Fugue - Volume 1

Warily, Huey approached the grey mare. The blonde-maned pegasus had landed near a pile of rubble that was big enough to be used for a place to sit, and used it for that purpose. The human watched as she sighed heavily and sniffled.

"Are you alright?" He asked tenderly. "I heard Drill Bit giving you a hard time and... Well... I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm okay," She lied pathetically. "I just need a minute."

Huey grimaced and sighed himself before sitting next to her.

"I can tell that what he said really hurt you," He countered. "And it pains me to see a lady in tears."

"Ha!" She scoffed. "Some lady I am, I can't even deliver some stupid cement without messing up."

"Accidents happen!" He soothed. "You don't intend to cause them, so that's hardly something you should tear yourself up over, surely?"

"It's not just the odd accident every now and then though," The mare sighed. "It's everyday, it's everything I do. From dawn to dusk, I can't do anything without breaking something, hurting myself or getting lost."

"Oh, come now," Huey said incredulously. "That's an over-exaggeration, surely?"

"Trust me," She murmured. "It really isn't."

"And why's that?"

Slowly, her head turned, allowing Huey to see one of her golden eyes look at him sadly.

"I have this... Problem," She began nervously. "I'm different to other ponies, and it makes everything really hard to do. I get teased about it a lot."

"Teased?" Huey repeated. "I don't understand, you look fine to me. Four legs, wings, nothing seems out of the ordinary."

After a few moments, the mare took a deep breath and exhaled before turning herself towards Huey. To his surprise, he discovered that her right eye, which she had been hiding throughout the conversation, was misaligned in comparison to her left. While her left eye was gazing at him, the right was looking up and to the right. Huey tilted his head and silently gazed at her.

"Is that it?"

"W-What?" She burbled in surprise. "Y-Yeah, but... W-Why aren't you? What?"

"I'm sorry," Huey began solemnly. "But I don't see anything particularly wrong here. My kind have a name for what you seem to have. We call it a lazy eye."

"Lazy eye?" She repeated softly. "I've been told it's a wonky eye or a derpy eye."

"Neither of those terms, or, to be fair, lazy eye, is actually accurate," Huey mused. "Pardon me for prying, but how long have had you this problem?"

"All my life," She confessed. "As far back as I can remember, I couldn't see stuff right. It'd always be blurry, or there'd be two of everything. It was also always either further away or closer than I thought it was."

Huey hummed softly as he mulled over the information she had provided.

"Could you look at my finger?" He asked, presenting a single index finger for the mare to gaze at.

"What for?" She asked inquisitively, but obeyed and looked at it anyway.

"The most common cause of the condition you probably have, which my kind call 'strabismus', is due to the muscles that cause eye movement being either weak or paralysed," Huey explained, slowly waving his finger from side to side. "However, both eyes are moving equal amounts."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that your problem isn't because of your eye muscles," He revealed, letting his finger drop back to his side. "When you look at something, your good eye focuses on it, which is what your bad eye is meant to do. Instead, your bad eye is permanently offset upwards and to the right."

"Can it be cured?" The mare asked, a hint of hope in her tone. Unfortunately, Huey's sigh made her ears droop.

"I don't know," He admitted. "I'm not a doctor. I just know scraps of information, some of which is medical. My only advice would be to ignore what it's telling you."

"How am I meant to do that?" She asked tearfully. "How do I just not use that eye?"

"Honestly?" Huey began gravely. "The two things I can think of are; to learn to compensate for the lack of depth perception through practice and muscle memory, or..."

"Or what?"

"Total sensory deprivation," He murmured. "Which could be done with the aid of an eyepatch or removal of the eye."

The mare gasped in shock and backed away.

"Remove my eye!?" She spluttered. "What kind of suggestion is that!?"

"A realistic one," Huey said, remaining seated to ensure he did not spook the agitated mare. "I will be perfectly frank with you, the drastic idea of literally removing one of your eyes is something that, while an option, is never suggested by doctors where I'm from. As for the eyepatch, I worry that would just make you more of a target for teasing. Before I came to see you, Drill Bit said a number of rather mean things once you were out of ear shot, and mentioned a number of others hold the same view as him."

The mare's eyes glistened as tears welled up. Her lip quivered softly as she tried, in vain, to hold the flood back. As soon as the first sob emanated from her, Huey approached her and knelt down.

"Hey," He began firmly. "Look at me."

With the assistance of his hands gently cupping her cheeks, the distraught mare looked at him as best as she could.

"They're idiots," Huey stated. "They're not doctors. They know nothing of what it's like to live your life. Do they know how hard it is when your depth perception is non-existent? No, they don't. Do they know how hard you try to make the best of a bad situation? No, they don't care. They just think of themselves and the inconvenience they have inflicted upon them by something that you can't help."

Huey smiled weakly and let his thumbs wipe away a couple of the mare’s tears before continuing with his soliloquy.

"The reality of this is that you are still a pony. Yes, you have trouble with your sight, but you do your best to ensure it does not hold you back. You fight on, despite the minor mishaps. They don't know what it's like, they don't think of how hard it must be for you to cope with this every day. I can't begin to imagine how bad you must feel when you have an accident, but having the teasing and badgering fromothers piled onto you... That really hurts. You deserve better, Miss."

"Y-You really think so?" She stuttered, her ears pricking up at the kind words she had heard. Huey nodded solemnly.

"I really do," He stated confidently. "If anything, you must be a real tough cookie to have put up with this kind of crap for so long. That's a very admirable quality to have."

After flashing the cheered up mare a genuine smile, Huey stood back up. To his surprise, he immediately found something wrapping round his lower torso. Glancing down, he discovered that the mare had reared up onto her hind hooves and was hugging him tight.

"Thank you!" She cried. "I've never heard anyone say anything so nice to me before!"

Huey frowned at the sad fact he had just heard, and returned the embrace she had initiated. With a gentle tousle of her blonde mane, the hug ended with the pegasus smiling from ear to ear.

"Well, I wouldn't have said it if I didn't believe it was true," He stated honestly. "Regardless, I don't think we've been properly introduced. My name's Huey."

"Mhm! I saw you at the meeting yesterday!" She chirped. "My name's Ditzy Doo, no matter what others say!"

"And what do others say?"

"They call me Derpy instead," Ditzy huffed. "But that's not my real name!"

"Sounds like just another way to try and bring your spirits down," Huey remarked. "Well, don't let them. You have a big heart and a lot to give, don't let some mean-spirited fools take that away from you."

"Yes, sir!" She acknowledged with a salute, but immediately became a lot more subdued. "Um... If you'll pardon me for asking, but would you like to have lunch with me?"

"I would be delighted to!" Huey declared. "However, I don't have anything to eat. I hadn't had time to prepare anything before heading out to the work site."

"Well, I can share my lunch with you!" Ditzy offered, while heading back towards Huey's work site. "I usually pack too much anyway!"

"I'd gladly accept on one condition," Huey began. "I get to return the favour later."

The mare stopped in her tracks and whirled round to face him. Her cheeks had turned a faint red, while her eyes had widened.

"A-Are you asking me i-if..." She stammered. "You can take me out to dinner?"

It was now Huey's turn to be stopped in his tracks. The idea he had in mind was to buy her something from Sugarcube Corner for lunch, but, after a moment of consideration, he realised how broad his statement had been. Awkwardly, he cleared his throat.

"Well, not necessarily dinner," He began nervously. "I was thinking I could buy you lunch to repay you for giving me some of yours today, but if you would prefer dinner or breakfast somewhere, I'd be more than happy to treat you."

"Oh my..." Ditzy remarked, her gaze turning away. "This kind of sounds like you're asking me on a date."

"W-What?!" Huey spluttered. "No! Not a date, just the opportunity to repay you for your generosity, that's all!"

Ditzy's eyes narrowed for a moment, before she immediately nodded.

"Alright!" She chirped happily. "It's a deal!"

Huey watched speechlessly as Ditzy continued trotting towards the work site. He wondered what her reasons were for asking such questions. Did she think he was attempting to take advantage of her? Was she so inexperienced with social interaction that she needed the security of knowing unequivocally that his offer had no hidden motive? If that was the case, then how did it explain away the fact that he was a hairless biped, while she was a quadruped equine with wings? Did that mean inter-species relationships existed? Huey scratched his head and pushed the questions to the back of his mind. The answers were not needed, since he had no intention of taking any of the relationships he had with the equines any further than that of friendship.

"Wait up!" Huey called out to Ditzy, as he ran to catch up with her.

"What's she doing back here?"

Huey frowned at Drill Bit's hostility towards Ditzy. He and the blonde pegasus had arrived back at the work site, where the rest of the crew were busy opening up their saddlebags to retrieve their respective lunches. However, that hadn't prevented the foreman from taking the opportunity to take another jab at her.

"She," Huey said defensively. "was kind enough to share her lunch with me. So, unless you know of a way for her to have her lunch, and share it, without being near me, I'm all ears."

The stallion huffed in annoyance before turning away to return to his own meal.

"Just don't let her touch anything," He retorted. "It'll probably break."

Huey gritted his teeth, his blood boiling slightly in anger at Drill Bit's behaviour. His attention was then drawn away by something tugging on his shirt sleeve. Glancing to his side, he found the pegasus looking up at him, her hoof grasping his sleeve tightly.

"Just ignore him!" She insisted. "I'll be okay, I promise."

"It still annoys me," Huey huffed, following Ditzy to the cart she had brought to the site to sit down. "You don't deserve this kind of treatment!"

"I know, but it's just the way things are," She explained. "Still, it's not so bad. I have somepony else who isn't mean to me!"

"Who?"

Ditzy raised an eyebrow and glared at Huey, causing him to gasp in realisation.

"Oh, you mean me!" He exclaimed. "Sorry, I thought, when you said 'somepony else', that you were talking about an actual equine."

"Nope, I was talking about you, silly!" Ditzy giggled, giving Huey a gentle push. "Anywho, I have chocolate chip muffins, blueberry muffins, cranberry muffins, honey muffins..."

"Ditzy," Huey interrupted gently. "You had me at chocolate chip muffins. I'd be delighted to have one of those... Although, the honey muffins sound delicious."

"Alrighty!" She chirped. "Chocolate chip and honey muffins coming up!"

Huey smiled as he was handed a pair of the baked goods. The aroma and sight were enough to make him want to immediately stuff them into his mouth, but courtesy prevailed and he took a single bite out of the honey muffin. The soft texture and sweet taste made him groan in delight, causing Ditzy to blush lightly and smile.

"That good, huh?"

"Oh my word," Huey mumbled, his mouth still full of delicious muffin. "You've got to tell me where you bought these. They're beyond description!"

"I made them myself," Ditzy admitted nervously, causing the human's eyes to widen.

"You need to give me your recipe!" He exclaimed urgently. "This honey muffin is just... I don't even know where to begin."

"You'll like the chocolate chip ones then!" She remarked. "I usually go overboard with the chocolate, so it's kind of like a chocolate explosion!"

"Say no more!" Huey begged. "I can only take so much deliciousness!"

Ditzy burst into laughter at Huey's response, her hoof reaching up to cover her forehead and clenched eyes.

"Haha!" She guffawed. "They're not THAT good, Huey! You don't need t-"

Her speech was immediately cut off by something pressing gently against her lips. Her eyes immediately opened to find that Huey had used his finger to silence her.

"I mean it!" Huey insisted. "These are absolutely divine! Literal food of the gods, Ditzy. I know this probably sounds like an over-exaggeration, but you honestly seem to be wasting your talent for baking on working for a moving company."

Ditzy pursed her lips, her blush returning with a much greater ferocity as her cheeks burned with embarrassment.

"You really think so?" She asked, still incredulous as to whether Huey was being sincere about her culinary talents.

"I do!" He assured her. "They're delicious, divine... Perfect."

The pegasus, after taking a moment to let Huey's statement sink in, slowly let a wide grin emerge.

"That's just the sweetest thing ever!"

"Not as sweet as this muffin!" Huey countered, presenting the half-eaten honey muffin. "What I said doesn't even come close."

Ditzy giggled as Huey returned to savouring her culinary products. The groans and hums of delight emanating from him caused an unfamiliar, but pleasant and warm, feeling to spread out across her body from her heart. It was only after a few moments of intense thought did she realise that she was feeling pride. She could not remember the last time she had experienced this, but she knew immediately that she loved it.

As far as she could remember, there was little that she could say she was proud of. Ditzy had always been brought down by the persistent scolding of others for the inherent clumsiness that accompanied her eye condition. It had even come to the point where it was the only feature anyone ever noticed. Even she had begun to believe that she was nothing, but a disappointment and a nuisance to everypony else. However, this strange biped had unleashed a renewed sense of self-worth. She wasn't just a "derpy-eyed klutz", she was a derpy eyed klutz who could bake a damn good muffin. Ditzy smiled confidently and puffed her chest up as she relished the status she had conferred upon herself. It was still, by average standards, a very low mark, but it was infinitely better than what she thought about herself before now.

"The chocolate chip one's just as good!" Huey remarked, breaking Ditzy's train of thought. The mare nodded and smiled even more at the compliment.

"I do my best!"

"And it definitely shows," He replied. "Again, I must say that your true calling in life must be baking. These are positively scrumptious!"

"Haha... I would have agreed with you, but the mess I make in the kitchen would probably get me fired."

"That may be the case," Huey admitted. "But even you must admit that what you've baked here is truly special."

Ditzy looked away thoughtfully. She could not deny that what she baked always tasted delicious to her, but no one else had ever bothered to give her efforts a try. As such, how could she know if they were delicious to others? She had always assumed she was just biased since she had made them. Could it be that they were genuinely delicious?

"Wait..."

The blonde mare looked up at Huey, who was looking at her with narrowed eyes that were filled with suspicion.

"You said 'somepony else'," He muttered. "If I'm the second, who's the first?"

Ditzy looked down, so that she didn't have to see his piercing gaze.

"My daughter."

Huey gasped lightly.

"Y-Your daughter?" He spluttered. "Why wait until now to mention that!?"

Ditzy shrank away, her feeling of pride immediately being replaced by shame.

"I..." She began nervously. "I try not to talk about her. She gets enough trouble having a mother as rubbish as me. So, I just keep the fact I'm her mother to myself. She doesn't deserve to have the same childhood I had... And I'll do anything to make sure of that!"

Huey's suspicion melted into sadness. This talented mare, through a minor fault in her eye, had been browbeaten to the point where she didn't even feel it was appropriate to be proud of having a foal of her own. She was willing to sacrifice her own happiness and well-being for her daughter. This realisation caused Huey to sniffle and gently wrap his arms round Ditzy, causing the pegasus to squeak quietly in surprise.

"You should never have to do that, Ditzy," He whispered tenderly. "Your daughter is, in my view, in the care of the best mother ever."

It was now Ditzy's turn to sniffle. Tears swiftly welled up and began to flow down her cheeks. She had never been complimented on her parenting skills before. Admittedly, few, if any, ponies knew of her status as a parent, since she didn't want any of the abuse she experienced to be shifted onto her child.

"Thank you," She whispered. "Thank you so much."

"Anytime," Huey whispered back, his hand gently petting her soft, blonde mane. "But I need you to promise me something."

The pair slowly disengaged, so that they could look into each other's eyes.

"What?"

"Don't hide yourself away," He requested. "There's a saying where I'm from that many with certain problems follow; 'A disability is what you make of it.'"

Ditzy tilted her head as she digested the phrase she had been told.

"Just because you have a problematic eye doesn't mean you should let it hold you back," Huey continued. "Overcome it, never let it stop you from doing what you really want. With enough determination, you can be just as good, if not better, than anyone else."

"That's... Really deep," Ditzy murmured. "You must be really smart!"

"Haha!" Huey laughed softly. "I wouldn't know, personally. I don't even know my real name."

"Huey's not your real name?"

"Sadly, it isn't," The human admitted. "Twilight Sparkle, the librarian for Ponyville, made the name as a mixture of pony and my species name, human."

"Oh! Hu and ny, but without the 'nuh' sound, right?"

"Precisely!" Huey congratulated. "Honestly, I feel like the name's growing on me, so... I think I might keep it as my name, if my memories return."

"Do you think they will come back?"

"I honestly don't know. Sometimes amnesiacs never get their memories back, but that never stops them from making new ones."

"Like what's happening now?"

"Definitely," Huey reassured her, giving her ear a gentle rub. "I'm glad that you equines are so accepting of me. I must look so peculiar to you."

"I don't know," Ditzy murmured, her eyelids fluttering slightly as her ear was rubbed. "You don't look that strange to me."

"I don't?"

"Not at all!" She chirped. "There's all kinds of scary creatures here in Equestria! Chimeras, manticores, dragons... Some of which are all bits of creature stuck together! You don't look dangerous like they do."

"That's very kind and reassuring of you, Ditzy, thank you."

"No problem!"

"Hey, lovebirds! Lunch-break's over!"

The pair turned to see an irritated Drill Bit shouting at them. Ditzy immediately blushed at the suggestion that she and Huey were an item. Huey merely rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Just ignore him," He whispered reassuringly. "And remember what I said."

"Yes, sir, Huey, sir!" Ditzy replied cheerfully with a salute, causing the human to chuckle lightly.

"Good! I'll see you around, I hope?"

"Oh, don't worry! I'm sure we'll bump into each other sooner, rather than later!" She replied before her eyes widened. "Oh! Before you go, have another muffin to give you plenty of strength for the rest of the day!"

Swiftly, she retrieved another of her muffins and handed it to Huey, who immediately took a bite and hummed with delight.

"I am telling you, Ditzy," He murmured through a mouthful of half-chewed muffin. "You should consider becoming a baker. Your efforts are just too delicious."

"Maybe I will," She replied with a giggle. "But for now, it's back to work! Ponyville won't rebuild itself!"

Huey nodded and watched as Ditzy hitched herself up to the wagon she had brought to his work-site and trotted away. Once she had vanished from sight, he returned to the rest of the crew.

"Howdy, Huey! How was your day?"

Huey merely grumbled halfheartedly as he accepted the generous portion of apple pie Applejack offered to him. Wearily, he trudged round the back of the stall The Apples had set up that morning and slumped to the floor, out of sight of the rest of the townsfolk that were beginning to queue up for their dinner.

"That bad, huh?"

"Ugh... It's not that it was bad, Applejack," Huey groaned, every joint within his body crying for the sweet release of pain relief. "I just have some major pain from overexertion. Whatever I did before I lost my memory, it wasn't physically demanding at all."

"Don't ya worry a bit, sugarcube," She reassured him. "Granny always told me that kind of pain was just proof that ya done a good day’s work."

"I wish that made my agony better to cope with," He whined. "All I feel is regret."

"You listen here, mister. Ya mucked in to help rebuild Ponyville, heck ya one of the main drivers behind this. Don't go quittin' on us now."

"I'm not going to quit," Huey reassured her. "I'm just whining for the fun of it. Just ignore me, I'll shut up eventually... I hope."

Suddenly, a wave of relief washed over his body, causing all of the aches and pains to vanish. Huey sighed and shivered in delight at the absence of the discomfort he had been developing throughout the day.

"Feel better, Huey?"

Looking up, the human saw Twilight and Spike approaching him and Applejack. A happy grin spread across his face.

"Analgesia?" Huey asked, causing Twilight to nod in response. "Thank you so much, Twilight. I feel much better now!"

"Happy to be of help!" She chirped. "How much progress did you make today?"

"Well," Huey began. "I and the rest of the crew have cleared the foundations of Nightjar's house and got the walls and frame set up. Drill Bit thinks that we'll probably be finished by noon tomorrow, if we start early to get the roof thatched and furniture moved in."

"That's fantastic!" Twilight beamed, while Spike, who was holding a piece of parchment and a quill, began to scribble notes. "The rest of the crews have been achieving similar progress! If my quick calculations are correct, we should have Ponyville rebuilt by the end of the week!"

"Seriously?" Huey asked, completely flabbergasted by the projection she had made. "That quick? I honestly thought this would take a month!"

"Well, the only complex building that needs to be rebuilt is the town hall," Twilight explained. "The rest are a composite of easily sourced materials such as thatch, clay, wattle and timber that are relatively easy to build!"

"I kind of guessed," Huey replied with a grimace. "This kind of architecture was used by my kind around five hundred years ago."

"Five hundred years ago!?" Twilight blurted out in surprise. "What do your kind do now for building homes?"

"Bricks and mortar with tiled roofs, double or triple glazing windows, full plumbing, electricity and broadband."

"What's broadband?"

Huey opened his mouth to answer, but stopped when he realised the enormity of the question he had been asked.

"I'll explain later," He replied sheepishly. "It's a very complex topic, plus I'd like to eat this apple pie before it gets cold."

"Gosh! Every time you speak of humans, I get even more questions!" Twilight remarked excitedly. "This is thrilling! Wait... Oh... I'm sorry for disturbing your meal."

"It's fine," Huey reassured her with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Why don't you and Spike join me for dinner? I've not seen you all day!"

"Yeah, sorry about that!" The unicorn apologised. "I got up early and didn't want to disturb you."

"Have you even eaten?" He enquired. "I don't recall you coming to the breakfast line this morning."

His query was answered by a sudden and ferocious growl, which emanated from Twilight's stomach. The intellectual immediately blushed in embarrassment and looked at the floor.

"No, I was too busy to eat today."

Applejack and Huey shared an alarmed glance, before the apple farmer immediately piled a plate up with apple-based edibles.

"Now you get some o' this down ya gullet, Twilight!" Applejack insisted. "Ya'll get some mighty bad hunger pains if ya don't!"

"Thanks, Applejack," Twilight replied gratefully, her horn igniting as her magic levitated the plate, and its contents, towards her. "I guess I overdid it to the point where I forgot about my own needs."

"You're of no use to anyone if you're incapacitated by hunger, thirst or fatigue." Huey remarked, patting the ground next to him as an invitation for the unicorn and her draconic assistant to sit down. "And I can't begin to imagine what would happen if you were out of action."

"Oh, Huey," Twilight murmured sheepishly. "I'm not THAT important."

"Some of us would beg to differ," Huey countered. "Right, Applejack?"

"Right ya are, pardner!" Applejack agreed, as her attention remained fixed on serving the massive line that had materialised. "If you weren't there when we took on Nightmare Moon, we would have been done for! No question about that."

Twilight smiled weakly, a faint blush tinting her cheeks as she remained silent and began to enjoy her meal.

"Moving on," Huey began with a cough. "I made a new friend today."

"You did? That's wonderful!" Twilight exclaimed. "Who did you meet?"

"Yeah, who's the lucky pony?" Applejack asked.

"Well, I met a pegasus during my lunch break," He explained. "Her name's Ditzy Doo. Grey coat, blonde mane, bubbles for a cutie mark, golden eyes."

"That sounds kinda familiar," Applejack murmured thoughtfully. "Is she the one where one of her eyes is kinda... You know?"

"Offset?" Huey guessed, causing Applejack to nod. "Yes, that's the one. She shared her lunch with me, since I neglected to get some of my own."

"She sounds lovely!" Twilight remarked, her hooves clapping together happily. "I'll be sure to keep an eye out for her and say hello!"

"Oh yeah, you're still quite new here, aren't you?"

"Mhm!" She hummed with a nod. "I've been a resident here for almost a week now. Pinkie threw a welcome party for me on my first day, but I wasn't exactly that inclined to mingle. That was before I truly understood how much friendship means to the average equine."

"So, you have some catching up to do as well," Huey remarked, finishing off the last of his pie. "Still, I promised her I'd take her out to eat sometime."

Twilight suddenly began spluttering in surprise, while Applejack dropped the plate she was about to hand over to a hungry earth mare.

"You're going on a date with her!?" Twilight exclaimed in amazement, causing Huey's eyes to widen.

"What!?" He burbled in alarm. "No! No, it's nothing like that at all! She offered me part of her lunch and I thought it was only fair for me to return the favour by buying her dinner or lunch as friends. It's not a date, we both made that very clear to each other!"

Applejack raised an eyebrow and squinted suspiciously at him.

"Don't look at me like that!" Huey said defensively. "It's not a date."

"Taking a mare out for a meal," Applejack mused. "Sounds like a date to me."

"She's right, Huey," Twilight concurred with a nod. "I read that a common form of courting is to engage in private meals together at public venues. So, from what you describe, it definitely fits."

"Wrong!" Huey countered forcefully. "A date requires both of the parties involved to be engaging in courting, aka the kindling of a romantic relationship. Neither of us are interested in such a thing. It is merely an opportunity to show my appreciation for her generosity. That is all."

"If ya say so, Huey," Applejack replied with a stifled snigger, causing Huey to glare at her with a deadpan expression.

"I'm not going to hear the end of this, am I?" He asked. "This is going to be wrung through the rumour mill until it's as desolate as the desert."

"Nah, it's fine, Huey," Applejack reassured him. "I just found your response to be a bit much. It was pretty funny to me."

"Alright, I'm glad that's been made clear." Huey said with a relieved sigh, standing up. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be in the library, if you need me."

"I'll be along shortly, Huey," Twilight replied. "It's getting late, and we need to be up bright and early!"

"Huey!" Applejack blurted out, causing the human to turn towards her.

"What?"

"I just wanted to say..." She struggled to say through a torrent of giggles. "Good luck on your date."

The dam broke and Applejack burst into hearty guffaws at the human's expense. Huey, after watching her for a moments, took a step towards her and snatched her stetson off her head. The sudden theft of her hat silenced Applejack immediately.

"Hey! You gimme mah hat back!"

Huey took a step back, placing the stetson on his head.

"Or what?" He asked defiantly. "I'm bigger than you."

"I'll buck you like one of my apple trees for pinching my hat!" Applejack stated bluntly. The hint of venom in her voice signalled to Huey that the hat he'd just taken had value that went beyond just a favourite accessory. Solemnly, he removed the hat and handed it back to its owner.

"Sorry, Applejack," He apologised. "I know you were just teasing. I shouldn't have taken your hat."

The orange mare grimaced and sighed in response.

"I shouldn't have teased ya, sugarcube," She admitted. "I couldn't help myself."

"It's alright," He reassured her. "I probably would have done the same in your shoes... Hooves? Anyway, if you did kick me, I'd probably have every rib broken!"

"Most probably!" Applejack agreed, bucking her back legs back to demonstrate her strength. "Them there legs have been bucking trees for as long as I can remember."

"Anywho, no hard feelings?" Huey enquired hopefully, his hand reaching out as a peace offering.

"No hard feelin's!" Applejack replied heartily, her hoof extending out for Huey to grasp and shake firmly. The farmer then squeaked as Huey knelt down and pulled her closer for a brief hug, which she gingerly returned.

"I'm glad," Huey murmured, once he had let her go. "Good night, you three!"

Applejack, Twilight and Spike made their own farewells as Huey waved and ventured to bed.