The Prince Of The Everfree Forest

The day was ending, the first day of my new life had reached its end. It could have gone worse, I only had one princess hating me and the knowledge that my magic was truly out of my grasp for a long while. At least Celestia gave me the benefit of the doubt and Twilight was somepony who I could trust not to abuse my powers. I still had some doubts about her lurking in the back of my mind, she could quite simply take advantage of my weakness, hold my magic over me until I snapped back.

The chariot dropped us off on the outskirts off the town, the candlelit windows softly glowing in the distance and the rare pony moved from one building to another. It looked inviting but to make an public appearance whist everypony was asleep seemed really pointless. I guessed this is when me and Twilight parted ways for the night.

“Busy day huh?” I said whist scratching an itch at the back of my neck with a hoof.

“Yeah, I guess its a lot to take in, after 2000 years I would feel a bit rusty,” She replied, “Still, you did good for the first day, tomorrow is when the real stuff starts,” she patted me gentle on the back,

“Looking forward to it,” I smiled at her, it didn't last. I would have to return to the forest soon, and I didn't have a chance to ask Celestia for possible solutions to the food problem. I'm have to brainstorm with Twilight at some point.

“So, what you going to do with your freedom? I'm guessing you won't want to go back to the forest,” she asked.

“The Everfree may have been my prison, but its still my home,” I answered, she nodded her head in understanding. “Shame I have to go back there empty hoofed,”

“Oh, you still need food,” she muttered, a purple hoof tapped against her chin until she had an eureka moment. “Would apples work?” she asked.

Apples... those red and green fruits, “Yes, but we'll need a lot,” I replied. With a smirk on her face she grabbed my hoof and began pulling me.

“Come on, if we're quick we can get her before she finishes,” Twilight insisted, we began walking at a brisk pace. We didn't go into the town, but instead stay on the outskirts until we reached an organized orchard of apple trees. Fresh, juicy apples hung from their branches whist other laid in buckets that were left by the trees, waiting for somepony to pick them up and sell them at a market.

“Who are we looking for Twilight?” I asked, browsing over the many buckets of apples,  wondering why they were just left around outside, surely that would just leave them vulnerable to any ground bound scavengers.

“One of my friends, Applejack, she'll help you with the food problem,” She reassured, she seem very sure about that, but judging from the excess of buckets she wasn't having any problems with the harvest.

After a little longer searching the fields, we found the mare we were looking for. Her brilliant orange coat and swaying blonde hair gave nothing away of her profession, but her cutie mark and name screamed 'I work with apples'. Balancing on her forehooves she raised her body into the air and gave an apple tree a powerful buck, the apples wobbled and dropped into the strategically placed buckets.

“Evenin' Twi-” Her eyes turned from Twilight to me “-Oh, Howdy partner,” She noticed that I had both wings and horn, her eyes turned back to her friend in the search for an explanation.

Twilight moved between me and 'Applejack', “Applejack, this is Autumn Leaves, he's err... new in town,” she gestured me with a hoof, “Autumn, this is Applejack,” she gestured the mare. New in town was the biggest understatement I'd heard that day.

“Nice to meet you Applejack,” I nodded my head.

Applejack smiled, “Nice ta meet ya to Autumn,” she tilted the brim of her hat towards me, “So what bring you two to this part of town?”

“Honestly, I need your help,” I began, she looked surprised. “My... Subjects, desperately need food, I have nothing to give you in return, I will do the best to return the favour soon,” I was relying on a stranger's kindness, but Twilight seemed sure she would help me out.

Applejack's eyes ran up and down me, sizing me up for something. “I can't just give away apples like their nothin', so how about a trade?” she suggested, I didn't have anything for her, but Twilight still looked confident.

“Go on...”

“I give ya as many buckets as you need right now, but ya'll promise me you will come back tomorrow and help with the apple buckin',” she said, it sounded reasonable, I guess this would be better than any jobs Twilight had for me.

I looked to Twilight for the all clear and she nodded her head. “Alright, deal,” I rose my hoof towards her and she met it with her own. After a short shake of agreement, Applejack walked over to one of the tree that had buckets filled with apples.

“Alrighty then, how many buckets we talkin' here?” she asked, I could only guess myself, I couldn't feed all the animals in the Everfree with apples, but I would hopefully be able to feed the ones that needed it most.

“I guess 10 buckets would do,” I estimated, I didn't want to take too many buckets but I needed to get as many I needed. Judging by the amount in the buckets I should be able to feed all the desperate animals, but I still needed to come up with a more permanent solution later.

“Sure thing partner,” Applejack began moving buckets of apples towards me, each one was filled with delicious apples of red and green, these were definitely well grown apples, I felt kinda bad for just taking them. “Autumn, can I ask? Who are you subjects?”

“Well... The creatures of the Everfree aren't exactly my subjects, but their under my protection,” I said, her relatively calm features changed as she looked back to Twilight.

“Everfree... as in Everfree Forest?” she stuttered, I nodded with a new sense of doubt and she moved towards Twilight, “Hey Twi, can we talk for a minute?” she asked in a worried tone, Twilight walked along side her away from me, I wasn't going to eavesdrop but I caught a tiny part. “Are ya tugging on my chain Twi? The Prince of the Everfree Forest is just a story to frighten foals, isn’t it?”

“I thought so to, but he's very real, Celestia told me that...” Twilight began, but I couldn't hear the rest over the rustling of the leaves. It wasn't the first time I had been told that I was just a story, yet it was a story everypony seemed to know but me. I gathered up the rest of the buckets while I waited for Applejack and Twilight to finish talking, a few times they turned to look at me when they thought I couldn't see them. It this what I could expect from everypony I meet, them to deny my existence as nothing more than fictitious story told by children on nightmare night.

Soon enough, the two returned from their gossiping, Applejack had a plastic smile on her face while Twilight kept her normal, understanding expression. “Sorry 'bout that, had to ask Twilight something important,” Applejack said.

“I know you were talking about me, but I understand your caution, my legend apparently isn't that fun,” I replied, I would have preferred her to be honest, but for all I knew my legend said I was a horrid monster that killed ponies. Not entirely false.

“Its nothing like that, I was just curious about ya, Twi assured me that ya'll are a completely civil stallion,” she informed, at least Twilight was helping me out.

I looked to the buckets, “I guess I should get going, I have a lot of work to do,” I picked up the buckets in my magic, Twilight still looked impressed by my levitation ability, I was still curious about how much power I would wield once I have the horseshoes on.

“I'll be seeing ya tomorrow, what time will ya be getting here?” she asked.

“When you start working, I'll be there,” I reassured, she looked a bit confused but she'll have to wait until tomorrow. Twilight and Applejack said goodbye to each other and she followed me back to the forest. She offered me some help but I refused, it would be a lot easier to do this by myself since I wouldn't have a pony to worry about. She departed reluctantly, she was persistence and wanted to keep a close eye on me, but I was going to start having problems with her if she wanted to constantly look over my shoulder.

What followed was several long hours of fishing out timberwolves, cockatrices and any other animal that wanted some free food. I knew I didn't have enough for the whole forest, but I tried to spread the limited food around as much as I could. This involved pushing away many hungry animals so I could feed the younger ones and their mothers. By the end of the night I was left with 10 empty buckets and a still hungry forest. Dealing with all of the apples made me think of my own hunger, I hadn't eaten in so long, I couldn't starve to death, I learnt that in the first few weeks in the forest. Just because I couldn't die by starvation didn't mean I didn't have to eat, if I didn't I would waste away until I was just bones walking around, which didn't sound appealing at all. The animals came first though, so I put aside my apple cravings in favour for their happiness, if they were happy then they wouldn't fight, making sure they didn't fight was a constant goal for me.

Tomorrow it would be the same story, the forest would be hungry, I would have to find some food, I wouldn't have enough for everyone so I would promise them more later. I needed to find a solution soon, or the animals would start getting rowdy and might even start to defy my commands, which wouldn't end well for any of us. Of course, once I solve the food problem, a new one would arise, the more vicious creatures like the manticores and ursas would get attracted in the influx of food. Unlike the cockatrices and timberwolves, I had no control over the larger predators of the Everfree, some would ignore me or force me away, a few even attack me but I escaped from them. The large animals kept to the deep forest at the back, away from the ponies in the town but kept me and the controllable animals on the outskirts of the forest. It didn't stop me from adventuring into the deeper regions of the forest but kept me from using it, there was good food in the rivers and growing on the trees in their part of the forest but we couldn't get any of it. A few brave timberwolves had gone over there and had never heard of again besides maybe a cry for help.

I returned to my cave once again for sleep, Coco had already gone to sleep in his mess of straw and leaves. I was exhausted, it hadn't had such a busy day in 2000 years and no doubt tomorrow was going to be even more tiresome. I dived onto my makeshift bed and quickly snuggled into it, holding my blanket tightly against my chest. That blanket was my only true possession, given to me before my wings and horn had chosen me to be their champion. It was the only thing I had to remember my mother by, the day she gave it to me still fresh in my mind, it gave me comfort. Of course 2000 years was a long time and I had to patch in up with anything I could just to keep it in one piece, it never left the cave in fear of losing it or it getting torn on a stray branch. It even had my name stitched into the fabric, Autumn Leaves in neat little red stitches by the top, I was luck to not have ruin it over the years, it was the only reminder that I wasn't alone in the forest and I had somepony somewhere looking over my shoulder.

The next day begun like the last one, I woke up with a cold sweat on my brow and a nightmare I couldn't recall. After I regained my composure I went down to the waterfall for a quick swim, it was the best way to wake myself up after a rough night's sleep. The water pools were gleaming in the early morning sun, I wasted no time diving into their watery bliss. I didn't know if Twilight was going to meet me or I was just going to go straight to the orchard. After a little waiting with no disruption from a pony entering the forest, I decided to just go to the farm. My hooves still shook as I left the forest and my body braced for pain, but I closed my eyes and ran out like a madman until I had got a good distance away from the forest.

I decided to give my wings a good test flight, after 2000 years without properly using them I had a lot to learn about safely flying. Instead of being a graceful prince flying through the sky I looked more like a newly hatched bird flying in a thunderstorm, after constantly spinning out and a few crashes I decided it would be safer for everypony if I just walked the rest of the way. I then got lost amongst the never ending apple trees, it seemed to go on forever, with apples trees in every direction. I was about to take off to get a birds eye view of the orchard, but I spotted a big red earth pony walking around, he had a sparkly green apple as a cutie mark and a horse collar so I assumed he was one of the workers here.

“Hey!” I called, catching his attention. I closed the distance to him and met him at eye level, I was the same height as him but nowhere near the size of him, years of working the farm had turned him into a brick wall. “Listen, no time to explain, do you know where Applejack is?” I asked, he pointed his large hoof over to a very obvious barn. I mentally scolded myself for not seeing it before. A gave a sheepish smile, “Oh yeah, thanks,” I left him without another word, but I heard a 'eeyup' from behind me. The barn was quite stereotypical, like the ones in picture books for young children. The large double doors were already open so I poked my head through to see what was inside. Applejack was inside, stacking empty buckets onto a cart and a small filly help organize these buckets. The filly noticed me first and tapped Applejack on the shoulder to get her attention.

“What is it Apple Bloom?” Applejack asked, she looked to the filly then to me. “Oh, Autumn, I wasn't expectin' you this early, come on in,”

“I ain't got anywhere else to be, its either this or Twilight giving me a job to do,” I said, walking into the barn and next to her. Looking over the buckets reminded me, I hadn't brought back the buckets I borrowed, damn it.

“Hey there mister, are you the stallion ma sister was telling me about?” the filly asked in a accent similar to Applejack's, I guessed Applejack was the sister the filly was talking about.

“I guess I am,” I replied, keeping an eye on Applejack for any interruptions. She kept her eyes on her little sister.

“I'm Apple Bloom, ma sister said I have to keep ya company while your workin',” the filly bounced. She didn't seem scared of my yet, her sister probably hadn’t told her I was the ruler of that place fillies aren't meant to go to because they'll get gobbled up by monsters.

“Fine by me,” I muttered, the filly bounced again. I found it interesting that Applejack trusted me not to hurt her little sister, guessing my legend didn't involved me hurting kids. Applejack had finished stacking the cart and attached it to her back.

“Come on you two, we've got work ta do,” Applejack began walking with her sister still in the back of the cart. I followed both of them until we reached some apple trees with apples ready for picking.

Apple Bloom pushed a few buckets off the cart and jumped off. “Let me show ya how we do it at Sweet Apple Acres,” Applejack said, her sister had moved the buckets into the correct places around the tree. Applejack moved into place, “Its all 'bout positioning yourself correctly, then ya kick,” she gave the tree a powerful knock, the apples fell into the buckets. “Easy right? Now you try,” she indicated over to the next tree, Apple Bloom had already moved the buckets into place.

“Can't I just use magic, it would save a lot of time,” I offered, pointing to my horn. Applejack shock her head.

“Unicorns,” she mumbled whist rolling her eyes. “When ya kick the tree and the apples fall, it sorts the good apples from the bad apples, so only the best apple get sold,” she informed, made sense, but it was still really slow.

“Fair enough,” I moved over to the tree, raised my body up to kick and... fell flat onto my face. Both Apple Bloom and her sister starting giggling, I started laughing myself, I guess it was pretty funny, though their laughing brought back some painful memories.

“Don't worry partner, even the best of us mess up on the first couple times, try again,” Applejack reassured, helping me to my hooves. I readied myself again, this time aware of the sudden weight I was putting on my forehooves, I then delivered a kick to the tree, some but not all of the apple fell into the buckets. I gave the tree a second buck and the rest fell into the buckets.

“Good job mister,” Apple Bloom cheered, her sister gave a reassuring nod.

“Alright Autumn, I think you're ready to get to work,” Applejack said, she turned to her sister, “Sis, you know where to take him, Big Mac should have left some buckets there,” she ordered, her sister nodded.

“This way mister,” Apple Bloom started walking away and I followed her.

“You're acting very formal around me, what gives?” I inquired, Apple Bloom looked up at me.

“Aren't you a prince? The only other alicorn I know is Twilight Sparkle and she's a princess!” She exclaimed, I wasn't a full prince but I could understand her confusion. The wings and horn were kind of the first things that differentiate a member of royalty from the masses.

“Sort of, its a long story,” I begun, “For now, just call me Autumn,” she didn't look very satisfied with my response.

“Long story huh? Its a long walk as well,” she responded with a sneaky smile.

“Princess Celestia seems certain that I will one day become a proper prince, yet Luna doesn't seem very keen on that idea,” I explained, hoping that would sate her thirst for knowledge, it didn't.

“But you’ve already got the wings and horn haven't ya? I thought Celestia only ascended ponies when they were ready to become royalty?” she continued to search for answers. I had misjudged her, she knew what she was talking about, I guess that what I get when I stereotype. I also took note that she said 'ponies', as in more than one pony have been ascended into royalty since I was gone.

“I didn't get these wings and horn from Celestia, I got these... from somewhere else,” I said reluctantly, she didn't need to know about that gruesome day, she was only a little filly. “I was an earth pony like you before, let me tell you, you never get use to the wings or horn,”

“I've never heard of a earth pony ascension before! Do you think one day I'll be a princess!” she squeaked, it was rather adorable, the innocences of a filly. Besides, what would she be... the 'princess of apples'?

“Maybe, but I guessing Celestia is pretty strict about alicorn ascension,” I said, I think she didn't hear the last part as she started skipping the rest of the way, a large grin on her face. When we got to where we were going she hopped onto the cart that had already been left like Applejack said it would be. She moved the buckets next to the trees and waited for me to start kicking. This is my time to shine

Applejack made this look easy, while she could knock all the apples out of the tree with a single kick, I had to do 3 or 4 just to get them all to fall. After I had got them all out of the tree some wouldn't fall into the buckets, meaning me and Apple Bloom would have to collect them up by hoof. When we had used up all the buckets and had loaded them up onto the cart, we had to take it back to the barn. I walked into the barn and Bloom waited outside, she offered to help me unload and reload the cart but it seemed easier to just use magic to do it, besides Applejack wouldn't complain too much about me using my magic to move the buckets. As I was about to exit the barn, I heard the unmistakable sound of a pegasus landing outside.

“Hey Bloom, is AJ around?” the pegasus asked, I spotted a crack in the barn wall and peeked through it. The pegasus was every colour of the spectrum, but no doubt her colours were the only thing bright about her.

“She's around here somewhere Rainbow, search around and you'll find her somewhere,” Bloom replied.

“I'm surprised you're not with her, she normally gets you to help her on a Saturday,” the mare said, Apple Bloom looked into the barn door.

“I'm helpin' the new guy settle in, he's in the barn right now,” Apple Bloom informed, the mare looking into the barn as well.

“New guy?” she muttered. That was my cue, I stepped out the shadowy barn and into the sunlight. My wings were outstretched and my horn visible amongst my hair just to make sure she recognised me as an alicorn and not just a unicorn or fellow pegasi.

“Hello miss, I heard you were looking for a prince,” I greeted, she looked a bit thrown back by my alicoriness. I pushed out the cart with my magic and stopped in next to me. Apple Bloom must of thought I was trying to impress her, but the mare and me both knew that I was trying to intimidate.

“Prince? Equestria has no princes,” she pointed her hoof at me accusingly. I chuckled, she was right and wrong, my legend called me a prince. Maybe I had found the only pony in the whole of Equestria that hadn't heard my legend yet.

“He's ain't a prince yet, but Celestia's certain he will be one soon!” Bloom exclaimed, her rushing to my defence was something I wasn't expecting, and from her face the pegasus wasn't expecting it either.

“You've talked to Celestia?” she asked me. She had stepped forward slightly, making herself in between me and Apple Bloom.

“Yep, accompanied by Princess Twilight Sparkle herself,” I assured, the mare didn't seem that convinced.

“Oh really?” she persisted, I nodded. “So if I go and ask my friend, Twilight Sparkle, that a alicorn was running around, she would know exactly who you are?” she challenged, she was prepared to go through great lengths to make sure I was safe. It was admirable and a bit foolish, if I was a danger I wouldn't be working in an apple field.

“She would know exactly who I am,” I replied, knowing full well that she wouldn't just take my word for it.

Apple Bloom stepped up from behind the rainbow mare. “Twilight was the one that brought him here,” she pointed out for the mare. “and ma sister promised he's friendly,”

“Do you trust him Bloom? He seems a bit...” the mare paused, unable to think of the correct word.

“A bit...?” I pushed.

“Strange,” said the mare with rainbow coloured hair. I apparently didn't meet to some standard ponies were meant to meet. Honestly I was surprised that she hadn't figured it out yet, maybe she didn't believe in the Everfree prince.

“I like 'im, he's nice,” Bloom said with a bright grin. I had never really described myself as nice, but Bloom couldn't have said it at a better time. The mare looked down at the filly, then back to me.

“Suppose if Apple Bloom trusts you, then I guess I should give you a chance,” the mare finally said, she rose her hoof towards me. “I'm Rainbow Dash,”

I reluctantly met her hoof with my own, “Autumn Leaves,”

“Alright, I better get going, see you later, Bloom, Leaves,” she took off into the air.

She called me 'Leaves', the last pony to call me that died. “No... don't call me that, call me Autumn,” I hissed, both Rainbow and Bloom were shocked by my sudden tone change.

“Oh, sorry,” Rainbow quickly corrected. “I've gotta dash, later,” and she left, kicking up a cloud of dust over us. I watched her fly away and land not too far away, maybe she spotted Applejack working in the fields, or maybe she just wanted to get away from me. I turned my attention back to Apple Bloom, who still looked a bit frightened. I gave her a small, reassuring smile.

“We should get back to work,” I said, she nodded and I lifted her up onto the cart. We returned to where to started our work, the sun was pretty high in the sky so I assumed it was nearly noon.

Apple Bloom said I had finished all of the tree that needed to be done. My legs were killing me and the open sunlight was finally getting to me. Me and Bloom waited in the shade for a few minutes to let the sharp pain in my legs die down, it was relaxing, the gentle beams of natural light breaking through the leaves overhead, the blades of grass tickling under my stomach, wind blowing my hair delicately. Slowly the pulsing pain stopped and subsided to a slight ache.

The more I thought about it, the more the entire orchard seemed deserted, the only ponies I had seen on this farm that worked here were Applejack and that red guy. “Hey Apple Bloom, where is everypony?” I asked.

“What'd ya mean?”

“Where are all the workers? I've seen nopony out here expect for us,” I gestured my hoof to the trees, there was an uncountable amount of trees in this farm with nopony harvesting them.

“The only ponies that work here are ma brother and sister,” she said, Applejack managed this orchid with only one extra farm hand, I can see why she was so lenient to have me work here.

“Really? All by themselves?”

“Yep,” she seemed to be trying to mask the achievement, I was still trying in figure out how Applejack kept up with such a feat.

“And do you only do apples here? It seems the only thing here is endless apple trees,” I inquired, several acres of land being used only for apple farming seemed a bit of a poor choice.

“We sometimes grow some corn or carrots, but that's about it,” she replied, it made sense I guess.

“Why not 2 fruits and 2 vegetables, surely that would be much better,” I suggested, Bloom turned to look and glared at me.

“Why? What's wrong with apples?” she demanded, I was taken back by her sudden defensive tone.

“Nothing wrong with apples, just maybe something like oranges might be good for business,” I said, oranges would be a good change of pace from apples.

Bloom looked down at her hooves and shocked her head in disappointment, “Don't ever let Applejack know you said that, she'll never forgive you,”

After a short while, Bloom's ear pricked up and her head turned. On the top of a small hill that was close by, a orange pegasus on a scooter scooted her way over to us, attached to said scooter was a bright red trailer with a marshmallow unicorn holding on tightly.

In a cloud of dust, the scooter grinded to a halt, staying just out of the shade of the tree. Apple Bloom jumped up to meet the two fillies, I stayed in the shadows of the tree, watching with artificial interest.

“Howdy girls, we ready ta get started?” Bloom said, the unicorn hopped off the trailer, the pegasus didn't get off her scooter but removed her helmet, her purple hair swaying into place.

“Sure thing, we've alright dropped off the things at the clubhouse,” the unicorn said next to her, apparently unaware of the creepy prince watching them. The pegasus – as she wasn't part of the conversation – took a quick glance around until her eyes caught the mystery. She froze when she saw me, at first I thought she was going to scream, yet she didn't, braver than I first thought.

“Good, we'll earn our cutie marks in a flash, I'm sure of it!” Bloom reassured. Of course, they were all blank flanks, I remember the struggle to find my own, hoping the day I get it would be glorious, but after that day I wished I never found my mark.

The unicorn must of noticed how silent her friend was, she followed the pegasus' gaze over to me. She didn't respond the way I thought she would either, instead of being shocked or frightened, she looked excited.

“A princess!” she pointed a hoof at me. All three's attention was on me now, their childish eyes washing away any attempted to hide myself.

I stood up and walked into the clear light, “I believe the term is prince,” I informed, the curious unicorn broke off into a run towards me. When she reached me, her hooves reach out to grab me. I blocked her with my magic, “No-no, no touchy,” the filly left out a disappointed sigh.

“Err... Girls this is Autumn,” Apple Bloom gestured to me, the pegasus continued to stare at me as if I was some sort of monster. I gave a friendly wave of my hoof to her in an attempted to make myself look more innocent in her eyes.

“Hi Autumn, I really like your mane,” the unicorn complemented, I stared, dumbfounded

by her seemingly random choice of words. I never really did anything to it (Besides making it smell like strawberries), it was just in the way most of the time.

“Thanks...”

The pegasus dropped her helmet to the dirt, her scooter stayed upright as she took a step closer to me. “Who are you?” she asked, apparently she didn't hear Apple Bloom introduce me.

“Like Apple Bloom said, I'm Autumn Leaves,” I said, she didn't look convinced.

“No, who are you, really?” she continued, I wasn't the only one not to understand the filly's persistent question, both the unicorn and Bloom shared a unsure glance.

“I don't understand what you mean, I've already told you my name...”

“I don't want your name, I want your title, princess Celestia, ruler of the sun, Princess Luna ruler of the moon, what about you?” she took a step each time she paused for breath until she was a mere meter from me.

“Prince Autumn, ruler of the Everfree Forest,” I replied with a reluctant tone. I didn't know why she was so eager to know my title, but I was sure to find out soon. Both Bloom and the unicorn  didn't seem too bothered by this information, yet the pegasus seemed concerned by it.

“What, the Prince of the Everfree Forest, or just a cheap knock off?” she asked, even a filly knew more about my legend than me, it was starting to get really irritating.

“Pretty sure I'm the real deal,” I said, she knew my legend but didn't seem too thrown back by me, maybe my legend wasn't so bad after all.

The little unicorn let out a excited gasp. “Does that mean you get to boss around all the creatures, I want a pet timberwolf,” the filly once again, moved a bit too close for comfort. I pushed her back before continuing.

“That not exactly how it works, they will listen to me, but won't obey every command unless it benefits them,” I explained, the filly sighed, but didn't lose her excitable spark.

Apple Bloom looked puzzled, “Ya can control the Everfree Forest's creatures, how?” she asked. I thought they would be more frightened by me being the lord of that place of nightmares, let alone being able to control the horrific creatures that lurk within its confines.

“Give anything 2000 years and it will eventually come to accept you, even if it doesn't want to,” I said, keeping it purposely vague. Her nose scrunched but she didn't continue to ask questions. The pegasus' silence was intriguing, after her persistence in knowing my title I was expecting a constant barrage of questions, but instead she just stared with zipped lips.

“Since you know me, what about you, what do they call you?” I looked down at the pegasus, but casted eyes over at the unicorn as well.

“I'm Scootaloo,” the pegasus muttered.

“And I'm Sweetie Belle!” the unicorn chimed.

Apple Bloom, with a sudden sense of urgency, climbed into the trailer. “Come on girls, we've wasted enough time, let's get our cutie marks,” she commanded. With a group cheer, Scootaloo picked up her helmet and wasted no time planting it on her head. Sweetie got in next to Bloom and leaned over the edge of the trailer.

“Bye bye prince Autumn!” Belle yelled as the trailer shot off, kicking up dust at me. I watched them ride away, thoughts about what I should do now popping to mind. I still had a cart load of apples to bring back to the barn, maybe I'll run into Applejack on the way and I can get a idea on what to do next.

Thankful I did find Applejack working the orchard, a cart full of apples trudging behind her, when she saw me, she waved me over.

She tipped her hat, “Howdy Autumn, glad ta see you've been busy,” she greeted, I was glad she didn't call me 'Leaves', maybe Rainbow told her my displeasure about that name.

I pulled up beside her, “Very busy, already got a cart load back at the barn,” I reported, she nodded her head.

“Mighty fine work, I should get you ta work full time, you seem ta have some real talent in apple buckin',” I said, kicking trees wasn't something I thought would take talent, but the feelings in my legs were telling me otherwise.

“I'm afraid I can't feed a whole forest apples for eternity, but if I can't get a better solution then I'll happily work here again,” I replied. We began to walk side by side with our carts, I was trusting her to know the way back to the barn, because I didn't have a clue.

“Things that bad over at the Everfree?” she asked, 'bad' was an understatement, and I only knew half of it, I still didn't know how well the manticores or the ursas were doing.

“I don't even know where to start, all the animals look to me and I can't ever find a way to make them happy. When I do find a way to sate their hunger, it only returns the next day,” I explained, looking down at my hooves, my grass green tainted by the muddy brown. “I even end up starving myself just so I don't feel bad about taking something I could give away, the feeling of hunger is a lot better than guilt,” my mouth was about to utter more words, until I stop it, something about this mare made me want to spill my guts. Like she had this aura of honesty around her.

We both stopped, Applejack tossed a juicy red apple towards me, “Here, take it,” she said, I didn't need to be told twice. In a smooth motion I popped the apple into my mouth, it tasted as good as it looked, fresh and ripe.

“Thanks,” I mumbled. I wasn't fond of being in debt to somepony, but the apple was worth it, I guess being in debt for 10 buckets of apples didn't really compare to a single apple though. “I'm surprised that all you ponies are so accepting of me, being a freak that was banished to a creepy forest with only monsters as friends, I wasn't expecting such kindness,”

“Now why ya callin' yourself a 'freak', nothin' wrong with you,” she did little air quotes with her hooves, apparently ignoring my statement apart from the freak bit.

“I'm not one of your princess's pureblood alicorns, got these wings and horn straight from the forest,” I explained, I had a slight feeling that she already knew that from Twilight.

“How'd that happen?” she asked, the questions turning to a sensitive topic.

I paused before answering, she didn't need to know, I doubt she would understand either. “No... never mind that,” I muttered.

“Don't worry, we don't have ta talk about anything ya don't want to talk about,” she reassured, I suddenly started feeling like I was in therapy, only with more apples. “Do you remember life before become an alicorn?” she began to fiddle with the band in her hair, like she was feeling nervous.

I was hesitant to reply, something was wrong. “Yes, I wish I didn't, just glad its in the past,” I let out a slight hiss at the thought.

“Tell me about it, why are ya glad?” she continued to push the subject, then a thought came to mind.

“Did Twilight put you up to this?” I inquired, she bounced back slightly, her reaction told me that my accusation was right.

“Look partner, Twilight wants ta help ya, but you've got to tell us what's wrong first,” she said. I admired her honesty, it almost made me want to give in.

“You've known me for about a day, Twilight's known me for 3, you can't expect me to just open up like that,” I exclaimed, Applejack sighed.

“Twilight thinks-”

I interrupted her, “Twilight can suck a horn, as soon as she sees me as a pony and not some sort of test the better,” I closed my eyes in an attempted to vent my sudden frustration, when I opened them I expected an annoyed looking Applejack, instead she still wore her face of understanding.

“Autumn, I'll admit that Twilight can be a bit overbearing sometimes, but she means the best for ya, I promise you that,” maybe she was right, but I was right too, Twilight can wait as long as I want before I’ll tell her anything.

“That maybe so, but don't expect me to suddenly start confessing to her, if she going to make me wait then I'll make her wait for me to,” I countered, I didn't want to start an argument with Applejack, but I wasn't about to roll over for Twilight either.

We took the apple carts back to the barn, 2 carts was definitely a fair trade. I had no idea what the time was, early evening I guess. So I had the rest of the day to do whatever I liked, didn't really want to go into the town fully, I'd feel a lot better if I had Twilight or somepony else with me first. Didn't want to go back to the forest, maybe I'll wander or practices flying again, flying seemed like it would be an important thing to learn again.

“What are ya going ta do now?” Applejack asked, unhinging the cart off her back.

“Dunno, stuff...” I replied, leaving the barn without another word. Stuff, so much I can do now, with such little time to do it all.