The Apple And The Frog

It was midday in Equestria, the land of ponies and several other creatures alike.

Out in the fields there laid a small town community called Ponyville, (in)famous for having some very huge happenings, as well as being next door neighbor to Canterlot, home to the princesses of the sun and moon, Celestia and Luna.

In the field between these landmarks...laid the Equestria Railroad, and rolling down the tracks...was the Equestria Train itself. The train was coming from the great mountain that the Canterlot City was mounted on to the flat fields, its rich dirt being a welcoming best friend for a farmer.

Despite the train being simple and small, it carried all kinds of travelers, each coming from all over the land. It helped carry the good, the bad, and the weird to their chosen destinations.

Today, it carried a reasonable amount of passengers that were headed to Ponyville, each with their own reason to travel to the small yet important landmark.

One stallion in particular was traveling to Ponyville not just to see or visit it, but to make it his new home. He was currently just sitting alone with nothing but a bag on his back, and a glass cage beside him.

Nothing was interesting about him, aside from his bald head, which was rare for any pony to have as they prefer to have a mane to go with their tail. If he did have a mane, it would've been dark bluish green, if his tail was any indication of course. He was in his late 40s, but, he had an aura of child-like happiness and eagerness, with bright brown eyes and a cheerful smile on his dark, red furred face.

In the cage beside him was a little frog. He was a simple tree frog with red eyes, green skin, white underbelly, and matching red feet.

The passengers who were curiously glancing at the frog couldn't help but notice something off about the frog. Nothing disturbing, but odd, as the frog didn't seem to have the blank stare all frogs have.

Their attention was suddenly diverted, because up ahead...

...Ponyville was coming into view, nearing the end of their trip.

It was clear and easy to see the giant crystal castle that towered over all of the buildings in the village.

The stallion was ecstatic upon seeing the castle. He joyfully lifted the frog's cage up to the train car’s window so that his pet can see the home of Ponyville's own royalty.

"Why look there, Theodore! It’s Princess Twilight's castle. This is absolutely smashing!" he cheered.

"Ribbit!" the frog acknowledged his owner. Those close by, could've sworn that they just heard the frog sounding just as cheerful as his owner.

"Just you wait, Theodore,” The pony said, “ A whole new life is going to start for us in good ole Ponyville!”

The Apple And The Frog

The Stallion and his frog stood near a fireplace, which was in the living room of their new home.

It was a simple two story cottage that laid west of the Ponyville park, a location that the stallion was quite happy with.

The pegasi from the moving company had already brought in the boxes that traveled by air, unlike their owner who traveled by train. Most of the boxes were still unopened but that was unimportant to the earth pony, as he was too busy admiring his new home.

"Quite a splendid cottage, eh Theodore?” The stallion questioned his frog, “And just a hop away from the park as well. The perfect place to try out our inventions."

At that last sentence, Theodore gave his owner an uneasy glance. It should be mentioned that the stallion was also an amateur inventor who mainly based his invention on frogs like Theodore. Unfortunately, while his owner was a smart cookie, his inventions always seemed to cause problems for them in the end.

“But for now, lets get to unpacking our things out. We have a big day ahead of us." Theodore’s owner said, not noticing his frog's worried look.

The stallion headed over to some of the boxes next to the couch. He opened one small box full of tools: hammers, wrenches, and a small flashlight. He was about to pulled them out of the box when he noticed something on the ground. He picked up what looked to be a bit bag.

"Oh dear. It seems one of the movers dropped their bag. I better head over to the moving company to return it.” The stallion said to himself.

He put on his saddle bags, and called to his frog “Theodore! Watch the fort while I'm gone.”

His frog gave him a determined salute.

His owner galloped out the door, leaving the frog alone in the living room.

He looked around the place, seeing tons of unopened boxes lying around. With some hopping, he headed over to a box to unpack, nothing but silence surrou-

“Hello?”

The sudden sound was so startling to Theodore he leapt up in fright and dove under the couch. He waited there, terrified because he thought the house was haunted.

From the safety of underneath the couch, he scanned the house for who or whatever belonged to the unexpected voice.

"Is anypony there?" The voice came again.

Theodore suddenly noticed that the voice sounded female

“Hello?” The voice called again, this time helping Theodore note that it was coming from the fireplace.

Confusion replaced fear as Theodore grabbed a flashlight from the open box. He hopped towards the fireplace. When he got there, he turned his flashlight on and shined it up the chimney.

What he saw baffled him.

Stuck up the chimney was a pegasus mare with light grey fur and a blond mane. She was carrying a mailbag in her hooves, so Theodore assumed she’s a mailmare. Her eyes were crossed, but it was probably due to the flashlight in her face. So, Theodore moved the flashlight away.

The mailmare saw who was holding the flashlight and was surprised to see it was a frog. They stared at each other for a few moments, the mailmare’s eyes still being crossed for some reason.

"Umm, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask if you can get your owner to help me, little froggy?" she asked, hoping for the small chance the frog understood her.

Theodore did understand, as he was no ordinary frog. However, the problem still remained in getting his owner. He had no idea where the moving company was, and he didn't want the mare to be stuck any longer in the chimney.

Suddenly, an idea emerged in the frog's head.

"Ribbit! Ribbit!" He assured the mare, even though she couldn't understand him.

He hopped to the pile of boxes.

He hopped on the couch and pushed away the tool box. It gave a loud crash after falling, which made Theodore wince and the mare yelp in surprise.

"Are you okay?" The mare asked in concern.

"Ribbit!" Theodore answered, planning on dealing with it later.

He opened the carton that the tool box was on. In the box was jars filled with pale green substances. He picked one up and dragged it toward the door. Then, he jumped up on the door handle and easily opened the door. He dragged the jar outside, and stopped a few feet away from the patio. He looked up on the roof, the chimney perfectly in his view.

His plan was to pour the substance down the chimney so that the mare could slide down. It’s a smart plan except...

How was he gonna get on the roof with the jar?

The jar was too heavy for him to jump up on the roof with.

He looked around, hoping to find another pegasus who could help him get up there.

To his relief, he saw a pair of pegasi up on a low cloud. He hopped over and tried to call them down, but they were so high up, they couldn't hear him.

Frustrated, he looked around to see if he could throw something to get their attention.

In his line of sight, he found a small unicorn colt with light blue fur, dark orange mane, and a cutie mark depicting a pair of scissors. In his saddle bag, lied a slingshot.

"So, how was weather patrolling, Cloud Chaser?" Flitter, the bow wearing pegasus, asked her friend as they sat together on a cloud near the park.

The wild, spiky, maned pony shrugged. "Eh, nothing I would write home about.”

Then, she started looking around as if checking to see if anypony else was nearby.

She turned back to her friend and confessed. “Although, every time I fly over Sweet Apple Acres, I get vibes something weird is going on over there.”

"Yeah. Have you seen Applejack's cart at the market? I don't know if you noticed, but, she seems to have less apples than her usual stock amount.” Flitter said.

“Really?” Cloud Chaser said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah. You don't think the parasprites have come back, do you?" Flitter asked, worried for Applejack.

"If it was parasprites, we would've known by now. Besides, if they are back, Pinkie Pie’ll just lead them away with her one-mare band like last time." Cloud Chaser assured her friend.

It worked, "I suppose you’re right. Sometimes, I don't know if she’s either a sugar-crazed pony or a secret genius."

Cloud Chaser laughed as the mental image of Pinkie Pie, in a smart looking suit, lecturing in front of a group of students, appeared in her head.

"I can see it now. Professor Pinkie Pie, P.D.H.D in parasprite busting and party planner!" Cloud Chaser exclaimed with laughter.

It didn't take long for Flitter to join in on the laughter, resulting in both of them laughing at the joke.

"Speaking of parties, did you hear that Pinkie Pie is gonna have a surprise party at Sugercube Corner? It’s for a new pony moving into town." Flitter said.

"Really? Who is it?" Cloud Chaser asked.

Before Flitter could answer, she got hit in the head by a small pebble. She screamed in pain, and looked down to the ground with an angry glare.

"Who did that?!" She yelled, before seeing a unicorn colt holding a slingshot.

The unicorn colt flinched when he heared the yell.

Flitter flew down toward the unicorn colt, with Cloud Chaser close behind.

The two pegasi landed in front of the panicking colt.

"What’s the big idea, Snips? You could've poked my eye out with that thing.” Flitter scolded him.

"I-I-It wasn't me, it was the frog! It stole my slingshot!" He pointed at the frog.

Just now, the mares noticed the frog. But, they quickly focused back on Snips, not believing him at all.

"Really, Snips. You expect us to believe that that frog somehow used your slingshot to hit me? I’m gonna tell your parents about this." Flitter threatened.

Cloud Chaser rolled her eyes in exasperation as Snips kept insisting that it's all the frog's fault. Her attention however was suddenly diverted when she felt something poking at her legs.

She looked down to find the frog, poking at her legs to try to get her attention.

"Ribbit! Ribbit!" The frog's ribbits sounded frantic.

Cloud Chaser was unsure what to make of it. She turned to Flitter who was still giving Snips an earful. She turned back to the frog, who was now pulling her leg and pointing towards a house, also looking like he’s becoming frustrated. To her surprise, he was becoming more forceful, like a dog could get around its owner when wanting something.

Curiosity growing, she decided to listen to the frog instead of hearing more of Flitter’s scolding.

“It’s okay, little fella,” she said, getting the frog’s attention. She also saw him wiping his head in relief, “What’s the matter?”

Theodore immediately hopped to the house, with Cloud Chaser following behind. He leaped toward a jar full of some green stuff. The frog pointed at her, then to the roof, and then, to himself and the jar.

Somehow, Cloud Chaser understood.

Hesitantly, Cloud Chaser went along with what the frog wanted and let him hop on her. They flew up to the roof near the chimney.

Theodore jumped up near the chimney, and gestured to Cloud Chaser to give him the jar.

She handed the jar to him.

Curious, she looked down the chimney to see the rear end of a pony. She recognized that bubbles cutie mark anywhere.

"Derpy? Is that you?" Cloud Chaser yelled down.

Her yell startled the stuck mare.

"Ah! Who's there?" Derpy screamed

"It’s me, Cloud Chaser." Cloud Chaser responded

"Oh. Hey Cloud Chaser, how are you doing?" The mail mare cheerfully asked.

"How am I doing? You’re the one stuck in the chimney!"

"Oh yeah. I dropped my mail bag over the chimney, so I swooped down to grab it. But, then I got stuck. Luckily, a frog came by to help me out."

Cloud Chaser is stunned that Derpy was placing her hope of freedom on a frog. She even blinked just to show her stunned state.

Then again, she remembered that the frog had a plan, and a jar of something, so maybe Derpy’s trust wasn't misplaced.

"Well, he is right here with me with a jar of..whatever stuff is inside it. So, hold on in there!” Cloud Chaser told Derpy.

She turned to the frog, unsure about what he was going to do.

"The stuff in the jar will get her out of there, right?" She questioned the frog.

He nodded confidently.

"Cloud Chaser!" Somepony yelled, startling Cloud Chaser and the frog, as well as almost causing the frog to drop the jar.

The pair turned around to see Flitter flying towards them, with a small frown on her face.

“Oh, hey Flitter.” Cloud Chaser greeted.

Flitter landed in front of them on the roof.

"What are you doing here?" She questioned Cloud Chaser.

"I was helping this frog. He's trying to help Derpy get out of this house’s chimney." Cloud Chaser just realized how insane the whole thing sounded.

Flitter confirmed it with a look of disbelief.

"What? Cloud Chaser, how is some frog gonna help Derpy get out of…" She trailed off as the pair put their attention on the frog.

Theodore opened the jar and poured the contents into the chimney, the contents being green and slimy.

The ponies reacted in disgust.

"EWWWW!" their faces scrunched up in disgust.

He ignored them as he continued pouring the green stuff into the chimney.

After he was done pouring, he put the jar aside. He looked down the chimney, satisfied that his plan was going along well.

He jumped in the chimney.

"Ribbit!" He cried out.

He landed on the rump of the mare, and jumped up and down to push her down the chimney, the slime making the mare slippery enough to squeeze through the long passage.

Then, he used all his strength for a final leap.

"Theodore! Where are you?!" A voice yelled in the middle of the process.

Theodore didn't notice the voice calling for him.

His final jump finally pushed Derpy down the chimney. Unfortunately, now that she was unstuck, gravity came in.

The frog and pegasus fell down the chimney, before rolling out of the fireplace and crashing into some object.

Upon the impact, Theodore saw images pegasi flying around his head. He shook his head to clear them out, and lookd down to see that he was on the snout of his equally dazed owner.

Theodore’s owner regained his composure and stared at his frog.

"What on earth is going on here, lad?" He said with a demanding look.

Before the frog could explain, they turned toward the pained mumbles of the mare.

Derpy came to her senses, and when she did, she realized that she was finally out of the chimney. Joyful of this revelation, she fluttered to the frog and gave him a bone crushing hug.

"Oh, thank you so much, Froggy!” She said to the frog, the latter getting crossed eyed due to the strength of the hug.

The Stallion's confusion only grew when Cloud Chaser and Flitter barged in with worried looks.

"Derpy! Are you okay?!" Cloud Chaser asked, she and Flitter having heard that loud crash moments ago.

Derpy, thankfully for Theodore, ended her hug to acknowledged the mares.

"I am now. Thanks to this cute little frog." Her comment caused Theodore to blush at the word ‘cute’.

The three mares suddenly noticed the confused stallion staring at them.

"Oh dear. I'm so sorry for crashing into you, Sir. I got stuck in the chimney, and this frog got me out." Derpy explained.

The stallion faced the two purple pegasi for their explanation.

"I helped the frog get on the roof with his jar of, bleh, whatever was in it." Cloud Chaser explained, with a hint of disgust at the mention of the jar.

The Stallion perked up at the mention of the jar. "Oh, that is part of my frog mucus collection. Slimy stuff that is. I knew it would come in handy someday."

The purple mares gagged at discovering what the substance really was, now preferring not to have known.

The Stallion turned to Theodore. "That is quite brilliant of you, Theodore. Using your mucus to get this mare out of the chimney."

The frog felt proud by the praise.

The stallion bonked his head with his hoof, before turning to the mares, "How rude of me, I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Taddison Hopper. I’m new here to Ponyville."

The purple pair quickly got over their disgust and became pleasantly surprised.

“Oh, you must be that new pony that Pinkie-" Cloud Chaser said, but got interrupted when Flitter quickly covered her mouth with her hoof.

"I’m Flitter, this is Cloudchaser, and that’s Derpy." She quickly saod with a point of her hoof. "Well, me and my friend have to get going. Welcome to Ponyville, Mr. Hopper. See you later." Flitter saod with a nervous smile as she dragged her friend out of the house, leaving Derpy alone with Taddison and Theodore.

The crossed eyed pony turned toward the frog. "So, your name is Theodore? That sounds like a smart name for a smart frog. Thanks for your help." She thanked the frog, who was blushing.

She turned to Taddison. "It’s nice to finally meet you too, Mr. Hopper. However, now that I'm free, I better get back to work. I must be way behind schedule,” she grabbed her mail bag. “Welcome to Ponyville you two." She flew out the door.

The froggy pair faced each other.

“Well, those were some nice mares.” Taddison commented.

Theodore nodded his head in agreement.

“Well, Theodore, now that business with the missing bit bag is done, we can get to decorating our house. But first, you need to clean up the mess you made from helping Miss Derpy." Taddison said sternly.

The frog looked at the mess of tools he made. With a bashful smile to his owner, he went to clean the tools up.

Taddison shook his head with a smile on his face, and got on with decorating their home.