The PAYN

Five days after The Poof...

Lemon Drop pursed her lips as she wandered the aisle. Most of the food in her house had already gone by fairly quickly. Everything left was either canned vegetables or Dad's alcohol. The grocery store was beginning to smell a little stale. She decided that she'd better grab as much fresh produce and bread as she could before it went bad.

To her dismay, much of the fresh stuff was left out in the open, untouched. Candy wrappers, plastic food containers, and packages were littered across the linoleum floor. Lemon poked through the browning lettuce, grabbing any heads that looked halfway decent. The bread, fortunately, seemed to fair better at least. The loaves were a bit stiffer than usual, but nothing harmful, so Lemon took three of them. Casting a look around (she still had the uneasy feeling that she was doing something wrong), Lemon silently grabbed a bundle of cookies as well.

Lemon toted her basket in her mouth, barely lifting it off the ground. She managed to get it all the way to the counter. A group of children were playing nearby, coming in from the marketplace. Lemon fished out a hooffull of bits and tossed them on the counter; they were immediately swiped away. She watched a pair of boys giggling as they scribbled on the counter with permanent markers.

Lemon Drop frowned, but she didn't say anything. Her ear perked when she heard voices rise behind her.

"Come on, Tamale, it's mine! I found it first!"

"You want it, shorty? Come get it!"

Lemon turned her head. A small crowd gathered to watch a creamy-colored Pegasus with a short brown mane reached to retrieve a small bag of grapes from a red Earth Pony colt. He easily held back the Pegasus with one hoof, smirking as the younger boy grunted with effort.

"There's plenty of food in here, Tamale! Why do you gotta always take it from me?"

"Because it's fun." Tamale laughed.

Lemon Drop shook her head disdainfully, but remained where she was. The Pegasus began to shake.

"I said, give... it... back!" He roared unexpectedly. The taunting children suddenly leaped back, shrieking in terror. Some of them frantically scratched at their eyes or coat. Lemon Drop cocked her head in confusion. The Pegasus looked equally puzzled. He then turned his head, and his eyes met Lemon's.

And then everything erupted into rushing fire and spiders poured out of every imaginable crevice and they were eating her and Sweet Celestia, please save me!!!

"Wait, wait! I'm sorry!"

Just like that, it was over. Lemon Drop trembled, the image branded into her memory. How... what? Lemon's basket had fallen to the floor, its contents spilling out.

"I'm sorry, it was an accident! I didn't think it would work!" The Pegasus trotted over. Lemon squeaked, scrambling to get away.

"Stay away!"

"I-I'm sorry! Please, just--"

"Stay away!" Lemon Drop screamed as she bolted for the door. She burst outside, sobbing as she galloped as fast as she could.

~~~

Apple Bloom grunted as her kick landed. The apple tree gave a shiver, and a few apples mercifully fell down. Apple Bloom scowled. She wouldn't get much of the orchard harvested in time at this rate. Sweetie Bell watched from beside the barn, keeping one eye on the Cake twins as they played.

"Do you need any help?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Apple Bloom wiped her forehead. "Nah. Just keep watchin' the babies." She exhaled as she went back to work. She continued to buck at the apple trees, to varying degrees of success. She tried to mimic Applejack's fluid motion, but the fact of the matter is that her sister never got around to teaching her the proper way to buck apple trees. After a couple more hours, Apple Bloom sat down in the dirt.

She sighed, hanging her head. If she didn't get all of these apples within the next week...

"Hey, Apple Bloom!"

Her ear twitched when she heard Tender Taps' voice. Apple Bloom smiled as she saw him trotting up to meet her.

"Hi, Taps."

Tender Taps looked around, as if nervous that somepony else might be watching him. "Apple Bloom, something happened."

Apple Bloom slouched. "Did somepony screw around in the market again?"

"What? Oh. Uh, yes, Scootaloo's taking care of it right now. But that's not what I meant."

"Oh," Apple Bloom grimaced. Poor Scootaloo. She practically became the whole town's mother overnight. "Well, what else happened, then?"

Tender Taps bit his lip. "Uh... okay, look: you know how Earth Ponies are strong, right? Like, that's their magical connection to the earth?" Apple Bloom nodded. "Well, something happened to me. It's... it's not Earth Pony magic. I... I don't know how to explain it."

Apple Bloom chuckled. "Why don't you show it?" She gestured to the vast orchard. Tender Taps looked at her hesitantly. Then he slowly approached an apple tree. Apple Bloom smiled to assure him. With a nervous titter, Tender Taps leaned forward, then raised his hind legs.

Which smashed into the apple tree behind him, ripping it away from its trunk, causing it to topple over.

Apple Bloom's jaw dropped. "Holy sh--" Her eyes shifted back to Tender Taps, who was reddening slightly. "...Shoot. I was gonna say shoot." She galloped over to him. "How in the hay did you do that?"

Tender Taps rubbed his head. "I don't know. A few days ago, I just became... strong."

"That is amazing!" Apple Bloom gushed. Her eyes widened in realization. "T, you could help me with the orchard!" Tender Taps gave her a curious look. "Well, maybe if you just like, give 'em a nudge."

Tender Taps laughed, and Apple Bloom joined in. When it died down, He nodded. "Yeah, I'd love to help out." He oofed as Apple Bloom pulled him into a tight hug with one foreleg. "Uh, you're welcome?"

Apple Bloom's smiled grew. "Thanks, big guy." After three solid Mississippi's, she pulled away. Tender Taps coughed as he looked down at his hooves; she was giving him the I "like" like you look.

"So... um, I guess we better get to work."

Apple Bloom nodded. "...Eeyup."

~~~

Scootaloo breathed heavily out of her mouth. These kids were going to be the end of her if they didn't get their act together. Ever since her mini-speech at the schoolhouse, everypony came to her for help and advice.

My brother won't share the video game! My hamster went missing! Somepony knocked a hole through my front door!

Yeah, the problems were starting to get a little more severe. There were still occasional non-issues that popped up, though. Like the one she just had to take care of at the grocery store. Honestly, some kid shot fire and sent spiders to attack some ponies? The versions differed slightly between the kids. But it was nuts all the same. And a waste of time. Those dumb airheads probably just got into a little baggie of shrooms they found in their parents' room.

Scootaloo came to a stop at Sweet Apple Acres. She staggered off of her scooter, stretching slowly. Hopefully Apple Bloom got more work done than she had.

"Hey, Apple Bloom!" She called whilst yawning.

"Over here!" Apple Bloom answered from within the orchard. Scootaloo followed the sound of her voice, trudging as she went. She gave a puzzled look at an odd bunch of fallen apple trees.

"Hey. Has that always been there?" Scootaloo pointed at the pile. Apple Bloom giggled.

"It took Tender Taps a few tries to get the right method."

"Huh?"

"I'll explain it inside. Come on. Sweetie Belle cooked dinner while we were working."

"Sweetie Belle? Cooking? We don't have any enemies to poison, do we?"

The two girls giggled as they retreated to the farmhouse. The orchard became deathly quiet when they left. The sun set, and it remained still and empty for the longest time. The day died and relaxed voices from the nearby farm fell. And the stillness left the orchard, as the earthen ground shifted only the slightest bit.