The Apple And The Frog

Taddison was immediately sent to Ponyville hospital after he clocked out in unconciousness. Pinkie had canceled the party before checking him into the hospital, as even the fun loving pink pony saw that this was a serious situation.

She and the rest of the Main Six (aside from the yet-to-be-present Twilight and Fluttershy), along with Derpy, Cloud Chaser, Flitter, and of course, Theodore, were all in the hospital waiting room, hoping for some good news.

Applejack, perhaps feeling the most guilty for stopping Taddison's machine while he was twenty feet in the air, couldn't help but notice the expression on Theodore. He was rubbing his head, almost tiredly with an equally tired look.

“Frog sure is a confusin’ little critter,” she thought to herself, “He doesn’t seem to act like any other frog Ah’ve seen in mah life.”

Her thoughts were interrupted when Doctor Horse came in, earning all the attention of the worried mares in the waiting room.

Theodore stared at the doctor's ridiculous mane, as to him, the stallion looked more like a wacko TV character than a real doctor.

"Is Mr. Hopper alright, Doc?" Derpy asked worryingly

"Well, he has several broken bones, and he received multiple fractures from the fall." He replied, his statement causing the mares to wince.

"But give him plenty of time and rest, and I'm sure he'll be up and about in no time." He said with a reassuring smile.

Already, everypony present was feeling relieved. However, Applejack was skeptical.

"Are ya sure, Dr. Horse?” She asked him with a raised brow of uncertainty, “Ah mean, Ah saw Mr. Hopper fall twenty feet from the air."

"Well, that's the thing,” the Doctor said, before explaining, “From your description of what happened, the injuries should have been more severe. But when I looked at the x-rays, the bones were in no way as damaged as we feared. Heck, if I had to wager a guess, I’d say this wasn't the first time this sort of thing happened to Mr Hopper."

There was a slight pause from the mares. The girls and doctor all then turned toward Theodore for some form of an answer. However, the frog looked like he was trying to be aloof, even whistling to avoid the glances of the mares, earning a couple of astonished blinks from Applejack in particular.

“Now Ah’m really sure he isn’t like any other frog Ah’ve seen.” Applejack thought in astonishment.

"That's because this isn't the first time this sort of thing happened." a voice stated from behind the group.

The doctor and mares looked to see that it was Princess Twilight Sparkle, along with Spike. The former was giving a friendly but tired look.

"What do you mean by ‘This isn't the first time’..uh, Your Highness?" Cloud Chaser asked the princess.

Even though everypony in town acknowledged that Twilight was the former librarian of Ponyville, they still offered their respect as they did with Celestia and Luna.

"Because Princess Celestia warned me about Mr. Hopper arriving here in Ponyville. She asked me to help make sure that his inventions don't cause any severe damage." Twilight explained to the group.

She then looked over at the door that lead to the hospital patient rooms, before sighing and saying with sadness, "Although it seems I was too late for that."

"Hold on a sec, Sugarcube,” Applejack said, catching Twilight’s attention, “Why would Celestia warn ya about Mr. Hopper? He’s a pony like the rest of us, and him comin’ here doesn’t seem like something worth her attention.”

“Well…” she hesitated to answer, before showing a sheepish look to her farming friend, "Mr. Hopper may have caused a little bit of mayhem at Canterlot with his inventions. Unintentionally, of course.”

"Like what?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Spike then unrolled a long scroll. So long, that it unfurled itself past the rest of the group before hitting the wall.

“Let’s see,” he said, before reading from the top, “He accidentally released a horde of bullfrogs at some china shops, along with what appeared to be some spray he claimed can help frogs survive in the winter. Terrified some mare models when frogs started to steal their dresses to make their nests, having been altered to build homes for their tadpoles. And recently, a Canterlot soldier by the name of Firebrand accused Mr. Hopper of making a mockery of the Royal Guard by scaring them with glowing frogs, the glow causing the frogs to look like floating skulls.”

He dragged his eyes away from the paper, directing his attention to the group, “There is a little note saying that the record keeper couldn't quite understand Firebrand because he was crying loudly, and rocking back and forth while whispering ‘why’ over and over again. My only guess is that he probably got tired of the guards being embarrassed like that."

After the mares, outside of Twilight, heard the reports, they gave dumbfounded looks, their mouths gaping open with shock. They turned toward Theodore again, who now was looking at a magazine, peaking part of his face from it and showing he was steaming red in embarrassment. When he saw everyone looking at him, even the newcomers, he covered himself with the magazine again and tried to take his mind off of everything by doing some reading.

“Gee. Reminds me of the time I accidentally put too much yeast in the cake batter.” Pinkie said.

Twilight shook her head to refocus on the subject at hand while Spike rolled the scroll up.

"With Mr. Hopper recovering, I’m going to have to put a hold on the procedures for now." Twilight stated.

"What about Theodore?” Cloud Chaser asked, “With Mr. Hopper outta the game, who’ll be taking care of him?"

Twilight looked over at the frog, whose attention was caught at the sound of his name.

"I’m sure that Fluttershy would be happy to take care of Theodore until Mr. Hopper is well." She said, assuring Cloud Chaser, “I can take him over to her house right away with just a simple teleportation spell.”

But as Twilight was relaying her plan, Applejack’s mind was not in the game. She was continuously thinking about Theodore, and her burning curiosity towards him only grew as she saw him listening in on what Twilight was saying. A thought suddenly came into her mind, and it just refused to leave. It was both a blessing, and a curse, as it kept her from being a quitter.

So, deciding to go with her gut, she gave in to the thought.

"If ya don’t mind, Sugercube, Ah’d like to bring Theodore to Fluttershy." She said to Twilight.

That simple statement made Theodore's eyes widen to almost Pinkie Pie sized, and the rest of the mares looked at her with surprise.

“Are you sure, Applejack?” Twilight asked her, “I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you.”

“Ah’m sure,” Applejack assured her concerned friend, “Besides, Ah’m the one who lassoed his owner at the wrong time before he fell through that roof, it’s only fair that Ah make up for mah mistake. I can even show him more of Ponyville as long as we’re out.”

It was only through one blink that Twilight suddenly understood. Applejack was an honorable pony, and whenever something happened that she blamed herself for, she’d want to make up for it.

“Well, okay Applejack,” Twilight said to her, “Thanks for stepping up.”

“No problem,” she replied, before turning to Theodore, “Hop aboard my back, Little Critter. No thanks are necessary.”

Theodore didn’t need to be told twice. Right away, he made a few hops towards the farm gal, before making a high leap and touching down on her back. He crawled a little bit on her back, adjusting himself to get comfortable and taking in the feel of her fur. He even rubbed himself against it, the feel of it being as soft as a warm blanket.

Meanwhile, Applejack was giggling and chuckling because Theodore’s webbed feet and skin were tickling her as he moved.

“Okay, okay, no need to be thankin’ me that much.” Applejack said while giggling.

The rest of the gang couldn’t help but giggle with her, mostly because of Applejack doing it and because of how cute the site was.

======****======

Applejack, with Theodore on her back, was walking through Ponyville. With the party canceled, ponies were going back to doing their chores and hobbies.

Theodore felt as stiff as a statue. Not long after the two of them left the hospital, he realized that he was being escorted by the mare he immediately considered to be a beauty upon first seeing her, as well as having the strength to match it. Her sturdy yet feminine form reminded Theodore of Taddison's stepmother, who was a pure shireland pony.

Meanwhile, Applejack was having thoughts about the frog on her back. Constantly, she couldn't help but shake the feeling that there was more to this frog than meets the eye. Call it her apple intuition, but this frog was unique.

"So...how’s yer first impression of Ponyville." Applejack asked the frog, hoping to start some conversation.

She just realized that she was trying to talk to a frog. No doubt she was looking like a crazy pony as others were passing by.

However, she took those thoughts and crushed them to the ground. She had conversations with Winona whenever they were together, albeit one sided. She also remembered that Fluttershy talked to animals all the time and nopony called her crazy.

Back to the conversation at hand, Theodore looked around town, studying the various activities that were going on.

"Ribbit, Ribbit." He said, giving a satisfied and happy nod.

Despite not knowing exactly what he said, Applejack knew the frog was liking the town

"Ah’m glad,” She told him, before comforting the frog by saying, “And don’t worry about yer owner's mess, we’ve had crazier things happen here, so a runaway hoppin’ contraption is nothin’ new."

Theodore nodded his thanks.

AJ was again surprised with how pony-ish the frog was being. She really wanted to ask the frog about how he was like this, but decided not to as it seemed rude to just go up to somepony and say ‘Howdy, why ya so weird?’. She learned to be honest, but not be brutally honest.

She instead decided to share something about the town.

"Ya know, my grandmother, Granny Smith, and her family settled in this here land long time ago. If not for ‘em, we wouldn’t be where we are now, and as ya can tell, a busy little town is up and about." She informed the frog proudly.

The frog gave an awestricken look.

"Ribbit." he said, to which Applejack could tell that was frog for ‘wow’.

Before she could share more, though, she was interrupted by a polite cough. Attention caught, she turned to see that it was that prench stallion that served at one of the restaurants. Applejack sadly couldn't remember his name.

"Pardon me, Mademoiselle. But, did you happen to zee a stallion run off? He seemed to have forgotten to pay the check after his meal. Pony these days." He finished with a grumble under his breath.

She turned her body directly to where she could see him.

"Sorry partner, can’t say Ah have." She answered the waiter.

The Prenchie looked at her back with a strange look. "Um, iz there zomething wrong with your frog?"

Immediately, Applejack looked back to Theodore to see if there was anything wrong. She was shocked to see the frog standing on his legs, holding two sticks in a cross shape.

As Theodore stood on his hind legs, he was yelling out, “Ribbit, Ribbit!! Ribbit, Ribbit!!"

Flabbergasted at the frog’s attempts to exorcise the prench pony, Applejack then turned to the baffled stallion with a sheepish smile.

"Oh, probably just the flies he recently ate, obviously made him a little touched in the head. ‘Scuse me, partner." She then walked away from the prench pony, with Theodore meanwhile still chanting at the prench pony.

Once they were far enough, rounding a corner into an alleyway, Applejack bucked the frog upwards off her back like a bull would a rider, and grabbed the frog with her teeth, something she instantly regretted as mucus was now in her mouth.

She threw him onto the ground, the frog landing back first as Applejack was trying to spit the taste of mucus out of her mouth. She lolled her tongue out to see how it looked. Not finding any mucus on it but still tasting it, she rolled it back into her mouth, and turned her attention to Theodore, who was apparently watching her while still laying on his back.

"Now what in tarnation has gotten into ya, Theodore!? Ya acted like that stallion was from Tartarus or somethin’." She angrily said to the frog.

The frog brought himself up from the ground. He then gave out several gestures and ribbits to explain himself, but Applejack just gave a confused glare at him, obviously not understanding him.

Theodore then looked around, hoping to find anything that could possibly help him explain. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a clothing stall that was in front of a store, run by a mare who appeared to be getting things out front organized. As if a light bulb turned on in his head, he came up with an idea and immediately hopped over to the stall. When he was close enough, he leaped up on the stall, startling the mare because his sudden appearance was like he appeared out of thin air.

Ignoring the mare, Theodore grabbed a black beret, a black and white striped shirt, and a red scarf. Despite the clothes being massively oversized, he was able to carry them all the way back to the alleyway where Applejack was.

Once he was in front of her, he got himself into the clothes despite how big they were, and made himself look like a stereotype prench pony.

He turned to Applejack and tried his best to give out a prench laugh, before taking the clothes off and gesturing to himself. Then, he grabbed his legs and pretended to munch on them.

While still confused, Applejack started to somewhat understand the frog's fears, until it finally clicked to her. Frog legs were a delicacy among prench ponies.

"Alright. Ah think Ah understand. Ah git now that you were just scared, but that’s still no excuse for actin’ like a bat out of Tartarus to that Prench pony,” She reprimanded, before lowering herself to his height, “Not all Prench ponies are like that. All he wanted was to know where some freeloader ran off to. Not to chop off yer legs."

"Ribbit, Ribbit." Theodore croaked shamefully, standing up on his hind legs and rubbing his arm in shame.

Applejack gave out a sigh, because it became clear to her that he was just scared and wasn’t trying to cause any problems.

“Why don’t we just head on over to Fluttershy? Ah think you’ll be a lot more secure there.” Applejack said to him with a comforting smile.

The frog nodded yes to that, thinking it was a good idea to head on over there.

And with that, Applejack turned her side toward Theodore, offering him another ride on her back. Theodore perked up and jumped back on the farm pony's back. Once he got on, he began cuddling in her apple scented fur, just like at the hospital.

Applejack couldn’t help but smile. Even though it tickled her and she was able to suppress herself from giggling and chuckling this time, her heart got warm at the sight of the frog enjoying her fur. She didn’t know why, but she thought that the way he was trying to get comfortable and the fact that he was relishing in it was cute.

It didn’t take long for them to move on, exiting the alleyway and being in the clear view of the rest of the town’s residents. The only thing they had forgotten about was those clothes that Theodore took from the clothing stall, which were still laying on the ground.

======****======

20 minutes later…

The odd pair finally arrived at where Flutthershy's cottage was, which was surrounded by a forest. Animals, who were either friends of Fluttershy or visitors, were lounging about around the cottage and front yard. They perked up when they saw Applejack with her frog passenger, eager to see a new face.

Once Applejack stopped in front of the wooden door, she knocked on it with a few taps of her hoof.

For a few moments, they waited, with Theodore taking in the surroundings and how serene everything was. He saw a pair of birds flying together, a family of raccoons going about their day, and even a bear...who was filing his claws, much to Theodore’s amazement.

A creeking sound suddenly caught his attention, and he turned to see that the front door was opening. The door opened all the way to reveal Fluttershy, the element of kindness.

"Oh! Hello, Applejack,” she greeted with her friend with a shy, yet happy, smile, “What brings you here? Have you come to bring Winona in?"

Applejack gave her own smile. "Ah did. But, it’s actually a whole different breed of animal." she said.

She turned her side to show Theodore to the pegasus, the frog still cuddling in the farm pony's fur on her back.

Fluttershy's eyes widened in delight, and she gasped, "Oh my Celestia! A tree frog!”

And she flapped her wings excitedly, before leaning in to get a closer look, “I didn't know they migrated up here."

Applejack chuckled at her friend’s excitement, “Well, it’s actually a whole different case.”

“Oh?” Fluttershy said, her curiosity high.

“Yay. Remember hearin’ the news about a new pony comin’ to town?” Applejack asked.

“Of course.” Fluttershy said with a nod.

"Well, this here critter is the new pony’s pet. But some...problems happened on the first day, and Theodore here is in need of a place to stay for awhile." Applejack explained.

"Oh dear,” Fluttershy moved to the side of the door, inviting her friend and the newcomer in, “Please, do come in. I'll get some tea for us and some crickets for Theodore."

Theodore instantly sprang up at the offer of food, not hesitating to head inside as Fluttershy and Applejack watched him hop on in.

======****======

A few minutes later...

The mares were sitting at the kitchen table with their tea, while Theodore was with the other animals in the living room, eating his crickets. He was currently being watched by Fluttershy’s bunny, Angel, who gave looks of disgust because of Theodore using his tongue to eat.

Meanwhile, Applejack was explaining to Fluttershy about the events that lead to their current situation. The gentle pegasus was shocked and horrified when she heard about Mr.Hopper's injuries.

"Oh...My." Was all she said at hearing about the insane events.

Applejack agreed with her quiet friend, ashamed of herself again because she felt responsible for the stallion’s injuries.

"Ah tell ya, Fluttershy, this week hasn’t been pretty for me,” She relayed, “First, barely an apple has grown on the farm. Then the stress of that made me blow up on Rainbow Dash for just takin’ an extra cider. And now, just when Ah was about to try and have some fun with the others, Ah help a stallion break his legs and spine because Ah was trying to help."

Applejack didn't meant to vent on Fluttershy, but the events of this week almost made her want to cry. She won’t, though, as she just wanted Fluttershy's ear, not to cry on her shoulder.

"I know it’s been a tough week for you, Applejack. But don’t be too hard on yourself. If you hadn't intervened, something much worse probably would have happened to Mr. Hopper from all his jumping around. I’m sure he’ll also be happy that you delivered little Theodore here until he recovered." Fluttershy comforted the blonde maned mare.

At the mention of Theodore, Applejack looked over Fluttershy's shoulder to see how the frog was doing, only to witness a confusing scene. Both Theodore and Angel were hopping around madly after a still alive cricket in the living room. It got more bizarre when the pair grabbed tools and tried to smash the cricket, only to sometimes hit each other accidentally. The scene reminded her of that cat and mouse cartoon Applejack watched as a filly. Fluttershy was simply unaware of what was happening behind her.

It also reminded Applejack of another question she had.

"Ah actually wanted to ask ya somethin’, Fluttershy. Does yer animal expertise have anythin’ on what kind of frog Theodore is?" She questioned the animal expert, while also trying not to gesture toward the mentioned frog and the comedic scene that was still going on.

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, it’s just...Theodore seems different from other frogs. He expresses himself like a pony. He seems to think like a pony. And despite the language barrier, Ah think he even talks like a pony."

Fluttershy put her hoof on her chin in thought. "I’m not sure. I may not be as good at memorizing books as Twilight, but I read that while tree frogs are rare, they don't seem to have higher intelligence than any other frog. Your guess is as good as mine AJ." She answered her friend.

Applejack frowned, as this had only confused her more.

What makes Theodore...well, Theodore?

Is he some truly unique frog that’s smarter than the average frog? Is he an experiment? Or could he be a pony that was transformed into a frog, like that prince in that movie she saw with Rarity one time, where a princess had to kiss him in order to change him back.

The thought of kissing Theodore made Applejack blush and cringe in disgust if that were the case.

"Is something wrong, AJ?" Fluttershy asked, having noticed the redness on Applejack's freckled orange cheeks

AJ shook her head to clear herself of her thoughts. "Nothin’! Its nothin’-"

But she was then interrupted by a crash from the living room.

The mares quickly rushed into the living room and gasped with shock. Theodore and Angel were laying on top of a broken table, looking dazed, bruised, and tired. Theodore then lifted up his front foot, and in it...was the cricket, now dead.

"Ribbiiiiiiiiiiit" The frog croaked out, seeing stars flying around his head and passing out from exhaustion.

Applejack stared at the collapsed frog and then facehoofed.