Equestrian Tales

Chapters

Apple Picking CH1
Apple Picking CH2
Picking Apples ch3
PIcking Apples CH4

Apple Picking CH1

Baldwin rose up out of bed and brushed his teeth. His red coat was a mess and his dark gray mane was a mess. He couldn’t help but sigh when he saw his reflection… "All I see is just another “dirt poor” earth pony, with half an apple for a cutie mark." thought Baldwin ruefully.

Sure, Baldwin had a good apple crop and had a decent amount of land to grow his apple crop on, but as much as he hated to admit it to himself… life on the farm was boring now. His family had moved on: either slowly becoming a part of the soil under their favorite tree, or they had left looking for new grounds to set their roots in. The town was small and with the new train system being switched from private luxury transport to carrying pure cargo…

Baldwin sighed, as it seemed to him like this little town might end up going under after the trains began to go full steam. "I'm already having to figure out how to make it through the coming winter as it is...", thought Baldwin.

Like most members of the extended Apple family, Baldwin possessed an almost "sixth sense" for detecting problems on his farm; maybe it was his gifted connection with the land as an Earth Pony, or maybe it was experience from his years of living on the farm. Whatever the case, Baldwin could always tell when something was messing with his apple trees.

Baldwin rushed outside groggily, already preparing to shout at whichever stupid Pegasus was currently trying to sleep in one of his apple trees; he had no idea where this annoying trend had started but refused to allow this possible disruption of his apple crop. To Baldwin's surprise he saw a rather large griffin in one of his apple trees, noticing as a few rather sharp knives fell to the ground.

Grandpa Cider would have called him insane for not running back to the house and bolting the door after seeing a rather large griffin with equally large weapons resting in one of his apple trees, but for Baldwin to encounter one here…

"It's probably one of those traveling ponies…", Baldwin thought, "Even if she is a rather large griffin."

Baldwin shouted at the griffin, “Get out of the tree you stupid bird!”

To Baldwin's surprise, instead of hearing a rather loud insult before watching the griffin fly away, he only saw the tree shake a little. Baldwin slowly inched around the tree and saw… Baldwin stopped and rubbed his eyes even as he saw how the griffin was stuck into the tree. The griffin's back legs were currently trying to push herself out, as Baldwin noticed the top half of her body was stuck inside the trunk exactly like a scene from some foal’s picture book.

Baldwin could hear the griffin’s muffled voice throwing a few dozen choice swears, or so he was judging from the inflections of the griffin's voice as he couldn't make out any of her words. Baldwin watched as a few of the branches were kicked away by the griffin's feet only to suddenly swung back with a willow-like *snap*; he could hear her shout in pain as they each hit her flank.

Baldwin had been around these apple trees for quite some time, yet he had never before seen any of them possess the newly imbued elasticity this particular apple tree seemed to have now. He sighed as he went over to the trapped griffin in question, weathering the beatings of the apple tree branches as they clearly expressed just as much “love” for the griffin's flank as her own flailing feet expressed for the apple tree.

“Just hold still for one moment.” Baldwin shouted as the griffin kept struggling. “Hold still and I can pull you out!”

Baldwin heard the griffin mutter something incomprehensible, and Baldwin sighed. "Ponies who think Earth Ponies are hard headed must have never encountered a griffin before," Baldwin thought, "They make even the most stubborn earth pony seem tame in comparison."

He wrapped his fore hooves around her waist and planted his legs at the base of the trunk as he waited for the branches to stop whipping about. With one deep breath Baldwin pushed off with his legs, pulling the griffin out of the trunk until he had exposed her arms, where the trunk still kept hold of her.

The griffin started to struggle until Baldwin shouted, “One moment! Left arm up, right arm down! Follow my lead!”

Baldwin moved to re-position the griffin's main body so that she could pry her left arm free and then finally slip her right arm out. Baldwin sighed in relief, as the griffin had been removed from his apple tree without harming the tree too much. It might have seemed silly to care more about the tree's welfare than the griffin in question, but Baldwin wasn’t earning enough bits to afford losing another tree before winter arrived.

Baldwin paused to consider his situation: If the tree could continue bearing apples than he could try to keep his farm going… or he could simply assume it was too damaged and chop it up now to sell it as fire wood during the coming winter; something which Baldwin wasn’t exactly looking forward to doing.

The griffin quickly picked up her daggers and shoved them back into their various pouches; she didn't even pause to thank him.

Baldwin just took a glance up at the sky, trying to see if another griffin was going to come plummeting down to the ground to hit another one of his trees. Unlike ponies, griffins had little respect for doing their aerial stunts or fights above farm land.

The griffin frowned as she started flapping her wings as Baldwin was shouting, “I wouldn’t advise doing that unless you want to sprain your wing.”

The griffin snapped back, “Why don’t you put a sock in-” Baldwin closed his eyes and steeled himself when he heard a snap. “AAAGGHRRRrrssssc-c-c-c!!!”

Baldwin sighed as he heard a limp wing hit the ground. Baldwin had noticed how the griffin nearly dislocated her wing trying to get out of the tree on her own before he had arrived, yet unfortunately for the griffin her body had yet to recover from the added pressure of his rescue effort; she clearly had just fully dislocated her wing or snapped something. Now he was stuck with an injured griffin with a temper on his farm.

Baldwin shook his head, “I warned you…”

******

Baldwin had learned three things about the griffin now. Her name was Verrat. She had a fowl temper, and had also ended up twisting her ankle shortly after dislocating her wing, leaving Baldwin with an excessively handicapped griffin on his couch.

Verrat grumbled as Baldwin wrapped her foot up. “Just keep off your foot and it should be good enough for you to find someplace to rest by the end of the day.”, said Baldwin.

Verrat glared at him and bitterly replied, “What, you’re not going to sit here and watch me?!”

Baldwin rolled his eyes. “There isn’t anything in this house worth stealing.”, said Baldwin.

Verrat's head feathers stood on end as her entire body puffed out. “What!” exclaimed Verrat, even as Baldwin left Verrat alone on the couch. “Hey get back here and face me!”, yelled Verrat.

******

Baldwin didn’t have time to deal with her antics. He walked about his farm, focused on repairing whatever damage her aerial stunt had caused. Baldwin did his best not to swear when he reached the same tree from earlier, noticing the many scratches riddled the trunk of the tree that he had missed in the dimness of the twilight from earlier that morning.

As Baldwin continued his walk around the area he was surprised that the damage wasn’t as bad it should have been. None of the apples had been bruised, and the branches didn’t seem to have suffered any damage when they had whipped against him and the now-couch-ridden griffin.

Baldwin sighed as he sensed something land in the tree just as he turned around. Another one of the local pegasi was now perched on one of the tree branches, watching Baldwin. The pegasus simply tracked Baldwin's face with wide, guileless eyes; as if pretending that, if he stood still enough, than Baldwin wouldn’t spot him.

Baldwin sucked in a deep breath and then screamed, “Get off my apple tree!”

The Pegasus took off to the skies. Baldwin sighed, taking a few steps before stepping into something sticky. Baldwin groaned as the sticky substance adhered to his hoof.He muttered to himself in annoyance as he tried to remove the sap from his hoof.

“And now I have to move my bee hive before I end up with an angry swarm from one of my own trees.” Baldwin muttered in frustration.

Like any farmer, Baldwin knew the benefits of bees, but more importantly Baldwin knew the hassle of dealing with a surprise beehive in a tree he usually bucked. Nothing spelled joy like breaking a wild bee hive after bucking a few apples down from a tree. Somepony had once asked him if he would be angry if someone just destroyed his home... but that didn't make the bee stings feel any better.

Hopefully one of the ponies in town could help Baldwin with the bee problem before they made a new hive in the hole the griffin left.

******

Verrat was still on the couch when Baldwin got back, but the griffin wasn’t doing any better. "Oh, noooo~, of course not!", thought Baldwin, his internal voice dripping with venomous sarcasm, "Instead of staying still to let herself heal, that stupid bird must have tried to get up, and somehow made this massive mess around the entire couch!" Baldwin sighed with exasperated defeat, as he figured he should be grateful that she hadn’t completely torn his couch apart trying to crawl back up onto it.

Verrat growled as she said “You're back.”

Baldwin rolled his eyes in response. “And you tried walking on your sprained foot. Maybe now you will listen to me… you stupid bird.” He muttered under his breath.

Verrat muttered something incomprehensible in reply only for her body to suddenly slip from the couch, landing her face-first onto the hardwood floor. Baldwin sighed as he went to prepare to clean up the blood stains, while the crazy griffin held her bleeding... something with one hand, all the while still mumbling coarse epitaphs underneath her breath.

When Baldwin brought an ice pack over, Verrat muttered softly to him, “So why are you helping me?”

Baldwin started to bandage her arm that was bleeding. “Because my mother didn’t raise a stallion who didn’t help mares in need.”, said Baldwin.

Verrat's body seemed to relax for just a moment after that, so Baldwin guessed she was one of those griffins who only thought others would steal from them. "She must have grown up in Griffin-Stone.", thought Baldwin.

“Besides, it wouldn’t sit right with me for me to berate you when you’re injured. Once your foot is better, I will freely complain about you crashing into my apple trees.” Baldwin replied as the griffin gave him a strange look.

Instead of arguing with him, Verrat sighed and dug a claw into her saddle bags “How many apples did you lose from my crash?” Baldwin shook his head in reply, only for Verrat to glare at him. “I’m not broke, and I know that a farm selling just one crop can be hard to work on, especially by yourself!”, scolded Verrat.

Baldwin chuckled, “What makes you think I work the farm by myself?”

Verrat rolled her eyes as she replied, “Its nine o’clock and the farm animals out there have yet to be fed. There is only one set of dishes in the sink and after having worked on my grandfather’s farm I know there should be a lot more farm hands on a place this large… and I highly doubt you just let your customers come to the farm to pick their own apples and pay you for the privilege!”

Baldwin shook his head as he replied, with a hint of irritation in his voice, “And what does a griffin know about farming?”

Verrat shot him a glare… not one of those prideful angry glares Baldwin expected to see from a griffin's face, but an expression that promised immediate and painful retribution for some perceived insult against her ancestors... if she had been capable of walking far enough to dispense her fury, as Baldwin was thankfully out of her immediate range. Whatever he said was obviously a sore spot for Verrat.

Baldwin lowered his head and apologized saying, “Sorry, that was uncalled for.”

Verrat simply blinked as she stared at him in surprise. “You’re sorry?”, said Verrat.

Baldwin shrugged. “It’s bad manners for one struggling farmer to insult another one…”, said Baldwin as Verrat frowned. “I take it your family isn’t helping him out with his farm?”, asked Baldwin.

Verrat seemed to deflate as she said, “No… you just can’t make good money anymore, as most small farms are run out of business by the bigger groups.”

Baldwin sighed in reply, as he knew what that felt like right now. He just hoped the rest of the extended Apple family was doing better than him right now. The griffin curled into a ball on the couch, the action briefly inspiring Baldwin to see Verrat as more of an upset child than a scary mercenary.

“Did you... Happen to see anything? While you were out there?” Verrat slowly replied.

Baldwin shook his head. “I just saw a griffin who asked for my help, and was not anywhere near my apple trees.”, said Baldwin.

Verrat cracked a small smile as Baldwin left; he was not going to push his luck with the griffin's good mood. "Besides,", thought Baldwin, "I've got my farm to take care of."

Baldwin was certain she would still be around when he got back.

Author's Note

Side chapter up. Comments or any spelling mistakes messed below and hopefully these smaller chapters well help fix things until everything is back up and running.

Small fact...The Baldwin apple is a bright red winter apple, very good in quality, and easily shipped. It was for many years the most popular apple in New England, New York, and for export from the United States of America. It is also known as 'Calville Butter', 'Felch', 'Late Baldwin', 'Pecker', 'Red Baldwin's Pippin', 'Steele's Red Winter', and 'Woodpecker'

Apple Picking CH2

Baldwin set up shop in market place like he normally did each day. His stall “Crisp Hoof Apples” was near the center of town with an entire cart full of apples ready to be sold. There were a few pies out resting on his stand as he had baked them with some of his older apples as everypony would rather have a fresh apple plucked off the tree than one that hadn’t been bought a few days ago.

The addition of the pies was an attempt in trying to expand Baldwin's selection of items. Apple cider didn’t really sell unless it was getting closer to winter. Some of his old apple family recipes he hadn’t finished testing as they sat in his fridge and of course there was the fact he couldn’t help but feel nervous as he train kept coming closer and closer each day. It seemed a little bit silly trying to find new apple products to make but Baldwin was worried that if he stayed selling plain apples then he wouldn't be able to make ends meet especially when the train made it way to his town.

Would this town grow and prosper as new ponies came to their village? Would these ponies find only have one or two brands of apple rather dull? Would some other pony start buying apples in bulk and then selling them here or possibly making new apple based products? Would they see him as competition or would they buy out his farm and replace it with lemons because it was easy to make lemonade or some other lemon based product.

If he showed his apple pies were good than maybe his farm might still be here if somepony came and took notice of it... of course there was no telling if that would actually happen. For all he knew the exact opposite might happen! Maybe the small town would simply dry up and be replaced by a refueling station or turned into a rest stop as the town would try to sell small trinkets and tear down his farm so they could put up taverns for the ponies to sleep in before they continued on their journey.

Baldwin suppressed the shiver as he missed the old trains that never came by. At least they were simple as all they ever did was just carry loud rich ponies who would insult you and then give you a lot of bits. Sure they were annoying, but you eventually learned to deal with them and hopefully make a small profit or that's what other ponies told him since this town wasn't "quaint enough" for the nobles to build a train leading to their small town. The new trains didn't care if their village was "quaint" or not as new train tracks were being placed each day brining the train closer and closer to him home.

The trains themselves didn't bother Baldwin that much... but he just hated not knowing what would happen when the dreaded locomotion finally arrived. He looked around the small market place as each pony had set up their own stall trying to sell their goods. Some of them were local farmers like Baldwin, but a few of them were trying their hooves at making knickknacks for when the train finally arrived.

Baldwin had managed to sell a few apples until Betamax opened her stall up again. The unicorns rose red coat was well kept as she wore a white dress with a pink bow tied around her waist. She smiled as her chestnut hair drifted down to her shoulders as she dressed as a "modern mare" or that's what she told most of the town. Every since the town had been told the train would come to their town a few ponies came to their town just to sell them some random junk and Betamax... she was the best.

Betamax shouted at the top of her lungs “I tell you people that Crystal-Tology is the way to go! Say good bye to those back breaking days and into the era of Crystal wonder! Ponies called others crazy when they spoke about record players, but now you can’t imagine your life without them! So be the first to be mad to take a step towards a brighter future!”

Her stall in the market place had these strange blocks that looked like record players, except they didn’t have any needles or records as they just kept a small gem inside it. Baldwin didn't what was so special about them or the other "Crystal Wonders" of the "new modern era" Betamax always seemed to have.

Still the crowd was caught in awe as the arcane device reproduced a short message Betamax had spoken aloud into the arcane device. Baldwin didn’t see what was so special about the machine as a record player could do the same thing and it was much cheaper than the odd machine which Betamax was the only pony to sell “recording gems” at ridicules prices.

Still the crowd quickly produced their hard earned bits buying the odd machines as Baldwin couldn’t help but sigh. Everypony seemed in town was caught up in the strange fever called “modernization” as each pony wanted to be a “modern pony” and welcome the train when it arrived.

See the bits practically being tossed at the unicorn’s hooves made Baldwin look at his own cutie mark as he couldn’t help but frown at it. When he was a foal it was the best thing that ever happened to him as he wouldn’t even trade it for a sun cutiemark similar to Princess Celestia’s own cutiemark. No he would help make Crisp Hoof into the greatest town in all of Equestria as he worked on what he believed to have been the largest apple ochre there ever was.

It was funny how the farm seemed so big back then. Right now his farm was too small to compete with the large cargo shipments of the trian, but too big for one pony to work by himself. His farm didn’t make enough bits to hire ponies to help him out and most of his family already left as he highly doubted any of them would ever come back.

As the ponies left Betamax’s stand as they talked in awe about their new devices… Baldwin couldn’t help but wonder if his old farm still had a place in this town. With his head held in shame he closed up his stand as he put away his apples. All he had to do was surive the winter… then come spring his apple trees would be in full bloom and ponies would need to restock their supplies.

All he had to do was make it to spring as he would hopefully earn enough bits to pay off the debt on his farm.

******

Baldwin walked back to his house as his bit bag was for too light for his liking. As he walked past the apple trees in his farm a part of him couldn’t help but wonder if he should simply chop them down… not all of the apple trees. If he simply chopped down the extra trees and sold it as fire wood during the winter than maybe he could last till spring.

When his house came up into view all thoughts about his apple trees came to a stop. To his irritation the crazy griffin called Verrat was sitting outside of his house on the porch as she watched him like a hawk.

He frowned at his unwanted house guest and said “I told you to stay off your foot.”

Verrat rolled her eyes and dug into her saddle bag “How much do those apples cost?”

Baldwin frowned “Look you…”

She glared at him as she pointed as his cart full of apples and said “I don’t take charity. How much do those apples cost?”

Baldwin marched closer to the griffin and tried to stare her down “You’re a temporary guest, but a guest none the less! You don’t have to pay to have some apples!”

Her body puffed out like if she was a feral cat as she tried to stand up “And I don’t need your pity. How much?”

Baldwin knew he should just let her pay for the apples. He needed the bits and she had enough to pay the apples and the cart with it… yet his pride as a stallion wouldn’t let him do it. Sure he needed the money, but he didn’t need her to pity him either!

“Just tell me how many you want and I’ll give them to you.” Baldwin firmly stated.

Verrat tried to stare him down as she firmly replied “And I have enough bits to pay for them!”

He knew that her pride wouldn’t allow her to accept charity for some stubborn reason, but he wasn’t about force an injured house guest to pay for their food simply because he was running short on a few bits! As they continued to glare at each other for the next couple of minutes he finally agreed on a compromise… he would sell them at discount.

******

After spending an hour arguing with each other before finally coming down to a price. Verrat bought all of the apples in his cart when it was obvious she wouldn’t be able to eat them all or even carry them with her when she left. So Baldwin gave her some free apple cider he had stored in the basement when she offered to share her apples with him since he didn’t have enough time to fix himself something to eat earlier.

Most people would have ended it right there, yet Verrat wouldn’t let it end with him giving him free apple cider so she bought all the apple pies he had as three of them went into the ice box as the fourth one was placed into the over to warm it up… which naturally she offered to share.

Refusing to be in her debt Baldwin gathered together the sandwich bread and made a small entrée for “both of them” to snack on. The two then continued going round and round as Verrat would buy something else and Baldwin would add something free.

They continued doing this until somewhere along the line the old family reunion table was pulled out as a veritable feast had been laid out for the two of them. The large bag of bits on the table would easily cover the cost of this meal and with a week’s worth of hard earned bits now belonged to him as she still had plenty of bits left to her name.

Still despite the tantalizing scent of the meal before them they simply sat at opposite ends of the table just daring the other person to eat first. The only item that had yet to be placed down on the table was the pie as it’s heavenly scent drifted from the house trying to broker peace between the stubborn stallion and griffin,

When the ding of the oven rang out in the air letting them know the pie was ready they both smiled as they stopped being openly aggressive and went to being passive aggressive.

Baldwin smiled as he pretended to be the bigger stallion as he said “Your pie is ready. ”

Verrat’s stomach grumbled as she smiled back “We should let it cool... Besides aren’t you hunger after your long day of work?”

Baldwin licked his lip trying as he tried to ignore the feast before him as he replied “I had plenty of time to snack on something while I was working at the marketplace. Still I bet you could use a nice sip of the apple cider right now.”

Verrat’s talons danced around her apple cider mug as he could tell she was thirsty only to hear her reply “I already drank some water before you got here.”

Baldwin carefully placed the pie down onto the table as he waited for Verrat to be the first one to show a hint of weakness. This wasn’t just a meal… it had become something more than a simple meal or argument between the two of them stared as each other. Maybe it was because Verrat refused to be seen as helpless due to her injuries or Baldwin's need to feel some sort of... win after barely making any bits as Betamax made off like a bandit.

Sadly the contest of wills ended when both stomachs growled loud enough break the mood as they wanted to voice their opinions on the subject.

Baldwin blushed in slight embarrassment as he hoped she didn’t notice, but to both his joy and sorrow… she had spotted his reaction… and also looked a little bit embarrassed as her stomach growled like a savage Timber Wolf only to be matched by his own.

The smell of the food finally hit them as they couldn’t help but chuckle at how silly their competition about waiting to see who would eat first.
So like any sane and ration being… they simply stopped waiting to see who would eat first… but who would get the last bite as they descended upon the bountiful feast before them.

******

Baldwin laid back in his chair as he patted his stomach. A part of him regretted trying to eat so much, but it had been a while since he had been allowed to eat until he actually felt full… or stuffed in this case. Still he couldn’t help but smile as he licked the crumbs of the last slice of pie off his lips.

Verrat had been a worthy opponent for sure, but she was no match for the apple family. She had an appetite that nearly matched his own… but she couldn’t handle the good old family hard apple cider like he could which gave him the win. Now the griffin was lying on her side as it seemed like she would doze off at any moment.

Baldwin took a look at the large bag of bits used to pay for the meal Baldwin felt a little bit disappointed. While he was happy to have earned those bits… he couldn’t help but remember how he barely made any sales earlier that day and just how everypony else seemed to be making bits while he simply struggled to meet ends meet.

Hopefully it would be able to cover him till winter… but it was rather annoying having to rely on another pony or griffin’s charity. Still the Griffin had more than enough bits left over in her saddle bags. In fact he could tell that she had enough bits to pay off his dept and purchase his entire farm for herself. It was frustrating to see the money as it only reminded him of his money problems.

Baldwin sighed “You must be lucky to have landed a job as a mercenary.”

He immediately regretted saying the idiotic statement out loud and prepared to apologize only for her to reply “If I was lucky I would have been a Earth Pony.”

And the apology died in his throat “What? You… you can’t be serious!”

The Verrat stared at him in confusion “Why not? You’re the luckiest of the group.”

“How is not having the ability to cast magic spells or fly about in the sky lucky?” Baldwin nearly shouted in disbelief.

“and being a griffin is so much better.” She replied dripping with sarcasm “What traits does being an overgrown chicken have to offer besides getting into fights and doing someone else’s dirty work!”

Baldwin felt like pulling his mane out as he shouted “Look at the money you make!”

“Yes each and every penny I have to pinch in order to make sure I don’t go broke.” She bitterly replied “Can’t stop fighting because fixing weapons and armor costs money. Can’t buy a place to rest and have to keep renting rooms for each trip I take.”

Baldwin shook his head “Then why don’t you buy a place and settle down?’

“and do what?” she shouted out loud “I was a mechanic back home. I helped take apart vehicles and put them back together. Now I’m stuck in a place where the most advanced mode of transportation is flapping your stupid wings! I don’t even know anything about trains to try to get a job there and most of that probably uses magic which I don’t know about!”

Two things raced through Baldwin’s head at that moment. The first thing was that Verrat wasn’t doing as well as he thought she was doing… or emotionally at least. The second was that… he probably shouldn’t have given her some of the hard cider as he was pretty sure she was a little bit drunk... and now she was crying.

Baldwin got up and walked over to her as he tried to comfort her as the foreign griffin blew her nose into his coat… it felt awful, but his mother’s hard drilled lessons were still deep in effect as he continued hugging the griffin and tried to ignore the mess on his fur that made him want take a quick shower.

“And what makes being an Earth Pony so great?” Baldwin replied before his brain caught up to what his mouth had just spoken.

She looked up at him with large blood stained eyes as tears ran down her face as she sniffed “Really? You’re Earth Ponies!”

Baldwin shrugged as he had to admit that curiosity had gotten the better of him now “So? What’s so great about growing plants?’

If he was a unicorn he would be casting great feats of magic. If he was a Pegasus he would be kicking clouds and soaring across the sky like a wonder bolt. Instead he was a boring old mud pony forced to kick trees and try to keep a dying farm alive until the farm was taken away from him… or when he buried next to his favorite apple tree... if they left any of the apples trees after he died. After all he was the last pony left on the farm as the rest of his relatives had already abandoned this place.

Verrat just sort of smiled as she shook her head “You can do magic.”

Baldwin chuckled as this crazy griffin was drunk off her rocker “No that’s unicorns you’re thinking about… besides you can fly!”

Verrat grumbled “I couldn’t fly back home… miss my car… miss my life… I can’t do anything but fight…”

Baldwin stared at the griffin as she started to ramble on. She didn’t fly back home… she didn’t fly… How could a race gifted with fly not fly! That was like seeing a unicorn who didn’t cast magic or a Pegasus that didn’t take to the sky!

“Why can’t you be a mechanic here?” Baldwin asked as he was starting to feel guilty.

Verrat grumbled “No one needs help fixing a cart. No one makes parts for car. Everything else is just magicked together. Who needs fingers when you got magic?”

Verrat started to sniff again as Baldwin quickly grabbed the edge of the table cloth and moved it to her as she blew her nose on the table cloth instead of his coat this time.

She sniffed “Even you can grab a cloth without fingers because of magic.”

Baldwin took a deep breath and tried to calm her down “I’d still rather be a unicorn than a boring old earth pony.” And then he just realized that he should have cut back on the hard cider as his mouth was moving faster than his brain. Yes it was the hard apple cider that was making him act like an idiot.

Verrat only chuckled as she replied “You mean stuck studying books all day just to light a candle?” she blew a sloppy raspberry “You’re like… the most magical one of them all!”

Baldwin felt his face burn a little as he coughed “How exactly?”

Verrat smiled “You got magic, magic! You take what you like doing and make it better! Unicorn make a sword… it’s fancy, but it doesn’t last. Earth Pony make a sword… it lasts forever! It’s why all the great stuff is made by Earth Ponies! Boring apples don’t just grow fast… they taste fantastic because earth ponies put their magic in them because they love their job… you’re taste like grandpa’s apples… Their good… but a little… sad…”

Verrat now had her mouth hanging open as she started to drool. She was now fast asleep and hugging him as if he was a large stuffed animal that would make her nightmares go away. Baldwin did his best to slowly move out of her grasp… and then walked back into his house before dragging out a large blanket to cover her up. She smiled as she cuddled up in the blanket and then started snoring up a storm that oddly touched his heart.

Maybe it was that he finally felt like he was making a difference or the simple pleasure in helping another pony… or griffin in this case out. Still he couldn’t help but chuckle as she really did think Earth Ponies were the best one of them all.

He most certainly did not let that comment go to his head as he certainly didn’t skip to the shower he had hooked up outside. Oh and he certainly didn’t forget warm it up before he took a shower as the icy cold water snapped him back to reality.

He just wanted to really quickly clean himself up and hopefully sober himself up too. Celestia as his witness that was the story he would tell to anypony who asked... now he just had to figure out how to bring the griffin into his house before it got dark outside.

Author's Note

New chapter. Let me know if there are any spelling mistakes.

Picking Apples ch3

Baldwin yawned as he slowly started his daily retain again as he avoided the couch where his sleeping guest was sleeping and walked outside. The brisk cold air filled his nostrils as he head slowly stopped throbbing from alcohol he had consumed yesterday. His saddle bags now had the faint jingle of bits inside them instead of yesterday’s lunch bashing up against itself.

With a deep sigh Baldwin went back to checking his apple trees… and then oddly enough trying to figure out what to do as his apple cart was surprisingly empty.

“That’s right…” Baldwin groaned rubbing his head “She bought them all…”

While he was happy for the amount of bits he had earned… sadly he knew that now he was going to have to do a bit more apple bucking and try to avoid any new bee hives. Tender Grasp the town vet claimed it wasn’t from any type of insect that she knew of, but Baldwin was willing to bet a basket of apples that Honey Dew accidently lost one of her bee hives or something along those lines.

The earth pony pulled the empty cart and prepared to start apple bucking until he spotted the tree his newest house guest had crashed into. The large apple tree had been standing on the farm before his parents had even been born. His mother once joked that the entire village was once founded around the old tree.

Baldwin rubbed his hoof against the apple tree as he thought over his choices. The tree was old and it wasn’t producing as many apples as it used to. Good fire wood needed time to sit out and for the sap in the wood to slowly dry out. In fact a few places paid good price for good quality wood as they use it to cook Hay Buggers or some other random item on their grills.

Still a small smile was brought to his face as he saw the damaged caused by Verrat slowly healing as the stubborn old tree refused to go down for the count. Even then some of Baldwin’s favorite apples grew on this tree as he couldn’t help but wonder if there was a hint of truth in what the crazy griffin had said to him yesterday about sad apples and earth ponies making wonderful apples because they were happy.

******

Baldwin placed the apple cart next to his house as he planned on taking a cold shower and then eating something for breakfast. To his surprise he smelt something… nice coming from his house. When he opened up his door he spotted Verrat using the eye of his oven to cook herself up something as the kitchen table was covered in food.

On the right side of the table closest to her various wrapped pieces of food sat on the table ready to be whipped into one of the rather scrumptious looking culinary delights that rested on the left side of the table.

Verrat was currently using his spatula as the lovely scent of sizzling eggs filled the room as various vegetables sizzled in alongside as she flipped what now could be seen as an omelet. Baldwin slowly walked up to her as the griffin was so caught up in her cooking she hadn’t even noticed him. A part of him couldn’t help but chuckle as he never would have pegged her as a chief.

Verrat slowly muttered to herself “Cheese… where’s the cheese?”

Baldwin couldn’t help but smirk as he saw she didn’t have any cheese as he said “What type of cheese?”

Verrat lost in her own world responded “Mozzarella would be nice, but I kind of miss having one with Swiss cheese… of course provolone cheese would also work.”

Baldwin blinked as most of those terms went over his head “Uh… I’ve got yellow cheese and white cheese?”

Verrat turned around as she was about to say something until she spotted him. Baldwin opened the fridge door as both blocks of cheese stood in his fridge as Verrat ust stared at him with her mouth open. She just stared at him in confusion until the omelet started to burn forcing her to snap back into reality.

Verrat hissed in frustration “One slice from each block… I’ll just make them two small omelets instead of a regular sized one.”

Baldwin smirked at her frustration as he carefully made two thin slices as Verrat quickly snatched up the slices and tossed them with the omelet and went to work. She had worked so hard to only use the items she had bought from him yesterday and whatever was left in her saddle bags. He couldn’t help but feel smug as she finished the omelet and started one last dish.

Baldwin watched her toss various vegetables along with a few herbs and oil he didn’t recognize were soon added into the frying pan. Verrat snatched each ingredient off the table trying to hold onto her pride until she grabbed the last bundle and hissed in indignation as Baldwin could smell the expired veggies from outside the kitchen.

“Need some extra veggies?” Baldwin playfully replied back

It was rather fun being the pony that had the items to her solution.

Verrat kept her eyes on the frying pan shouted “Lettuce, onion, cabbage, any baby leaf spinach you have… I’ll pay you back for them.”

Baldwin gathered up the vegetables and placed them near Verrat as she started chopping them up before placing them into the pan. The griffin continued to push the vegetables around for a few moments before saying “Thanks for not laughing… about yesterday.”

“Why would I laugh?” Baldwin asked out loud in confusion.

Verrat glanced at him for a moment before muttering “Because of my… breakdown.”

Baldwin shook his head “If I did laugh at you because you miss your home then I should be tied to the railroad tracks and have the train run me over.”

Verrat smiled as she seemed to try to relax for a moment before she sniffed the air “After you take a shower. You reek.”

Baldwin rolled his eyes “What if I have to go back working outside again?”

Verrat slowly started to pick up her ingredients “Then you’re not getting any of this breakfast.” Baldwin blinked as he just realized… there was enough food for two people. “You did cook lunch for me after all.”

Baldwin shook his head and countered “That you paid for.”

Verrat raised an eye brow as she said “So you’re saying you would be perfectly fine with two slices of bread and possibly some apple jam spread across it for breakfast instead? If so I can wrap up the rest of this for…”

His stomach grumbled as she smirked. Baldwin marched out of his own home grumbling “Stupid crazy griffin stealing my kitchen to make me breakfast to get back at me yesterday for… even if she is a good cook.”

Baldwin set up the shower stall and muttered as Verrat shouted “And would it be alright if I took a shower after you?”

Baldwin rolled his eyes “Yes dear.”

“What?” Verrat shouted in confusion

Baldwin quickly turned on the outside shower as the soothing icy cold touch of water snapped him back into reality as he shouted louder “Heating Busted!”

Baldwin shivered in the cold shower as he prayed to Celestia she didn’t catch that.

******

Baldwin sat out at the market again as he looked over the figures again. He just needed to earn a few more bits just to cover any accidents that happened during the winter… and possibly to help him stay finically secure during the spring if the trees took a while to bear fruit or if there was a temporary shortage of customers.

Sparks came up to his stand as his yellow coat was smeared with dirt and mud as his orange mane was a mess… yet the crazy earth pony smiled with glee as he said “Baldwin! Good to see you again.”

Baldwin sighed out loud as he said “What is it that you want Sparks?”

Sparks glanced at the apple stand “A dozen apples… No make that two dozen as I’m helping lay out the tracks to the train!”

Sparks grinned when he caught Baldwin’s expression “It’s not like the old trains… no they have funny looking ponies running the trains now, but most of them focus more on how the train works than looking down on ponies or spending tons of bits. Of course most of those bits seem to be going towards workers now!”

Baldwin sighed as the train really did seem unstoppable now and judging from the earth pony’s saddle bags the train wasn’t just going to ride past their little town… it was going to change it. The only question was how much of the town was going to change because of it.

Sparks sniffed the air and then stared at Baldwin “Why do you have your mane combed?” Spark’s sniffed the air like a dog trying to catch wind of a scent “And is that… What did you have to eat this morning?”

Baldwin placed Sparks’ order aside “Here are your apples.”

Sparks started at the apples for a moment “Come on Baldy… there’s a story to it. Can’t you tell me about it?”

Baldwin rolled his eyes “You just want to spread some gossip.”

The full grown earth pony whined “But if you don’t tell me what I want than I have to guess and I have a very active imagina…”

His mouth was left wide open as he was staring at something behind him. Baldwin turned around to see Verrat flapping her wings as she was trying to carry a basket full of food. With a small hiss from the back of his throat he quickly rushed over to help the crazy griffin with her items.

The griffin muttered in annoyance “I just needed a couple of items.”

“I told you to stay off your foot. Even if you can ‘fly’ you still need to land and that involves landing which involves landing with your feet.” Baldwin replied in annoyance “If you needed a few more items than you could have simply given me a list of what you wanted.”

Verrat rolled her eyes “I’m not helpless. Carrying a few items isn’t going to…”

There was a small pop or a crack coming from her foot as Verrat just froze as the expression on her face told him everything he needed to know. With a loud sigh he lifted up the stubborn griffin and placed her on the back of his apple cart.

Baldwin stared at the griffin and firmly stated “Just stay there and stay off your foot!”

She huffed in annoyance at being treated like a foal. He grunted in annoyance with having to deal with the prideful fool who refused to ask for help. When he got behind his apple stand again Sparks was still standing there with a large grin on his face.

“No.” Baldwin snapped quickly ending the conversation.

Sparks pointed his head at Verrat and replied “Come on! You with a griffin? There has to be a story behind that!”

Baldwin gritted his teeth as he replied “She is not ‘with me’ as I’m just helping take care of her until she’s back to health.”

Sparks continued grinning as Baldwin felt his eye start to twitch. Why couldn’t Spark be like the rest of the customers and simply leave after he made a purchase?

The crazy earth pony plopped his head on the apple stand “Come on! It’s killing me not knowing the tale behind it!”

Baldwin moved Sparks to the side and prepared to deal with the other customers “How many apples do you want?”

The Pegasus mare stared at Verrat “Who’s she? Did you hire a body guard or something?”

Baldwin twitched as he glanced at the other customers behind her. None of them were looking at the apples as they were all interested in the griffin behind him.

“No she is just a temporary house guest.” He calmly replied “Is there anything you want to buy?”

More ponies started to gather drawn to the commotion as something ‘interesting’ was happening over by his stand. Baldwin hated it because they were keeping the paying customers from reaching his stand and buying his apples!

After a large enough group came around Baldwin finally caved in “Fine… she was flying over my orchard. She fell and crashed into one of my apple trees and injured herself. That’s it.”

Sparks groaned “But why was she flying over your farm? What was the cause of the crash or the fact she looks like a mercenary?”

At that comment Verrat snapped back “I didn’t know it was his farm. The jerk hit me in the wings. My foot is a little bit busted up, but I’m not helpless.”

Baldwin face hoofed as the crowd started to gravitate towards the injured griffin. They were talking to Baldwin because they didn’t want her to over hear their conversation. Since she apparently could hear them they decided to skip him and go straight to the source.

The crowd kept staring at her as he could see Verrat’s feathers start to ruffle as she was getting irritated at them. With a quick motion of her claws she signaled him to help her out.

Baldwin simply shrugged “Sorry I can’t help you here.”

Verrat hissed as she whispered loudly enough for anyone to hear “What do they want?”

Baldwin couldn’t help but chuckle a little “They want you to tell them a story.”

She shook her head and whispered loudly again “A story? I don’t know any stories!”

Baldwin sighed as he replied “Just… just tell them about one of the jobs you were on. Surely one of them must have been interesting.”

Verrat glanced at the crowd as it looked as if she was getting a hint of stage fright before she looked back at him “I don’t know any interesting stories! The most I do is just hit stuff!"

Baldwin tried not to smirk as he replied “Then just tell them the time you hit something, but make it sound good?” Verrat gave him a deadpan look as he continued “I’m not the one who decided to fly into town on an injury instead of simply getting some rest.”

Verrat glanced back at the crowd as they had gotten themselves comfortable. A lot of ponies were interested in what she was going to say or more likely hope she would accidently reveal an interesting piece of gossip. The train had yet to arrive and everypony wanted at least a small piece of the upcoming excitement that would soon be visiting their town.

Verrat sighed as she took a deep breath “Uh… there was a… job over in Forest Oaks that had a… spider problem.”

******

Baldwin couldn’t help but smirk as she finished “Look I didn’t know you couldn’t cut the webs. I just thought they would easily come apart… not gunk up my sword.”

One of the foals shouted “How did you beat the creepy spider monster then!”

Verrat rubbed her sides “The creep hit me in my side. Still this is the reason why you see adventures carry more than one weapon. I grabbed the end of my pole.”

“Why did you have a ten hoof pole?” another filly shouted.

Verrat chuckled nervously “It’s ten foot pole… and it’s just something that’s more of a… spare tool. It’s hard to explain to non-adventures. Anyway I grabbed the pole and tied the rope to it along with the lantern and swung it around.”

There was a small smile on her face as she said “I wasn’t very good at it as the rope got tangled up in the branches above. Thankfully the lid wasn’t as tight as it should have been as it fell open above the spider spilling the hot wax all over it.”

Baldwin went back to his sales as another pony placed another order of apple cider before returning to listen to Verrat’s tale. She wasn’t a great story teller, but she tried her best to answer any question they asked her… and just watching her expressions and gestures as she tried to tell the story somehow made it all the more endearing.

“That’s when the spider rushed at me only to ram into one of the trees a lumberjack had been trying to cut down before the infestation. The tree started cracking as I moved out of the way before it landed on top of the spider.” Verrat chuckled “It took a couple of minutes freeing everyone else and recovering my sword.”

“Why didn’t you check to see if the monster was dead or knocked out first?” a foal asked out loud.

Verrat frowned “It was a big spider and I didn’t have a weapon at the moment. If it was playing dead than I’d rather have a sword in hand to poke it rather than a stick I picked off the forest ground… and my pole was also tangled up in the branches that fell down.”

Verrat shook her head “Still the spider was down and some nearby Royal Guard ponies heard the commotion… they used their fancy magic to tie the creature up and were going to relocated to the Everfree Forest or something… Still we got paid as we found the missing ponies and helped rid them of the monstrous spider that plagued their woods.”

The foals cheered as their parents smirked. Baldwin packed up the rest of his supplies as he felt like it was time to head back home. He already made enough sales to cover today and he doubted that his new house guest would enjoy sitting by the cart and having ponies question her about our living situation.

******

When they arrived back at the house Verrat just fell beak first into the couch as she looked exhausted. Baldwin put away the apple cart and went over the numbers again trying to take into account the difference between the new items… and how much of it was actually sold due to convince because his stand was near Verrat’s story time.

He sighed as he missed the old days were he didn’t have to be so… precise in his sales checking up figures and costs. He also knew that if he didn’t adapt to these necessary changes than he was certain to lose the farm when the train rolled into town.

He glanced at his new house guest “I told you if you needed anything I could get it for you.”

Verrat grumbled as she sank deeper into the couch “I’m a grown woman… besides you didn’t tell me I would be swarmed by ponies if I left this house.”

Baldwin shook his head “We don’t get a lot of griffins so you were bound to attract some attention.”

Verrat sighed as she pulled out some spare bandages and started changing the current ones around her foot. Baldwin looked to make sure she didn’t injure herself further by her attempt at staying air born all day as he knew the pressure only grew each time she landed.

He didn’t know much about flying, but he did know that lifting off and landing was a lot harder than simply walking. There was no telling how much extra pressure she had applied to her foot until he caught sight of her blunder.

“Still I thought you would have a lot more tales than just that story.” Baldwin replied off hoof.

Verrat grumbled “Being a merc isn’t that interesting. Besides I’d never hear the end of it if Maxwell caught wind of this.”

Baldwin glanced at Verrat “Who’s Maxwell?”

The griffin sighed as she finished bandaging up her foot “An idiot who runs a bar in Canterlot. Each week we try to visit and trade stories during out poker games… mostly it’s an attempt to unwind without having anyone judge us.”

The name sounded familiar for some reason “What’s his story then?”

She chuckled “He and his band of misfits went looking for the Elements of Harmony until that crazy…” A piece of the ceiling fell on her foot causing her to fall of the couch and groan in pain.

Baldwin rushed over to help only to hear her mutter “Not your fault… not your fault… it’s…” She just growled as she glared at the broken piece of wood “Worst part of all of this. Any time I try to swear something bad happens.”

Baldwin picked up the piece of wood “Then why do you bother to swear?”

She just sort of glared at him “Because… because everything that was me… before being forced to turn into a mercenary… my name, my language, even my very voice… it was stolen from me and replaced with something else.” Her wing brushed against the floor “I… can’t even remember my own name and yet every time I try to curse back in my native tongue…”

She sighed as she glanced at her injured foot “I can just feel that I’m brushing up against it… only to then have it slam shut in my face.”

Baldwin glanced at her as he didn’t know what to say “Is this…”

Verrat huffed in annoyance “That’s pretty much the case for everyone who got dumped here. A little bit of memory loss… a curse that suddenly snaps and hits them upside the head everytime they curse… sometimes even your very pattern of speech could be altered making your own voice sound unnatural to yourself.”

Baldwin rubbed the back of his head “Isn’t there anypony who can help?”

Verrat rolled her eyes “Yah right. Most of you Equestrians can’t figure us out and that little “flare of bad luck” that happens when we curse? Most just tell us to keep out tongues civil or start to experiment as they want to know why such a curse even exists or how it works. Equestrian swear words work just fine, but native ones…”

She motioned to her foot. Baldwin just nodded as she seemed to have calmed down. He didn’t know exactly what was wrong with her, but he could tell that she was just frustrated at it all. She didn’t want him to give her any advice or somehow magically solve her problems… she just wanted to be able to rant without being judged.

Baldwin listened to her continue as she started to talk about her weekly poker games as she seemed to be more at ease now. Soon they began trading stories as she talked about her life as a mechanic working on vehicles as he traded stories about how the farm used to be when he wasn’t the only pony working on the farm.

Sure they knew that talking about the past wouldn’t change the present, but for that one moment… they didn’t care.

PIcking Apples CH4

Baldwin finished filling his apple cart as he felt a small smile appear on his face. How long had it been since he had to refill his cart after a long day of work? When was the last time he had to refill his cart more than twice much less than four times in one week?

Of course he was low on cider… and pies… and… Baldwin sniffed the air as the scent of apple cinnamon bread and apple-oat cookies was coming from his house. Baldwin took a deep breath and walked towards his own house in confusion as he tried to figure out what was going on. It wasn't odd that she cooked her own breakfast... or that he cooked her supper in an attempt to get back at her cooking breakfast, but this didn't smell like a simple meal.

Verrat his stubborn house guest currently had domain of the kitchen. The oven door was open as she pulled out a nice rack of apple-oat cookies as a loaf of apple cinnamon bread was left out on the table to cool. The bowl full of cookie dough was out on the counter as the griffin poked one of the finished cookies as if debating if they should go back into the oven

She shook her head before placing the new batch of cookie dough into the oven and muttering “I miss my old oven.”

Baldwin coughed “Uh… what are you doing?”

Verrat stared at him in confusion before holding up a sheet of paper “You left a list of things needed to be done.”

Baldwin glanced at all the items she had prepared… Sure she used a bit more firewood than he would have liked, but the scent was well worth it. He shook his head as this was still his house… sure she was helping him out, but….

“I didn’t mean to leave them as chores for you to do.” Baldwin replied in slight embarrassment as he felt like kicking himself.

He did mean to leave the list out as a set of chores for her to do. It was supposed to be there to remind him of what he needed to get done with before he set up his apple stand out in the market.

Verrat glanced at the list “Than what did 'have Verrat do' mean?”

He promptly face hoofed as he muttered out loud in embarrassment “I wanted to trade recipes and the list was to remind me on what items I wanted to check on. My mother was a wonderful cook, but she wasn’t that great on sharing kitchen recipes and currently I'm lacking good recipes for bread and cookies.”

Verrat started at him for a few moments before replying “I didn’t peg you for a chief.”

Baldwin now stared at the mare in confusion “Why not?”

She pointed a talon at the fridge “Most I’ve seen is sandwich material and jam. Very little butter, sugar, salt, or flour as I had to spare some of mine.”

Baldwin rubbed his head “Wait you bought flour?”

Verrat shrugged “It’s not often I get access to a kitchen and while my foot is busted I wanted to make sure I’m stocked up on supplies. Most jobs tend to be far away from towns or dealing with wild creatures creating problems for the town. Besides whole wheat flour can last a while just as long as you don't get it wet.”

Baldwin shook his head as he said "You don't have to help. I can take care of the rest from here."

The Griffin chuckled "And do what? Sit on the couch like a potato and do nothing? Besides I might as well do something..."

Baldwin a small smile came to his face as he replied "Can't figure out any stories to tell the foals at the market?"

Verrat rolled her eyes as she glanced at her supplies “I don’t know any good stories.”

Baldwin smirked “The foals would beg to differ.”

For the past few days he had brought/dragged his griffin houseguest with him to the marketplace to make sure she stayed off her foot. The foals continued to pester her for stories and she continued trying to tell them as one of the foals would always ask a sudden question about something just a few minutes latter. Baldwin could also tell that she enjoyed telling them stories far more than she let on.

Verrat’s wing fell to her side as she sighed in defeat “Fine… but first do you know how to make apple pancakes… because I don’t know any.”

Baldwin chuckled as he moved over to the oven “I’ll make breakfast for both of us today.”

The griffin shook her head “I wasn’t asking you too…”

“You made the cookies and bread.” He cheerfully countered “So I might as well make some pancakes as thanks. I’ll also pay you back for the flour.”

Verrat was about to say something only for her stomach to grumble. He couldn’t help but chuckle as she blushed in embracement at her stomach’s protest.

******

Baldwin pulled his wears back into the market place as the crowd soon began to gather. Most of the morning and been spent as they argued about meaningless things… (Two Cooks with two different recipes for the same item and one kitchen)… but they managed to finish the apple based products as their heavenly scent filled the air.

Verrat stared at the crowd as she still couldn't get used to the crowds. Everypony was interested in the griffin's stories simply because they were new and unlike Betamax’s unique items that she brought into town each week Verrat’s stories were free.

“Verrat what are you doing here?” a voice called out.

Baldwin glanced at the crowd and noticed… Baldwin rubbed his eyes as the crowd soon also took notice of the oddity. A large minotaur was carrying a red Siren on his shoulder.

Verrat face palmed as she muttered “Hey Serina… Hey Sloan.”

The minotaur chuckled “Did you come along to be hired for protecting train?”

Verrat shook her head “No I was chasing a bounty and ended up injuring myself.”

The crowd turned their head back at the odd pair as the siren rubbed her chin “So traveling alone or…”

Verrat rolled her eyes “Last group disbanded after the spider incident and I thought catching a wanted thief would be easy compared to the last few jobs.”

One of the foals spoke up “How did you all meet up?”

The minotaur rolled his eyes “Adventures. We just dropped out of the sky and tried to deal with it from there.”

Another foal spoke up “Does that mean she’s not going to tell us anymore stories?”

The Siren squealed in joy “Your telling foal's stories!”

Verrat shook her head “They just wanted to know about some of the jobs I’ve been on.”

The Siren had a huge grin on her face “Did you tell them about the Griffin Stone murder case!”

Verrat sighed “You do realize that…”

Her mouth was suddenly stuffed shut as the Siren had a hoof in front of Verrat’s mouth “Spoiler warning.”

Verrat pried the hoof away from her mouth “It was an odd job I'll admit, but...”

One of the foals piped up “Did a griffin get murdered over the lost treasure?”

Another one jumped for joy “Did it involve a Cyclops?”

Sparks somehow mixed into the group of foals replied “Did you date a griffin noble during the adventure?”

An apple hit Sparks in the center of his face knocking him back down to the ground. Baldwin quickly pretend as if nothing happened as it had been an accident. He just happened to find a slightly decayed apple and he just… tossed it without looking.

Verrat sighed “It wasn’t that interesting. I mean we just…”

The siren placed a hoof around Verrat and said “Verrat… it’s one of my favorite jobs to talk about. I wouldn’t mind helping you tell the tale.”

The griffin raised any eyebrow as she stared at her seaside companion “You’re kidding me.”

The minotaur shrugged “Train is resting. Tracks are laid. Good press is good luck and everyone always needs good luck in life.”

The Siren nodded “Besides after the whole Sirens of old rap sheet and the Castle of the Two Sisters incident… Sirens don’t exactly have the best rep.”

Baldwin didn’t know either of the reasons why they wouldn’t have a good reputation “How exactly did you get a bad reputation?”

Verrat shook her head as the Siren replied “Oh most of us managed to keep or get a hold of a special magical gem that allows us to move about on the surface and convert negative emotions or moments of conflict into a useable source of magical energy for us to us."

She frowned "Of course none of know exactly how they work. A lot of us who have one of the gems just end up trying to find a place of conflict or some of them try to start a conflict.”

Verrat pointed a thumb at the Siren “Serina is the group that goes to places of conflict. Essentially she acts as support drawing energy from the battle to cast her spells as Sloan…” The minotaur nodded “Works as a front line warrior and usually is the one Serina works her supportive spells on.”

“I can’t say much for the other Sirens.” Serina replied out loud “But I try to keep a good rep. Anyway onto the story!”

The foals looked at them in wide eye interest as Baldwin took a deep breath. He didn’t expect Verrat to suddenly run into anyone she knew… but that train kept changing everything that it came into contact with.

Serina smiled “This is the tale of the Griffin Stone Murder!”

Baldwin turned his focus back on his stand and any possible customers only to see Sparks rubbed the back of his head as he said “Hey it was only a question.”

Baldwin shrugged at he inspected the rest of his apples “I’m setting up so if you want anything just let me know or step out of the way.”

Sparks nodded as he rolled his eyes “Right… because you just happened to find a sour apple when I asked that question. Besides her two friends happened to hear about me talking about Verrat yesterday and told them that she was in town.”

Baldwin glanced at the annoying stallion as he replied “Any reason why you are telling me this?”

Sparks shrugged “I just figured you’d like to know. Anyway the train is supposed to arrive within the next few days and they are hiring anypony… or griffin they can find to either help lay down some tracks or to help protect the train as it finish’s it’s journey.”

Baldwin stole a small glance at Verrat as she said “It wasn’t that they lost the treasure… but that they lost the meaning the treasure held as it was a symbol for them to stand united and work together… instead of trying to gather up as many bits as they could while only looking out for themselves.”

Baldwin took a deep breath as he repeated “Do you want any apples? If not then please step aside and make way for a paying customer.”

As soon as Sparks bought his bundle of apples Baldwin glanced at the where the train station and been built. A part of him wanted the train to never come, but he knew that it would eventually come.

******

The day came to an end as Verrat went back with him to his house. Her friends bid her goodbye as Verrat seemed a bit more happy now.

The griffin stretched her wings as she said “So who was the weird unicorn staring at you?”

Baldwin shook his head as he replied “Which unicorn?”

There had been plenty of ponies staring, but he was certain none of them were staring at him. It’s not everyday you get to see a siren, a minotaur, and a griffin in town much less telling stories.

Verrat frowned for a moment as she said “The one that was giving you the evil eye for most of the day that sold the weird crystal junk.”

“That’s probably Betamax...” He said out loud before he glanced at Verrat “Wait crystal junk?”

She nodded “A few people I talk to in Canterlot were kind of cheesed off at it. Apparently it’s just a small cheap phonogram. The crystal is just for display as the phonogram stuff is hidden underneath the glitter.”

Baldwin shook his head “Did you happen to let anypony else know?”

Verrat shrugged “No Solan showed one of the ponies in the crowd as he removed the cover and replaced the recording device. Apparently they were trying to record the story or something.”

Baldwin shook his head as he now knew the reason for the unicorn’s death glare. Verrat was drawing crowds over to his apple stand and she just revealed what Betamax was actually selling. He was quite certain that she would find something else to sell… but he felt a little bit proud of himself.

Verrat took a deep breath as she replied “She also… told me to leave as she talked about your farm being in debt…”

Baldwin stopped in his tracks as he turned around and said “Look… I was in debt. My farm my not being doing as well as it used to have been doing… but I already paid my debt as I don’t owe anypony any bits.”

Verrat stared at him for a moment “Look I’m not saying you are trying to use me to boost sales or something.”

“I paid it off… I’m just short of funds for the winter.” He said with a hint of regret “Still the farm is doing okay… I still have no idea how it will fair after the train arrives. Products can be shipped in bulk and… I’m not sure how that will affect the farm. That’s all…”

It was true that Verrat helped pay off his debt... the bits she gave him along with the extra money made by the sales helped get him out of debt so he wouldn't even lose his farm when the train arrived. Sure winter might be a little bit rough on his funds, but he hoped he had enough bits for when spring came around. Sure he was a bit nervous about being replaced when the train came in... but he felt a little bit more secure about his farm now than before Verrat suddenly stumbled into his life.

Both of them were quite for a few minutes until she finally spoke up “What is with you being alone on the farm all by yourself?”

Baldwin shrugged as he replied “My family left to find greener pastures. Relatives in Timberton… fell on hard times after the disaster… The plague that passed by this town three years ago didn’t help either especially when it killed my sister and her husband.”

She stared at him as it was obvious she didn’t mean to pull up a painful memory. Still he guessed he might as well answer a few of her question just as long as they weren’t too personal.

Baldwin wore a thin smile on his face as he said “They’ve been dead for a while and the plague as long since passed away. Still that’s life for you… Any other questions?”

Verrat went silent for a moment before she practically whispered “Don’t you… ever think about leaving?”

Baldwin shook his head as he said out loud “And what would I do if I left? I’m not a good with a weapon so I can't be a mercenary… I spent my entire life working on this farm. The other farms that the apple family work on are either too far away for me to travel to… or their doing they are too busy dealing with their own problems.”

He remembered that some of his relatives were out searching for seeds… or stuck working on farms owned by nobles. Baldwin wasn’t even sure if there were any Apple family owned farms left in Equestria. None of his family ever visited him and he couldn’t visit them since he always had to take care of the farm. Sure his sister told him what he had missed but… it’s been three years since he last saw another member of the apple family.

Baldwin looked up at the setting sky and said “So… if you could do anything in Equestria… what would it be?”

Verrat chuckled “Go home.”

Baldwin shrugged “Let’s say you can’t… or you have to wait a month before you can go back home.”

Verrat scratched her neck as she thought about it for a little “I guess… find a nice hotel… order up just about everything on their menu and just pig out. Maybe find a few recipes to take with me back home. Then I would either cook for fun and mess with cars or trucks to pay the bills.”

Baldwin nodded as he said “What exactly makes a car or truck so good? I mean you can fly and that’s kind of hard to top that.”

Verrat rolled her eyes “And ponies pay other ponies to pull them around in carts. Say what you want, but at the end of the day flying is just flapping your wings. The rev of a good American muscle car… the type of engine that makes the entire car shake as it feels like you are ridding on top a powerful beast. Of course a bit of good old German engineering can go a long way!”

She sighed in regret “Still there are a couple of other good cars… but I think it’s the cars used for street races where you go so fast the speed from your vehicles howl in the wind as you take turns and show off your skill. It’s nothing like the boring Nascar Races where the cars barely change direction as they just drive around in a large circle.”

Baldwin shook his head “So you’re saying you’re a speed demon since you like to go fast.”

Verrat shook her head “And I’m in control. Mostly I fix up vehicles, but it’s fun watching two speedsters race around the tracks as they prove which one is the better driver. It doesn’t matter if you have wings… have a hard time walking… or if you are even missing your legs.”

Baldwin coughed as she laughed “No I’m serious… We called him Crazy Johnny. He was some foreign crazy war vet who lost his legs and had two wooden replacements for them. You challenged him to a street race and you’d quickly regret making fun of him.”

Baldwin couldn’t help but chuckle “Maybe you should try seeing a Wonder Bolt show?”

Verrat made a fake gagging sound as she replied “And see a bunch of ponies just performing air tricks? I don’t care if they can make a figure eight in the sky.”

“Not the air shows…” Baldwin quickly countered “Sometimes they have races… actual races with an obstacle course. One of the Wonder Bolts names Lightening Flash pulls some crazy stunts trying to reach the finish line before any of the other ponies.”

Verrat chuckled “I highly doubt I’ll ever find a show where they just race instead of perform fancy air tricks.”

Baldwin nodded “So did you ever race?”

Verrat shook her head “Not really… I mean I enjoyed the feeling of power and watching them drive… but I never joined in. The larger scaled ones mostly had people betting their cars leaving the loser walking home… and the smaller ones mostly had young racers who had a better chance getting into an accident than making an interesting race.”

She clicked her tongue as she shut her eyes “Still… it was fun to be a part of even if I only watched.”

Baldwin nodded “So how exactly did you meet those two?”

Verrat paused for a second “You mean the siren and the Minotaur? Didn’t you hear the story?”

Baldwin chuckled “No I was busy with the apple stand and buying the rest of the ingredients that were used up. You must have had fun since you didn’t even notice when I left the stand to restock on supplies.”

Verrat slapped him in the back of head with her wing as she muttered something. He couldn’t help but chuckle as she seemed a lot happier now. He also felt a lot happier these past few days than he had the past month.

Baldwin couldn't help but smile when he heard their stomach growl as he said "Want me to cook super?"

Verrat shook her head "I can cook super since you cooked breakfast."

"That's only because you helped fix the cookies, bread, and all the other treats." Baldwin countered

Verrat chuckled "Your just trying to show me you can be a chief."

Baldwin couldn't help but smirk "How come you didn't seem to believe me after all the meals I set out?"

Verrat grinned as she replied "Warming up frozen food doesn't count as cooking. Besides I rarely saw you behind the kitchen oven."

"Only because you were stuck re-wrapping your bandages." Baldwin countered "Or out of the house taking a shower or reading one of those books you have."

Verrat rolled her eyes as she smacked him in the back of his head with her wing. There was still the question of what would happen when her foot finally healed or the fact two of her friends worked on the train that was coming to town. He sighed as he just wanted to enjoy the time left he had with her.