Shiera gulped down the glass of water. It was strange to see a cup made of glass, but the novelty of it was only brief. Her throat felt a lot better, and she realized she was still a little thirsty. "May i have more, please?" she asked the stallion who was attending the stall. "Sure thing, here ya go!" with a quick motion he poured another cup of water and even put in a bit of ice. Shiera thanked him, and took a few leisure sips before turning back to Twilight. Shiera felt bad for not being to pay for it herself, but she didn't have any money on her, and she wasn't sure how the currency of the world worked just yet. Plus, she only agreed because Twilight had offered. Shiera would have been more than happy to simply take sip in a nearby pool or river, but Twilight had said that it wasn't necessary.

Shiera wasn't sure what to think. Everyone here had been awfully nice to her, something that almost felt bizarre...
It wasn't that people weren't nice to her in her old world, far from it. It was just, people weren't usually this nice. She wasn't sure how she felt about it all yet.

"So what do you think?" asked Twilight, giving Shiera a curious look. Shiera peeked over to see Spike had fallen asleep on Twilight's back. "The water is nice," she replied, taking another sip.

"No, i meant---" just then two ponies stopped in front of us. Neither of them had a horn or wings, but their colors were quite odd. One was blue, almost teal-ish in color and had a swirly pinky mane and tail, and the other one was yellow with orange mane and tail.

"Hey, Twilight! And....oh my! A new friend of yours, Twilight?" asked the blue one with the swirly pink mane and tail.

"Oh, hi Mr. and Mrs. Cake! Um, well uh, yes! This is Shiera An, she'll be staying with Spike and I at the library for a while. She's.....from out of town."

"Well that's nice. Well, Shiera i will warn you, Pinkie sure does love newcomers," chuckled Mr. Cake.

Shiera gave a nervous chuckle, "Yeah....we've met."

"Oh! That's nice. I'm sorry, but we have to go. Have to get these groceries over to the bakery! Have a nice day!" waved Mrs. Cake as she and her husband walked towards where Shiera and Twilight had just came.

"That was Mr. and Mrs. Cake. They own the Sugar Cube Corner. They let Pinkie Pie stay and work there. They are really nice," Twilight explained.

Shiera gave one last curious glance at the two before turning back to Twilight, "So where to next?"

"Hmm, Sweet Apple Acres, i think. We should probably visit AppleJack and her family before it gets too late. Plus it's the farthest place on our list, so getting it out of the way now will make the rest of day much easier." Shiera was going to ask a question, but Twilight seemed to have already made up her mind about it, so Shiera decided it was best to just simply follow her.

AppleJack was already waiting for them when they finally arrived. Shiera wasn't sure how she could have possibly known they were going to be there, but her question got answered when AppleJack spoke up.

"Twilight? And...Shiera? What are y'all two doin' here? I was just about ta head in ta town."

"Oh, well Shiera is feeling better, and so i decided to show her around town. She'll be staying with Spike and I at the library, at least until we can find a way to send her back home." AppleJack gave a questioning look before giving both Twilight and Shiera a look over. Her expression changed to that of acceptance, and she simply shrugged. "I don't mind introducin' ya to the family. We Apples are all hard workers here at Sweet Apple Acres."

As AppleJack guided them to her home, Shiera noticed something odd. "The Trees! They have....apples?! How strange!"

Both Twilight and AppleJack turned to look Shiera. "Haven't ya seen an Apple Tree before?" AppleJack asked, with a frown. Shiera shook her head. "But you know what an apple is, right?" inquired Twilight. Shiera nodded. "Back in my old world, apples are a foreign export. They are bought and traded from other lands, and served as a foreign delicacy. I'd had a few before, but i had never seen or been told how they were made..."

"That's strange, but understandable, i guess." AppleJack replied, though she seemed to think on it for a moment longer, before her expression returned to its neutral state. "Well, anyways, here we are: Sweet Apple Acres. Home, sweet home."

Shiera's expression turned to that of brief surprise as she looked at the land before her. It was a farm. With a barn and everything. She should have figured, given the name of the place, but Shiera had been preoccupied with other thoughts. It was definitely a farm. Smelled like one, too. But thankfully, Shiera's training as a soldier had taught her how to utilize shallow breaths for such occasions.

AppleJack led them to the door, and asked them to wait while she gathered the family. Before long, AppleJack and three other ponies came out into view. "Well, Shiera, this here is my family, at least the ones here at the moment, this here is Big Macintosh, Applebloom and Granny Apple. Big Mac, Applebloom, Granny, this is Shiera An. She's from...."
"Out of town!" Twilight quickly cut in with a nervous chuckle.

Shiera looked at the group, "Um, hi..." The group was an odd sort, but one could definitely tell they were a family. Even if they were all different colors.

"Hi! My name is Applebloom! It's nice to meet---" the small one began, before her eyes suddenly grew big as she noticed Shiera's flank. "You're a Blank Flank too?! But....You're all big and grown up! Maybe you need help finding yours too...."

"Now, now, Applebloom, Shiera's a guest here, and she's only staying in town for a short while, at least until we can find a way to get her home..." chided AppleJack.

Applebloom gave Shiera a curious look. "Are you lost?"

"Well....sort of," Shiera replied.

"Well as long as you don't go startin' any trouble here, and start ruining anythin' here on the farm, you're okay in my book!" exclaimed Granny Apple.

Shiera chuckled, "Don't worry, i no stranger to farming myself."

"Really?" both Applebloom and Twilight asked at the same time.

"Well yes. My father was a soldier, but when he retired, he bought a piece of farmland, and its there that i was born and raised. He even taught me how to fight, and was a big reason why i joined the militia in the first place."

"Militia? Oh, right, you did mention being a general..." Twilight said, half mumbling.

"What's a militia?" asked Applebloom. "It's a like an army though sometimes it can be smaller," explained AppleJack. "Eeyup," reaffirmed Big Mac. "Ooohhh..."

"Well, yeah," Shiera said, blushing slightly, "But my point is, i did live on a farm when i was a little girl." A memory shifted forwarded in her mind, and she smiled. "Whatcha thinking about?" asked AppleJack. Shiera wasn't sure what made her comfortable enough to share such a thing, but share she did.

"Oh, i was just thinking about the story that my mom and dad would tell me every birthday back on my old farm..." Shiera admitted with a blush. "Ooh, can you tell us?" asked the young one. "Applebloom! It's rude to pry into stranger's personal business, especially when you've only just met," chided AppleJack.

Shiera chuckled, "No, its okay, i don't mind sharing." It was then that Shiera noticed that she had the attention of everyone in the room, "Well, take a seat, this might take a bit..."

As soon as everyone was comfortable, Shiera took a deep breath, and began. "There was once a woman who worked as fur trader..." "What's a woman?" Applebloom inquired. "Shhh! Let her tell the story." "Sorry..."

Shiera chuckled, then continued, "So, there was once a woman who worked as a fur trader. She would find and craft the most beautiful furs in all the land. Everyday, starting at sunrise, she would attend her stall and sell all the fine wares that she had crafted the previous night. And she would stay until the sun had set on the horizon before heading home. She lived a simple life, but she was happy, but she knew not what fate had in store for her. There once was a brave man, a soldier who had fought in many a battle, and was happy to serve and protect the land. He was by no means the greatest of his men, nor the least. But he held his own, and had many friends, even in his superiors. He traveled often across the land, going wherever he was needed. And by chance, he was sent to a small village near the mountains, to patrol the nights to keep the villagers safe from danger."

"What's a man? And how does one trade fur, i mean how do they---" "Applebloom!" "Sorry..."

A smirk touched Shiera's lips as she continued. "Now in this village, food was not as plentiful, and winter was a harsh maiden, and thus food was rationed carefully and meticulously. Everyday, a shady man, one whom was known as a beggar, would come to collect his food at the town hall, just as all the other villagers did. And every day, like everyone else, he was given a loaf of bread, a sack of rice, and some nuts and berries. While this was by no means a substantial meal, it kept his belly warm at night, just as it did every other villager. However, one day, a particularly rough storm had passed and had damaged some of the village's crops. They now only had enough food to feed everyone once every two days. It was rough on everyone, but the beggar took it especially hard. One night, he decided he would wait no more, and he would have his food, even if he had to take it from another. The woman who worked at the fur stand normally would be home at such a late time, but a customer had tripped and crashed into the stand, and even though he apologized and even had offered her gold in apology, she told him to keep the gold, and that it was no trouble. Though still, she stayed passed sunset to fix the stand, so that she may sell her wares unhindered the next day."

Shiera took a breath, then continued, "The beggar was desperate, he didn't care who he hurt, as long as he could get his food. It was on this night, that he noticed the woman who was fixing her fur stand, and it was then that he approached her and pulled out a knife. The beggar demanded her food, but she had been busy selling her furs that day, and had not gone to collect her food, so thus, she had no food to give. The beggar did not believe her pleas though, and lunged forward with his knife."

Shiera paused as she heard cries of shock and horror from the group, but she continued on.

"It was also on this night, that the soldier was out on patrol. He wasn't even supposed to be working that night, but a friend of his had gotten sick, so he offered to take his patrol for him. And thus, whilst on his patrol, the soldier heard the cries of the lady who ran the fur stand, and rushed to her aid. It was there he saw the beggar about to strike the woman with his knife. The soldier, without even a moment's hesitation, drew his sword and with one clean swoop, cut the beggar's head clean off! Thus saving the woman." Shiera emphasized this by making a sword sweeping motion with her hooves. The entire group gasped in utter shock and horror. "How barbaric...That's more disturbing than a cow with a pig's left leg..." AppleJack exclaimed, shriveling her snout and sticking out her tongue in disgust. However, Shiera was not done with the story...

"The woman and the soldier then locked eyes. The woman was mesmerized by the handsome warrior who had saved her life, and he was mesmerized by her unmatched beauty. It was then that the two fell in love. And they lived happily ever after." The others began to open their mouths to speak, but Shiera raised a hoof. "That woman was my mother. And the soldier, my father. If just one thing had happened differently that day....if the Beggar had gotten his food, If that customer hadn't of slipped, if my father's friend hadn't gotten sick, If the beggar hadn't noticed my mother.....if just one thing had happened differently that day. My mother and father would have never met, and i would have never been born."

The group simply stared at her in stunned silence, not sure what to say. "My mother always told me that it's always the smallest things make the biggest of changes," Shiera said, smiling to herself. She was not sure why she had shared that story with them, especially since they were all strangers to her. Perhaps it was the memory, or perhaps it was the aura that all of them gave off, or perhaps it was simply because she was simply reminded of her old home and her life before joining the militia. Perhaps it was all of these things. Or none of them. Whatever it was, Shiera figured she would never know.

"Well...Thank you for sharing that with us....It's sounds like you and your family are no stranger to hardships, huh?" AppleJack finally asked, breaking the silence. Shiera shrugged, "Yeah, i guess, but that's pretty common where i come from."

Twilight looked out the window, "Oh my Celestia, we almost forgot the time! We still have a couple places in town we need to visit, we best get to it before it gets dark!"

Shiera jumped to her feet, er hooves, "Oh, yes, you're right! Sorry for wasting all of your time like that..."

"Hey, you didn't waste any of our time here. It was nice meetin' you, Shiera. Your welcome here anytime...." AppleJack said with a smile, "Just uh....next time let's keep the gruesome stories to a minimum, okay?"

Shiera chuckled, "Will do."

Author's Note

Sorry that this took so long. I've had this planned for a while, and when it came time to write it, it just spilled on out. And i finally got a pic up for this story, and yes, it's a vector of sorts. Sorry, i'm not really good at drawing ponies, so i decided to use this instead. Anyways, i hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry that it's a bit longer than usual, but like it i said, it kinda of just gushed out of me, lol ^^!