“But Ma’-”
“No ‘buts’, Api, what Ah said’s final.”
The little white and brown filly, whose tail was reddish like her mane and was adorned by a pink ribbon, huffed angrily. Api Apple, age nine, hated when she was being treated like a baby. Which, unfortunately, was the issue here.
“We’re big enough to go campin’ by ourselves!” Api continued to argue, ignoring what her mother had just said.
“No, ya’re not,” Apple Bloom argued calmly. “Neither of ya three is old enough, least of all ya.”
“And what is that s’possed to mean?!”
“That ya’re two years younger than Pixel and Echo?” her mother replied, raising an eyebrow.
Api blushed, realizing that she was right. “Oh… right. Still-”
“Ah am not lettin’ ya three go spend a night campin’ on the farm,” Apple Bloom cut her off, sounding tired. “Not without somepony older keepin’ an eye on ya’ll.”
“W-well… That’s just bollocks!”
“Api!”
“How the bloody ‘ell are we supposed to find an older pony?!” Api continued to rant, ignoring her mom’s disapproval at her choice of words. “Del is stayin’ at Candy’s and June is up at the Crystal Empire!”
“Api, if ya don't stop cursin’ and calm down, Ah will also ground ya,” Apple Bloom interrupted her. Hearing a dangerous edge in her mother’s voice, Api closed her mouth, swallowed tears of frustration, and turned to her. “Now, are ya sure there’s nopony that could go campin’ with ya? What about Pixel’s cousins?”
“They’re both in Canterlot, as well as Starburst,” Api muttered unhappily.
“And what about Echo’s?”
“Whirlwind is in Cloudsdale, doin’ somethin’.”
Apple Bloom sighed. “Ah’m sorry Api, but Ah cannot let ya sleep outdoors-” she started to say, sitting down beside her daughter and hugging her, but Api decided to try again.
“But it would be on the farm…”
“Ah happen to recall hearin’ somethin’ earlier today about ya three tryin’ to earn ‘fruit bat catchers’ cutie marks.”
Api frowned and gave up. “Fine,” she said, lookin’ down. “Ah’ll go talk with Pixel and Echo and see if they know somepony to come with us.”
She felt even more disheartened the instant she saw her friends’ expressions. “Let me guess - ya’ll heard we can’t go campin’ without somepony older keepin’ an eye on us?”
“Mhm,” Pixel, the cream colored unicorn with orange and pink mane, replied.
“Yep,” Echo, the gray pegasus with purple mane said, shrugging.
Api groaned, sitting down on the porch to her home. “Why does everypony think we need somepony supervisin’ us?” she asked, kicking a pebble.
“Well, maybe that has something to do with how we went to the Everfree Forest last month?” Pixel pointed out.
Api frowned, but decided to not argue. She focused on Echo instead, who was scratching the back of her head. “So… what now?”
“Don’t ya worry, Ah will think of somethin’,” Api quickly replied. “Go prepare yar sleepin’ bags, Ah will find somepony to go with us.”
Her two friends didn’t look very convinced; like her, they knew that everypony who could have agreed was currently unavailable. However, they didn’t argue with their unofficial leader, and went to their homes to get their camping gear ready.
As soon as Echo and Pixel where out of sight, Api quickly began to trot around the farm, her face taking on a more sinister expressions as she began to ponder; did she have anything on Del that would convince him to drop his plans and go with them?
Ah cannot use how he and Candy accidentally kissed a few years’go, seein’ how they’re datin’, she mused, continuing to trot through the farm. Aw, blimey, Ah don’t have anythin’ on him! Alright, who’s next…
She paused. She could swear she just heard somepony giggle…
Api looked around, and was surprised as she had realized that she had walked a bit deeper into the farm than she had planned to. She was almost at the edge of Sweet Apple Acres.
So who the hay was that? she wondered, trotting towards where she heard the voice.
It quickly turned out that she was right. She heard another giggle, and as she crept closer, Api heard another voice speak.
“What a spectacular flying move!”
Api blinked. She knew that sarcastic voice!
“Would you quit laughing and get off me?!”
She knew that one too! Although the strangely amused tone of voice took her by surprise, considering what she just heard and who the other pony was…
Api finally got close enough to see them. She hid herself behind a tree to observe what they were doing. Two pegasi, one female, purple with blue and white mane, the other male, dark blue and with rainbow-colored mane, were up on the branches of one of the bigger apple trees. The mare was laying awkwardly on her back, with the branches around her bent or even broken, as if she had just crash-landed. The stallion was standing above her, his muzzle leaning down.
“‘Watch this move’, you said,” the stallion continued to say mockingly, smirking at his companion, “‘you’re the one who should be careful while flying’, you said…”
“It was a rogue wind current,” the mare replied, starting to sound a bit irritated. “At least I am always looking where I am flying,” she added, bopping the other pegasus on his nose, just below where he had a bandage.
The stallion pushed away her hoof playfully. “May I remind you who I was looking at then?” he asked, bringing his muzzle closer to the mare-
Blimey! Api thought as she watched the two ponies kissing… and starting to do more. Hm, I guess I should do this now… she realized a few seconds later.
Coming out from behind a tree, she cleared her throat and called out. “Oh my, what are ya two doin’ over there?”
The effect of her words was instantaneous; the two ponies jumped into the air (literally) as if shocked by electricity, and moved away from one another.
“Api!” they both shouted in shock.
“Hello, Whirlwind, hello, Prism Bolt,” Api greeted them, grinning. Cutting right to the chase, she asked, “So how come ya two are back together and nopony knows about it?”
“W-what are you talking about, kid?” Prism asked nervously. “W-we’re not back together…”
“Oh, sure, ya were givin’ Whirlwind mouth to mouth… with yar whole body,” Api replied, making both of them blush even more. “Whirlwind, who is supposed to be in Cloudsdale the whole day, I might add.”
The mare in question facehoofed. “I know it was a bad idea to stay too long around Ponyville… we should have already left for Cloudsdale…”
“You wanted to practice on our way,” Prism told her.
Whirlwind rolled her eyes and flew down to the ground. “Look, Api… Yes, we’re back together. Been a few months, in fact. But we don’t want our friends to know about it yet.”
“Why not?” Api asked, genuinely puzzled by that.
“Do you remember how they - and by that, I mean mostly Candy - kept telling us that we should get back together? Once we did get back, we knew Candy and the others would go ‘I totally knew it!’,” Whirlwind continued. “We couldn’t deal with her triumphing looks and her comments, so we decided to date in secret. Can you please, please, keep this to yourself?” the older mare looked at her pleadingly.
Api looked at her thoughtfully, then at Prism. “Ya know, Echo, Pixel and Ah happen to need somepony older to go campin’ with us…”
The two caught on at once where she was going at. “Um, that’s great, kid, but we happen to have plans…”
“Oh, that’s fine then,” Api said, turning around. “Ah’m sure Candy won’t be too unbearable…”
"Wait wait wait!” Whirlwind quickly called out, putting her foreleg around her shoulder. “Prism and I will be glad to go with you camping with you. Right Prism?”
The other pegasus sighed and nodded reluctantly. Api grinned; it was really good to bump into ponies in situations like that.
Author's Note
Super thanks for kilala for creating all those characters, as well as allowing me to use her artwork as a coverart
And also, special thanks to Zaleros, Bazing, Sage Probo, guardianxela for proofreading
Based on Api fan fact: She always manages to find her older friends in awkward situations with one another. Because of this, she is the master of blackmail.
