Possibilites

Interesting how time flies. The sun had dipped quite low in the sky by now and the crowed had begun to dissipate, although slowly. I think some of the females stayed the longest, probably to gawk at me which the mere thought of was appalling. The main six that I had been surrounded by were still sitting by or on me, and by then my arms felt like pins and needles.

“Okay ladies, I think it’s about time I head off.” I said in an attempt to get them to give me some space. The three of them groaned and got up, my arms and legs finally able to breathe again. Rarity kissed me one last time on the cheek, making Spike growl quietly and banging the back of his head on a wall of the Corner before he stood up. Rainbow Dash and Twilight gave me a hug while Fluttershy simply gave me a smile and Applejack tipped her hat—the last two probably the most welcome of the gestures so far. Twilight’s horn glowed when she hugged me, which I guess was weird. I was inclined to believe anything was normal at that point. Pinkie gave me a cupcake, which I thought was a rather nice treat. I thanked her warmly and stashed the cupcake in my bag for later.

“So who are you going to be with tonight Xavier?” Pinkie asked.

“I was kind of thinking Applejack.” I said. I thought about giving Fluttershy the night, but I decided on giving her more time. Plus, I thought it would give me break to be away from those who were infatuated with me. I saw Spike fist pump and quietly say something out of the corner of my eye. I was unable to hear what he said, but then again, I really didn’t care too much about him. Applejack smiled delightfully.

“Oh this is going to be great! I can show y’all the family! And you can play your guitar for everypony too!” She exclaimed. I clumsily put my bag back on and followed the ever-excited Applejack. I looked back and saw Rarity waving happily, but the Rainbow Dash seemed upset. Twilight even looked somewhat angry as she attempted to hide the emotions that stirred within her. I rose one of my hooves to wave back, but ended up tripping instead. Catching myself mid-fall, I shot back up onto all fours and continued following a now laughing Applejack as if nothing had happened.

After walking for about 10 minutes in silence, we reached a farm that was quite large; lots of acreage on this plot.

“Welcome to Sweet Apple Farms, I work and live here with my brother, sister and grandma. We specialize in growing apples and make some of the best homemade cider in all of Equestria if I do say so myself.” She said as we entered the property. “My big brother’s name’s Big Macintosh, but everyone just calls him Big Mac, you met him back by the fountain not too long ago.”

“Yeah, I remember him.” I said, recalling the experience.

“My sister is Apple Bloom. She’s a cute little thing, I won’t let her bug you too much though.” She continued, “And then there’s Granny Smith, she’s got a bad hip, but boy can she cook! You’ll have to try one of her apple pies sometime.”

“Yeah sure, I’ll give it a shot.” I said. We neared a small greenish house not far from the barn. A brown and white collie that was laying in front of the house looked up, barked once, and bounded up to meet us. It reared up its hind legs and wagged its tail, barking again. Applejack giggled and stroked the back of the dog.

“Xavier, this is Winona, our dog.” Applejack said. The dog walked in front of me and sat down, merely looking up at me and cocking her head to one side. Winona whimpered and laid down, placing her head on her paws while still looking up at me. Applejack was about to say something, but the dog sprung up and started barking happily, cutting her off. Winona hopped all around me playfully, clearly excited to see a new face that she might be able to play with. Applejack laughed again. “She really seems to like you!” She exclaimed over the barking.

“Seems so.” I replied, laughing to myself. As we walked to the house Winona followed us, jumping around and barking the whole way. It wasn’t until I whispered “quiet” that she ceased barking and followed us calmly. When the dog quieted down, both Applejack and I looked puzzled and glanced over at the now silent canine.

“Did you ask her to stop barking?” She inquired of me. I looked at her with a confused face of my own.

“Yeah, why?” I asked back.

“She doesn’t really listen that well to strangers, it’s amazing how quickly she warmed up to you. It’s almost like what Rarity said happened to…Opal…” She trailed off, looking into the distance and stopping in her tracks. I cursed myself in my thoughts for being so reckless, stopping as well. She shifted her gaze back to me. “Are you an animal whisperer?” She asked.

“No, I don’t think I am.” I answered, shaking my head. I was just as confused as Applejack was; I didn’t expect the animals here to become so comfortable with me so quickly. They had no reason to trust me, yet they were rather content around me. After a short silence, we began walking again as Applejack mulled over the recent odd occurrence.

We entered the house and walked into a cozy and rustic foyer that was a mildly dim because of slightly inadequate lighting.

“Granny! Apple Bloom! Big Mac! I’m home!” She yelled through the house. An old and jittery looking pony with a light lime green coat and light gray mane shambled into the room.

“Quiet down, there’s no need to yell.” She said, also sporting a Southern accent.

“Xavier, this is Granny Smith.” Applejack said.

“Hello there ma’am.” I said kindly.

Old people’s eyes were another one of my favorites.

“Got yourself a stallion now did you? At least he’s a dapper fella.” Granny said, making Applejack chuckle. “Anyway, Apple Bloom is upstairs in her room. Big Mac is off somewhere doing Celestia knows what.” I peered around the room at the various furnishing and décor before finding a rickety wooden staircase that lead upstairs, ascending it carefully.

“Nosy one isn’t he?” I heard Granny Smith say. I went into what I presumed was Apple Bloom’s room, being as she was sitting at a table and seemed to be writing something. I walked up behind her and peered over her shoulder. She seemed to be writing a to-do list with several activities that seemed to require some amount of skill to accomplish. She was also writing with her mouth, which seemed like a poor use of appendages.

“Whatcha writing there?” I asked. The pencil in her mouth shot out and jabbed into the paper, leaving a gray mark as she jumped up in her seat and turned around quickly.

“Don’t startle me like that!” Apple Bloom said, then recognizing it was me. “Oh, hi Xavier! I didn’t know you were coming over.”

“It was a last second decision.” I said. “So what do you have going on here?” I asked a second time, peering over her shoulder.

“Oh this?” She said, holding up her list written in crude English. “It’s a list of what me and the Crusaders are going to try out tomorrow to see what our special talent is!” I chuckled a bit.

“At least you have your priorities straight.” I said as Applejack walked into the room behind me. “So who are these Crusaders?”

“It’s me, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Babs, my cousin who is in Manehattan right now. We go around trying different things to see what our talent is.” Apple Bloom said excitedly. Ugh, more equine puns.

“Sounds fascinating. I wish you luck in your endeavors.” I said, making Apple Bloom smile.

“Yeah, well sometimes they get in the way or cause a ruckus.” Applejack said playfully.

“At least we’re trying!” Apple Bloom said defensively.

“I’ll give you that, but you need to be careful. Don’t need you and your friends getting hurt.” Applejack said.

“I know…” Apple Bloom groaned.

“C’mon Xavier, I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping.” Said Applejack, walking out of the room.

“You keep it up, but don’t hurt yourself.” I said to Apple Bloom as I walked out.

“We’ll try our best!” She said, making me laugh. Applejack walked through the second floor to another room. It seemed quite cozy, but the bed was kind of small, a stark contrast from the luxury of Rarity’s house. Then again, it was a country house, so I shouldn’t expect too much from it.

“This is where you’ll be staying.” She said. “You have sleeping bag in there, right?” She queried, gesturing to my bag.

“Of course.” I nodded, laying my stuff down on the floor on the opposite side of the room to the bed before the sound of a door opening and closing echoed downstairs.

“I’m back Granny!” Said a muffled Big Mac.

“Well look who’s finally back.” Smiled Applejack.

“Where’s Applejack? Has she come back yet?” Said Big Mac.

“She’s upstairs with some boy of hers.” Granny Smith said.

“A boy? What did he look like?” Asked Big Mac, sounding agitated.

“I think he was some black stallion, I can’t remember.” Said Granny, leaving an awkward silence for a moment.

“APPLEJAAAAAACK!” Big Mac yelled.