Chapter 10: (Day 1) (Part 2)
Almost instantly, a menagerie of color and hooves rose, creating a viable sea of multi-toned fur. I was slightly detected by this, as I wasn't expecting the entirity of Ponyville have questions to ask me, but, after that initial sense of surprise, I managed to mull over a decision, picking one of the many colored ponies at random.

"Uh... Alright. Three rows down, yellow pony." I said as my eyes shifted to the yellow, bouncing hoof, barely making out a small, smiling child pony.

"Well, I guess that, considering the way things are around here, it'd be more appropriate to say she's a filly, not a child... It is filly, right?... Oh, to heck with it."

"Would you mind moving closer a bit? It would be a big help." The filly, though I could barely see it, nodded her head happily at this, her red mane and bow shaking slightly as she did so, before, without another word, she began to move her way in through the crowd in front of her, some ponies making way for her, while other had to be scooted to the side.

Truthfully, the reason I had chosen her, out of everypony else, was because, when I was younger, being the shortest among a group didn't exactly help when it came to situations like these. I'd usually be picked last, or not at all, for questions. So, I figured I'd give one of the smaller ponies here a chance.

Finally making her way near the front of the crowd, her small self differentiating greatly among the other ponies, I gave her a smile as I looked to her.

“Whats your name?” I asked kindly, the filly smiling even more broadly as she spoke up.

“Mah names Applebloom!” She said, almost proudly, at that. These names were starting to get a little to odd at this point. And a little too puny too. But, hey, what can you do?

“Okay then, Applebloom. What's your question?" I asked, to which she quickly responded.

“Do ya have a cutie mark?” ... Well... Okay, the hell is a cutie mark?

“Uh… Pardon?” I asked, honestly clueless as to what she meant.

“You know, a cutie mark! Somethin' ya'll get when ya find your special talent.” Uh... Okay? That's a new one.

“Uh... Forgive me, I'm not much when it comes to pony anatomy. Where exactly does a 'cutie mark' appear when a pony gets one?”

“On a pony's flank." She said simply, looking to me with a raised brow. Really?
First thing I did, and admittedly not the brightest, I glanced to a nearby mare, looking to her flank and quickly catching sight of a rose on it... Like I said, not the brightest thing to do. It took me all of a millisecond to realize what I was doing, putting my eyes back to Applebloom as I noticed the blush appear on the mare's face.

"Idiot, pervert, idiot, pervert..." I mentally shouted at myself repeatedly, letting out a nervous chuckle before clearing my throat and addressing to Applebloom's initial question.

“Well, to answer your question, Applebloom, no, my kind, do not have, or get, cutie marks for finding out our special talent. For us, it’s just something that you find out, and once you do, you're more aware of it.” I explained, the filly giving a small nod of understanding as I did so. Honestly, when it came to this whole 'cutie mark' concept, the closest things that we humans had to it were tattoos. But, not really wanting to give these ponies any ideas, I refrained from telling them this.

Almost as soon as I finished my explanation, two more fillies made their way through the crowd. “Then, what exactly are you?” Said the dark orange furred and purple maned filly, her voice sounding tomboyish, and slightly reminiscent of Ranbow Dash. She had small wings, like those of a pegasus that still hadn't developed, and it was kind of cute, honestly.

“And whats your name?” I asked.

“Scootaloo.” Okay, where did that name come from?

“Well, I, and my species, are referred to as 'humans'. Or, 'Homo Sapien', if you want to get all technical about it."
As I finished, I heard a scream in the background, causing me, and pretty much everypony else, to jump as I quickly looked to the source. Oddly enough, I saw the mint green unicorn from before, jumping up and down in the air in what looked like excitement, somehow managing to jump high above the crowd despite her distance.

“I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!” She screamed, drawing a raised brow from me.

“...Okay then? Anypony else have anything that they want to ask?” As a multitude of pony hooves shot up, none of them seeming too deterred from the green pony's outburst, I quickly shrugged the incident off as well, eventually picking out another pony at random.

"Um, Gray fur, blonde mane." I said, the pony, who I surmised to be a mare, smiling in return. She was a pegasus, and, an odd thing about her was, as she looked to me, I noticed that one of her eyes was... Off.

"Okay then. Your name, ma'am?" I asked.

"Derpy Hooves." She said, myself mentally flinching as I heard this. That name's a little... Harsh, isn't it?

"Derpy. Alright, then. Your question?" I asked, gesturing for her to continue.

"Do you like muffins?" ... Uhhhh.

I was about to say something, anything really, but, before I could, most of the crowd started to burst out laughing, aside from a select few who just looked at the rest with faces of irritance. Derpy, her face suddenly red with embarrassment, looked to the floor in silence, her lips seeming to quiver in sadness.

As this went on, I could feel my anger flare. This whole scene, well, it just reminded me of that time back at school. How people would make fun of one another, bullying them, if only for a certain trait, or worse yet, no reason. To say the least, I was ticked.
Putting on a blank face, I slammed my fist against the podium as hard as I could, the resounding bang seeming to echo as everypony quickly quieted themselves, looking to me in shock.

"... Allow me to make something clear." I said, my voice lacking any emotion. "I do not, nor will I ever, enjoy the sight of somepony being laughed at, or made fun of. And, I suggest that you all think the same." None of the ponies made a sound as I cleared my throat again, looking to the currently teary eyed pegasus from before and giving her a smile.

"Now, Derpy, was it?" She nodded. "Yes, I do like muffins. More particularly, I enjoy blueberry muffins." At this, the pegasus seemed to brighten, a small smile coming to her face as she looked to me.

"There you go... Any other questions?"

1pm

It had been a good hours worth of questions from all of these ponies, and, aside from that small 'cutie mark incident', which I'm sure will haunt me for a bit, everything had gone well. Soon enough, the crowd thinned, little by little, all of the ponies questions slowly being answered as they dispersed returning to their previous, daily schedules.

Now, since the 'town greeting' had finished, I, and the other six ponies from earlier, were on our way to Rarity's 'boutique', as she called it, to get me some better, more comfortable, clothes.

It was a few more minutes before, finally, Rarity spoke up again, seeming to add some flair to it as she did so. "Ah, here we are. Darling, welcome to the Carousel Boutique." She said, gesturing to the large, decorated building before, which, might I add, was, fittingly enough, seemingly an actual carousel, hollowed out and decorated like a store. "Come now, we simply must get started."
Though I was a little... Skeptical, about this whole thing, I followed after Rarity nonetheless, the other five coming along shortly behind.

As we entered the store, a bell hung above the door giving a small ring as we did so, I quickly found myself glancing around the entire floor, noting article after article of clothing, each hung from what looked like pony mannequins, and actually looking pretty nice. A few were a bit too... Gaudy, but still.

"Now then, if I could just get you to stand over here, dear." Turning my attention to Rarity, and my eyes widening slightly as I saw that she had already set up a lot of things around where I saw her, I gave her a nod as I followed her lead, standing myself according to her directions until I was standing as stiff as a statue, my arms spread outwards to my sides.
“I’m going to take some measurements dear. It'll only be a moment." She said, levitating over--
I may never get used to saying that--

a roll of measuring tape, before quickly putting it around my waist... Or, at least trying to. She had some difficulty acquiring some accurate measurements, my utility belt often snagging the tape, or just plain making things inaccurate. So, with a sigh, Rarity pulled away the tape again, looking to me.

"Do you think you might be able to take that off, darling? This would go much more smoothly if you did.” Shrugging my shoulders, I quickly undid the belt, moving from my stiff placement and placing the belt onto a nearby table, before quickly returning to my statue-like form before Rarity.

Now, normally, I would be much more wary about taking off my belt, considering it held most of my tools in it, but, I think I can make an exception here. After all, its not like somepony's going to attack me, or anything like that. They seem way too nice for that... Though that green unicorn from before does worry me a bit.

"Ah, perfect!" Rarity said as she quickly set herself to measuring me again, this time acting much more quickly as she took my measurements inch by inch, writing them down on a far off pad of paper as she scribbled the pencil against it.

As she did this though, I noticed, out of my furthest peripherals of vision, that Twilight and Rainbow Dash were both looking over my belt, the others watching from afar as the two fiddled with it. Suffice to say, this worried me. Like my jet, most of the objects that I had in there were pretty dangerous... Huh, it's only now that I realize just how dangerous, actually. Guess a person doesn't see that until they start to list off their lethal equipment.

“You girls be careful with that." I said. "All of my gear is in there.” Rainbow Dash, who obviously wasn't listening to a word I was saying, reached into one of the compartments, grabbing hold of my grappling hook with her mouth.
"I’m probably going to need to clean that later." I thought to myself as Rainbow Dash turned to me, the object of her interest still in her mouth.

“phey thamth, phats phith?”
she asked... I think, myself barely able to translate it to her asking me what it was.
"Now thats a mouthful... Oh great, now I’m doing it." I thought to myself, mentally giving my mind a good kick at it's adaption of the puns that surrounded me.

“Be careful with that! It's my…” My voice seemed to fall on deaf ears, as the sound of a firing grappling hook brought about a mental sigh of mine, watching as the hook made its way down the room, grabbing hold of the railing of a nearby stairway before just as quickly pulling itself towards it, the grappling device snagging against my belt and taking it with it, opening up one of the compartments as a familiar, red gem fell out, and onto the floor.

Finishing up her measurements with a sigh at her friend's behavior, myself catching a glimpse of a sheepish smile that Rainbow Dash now held, Rarity turned herself away as she magically rolled up the tape again and moved it away, her eyes quickly lighting up as they caught sight of the red gem of mine that laid on the floor.

“Oh my! What a beautiful jewel!” She said. Well, I could already see where this was going.

“Yeah, I guess. It's my good luck charm. I found it on my doorstep, actually, inside of an unlabeled box. Strange, right?” Moving from my stiff position, I made my way past Rarity and towards the gem, meaning to grab it, along with the rest of my now messied gear. Surprisingly enough though, I found myself stopping as the jewel began to glow, I, and the ponies behind me, looking to it in shock.

"Well that's... new.” I said, the sight of the glowing crystal quickly bringing me back to a similar sight I had seen of it the morning it had arrived, though I had just pushed it off as a truck of the eyes.

“You mean, its never done that before?” Twilight asked.

“Not like this.” Grabbing the dimming crystal, along with my utility belt and caught grappling hook, before placing it, and my other tool, into their respective slots, turning to the ponies as I looped the belt around my waist again.
“So, on another note, Rarity, how long do you think it'll be when you're finished with the clothing?” I asked, my belt letting out a satisfying click as I finished setting it together.

“Hmmmm... Should be by tomorrow morning, at the earliest!” She said, myself doing a bit of a double take as she said this.

"Holy crap, that fast?! Guess that magic provides a hell of a speed boost to that, eh?" Giving Rarity a nod, I was ready to verbalized my response before, embarrassingly enough, my stomach let out a rather loud gurgle. My face turning slightly red, I glanced to a nearby clock taking note of the fact that, according to it, it was 4 PM...

"WHAT?! I'VE BEEN HERE FOR 3 HOURS?!? HOLY CRAP!" My eyes widening at this realization, I heard Applejack chuckle, drawing my attention as I turned to her smiling face.

“Well, ah reckon that, since ya'll are going to be workin fer me fer a while, y'all wouldn't mind meetin' may family over some dinner?" My stomach growling in agreement, drawing yet another chuckle from the pony, I quickly gave her a nod.
“Sure. It'd be nice to know where I'm going to be working. Besides, I can't really pass up dinner."

... My god that sounded horrible.

4:30pm

After a while more of talking, and then eventually saying our goodbyes, the six of us, having left Rarity behind at her home, walked outside, each of us splitting from the group as we went along.

Twilight had to leave to check up on Spike, which, if I remember right, was the baby lizard thing that she had back at her house. Fluttershy said that she needed to go and check on her animals, which she had left unattended for two days, and felt terrible about. Rainbow Dash had to leave because she said something about weather duty, which is odd, since I never pictured her as a meteorologist, no offense to her. And finally, Pinkie left saying something about a party and planning... Well, they were the only two words I could make out from the five second essay she gave me, so I'm just guessing here.

So, now. that just left me, and Applejack, as she continued to lead me to her homd, which, from what she had told me, was a pretty long walk. The chances of me getting there and back before dark would be slim to none, but hey, maybe, she'd offer me the night? If just this once, that is.

As we walked on, I tried to make small talk, glancing to Applejack every now and then as I did so.

“So, Applejack, what's your home like?" I asked, honestly curious as to my soon-to-be place of work.

“Ah live on an apple farm. More apple trees than anypony can see, an' all of 'em are among the best." Huh. Wow.

“Sound like a big place then. You must have your plate full most of the time, eh?" I asked.

“More than ya know. Everypony in the apple family does their part in that thar business. Well, 'cept for Granny Smith, but that's cuz she's retired." Nodding at her explanation, I asked on, hoping for some more detail.

“So, your siblings and parents, basically?" The look that she got felt like a punch to the face as she gazed downwards at the mention of her parents, the matter obviously being more... Personal.

"Oh... Sorry about that. Didn't mean to-”

“It's fine pardner. Jus'... Not somethin' we talk about too often.”

“Oh... Um... I see...” I said, not entirely sure of how to respond to that. I sure as hell hope that her parents aren't... Gone, like mine. Otherwise, I'd feel really-

"Somethin' happened to your Ma and Pa, didn't it?" My eyes widened as she said this, myself bringing my gaze to her as I looked to her questioningly.

"How'd you guess?" I asked.

“I saw how plum upset ya were when we talked about mag parents and... Well, like ya said, I took a guess.” Smart mare. Looking ahead now, I let out a sigh as the memory resurfaced yet again.

"Yeah... There was... An accident... I guess you could say... Though, it wasn't really an accident, so much as it was in purpose." At this, Applejack's eyes widened, likely having understood what I was hinting at.

“Oh... Ah'm sorry.” I shook my head as she said this, waving her off dismissively.

“Not a problem. After all, its because of their deaths that I do what I do today. I try to make sure that nobody ever had to go through what I went through. Or worse." I said, a small smile coming to my face as I did so.

"Well, ah think that's a mighty fine thing y'all are doing thar. And look over yonder. That thar's mah family's farm. Sweet Apple Acres." Glancing ahead, I felt my own eyes widen as I saw the huge-- and I mean HUGE farm ahead of us. Applejack wasn't kidding when she had said that there were more apple trees here than the eye could see.

Leading me further into the farm grounds, Applejack and I eventually came up on a relatively large, wooden house in the middle of the farm, a big red ranch of to the side of it. At the front of the house, sitting on a rocking chair, was an old, green pony, her mane gray and tied back, and her age clearly shown by her appearance, and how she moved. Applejack gestured for me to stay where I was, leaving a small awkward moment as the pony, who I assumed to be Granny Smith, and I glanced at one another, before I heard her shout from inside the house.

"Big Macintosh, Applebloom, come down here fer a moment." At this, I felt my brow raise, looking towards Applejack as she made her way back outside

"Applebloom's a part of your family?" I asked.
“Yup. She is mah sister, after all." She responded. Honestly, I probably should have seen that coming, especially since-... Wait.
"Applejack... Big Macintosh... Applebloom... Granny Smith... Oh my god, they're all named after apples! Now I really feel like an idiot."

“Good tah see ya back, Applejack." The elderly voice of Granny Smith said, smacking on her lips slightly as I heard clip clopping of other hooves come from the house. First, came a large, red stallion. The first one I had seen in a while, actually, considering most of the ponies here seemed to be mares. Turning to me, Applejack quickly began to more properly introduce the stallion and the elderly mare to me, as the small, familiar filly from before, Applebloom, also joined the three.

“This here's mah big brother, Big Macintosh, though we jus' call 'im 'Big Mac'. He's not much of a talker."

“Eeyup.” The stallion simply agreed, drawing a mental chuckle from me.

"Next up's Granny Smith. She's been workin' on this farm her whole life."

"And ah plan tah keep it that way!" The elderly mare added. She was definitely commited, I'd give her that.

"And, finally, I think ya'll have already met Applebloom. She's the youngest in the family, but that don't mean she ain't willin' to give her work her all." The filly gave a confident nod as Applejack said this, slightly puffing out her chest cutely as she looked to me.

“Heh, wow. You've got quite the family here, Applejack." I said, Applejack chuckling in return.

“Well? Ain't ya gonna introduce us to yer friend here?” Granny Smith asked, gesturing from Applejack to me.

“Oh, heh, right. Everypony, this is James. He's a-”

"He's a human!" Applebloom interrupted, finishing of her sisters statement as I gave my own chuckle at this.

“Yeah, and I'm happy to make all of your acquaintance.” I said. Quickly after, Big Mac stuck his hoof out in what I guessed to be a handshake... Hoofshake... Whatever. Shrugging, I took his hoof in my hand and gave it a firm motion up and down, him and I lowering our arms shortly after.

“Well, y'all are just in time fer dinner. Come and get it, if'n ya like.” Don't have to ask me twice! As the ponies made their way inside again, each of them opening the door as they made their way in, except for Granny Smith, who, honestly, I couldn't help but to hold the door for-

"Thank ya kindly."

-I followed shortly after, the inside of my mouth starting to water as I quickly laid my eyes on a smorgasbord of apple related treats, laid neatly throughout a large, wooden table.

"I am okay with this... Like, a lot!"

Everypony soon sat themselves down at the tables, serving themselves as I followed suit, sitting myself at one of the spare chairs and serving myself two slices of apple pie, some apple strudel, apple sauce and a big mug of apple juice... It's a lot, I know, but I was starving. At first, I had a hard time choosing from what to take a bite of first, so, closing my eyes for a second, I randomly dug my fork into one of my servings, opening my eyes and seeing that I had grabbed a piece of apple pie, before bringing the piece into my mouth, chewing it and-

... Holy crap this is heaven in pie form.

“and then he says, 'Hey fella, why the long face'?” Everypony soon burst out laughing as I said this, drawing a bit of relief from me, considering that fact that I wasn't sure if they'd take to the 'horse in the bar' joke too well. But, hey, it worked. In fact, Applejack's family and I were having a great time. I had even gotten Applejack’s brother to speak a whole three sentences! And that's saying a lot!

Glancing out the kitchen window, I felt myself internally curse at myself as I noticed the pitch blackness that surrounded the house. "Ah shoot." I said, censoring myself as I remembered that there was a filly among us.
Seeming to notice my worry, Applejack quickly spoke up. “Y'all could sleep here if'n ya like. It's make yet gettin' tah work faster.” Looking to her, I gave her a smile as I nodded at her offer.

“That'd be great. I'd just need to pick up my work clothes from Rarity tomorrow though.” I explained, Applejack nodding in understanding.

“No problem. Thar's a spare bedroom upstairs. Y'all make yourself comfortable."

“Thanks." I returned, excusing myself from the table as I made my way upstairs, glancing from room to room before, eventually, I found a relatively empty room, with nothing more than a bed, and a couple of drawers. The guest room.

Letting out a sigh, I closed the room door behind me, letting out a sigh as I laid myself on top of the bed, lazily covering myself with the blankets as I closed my eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep.

“Ah cant get 'er tah sleep. Ah’ve tried every thing that ah could think of, even some warm cider, but it just ain't doin' the trick like it used tah.”

I heard Granny Smith's voice as I slowly was awoken from my sleep, letting out a quiet yawn as I did so.

“I dont know what teh do. We all got us a full day of work 'head of us and we all need a full night's sleep.” I heard Applejack say, myself giving a silent groan as I made my way off the bed, rubbing the drowsiness out of my eyes as I opened the door to the guest room, making my way into the hall, much to the surprise of the three ponies that stood there.

“Maybe I can help?” I offered, making my way over to the three, in front of Applebloom's room. "Let me take a crack at it." I said, my hand already at Applebloom's door handle. Glancing to one another, Granny Smith gave Applejack a shrug, as she then looked to me.

“Ah guess... If'n ya think ya can help.” I gave her a nod as I slowly opened the door to Applebloom's room, quickly being met by a still fully awake filly as I closed the door slowly behind me.

“Hey there kido." I said. "I hear your having trouble falling asleep?” Applebloom nodded, twiddling her hooves together as she looked down to them.

“Uh huh. I know ah can't stay up, but I plum can't fall asleep niether.” Giving her a nod, an idea came to mind as I smiled to her. Whenever I couldn't sleep, my mom would usually sing to me, back when I still had her that is. It always put me to sleep. So, maybe?

Though I had forgotten more than just a few words, I had managed to get the song out as well as I could. And, in the end, it had been worked, Applebloom having fallen fast asleep worth little to no effort as I sang her a good night... Though, maybe it had worked too good.

I realized this when I made my way outside of Applebloom's room, soon met by three sleeping ponies as they laid on the floor. Sighing at this, I made started to pick each individual pony up one by one, taking them back to their rooms. which I only found out to be theirs by the cutie marks molded onto the doors, and laid them down in their beds. Oh, and I'm pretty sure I broke something while I was carrying Big Mac.

Sighing as I finished, a small bead of sweat going down my forehead as I did so, I made my way back to the guest room, this time taking off my boots as I plopped myself onto the bed, wishing myself, and the rest of the apple family, a good night.

Author's Note

on a temporary hiatus so I can get to work on some new story ideas
(editors note will change once hiatus has been lifted)