Applejack scowled, watching Gilda and Rainbow Dash court Twilight from across the market. Today was one of two days this month she would get to spend with Twilight, and Big Mac just HAD to throw his back out carrying a ton of apples the day before, forcing her to take his place at the apple stall.

“Hey Applejack, can I buy some apples?” Applejack turned to see Cheerilee with smile.

“Yeah… sure, how many?” Applejack sighed, giving the dark pink mare a glance.

“T- twelve,” Cheerilee answered, giving the cowpony a concerned look. She looked towards the town librarian talking to the local speedster and resident griffon. “I take it today was your day?”

“Eeyup, but Mac hurt himself and now I have to watch the stall today,” Applejack groaned, watching as Twilight tried to talk her way around her two herd mates.

“Oh, well not much you can do about that, I suppose,” Cheerilee said, frowning a bit. “How much time do you get with her?”

“Oh, between the other girls and the farm, a few days a month,” Applejack grumbled, putting Cheerilee’s apples in a bag and giving it to her.

The school teacher gave the cowpony a befuddled look. “Why not more? I’m sure Twilight wants to try and share as much as possible.”

“She does, but Gilda and Chrysalis like to steal her from me and Rares just because we have a job and they don’t. Twilight tries to make it up to us but sometimes… it just ain’t enough,” Applejack sighs, watching her alpha teleport away from Gilda and Rainbow towards them.

“Sorry, Applejack. Gilda and Rainbow tried to convince me to go to Cloudsdale,” Twilight said with a weak grin.

“It’s alright, sugarcube. So long as you make it,” Applejack said, nuzzling her lover.

Twilight glanced at the cart. “Big Mac hurt himself again?”

Applejack let out a grumbling “Eeyup.”

“Well, we can try and salvage this day. I’ll help you here than we can do whatever you want afterwards,” Twilight suggested, cheering her orange friend up. “Oh, hi Cheerilee, sorry I didn’t notice you.”

“It’s no problem,” Cheerilee said, hoofing Applejack the bits she owed. “Have fun girls, I wish you two the best of luck.”

Twilight and Applejack waved to the departing teacher, though the scholar felt a tinge of pain from Applejack’s melancholy. “I’m really sorry about everything so far.”

“It’s all good, Twi. What matters is that you’re here,” Applejack sighed, she turned to see Twilight sleeping next to her. “What the hey?” She looked down to see a changeling looking at her, its mouth clamped around the unicorn’s left forehoof. “Darn it Chrysalis.”

Soon a small swarm of changelings burst from the library doors and snatched Twilight, all while the cowpony tried to fight them off, only to watch her lover get abducted by the queen, Gilda and Rainbow watched the entire scene happen and ran to save Twilight from Chrysalis.

Applejack couldn’t take it anymore. She angrily packed up the stall and began her journey back to Sweet Apple Acres, her face red with rage.

~dood~[/hr]

“So, sorry we couldn’t… save Twilight for ya, Chrysalis turned the entire bottom of the library into a maze and we couldn’t find her,” Rainbow Dash uttered, scratching the back of her head.

“And you tryin’ to take Twi to Cloudsdale today?” The cow pony questioned.

Rainbow simply stared before sheepishly smiling. “I… I thought today was one of Twilight’s free days,” Rainbow chuckled nervously, her ear twitching slightly. “Did I hear Fluttershy needing help, I gotta go, later!”

Applejack frowned as Rainbow flew off. She turned to get ready for bed, scowling as the memory of Chrysalis stealing Twilight again flashed through her eyes. “Gosh darn it! Why? I work harder than anyone else in this town, ain’t I allowed a day to myself?”

“Who are you talking to, Applejack?” Applebloom asked, yawning as she walked by.

Applejack didn’t answer, instead she washed up and returned her room. “Stupid Chrysalis and her stupid hive, stupid Gilda and Rainbow and their free time, stupid Pinkie and her pinkie sense of knowing when Twilight ain’t harassed. When’s my time?”

“Having problems, deary?” Applejack turned to see Granny Smith walking into her room.

“It’s nothin’, Granny. Just a bad day,” Applejack uttered, sitting on her bed.

“Well, back in my day, when we had stallion trouble, we just grabbed him; that’s how I met your grandpappy. I saw him talking to three other mares and I said ‘dog gone it, that there is a swell stud’, and I took him to the barn and spent a month making your papa,” Granny said with a happy coo. “My, but have things changed, thank goodness we got strange dickmares like Twilight to keep the traditions strong.”

“The tradition of rutting her until we swell up with foals?” Applejack asked.

“Well, kind of that, but I mean the tradition of herds!” Granny exclaimed. “I remember that we’d compete and try and steal our stud from each other, and start rutting until the cows came home… or until one of the mares finds ya and steals him back, nothing worse than finding your stallion getting dragged away from you just before reaching the best part, am I right?”

“I… I guess,” Applejack said, feeling uncomfortable talking to her granny about her herd life with Twilight.

“What I’m saying is, if the girls won’t play nice, why should you? All's fair in the war of love!” Granny announced, hopping off of her granddaughter’s bed and heading out the door. “Just don’t bring her to the farm house, Applebloom wants to bring her friends over for their crusadin’.”

It took Applejack a moment to register that Granny Smith had just tried to encourage her to take Twilight by force, but she was right. Very few of the herd played to Twilight’s rules and stole her time, keeping the cowpony from having her because Chrysalis either had her bound in that cement-like mucus or somepony locked Twilight in her bedroom and put a magic dampener on her to keep her from escaping.

But Applejack almost thought Twilight may have just given up. Sure, she punished them but they just brush it off like it was nothing and keep doing it. Maybe Granny was right, she might be in the herd, but she must still fight to get the mare regardless.

She walked to her closet and checked its contents, gazing upon the Mare-Do-Well costume Rarity made for her.

~dood~[/hr]

Despite Chrysalis foalnapping her again to nurture her young, Twilight felt guilty that she couldn’t meet up with Applejack. True, she turned every Chrysalis day into Applejack or Rarity days on her calender, but she felt it wasn’t enough and had decided to find the cowpony to apologize and spend the day with her. Pinkie was currently with Twilight, and she was a bit annoyed when Twilight wanted to visit Applejack, but her mood switched when she heard what happened the day before.

As they approached Sweet Apple Acres, Gilda and Rainbow landing in front of them. “Sup, Twi. Chrysalis didn’t mess you up too much, right?” Rainbow asked, giving Twilight a hopeful smile.

“I… survived, but yesterday was Applejack’s day to spend with me, and I feel guilty about it, so I wanna apologize and tell her that all of Chrysalis’ days are hers before Pinkie and I start our date,” Twilight explained. “That means no surprise trips to Cloudsdale.”

“Oh come on, Applejack is probably working,” Gilda scoffed, wrapping a limb around Twilight. “And Pinkie usually shares.”

“Actually, I wanna be selfish today and keep Twilight all to myself, maybe next time girls,” Pinkie said with a bright smile. Her smile faded when her tail began to twitch. “Uh oh, twitchy tail; TWITCHY TAIL!”

They searched the sky for any falling objects, only to see a small white ball to land before them and a large cloud of white smoke covered the area, causing the ponies and griffon to cough.

Once the cloud dispersed, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Gilda looked around to see that Twilight had disappeared. “What? Who? How?”

“I bet this was Trixie’s fault, she’s the only one that has smoke bombs,” Gilda grumbled, cracking her knuckles.

“Yeah, this isn’t HER day! Let’s go, G!” Rainbow announced, the two flyers speeding away to give Trixie a stern talking to.

Pinkie however, stayed behind to stare at the remains of the smoke bomb. Her curious look having faded in favor of a grim frown. “Applejack…” was all she said before stalking forward.

~dood~[/hr]

Twilight awoke in a dark room. In the midst of the confusion, she would have to guess that she was knocked out and carried somewhere, but to where… the scholar didn’t know. She tried to move but her limbs were tied to her body by thick rope. “Hello?” Twilight called out, looking for her captor.

A candle lit, causing Twilight to turn to see a mare dressed like the superhero, Mare-Do-Well. The purple mare could only groan in annoyance. “Really, Rarity? Can’t I go one week without getting foalnapped by somepony?”

The masked mare pulled up her mask and gazed into Twilight’s eyes. “Hey, Sugarcube.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Applejack? Wow, I… didn’t expect you to be my foalnapper? Is this about yesterday? I’m really sorry about that, also Friday became your day with me. I know Chrysalis just wants her hive to flourish, but it’s still no excuse to-” The unicorn was interrupted by the cowpony’s lips and invading tongue, quickly pinning her to the solid ground. After a minute, the kiss broke and they were both panting. “A-Applejack? Where are we?”

“Don’t you worry about that now, sugarcube…” Applejack chuckled, turning around with tailed raised and showed off opening between the legs, revealing her moist pussy. “I’ll take care of it all, but first.”

Twilight watched curiously as Applejack dug into what sounded like a crate as she pulled out an amber bottle, the mere sight made the purple mare feel thirsty.

“Care for a drink?” Applejack asked, placing the bottle in front of her mate.

Twilight let out a light chuckle. “Gotta admit, despite the dark room… still the most pleasant foalnapping I’ve experienced.” She levitated the bottle and opened it with her magic, placing tip to her lips.

Applejack’s smile grew as the juice flowed into Twilight’s mouth. “Don’t be shy, Twi. Drink it all down.”

Twilight stopped drinking when she heard that and looked down to the bottle. “This juice… you spiked it so it would keep me from casting spells, didn’t it?”

Hearing that Twilight figured it out, Applejack’s face went red with embarrassment. “I-uh… well, not exactly…”

“Applejack, this is not the first time somepony tried to keep me from my magic with drugged juice. Did Chrysalis really put you in that much of a bad mood yesterday?”

“THERE YOU ARE!” Twilight and Applejack turned to see Pinkie looking down from the cellar doors. “I knew I’d find you here, today is my day with Twily!”

“I didn’t get my day, so today is mine!” Applejack scowled, throwing Twilight onto her back and charging past the pink mare, causing Pinkie to fall on her butt and bounce down the rest of the stairs.

“Applejack…” Twilight scowled. Not getting a reaction from the cowpony prompted the unicorn to try and use magic to stop her, only to feel it fizzle out and do nothing. “How much did you use in that juice?”

“Enough to stop even Celestia from using magic for a day,” Applejack finally replied, continuing to run from Pinkie with her catch.

“How?” Twilight uttered, a little fearful of what her orange friend was capable.

They stopped at the schoolhouse, Applejack tossing Twilight inside and locking the door behind her. “Alright, finally…”

“Applejack?” Twilight uttered, her face glowing red as the cowpony slowly approached her.

“Don’t you fret none, Twi. I’ll be gentle,” Applejack cooed, straddling her marefriend and kissing her neck.

“A-Applejack, stop please,” Twilight gasped, feeling her traitorous member sliding along the cloth of Applejack’s inner thigh.

“I can feel you growing, Twi. You must really want a piece of this,” Applejack giggled, planting kisses along Twilight and sucking her horn lightly. “Just as much as I wanted a piece of you.”

“APPLEJACK!” Twilight moaned, trying to push the stronger mare off her. “Cheerilee is at her desk!”

Applejack immediately stopped and turned to see Cheerilee watching them from her desk. The cerise mare’s pen dangling from her mouth, her expression of shock and embarrassment making the situation worse for Applejack. “S-Sorry Cheerilee, I thought you weren’t here.”

“I-it’s okay… could you… take that somewhere else? I’m grading right now,” Cheerilee asked, trying to keep her mind from descending to the gutter.

“Y-yeah, of course,” Applejack uttered, pulling Twilight back onto her back, she unlocked the door and ran out, leaving Cheerilee to contemplate what she had just seen.

At the local cafe, Roseluck and Berry Punch were hanging out, simply chatting about their friends and the wackiness of Ponyville. “So Minuette is really like that? I had no idea.”

“Yeah, it’s so weird. She should really just take a chapter from Twilight’s book, but she is pretty magical with her mouth,” Berry joked, unintentionally making Roseluck blush.

“Well, I guess some ponies are just like that,” Roseluck muttered. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Applejack, dressed like Mare-Do-Well, race around the cafe with Twilight on her back. “What?”

“Speaking of weird Ponyville stuff, wonder what’s going on with that mess of a herd,” Berry said, sipping her tea.

Despite the few ponies that did see her, Applejack ran as fast as she could, trying to keep Twilight on her back as she approached Rarity’s boutique. She kicked the door open and stormed in. “Rarity! I need to borrow your basement for a few hours!”

They heard no answer and Applejack grinned, heading to the basement. “Do we really have to do this?” Twilight asked.

“Of course we do, now shut up and don’t ruin the mood,” the cowpony ordered, trotting down the stairs. The face of both mares fell when they saw Rarity in the middle of the room.

The fashionista looked to be in a very uncomfortable position, her rump directly above her head and her fore limbs holding her hind legs. She wore a purple leotard that covered her main body. “May I help you two?”

Applejack wasn’t sure what she was looking at but Twilight found it rather appealing. “Are you… practicing yoga?”

“Yes, darling. I felt that I should allow for some sort of difference compared to my current rivals and friends, don’t you agree?” Rarity asked, returning to normal and stretching her hind leg high.

Twilight could only blush as she gazed upon Rarity’s elastic figure, the form fitting spandex clinging to the fashionista’s form tightly, the faint sight of Rarity’s marehood visible through the tights.

Applejack felt Twilight’s dick push against her back. “This actually turns you on?”

“Uh-well, being flexible has its merits,” Twilight tried to explain. “New sexual positions without the need for magic, better control over one’s own magic... Maybe I should take up yoga?”

“I could help you, darling,” Rarity added, pulling her hind legs above her head and locking them.

“Thatwouldbelovely,” Twilight uttered, with a heavy blush on her face.

“Gosh darn it!” Applejack cried out, running out of the basement. Despite only started running, the cowpony was forced to skid to a halt when she saw an angry Pinkie Pie at the door with a pair of oversized balloon-print bandages on her flank.

“Today… is Pinkie’s day...” Pinkie uttered coldly before charging her.

“This is why I set up the schedules, to keep stuff like this from happening,” Twilight pouted as Applejack weaved around Pinkie’s attacks. All things considered, the scholar was rather calm as her foalnapper continued to evade today’s date. She tried to roll off Applejack’s back but the apple farmer shifted to keep her on.

“Drat, I need to lose Pinkie… but how?” Applejack muttered to herself.

“Pinkie is Pinkie, you’re not going to escape her, remember when Rainbow pranked her really bad that got her in trouble with myself AND the Cakes? She hunted Rainbow for a week, pranking her until Rainbow cried Uncle,” Twilight added, frowning from atop the Apple farmer, testing her magic again to find it was still sealed.

Applejack grit her teeth until she got an idea. “Lyra’s having a party today!” She cried out, hoping to catch her pink friend off guard.

Pinkie skidded to a halt and turned back around to find Lyra, leaving Applejack and Twilight alone. “Okay, that’s just mean.”

“No different from what everypony else is doing,” Applejack muttered, turning back find a new hiding spot for herself and Twilight.

A shadow flew past the two, causing Applejack to curse as several changelings landed before her. “No, you tell your Queen that today is mine!”

The changelings didn’t listen, instead they sprung forward, trying to snatch the purple mare for their queen. Fortunately, Applejack was quicker, leaping over the first two and bucking the third across the street before springing away. “Only one place that’s safe for us.”

“What now?” Twilight asked, twisting her head to see the Everfree Forest looming ahead. “Are you nuts?”

“Don’t you go in here all the time?” Applejack questioned in the midst of her run.

“Yes, but I follow the path. There is no path there!” Twilight cried out, screaming when the cowpony leaped into the forest, the changelings stopped before the treeline, skittering about in concern and fear.

Slowing down within a small clearing, Applejack turned to hear only the sounds of the forest. “I-I did it! I won!”

“You won? Is that why you girls always try to foalnap me on days that don’t belong to you? It’s all a game?” Twilight snapped angrily, finding that the orange mare wasn’t paying attention as she slid off her back and hitting the ground.

“I’m… not a hundred percent sure on that one, but I still did it!” Applejack cried out joyously. “Suck on them apples, Chrysalis, Gilda, and Rainbow!”

Twilight could only lie on the ground as she watched her mare celebrate her unknown victory. The unicorn rolled her eyes playfully, feeling a bit happy for the cowpony.

Victory was cut short when they heard a deafening roar close by. They slowly turned to see a dark beastly creature stalking towards them. Applejack didn’t waste anytime grabbing Twilight and running from the dark creature. A horrid growl and the shaking of the earth alerting them that they’re being chased.

Twilight was treated with the view of a Manticore chasing them, her legs bound and her horn was still sealed by Applejack’s drug, completely helpless. “Applejack?”

“A bit busy, Twi,” Applejack said, pushing her body to escape the beast behind her.

During their escape, the earth gave in, causing Applejack and Twilight to fall into a ravine. The two mares tumbling down until reaching the hoof deep pool below.

Applejack was the first to recover, groggily standing up to take in her surroundings, she and her mate were surrounded by walls of dirt and stone. She looked to where they fell from to find it was far too steep to climb. She then turned to Twilight, who was dazed from the fall. “Twi, you okay?”

“Yeah… I think so,” Twilight groaned, unable to hold her head to keep the cave from spinning. Ultimately, the unicorn was forced to fall back into the dirty water, eyes shut tightly. “My head is killing me though.”

“W-well, don’t you worry, Twi. I’ll get us out of this,” Applejack reassured, looking to where they entered and attempted to scale it, only to slide back down and fall on her rump. “Darn it.”

Once their surroundings had stopped spinning, Twilight glanced to Applejack futilely trying to run up the slope, only to fail. “Applejack…”

“Not now, Twi. I’m trying to save us,” Applejack grunted, falling back down from her ascent.

Annoyed, Twilight tried to cast a spell, only for it to induce a rather powerful headache. “Applejack… untie me, so we can figure this out.”

“I-I think I got it, we’ll be out real soon, Twi,” Applejack stated happily, only to fail once again.

“APPLEJACK!” Twilight screeched, glaring at the orange mare.

With a huff, Applejack turned to the unicorn. “What? Can’t you see I’m trying to save us?”

Twilight flinched slightly, seeing the bloodshot eyes of her orange mate but steeled herself for an impending lecture. “We are trapped in a damp hole in the Everfree Forest, only because you felt the need to steal me away like some of the others. I can understand where you are coming from, but to do this is not only unnecessary but the among the stupidest things anypony had done for my affection. I am bound and my magic is disabled because YOU didn’t want me to settle this.”

“But you would have-”

“Why would I use my magic to escape one of the ponies I love? That would damage our relationship and I don’t want that! Applejack, no matter what happens, I’ll always love you but this is most ridiculous thing I’ve ever encountered… and I’ve turned my cum into chocolate milk for Pinkie’s Birthday a few weeks ago.”

Applejack could only stare in shock of Twilight’s outburst, hesitantly returning to her task. “Just- don’t worry, I-I’ll fix this. Than we can go back to our day, okay?”

“And when you do, how do you think we’ll get out? You climbing out while dragging me up?” Twilight questioned, rather bitter about the situation.

“Yeah,” Applejack uttered, continuing to climb, only to fall back down.

Twilight grumbled in annoyance, testing her bindings once again, unable to loosen the ropes at all. She turned back to see the cowpony failing to make any progress, her previous attempts marked as wet hoof marks on the slope. “Applejack…”

“Not now, Twi.”

“Do you know what the definition of insanity is? It’s doing the same thing over and over again, expecting the outcome to be different. So stop being crazy and untie me so we can figure this out… together,” Twilight commanded.

Applejack stopped and slowly turned to Twilight. “I- I suppose…” She walked over and used her teeth to undo the ropes, helping Twilight onto her hooves, the unicorn nearly falling over after being unable to use her limbs for so long. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay, as ridiculous as this situation is, it’s not the worst we’ve been through, right?” Twilight added, examining the slope in front of her and the pool below, grunting in annoyance when she saw no real way to escape. She looked up and sucked in air. “HELP!”

Applejack jumped at the sound and covered Twilight’s mouth with a hoof. “What are you doing? Have you lost your mind?”

“This is the most logical thing to do seeing as I can’t use magic and we can’t climb out. We need help,” Twilight stated before screaming out for aid again.

“What if you call the timberwolves or that manticore?” Applejack muttered.

“So we wait for my magic to come back? After you told me that the drug you used was enough to lock out the Princess’ magic for a full day,” Twilight said, causing Applejack to sheepishly look away. “This is our only option at this time.”

Applejack wanted to argue but her mate was right, but it didn’t mean she liked it at all, slowly walking to the pit wall as Twilight called for help.

After a few minutes of screaming, Twilight decided she should give her voice a rest and sat down in the pool beneath her. She looked to Applejack, who had curled up in the corner of the pit. “Are you okay, Applejack?”

“I’m- I’m fine, just… I’m so sorry,” the cowpony said, using the cape to blow her nose. “I didn’t want for this to happen.”

“If only I had a bit for every time I heard that one,” Twilight chuckled, sitting down next to the orange mare. “Look, don’t worry about it. If I held a grudge every time something like this happened, I wouldn’t be dating Chrysalis, Rainbow, Gilda, Pinkie, or Trixie. It’s okay… so long as it doesn't become routine.”

“But… I did this because I was so mad at them, they’re always stealing you from me,” Applejack uttered, sniffling a bit. “I know you try to stop it, but… why? Don’t you have the magic to teleport out of there.”

“Do you want to know how nearly all my interactions with Chrysalis are?” Twilight asked. “If I’m not moaning from the constant stimulation, then I’m berating Chrysalis and scolding her for stealing me from somepony. She has some special goo that keeps me from using magic so that’s all I CAN do; yell at her for being greedy. Chrysalis doesn’t care but… her-our children seem to be scared of it, giving me worried looks while Chrysalis milks me. At the end of every session, her hive helps me back up the stairs, wanting me to forgive Chrysalis for… trying to provide for her hive again.”

“And you forgive her?” Applejack asked.

“If I didn’t, I would’ve told her to leave a long time ago,” Twilight replied, wrapping a hoof around Applejack. “We all make mistakes; I know I have… plenty. We just need to learn from it… or try to.”

Applejack stared at her reflection in the water beneath her, before sniffling again. “I’m so sorry, Twi. I just wanted it to be my turn. Watching Gilda and Rainbow flirt with you and Chrysalis foalnapping you, it hurts to see. All those two featherheads do is fly around and race and Chrysalis does everything in her power to be constantly pregnant. I’m trying to run a farm with my family; ain’t I allowed to be selfish sometimes?”

“It’s okay, I understand,” Twilight said softly, holding Applejack and kissing her forehead.

“I just want a day… for me, a day where I don’t wanna have to worry about the farm, a day where I can just relax with the father of my foal, a day to… be me. I love Sweet Apples Acres with all my heart, but even I can get sick of bucking apples, selling apples, and even eating apples everyday, just because it’s my cutie mark, don’t mean it’s my entire life, it’s the thing I’m best at, my defining feature, it doesn’t make it my only thing. Look at Pinkie, her talent is making parties to cheer ponies up, if that’s the case then… why is she so good at baking? Or you, your special talent is magic, so why are you so good at reading and being a librarian? That ain’t magic, it’s just another thing that makes you you, so why can’t I have a thing that isn’t farm related?” Applejack asked, snuggling into Twilight’s embrace.

Twilight remained quiet, stroking Applejack's mane as she vented.

“Why do Gilda, and Rainbow always try to steal you from me? Can’t they just listen and leave you be for one day? And why can’t Chrysalis keep her hind legs together for one day to let you spend some time with your herd? This would’ve never happened if they didn’t try to steal you yesterday and just let us be together for a day. I’d be on the orchard thinking about yesterday and you’d be having a fun time with Pinkie, not stuck in some stupid pit in the middle of the Everfree Forest, waiting for rescue or some hungry beast to find us. Why can’t things just… go the way they were planned?”

Twilight looked up to the hole. “I don’t know, AJ. We should ask Discord about that later.”

They sat in silence, until Applejack finally said. “I didn’t mean for this to happen, I’m so sorry, Twilight.”

“It’s okay, Applejack. I’m sure we’ll be out soon,” Twilight soothed, nuzzling her mate. A growl took their attention and turned up to see the manticore looking down upon them.

The red beast let out a loud roar and slammed its paws into the earth, scaring both mares. Applejack and Twilight could only stare in horror as the scorp-lion searched around the hole before looking back down to them.

Then small pink and yellow forms appeared. “Oh there you two are! We’ve been looking everywhere for you two!” Pinkie called out.

“Pinkie! Fluttershy!” the trapped mares exclaimed, untangling each other and running to the slope.

“Gilda and Rainbow are almost here, just hold on tightly, Mr. Bugsy will make sure you’re safe!” Fluttershy called out, the two mares disappearing again.

Twilight let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, the manticore is friendly. That’s good to know.”

Applejack nodded but frowned slightly. “What made it chase us in the first place though?”

Soon Gilda and Rainbow swooped down to grab them, Gilda taking Twilight while Rainbow held Applejack, lifting them up to safety. Fluttershy and Pinkie had towels in their hooves, hastily drying their coats. “Thank you girls, I was expecting to be down there for a lot longer,” Twilight chuckled.

Gilda turned to glare at Applejack. “What were you thinking? You foalnapped Twilight, take her to what I’ve been told to be the most dangerous place in Equestria and get trapped in a hole? We could have been searching for HOURS if Fluttershy’s pet manticore didn’t have your scents!”

Applejack flinched from the griffon's harsh tone. “Look Gilda, I-”

“No, it was your bright idea to take OUR alpha to this stupid place in the first p-”

“Gilda!” Twilight shouted, staring the griffon down. “This wouldn’t have happened if SOMEponies, griffons, and changelings, didn’t try to deviate from the schedule and drove Applejack to resorting to drastic actions! And in that hole, listening to Applejack explaining herself and apologizing for getting us in there, I’ve had some time to think. I think the punishment isn’t all that dire so… I have something new to share. Pinkie, could you push Rainbow closer to Gilda?”

Pinkie nodded and pushed the blue pegasus right along side her golden friend. “Why me?”

“You are another reason why this happened, now…” Twilight uttered, clearing her throat. “You steal somepony’s day, they takes yours… minor offense, but you will also have to do a portion of whatever they feel needs done and know you can do. You take Applejack’s time, expect to be spending your next day on Sweet Apple Acres, bucking apples while Applejack gets some time with me. You take from Pinkie? Start baking or making parties. Steal from Fluttershy? I hope you’re good with animals. This goes for Chrysalis as well, and I will make that apparent to her when I get back to the library later. Are we clear?”

Rainbow and Gilda nodded feverishly. Pinkie then began rubbing her chin. “Would that mean that today… Applejack would have to go baking for the rest of the day?”

Twilight and Applejack looked up to see the sky had become orange, signalling the end of the day. “It might be a bit late but… I don’t actually see why not.”

Applejack’s eyes widened in shock. “But- yesterday-”

“And I told you, Friday is now your day with me… and since this is happening now, Chrysalis will be on the farm that day. She’s proved before she can move and act rather easily while pregnant so this shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Sorry that today isn’t what you expected it to be but… I need to show that the rules must be followed,” Twilight said sheepishly.

Applejack was hurt by this but she smiled regardless. “I understand, Sugarcube. Especially after what had happened already today. I guess… but can I go take a quick shower before I head to Sugarcube Corner?”

The girls began laughing at this exchange, glad that the conflict was resolved as they went about the remainder of the day.

~dood~[/hr]

Chrysalis growled as she slammed her hind hooves into another Apple tree, gathering each apple with her magic before moving on to the next tree, crushing a few of the red fruits by accident as she moved to the next tree.

From a distance, Twilight and Applejack glanced back to giggle. “I’m so gonna get it when it’s her turn again,” Twilight said, nuzzling her orange mate.

“I bet, she looks about as angry as a bull in a red glass shop,” Applejack chuckled, pulling out a pear form their picnic basket.

“A pear? Really, Applejack? How… DARING.” Twilight joked, arching a brow at Applejack’s chosen snack.

“Apples may be a big thing to me, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only thing, sugarcube,” Applejack stated, taking a bite out of the bright green fruit.

The two laughed as a small glint appeared within Twilight’s eye, an orange apple appearing for a split second before vanishing.

Author's Note

The true Author's Notes will be on the Laughter Chapter, dood.