs nodded at Applebloom and sketched out the next part of the phrase. A heart.
"Eye heart?" Scootaloo blinked.
Babs started drawing two ponies, trying to draw arrows from one to the other.
"I love you!" Spike yelled out happily.
Babs and Spike froze, and flushed again. The crusaders giggled cheerfully.
Babs spat out the pen. "Okay. We're done. How about we do something else now?"
***
Reading was a good solution. They were in a library, and even Scootaloo could be tamed with a Daring Doo novel. Babs sighed happily, reading through 'Help! I'm trapped in a Diamond Dog's Body!' Silly series, but enjoyable. Spike was finishing up the few chores he had, and starting to get things ready for a nice soup for dinner. Applebloom was reading a carpentry manual, while Sweetie Belle was practicing music from a big book of lyrics. There was a peaceful sort of calm settling into things.
And there was no possible thing that could go wrong with books.
Babs suddenly became aware of a pair of wide open blue eyes staring at her over the top of her book. She blinked up at Pinkie Pie who waved cheerfully, a simple rainbow colored umbrella hat perched on her head. The pony appeared to be completely untouched by the weather that she must have braved to reach the library. Babs decided not to question that, or her sudden appearance. It just seemed a lost cause.
"Hi Pinkie."
"Hi Babs! You guys having fun on this gloomy day?"
"We're doing alright."
The crusaders murmured assent.
"Spike and Babs kissed!" Sweetie blurted out with a smile.
Pinkie gasped and looked back to Babs, who facehooved. "Accidentally."
Pinkie blinked, and giggled. "You sillies, you're supposed to actually be trying when you kiss. Otherwise it's more like a not-kiss."
"Then I guess it was a not-kiss." Babs shrugged, trying to ignore the warmth in her cheeks.
"Oooooo." Pinkie leaned in dramatically. "Does Spike think it's a not-kiss?"
"I guess so?" Babs blinked.
Pinkie's blue eyes stared down into the depths of Bab's green eyes. Babs squirmed a bit, before Pinkie closed her eyes in a smile. "Okie Dokie Lokie!"
"So what are you doing here Pinkie?" Scootaloo managed to pry herself from the daring adventures of Daring Doo long enough to raise an eyebrow.
"Oh, since everypony's stuck indoors with all this icky weather, I figured I'd go around and deliver goodies from Sugarcube Corner to everypony! I'm over halfway done with the whole town!" Pinkie gleefully pulled cupcakes and doughnuts from seemingly nowhere, handing them out to the crusaders and Babs before heading for the kitchen with a smile. "And I've got a nice candied sapphire for one lucky dragon!"
"Huh? Oh, hey Pinkie! Thanks!"
"No prob Spike! Anyway, you girls keep having fun, I've got more deliveries to finish!" With a satisfied smile, Pinkie opened the door and bounced out into the storm, seemingly untouchable by the massive raindrops by virtue of her umbrella hat.
Babs blinked. "Even after all the stories, it's still kind of weird to see her in action."
Scootaloo shrugged and mumbled around a mouthful of doughnut. "You get used to it." The other crusaders nodded.
***
Dinner had been good. Nice hot soup was hard to pass up on a gloomy day, and the Ponyvillians had shared a few more stories from what had happened in town. The crusaders had finally worn themselves down again through a combination of sugar crash and full bellies. Pinkie had dropped off even more treats than they thought for after dinner. Babs smiled a bit, thinking about the Ice-Cream Sundae Cupcake she'd gotten. Who even came up with something that crazy? But it tasted delicious, and made her want another one.
The steady patter of the storm outside and the occasional groan of the library were almost comfortable. Almost. Something was still bothering her.
"Psssst. Spiiike."
"Hm?" Spike raised his head. He still wasn't used to a full library.
"Sorry about kissing you. I mean, not like we wanted to or anything, but- sorry. Okay?"
"Pfft. I probably wouldn't of thought about it again. And- um- I guess sorry to you too."
"What are you apologizing for? I didn't think it was that bad."
Babs rolled onto her side and fell into a comfortable doze with a satisfied conscience; Spike pondered that. He shrugged and returned to trying to sleep himself.
Author's Note
I want an Ice-Cream Sundae Cupcake.
Applejack was up with the sunrise. Or at least what was presumed to be sunrise. Pinkie was sleeping soundly as Applejack got herself out the door and breathed in the fresh after-rain air the day brought with it. The Cakes were already at work prepping the heavier bread doughs for baking, but returned the quiet wave Applejack gave them on the way out.
A quick walk to the farm was reassuring. Dash had lived up to her promise and ensured that when the rest of the storm blew itself out overnight, Sweet Apple Acres was still ensured its protective cover. The apples were all but handled, boxed, barreled, stored in every nook and cranny they could be. Several bushels had been unable to fit anywhere else, and now resembled bobbing-for-apple buckets at a county fair from the rain. Still, the crisis had been handled, Twilight was due back later today, there was almost nothing that could go wrong.
She did frown a bit, thinking about Babs. This wasn't exactly what they had hoped for for a visit. Of course, how many ponies visited Ponyville specifically because of the madness that seemed to surround the place. Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes. Some ponies had taken to referring to crises in other parts of Equestria by saying 'It must be Tuesday in Ponyville.' Not that far from the truth, of course, but not something to take much pride in.
Well, if nothing else, she was going to have a great send off. With an approving nod, Applejack headed towards the other end of town for Fluttershy's cottage. Time to rustle up the best going away party to date!
***
Unsurprisingly, Big Mac was already up. Surprisingly, Fluttershy was with him. They were feeding animals out back of the cottage. Applejack just smiled quietly as she walked up.
"Good morning you two."
"Eep! Umm. G-good morning." Fluttershy cringed behind the safety of her hair. Mac simply nodded quietly to his sister.
"Was hoping to get Mac here to come along to see off Babs. Back to Manehatten already. Granny still sleeping?"
"Nnnnope."
"Oh, my, yes, she's been so helpful with the smaller animals around the house. Even Angel likes her! Discord has been.. well, he's been busy with something again, but he seems to get along with her as well for some reason."
"Huh. Well don't that beat all. If she's still awake by ten, feel free to drag her down to the station." Applejack pulled the brim of her hat in a minor salute, in part to hide her furrowed brow at Discord being 'busy', and started walking off.
"Oh! Umm." Fluttershy blushed. "I don't think I met Babs last time, really. Could- could I come along? I mean, if that's alright with you."
"Sure thing sugar cube. Thanks again for helping out." Applejack gave her an honest smile and headed back into town. The next pony to talk to should be just waking up.
***
"A going away party! Of course! I'll set up banners and confetti and-"
"Pinkie. We've only got a few hours, and this is just gonna be a small party."
"A smaaaall party with banners and confetti and cake and-"
"Just a little."
"I'll make sure the train station is ready by ten!"
"Wait, I never told you when Babs was-" Pinkie had already zipped off in a blur of pink, leaving confetti and streamers behind. Applejack rolled her eyes with a smile. Some ponies.
The pink blur vanished into Golden Oaks library for a moment, before zipping back out with a quiet giggle, bouncing back to Sugar Cube Corner. So much to do, so much fun to have!
***
The Crusaders, Babs, and Spike were just starting to wake up when the alarm went off at 8. Spike started a warm breakfast of oatmeal with personalized toppings, apple slices for Applebloom, marshmallows for Sweetie, orange slices for Scootaloo, sugar and cinnamon for Babs, and hot pepper for himself.
The fillies and dragon dug in quietly, Applebloom finally addressing the elephant in the room. "It's too bad you have to go so soon, Babs."
"Yeah! This was nice. But we didn't even get to try as many crusades as I had planned." Scootaloo frowned, chewing thoughtfully on a piece of orange.
"No offense, but I'm good with that." Babs smiled.
"And we did have a fun day yesterday! Hey, maybe by the time Babs comes back again we'll figure out our talents!" Sweetie Belle smiled enthusiastically.
"Or at least figure out magic and flying." Scootaloo moved her spoon through the air with wooshing noises. "Second Best Flier in Equestria, right after Rainbow Dash!"
Applebloom rolled her eyes. "Either way cuz, I guess we should get ready. Oh, and thanks Spike, for letting us stay the two nights."
"No big deal. You weren't as bad as I was expecting." Spike covered his mouth wide-eyed at that comment's escape, earning glares from the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and a laugh from Babs.
"And you weren't a big mean dragon, so there we go." She gave him a teasing smile, helping to clear the table of dishes. Now facing his own inconclusive compliment, Spike blushed a bit, and opted for quietly cleaning the dishes as the fillies got themselves in order.
***
The clocks had claimed it was nine-thirty and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, both Manehatten and Ponyville branches had slipped on their cloaks for the trip. Spike hauled Babs' luggage as the crusaders regaled her with more ideas for possible crusades.
"You could try helping out at an art gallery!" Sweetie smiled.
"No way, she should go be a costumed crime fighter! Standing mightily on top of buildings, swooping down to stop bullies and thieves!" Scootaloo threw some punches with a huge smile.
"I'm pretty sure only pegasi could jump down from most Manehatten buildings and be in one piece Scoots." Babs rolled her eyes with a smile.
"How about gardenin'? I know you don't have a lot to work with out in Manehatten, but it is a pretty common skill in the Apple Family."
"Well, I have only had a little herb garden, but maybe I can give it another shot this year." Babs nodded cheerfully.
"Hey! There's the train station!" Spike pointed ahead, bringing the crusaders up short. They exchanged looks, before finally settling on a massive group hug. Spike sighed, frowned, and finally joined in when Babs waved a hoof at him to get in. A few moments later they split up again, smiling sadly.
"Sorry you have to go so soon, Babs." Applebloom sighed.
"Yeah. It was good having you back." Scoots nodded, smiling sheepishly.
"Next time, I'll make sure not to add that much powder!" Sweetie nodded enthusiastically.
Babs laughed. "I appreciate that. Thanks, everyone. And I'll try to come back for a longer stay next time."
A moment of awkwardness passed as the party resumed moving towards the train station. Spike blinked at the massive clock, now covered in colorful ribbons. "Nine-o-five? But that's-"
"SURPRISE!" Pinkie popped out of nowhere, in a cloud of confetti. Walking out from cover were the Apples; Applejack. Big Mac, Granny Smith; and the available Elements of Harmony; Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie, of course. Banners overhead unfurled to reveal 'Come back soon, Babs!' as Pinkie pulled out platters of baked goods and a bowl of punch. The conductor gave her a minor frown, but there wasn't a train due for almost an hour, so it was all good.
***
"-so I snuck in and set all your clocks ahead so you'd be at the station in time for a party!" Pinkie smiled hugely at the small party, somehow having managed to hook her gramophone up to the announcement system for the trains. Cheerful music blared overhead.
Spike and the Crusaders were still a bit shellshocked, and Babs was smiling almost as widely as Pinkie. "Well, thanks Pinkie. This is- this is great!"
"Applejack was saying it was supposed to be just a little party for you going back home, but I figured you'd like a bit more of a send off! Plus, you can keep some of the leftovers for the ride home!" Pinkie bounced over to one of the food platters, scarfing up a small stack of cupcakes in a single motion. She licked her lips. "Mmm mm! And they're great, too!"
Babs rolled her eyes. She couldn't stop smiling. After the stories she'd heard, these were some of the ponies who were in the midst of some of the crazier stuff that happened, and while she'd seen them before, they hadn't really interacted much. Plus, Sweetie had been so thrilled that her sister was here, it was rather hard to not just bask in the infectious enthusiasm from everypony. She laughed, tapping her hooves to the music. "I think I'm gonna dance for a bit."
She moved herself into a little clear area and started moving to the music, doing pretty well for a filly with no experience. It wasn't long before the impromptu dance caught on, everyone simply enjoying themselves for a short period.
***
"Goodbye!" "Don't forget to write!" "We'll keep you posted about the crusades!"
"So it was just luck you happened to be around?" Applejack asked Rarity, helping to haul another banner away as the unicorn lowered it.
"Well, after these dreadful past few days, I simply needed a strong body and some quick hooves to get the shipment onto the train in time. So of course I headed to Sweet Apple Acres, where Dash told me about your little slice of mayhem. She lent a hoof, and then of course we all met at the station. Twilight is due back in a few hours, so here's hoping this crisis is at its end." Rarity gave a warm smile to Sweetie Belle where she was sweeping up confetti. "Still, it didn't seem all bad. Babs' visit really helped keep Sweetie occupied while I got the work done."
"As long as she can fix the trees, I suppose we can figure out some way to handle the apples." Applejack nodded at Applebloom, who was cleaning up some cake platters. "Yup, friendship does have a way of making little problems less important."
"I wonder if Twilight is going to have one of us writing a friendship report about it?" Rarity giggled as Applejack shot her a look.
"At this point, since it was her meddlin' that started the crisis, I reckon she'd still be the one to write."
"Mmm. Oh my, Fluttershy! Are you up for the spa? I could really do with our weekly trip a bit earlier." Rarity smiled at Fluttershy, who smiled back. "Oh of course, that would be lovely Rarity."
Spike sighed happily nearby, leaning on a broom. Oh beautiful Rarity. Scoots gave him a nudge, and they both resumed cleaning up the streamers.
***
With a a little over an hour left before the Ponyville Princess was due back home, Spike was triple checking the lists, and had finally triple checked the List of Lists. "Phew!"
He looked around the sparkling clean library, adjusted the carefully prepared daisy sandwiches on the dining room table, checked on Owlucious, and made sure that all the books were in order. A moment later, he looked around, and having made sure nobody was watching, pulled 'The Big Book of Dragon Secrets' from the shelf. It was another blank Discord book, but it had proven useful.
Spike flipped the book over, opening the back cover, where he'd been keeping a small photo album. A handful of the best pictures of Rarity he could get were scattered at the top of the page, with 'Perfection' written under them. A picture of him and Sweetie Belle dancing was underneath it, with a number two written beside it. He thought for a moment, pulling out the picture of Babs that Pinkie had provided. Of course, how she got a shot of when Babs stared him in the eyes during their hoof wrestling match was another Pinkie Secret.
He pondered for a long moment before putting the picture on the other side of the two. He added notes under the pictures. For Sweetie, 'Sugar,' for Babs 'Spice.' He added a question mark under the two and wrote in 'Everything Nice' below it. Satisfied for the moment, he closed the book and returned it to the shelf. He still had half an hour to go.
"Maybe I should check the list again."
***
Epilogue
Twilight raised the magnifying glass to her eye, squinting as she examined the apple tree. The quill and tome floating beside her carefully sketched notes as she hummed to herself. Nearby, Applejack was pacing back and forth. Dash watched from a nearby cloud.
"You're in a rut, AJ." Dash commented.
Applejack snorted. "Well I can't get my mind off this! If these trees can't be fixed it'll take years to replace them, and even with magic apples that pour all day, well, that just ain't Apple Family tradition! It's for sure going to hurt our profits this season, and we've got a lot of things to cover."
"No, I mean you've paced a rut into the road."
Applejack blinked, and hopped out of the hole she'd worn into the dirt, grumbling at the bemused pegasus.
Twilight nodded, finally closing her book. "Well you don't have to worry Applejack, just like it took a few days to kick in, it looks like the fertilizer is wearing off. By tomorrow your trees should be back to normal."
"So all we had to do was wait?" Dash groaned. "So much for a crisis."
"Well, if you girls hadn't figured out the cloud cover thing, there's a good chance Ponyville would be up to its' collective knees in apples. So we'll call this an averted crisis." Twilight smiled cheerfully.
"That's great and all Twi, but are the apples safe for pony's to eat?"
"Oh of course! It looks like the fertilizer just caused an infusion of elements similar to their base components. I'm not entirely sure how the contagion element got in, unless that's related somehow to the aspects of friendship, but that would be a completely different-"
"Twi'?"
"Yes Applejack?"
"What was in that fertilizer you keep talking about? And I thought you said it wasn't supposed to be magical?"
Twilight blushed, earning a raised eyebrow from Applejack. Rainbow covered an approaching giggle with a hoof. "Well, you see, since becoming a princess I've realized there really hasn't been a study done into the utility of Alicorn elements. We already handle a lot of other elements normally, so it stands to reason that all elements should act normally. In this case, I was just trying to run a test on, well, fertilizer."
"Alicorn Fertilizer?" Applejack's eyes went wide. Dash used two hooves to stifle her approaching laughter.
Twilight blushed some more. "Yes. I mean, I didn't expect there to be any kind of magical reaction, let alone something on this scale. Of course that might've been because I used a combined sample with Celestia, but-"
Dash couldn't hold it anymore, and was rolling around laughing on her cloud. Applejack just stared at Twilight like she'd grown a second set of wings and a second horn. "How in the hay did you convince Celestia to provide you with-with her poop ?!" She sent a glare up at the laughing pegasus. "And how the hay did you seem to have figured this out early?"
Dash grinned smugly. "More apples with more sunlight? This was like one of those puzzles Daring Do always has to solve. Obviously something 'sunny' was involved."
Twilight grinned nervously. "Anyway, yes, that should also explain the effect on the apples. The magic in them should at worst just make ponies feel really friendly, and comfortably warm. So- perfect for cider, right?" She pony-squeed at Applejack who just facehooved. "And I really should test a sample with Luna at some point... I still can't figure out how Magic got into the equation, though. The samples were completely inert."
"Twi? Let's just wait on any more testing until we finish handling these apples."
"Oh, right, of course!"
The friends shared an awkward but happy smile. Dash spoke up. "I call dibs on the first bottle."
Author's Note
It's over! Lots of fluff, lots of silliness, and perhaps a few too many scene changes and time skips.