A Place To Lay My Head

Chapters

Where There's Smoke
Someplace To Rest My Weary Soul
First Night In A New Home
Pinkie 'Responsibility' Pie
Nightmare Night
Big Madintosh
Corruption
[Interlude] I Think I Know What Went Wrong
Pinkie's Dashed Hope
Just Desserts
I Just Wanna Strangle You With Friendship
All It Takes Is One Bad Day

Where There's Smoke

"Nnn...cookies are burning...." The shape tossed and turned under the brightly colored sheets, in the brightly colored room, which was on the top floor of the brightly colored building. the shape then threw the covers off and sat up. A frazzled pink mane was the most noticeable feature, it was poofed out on one side while the other was stuck to her face. In other words, it was a very bad case of bedmane.

The mare looked around the room through sleep-laden blue eyes. At first, she thought that she still had sleep in her eyes because the world was so foggy. So she brought a weak hooves up to her eyes and rubbed them, letting out a small yawn as she did so. But, even as she opened her eyes from the good wake up, she still say the world as a foggy mess.

At that point she realized something, she wasn't seeing fog. She sniffed the air, an acrid scent assaulted her sense and started to burn her eyes. This wasn't fog, or sleep. It was smoke! She bolted upright, her eyes popping open to their usual size.

"Smoke!" In an instant, she was out of bed and on the move. First things first, well at least in her room. Gummy. She quickly found her little reptile in his pet pink and green pet bed in the corner of the room, picked him up and firmly placed him in her mane. It was the safest place for the little alligator at the moment, and she didn't want him getting hurt.

She knew she couldn't grab anything else without severely slowing herself down, so she thought it best to hightail it out of the burning building. She went to the door and grabbed the handle, as it turned out Pinkie didn't remember the lessons they were taught in school about fire safety whenever the situation called for such recollection. The handle was red hot as Pinkie found out. the pony quickly withdrew her hoof and blew on it, she could already feel it blistering from the extreme heat.

"Owowowowow!" She wanted to put her hoof down, but doing so caused immense amounts of pain in her hoof. So she hobbled over to the window, her injured hoof safely off of the ground. The smoke was getting thicker and it was become more laborious to breathe. She needed to get out, now.

She gazed out the window, she could barely see the crowd gathering around outside through the smoke laden atmosphere. Knowing that she couldn't use her good hoof without losing her balance and faceplanting on the floor below. So with great care and precision she opened the window with her teeth and pushed it up with her muzzle. Thankfully there was no screen on the outside of her window, she had gotten rid of that a long time ago during her more adventurous days.

Though back in those days it was easier to climb out because she didn't have a burned hoof and smoke inhalation. The mare stepped out of the window, putting her left hooves out first, her good side, then her back right, then finally her burned hoof. As she took great care with her hoof, she didn't feel the fire weakened roof below her crack. By the time she did realize that something was about to happen, it happened. The roof gave and Pinkie plummeted into the fiery bakery below.

"Will she be alright, Doctor?" Twilight stood to speak for all of her friends. They had all been waiting in the waiting room all night. Well, all except Fluttershy. She was busy watching over Sweetiebelle and Applebloom for the night while their big sisters were away.

The doctor, Doctor Stable, looked through a chart he had. He was the same doctor that took care of Dash's broken wing. "Well, your friend is relatively fine. Just some moderate smoke inhalation and a cracked and broken hoof. A day or two to recover and she will be fine." He was always so professional about giving news, he wasnt sympathetic and he wasn't mean. He simply did his job.

"Can we see her...?" All of Pinkie's friend stood up when the question was asked, eager to see their friend on a moment's notice.

"Yes, just don't let her stand. We don't want her hoof getting worse." The mares all gave nods, then followed the Doctor down the hall and to a room with a simple slide next to it that said 'Pinkamena D. Pie' on it. "You may go in, but remember what I said." Once again the mares all nodded, then silently went inside.

There on the bed was Pinkie Pie. The usually bubbly mare was laying down, a transparent mask over her mouth. She looked so weak and fragile compared to her normal self. She was asleep, so maybe that was the reason why, she always did looked peaceful when she calmed down and truly rested.

"Celestia, she looks so...so..." Twilight couldn't find the right words, so Rainbow Dash helped her along.

"Un-Pinkie Pie." Dash, always hovering, floats over to the bed and gives her pink friend an experimental poke. "Helloooo?" Another poke, then another, and once again. "Huh...never realized how soft she is. She's like my stuffed an-I mean...a stuffed animal." The pegasus may have thought that she covered up her mistake, but the others gave a small giggle at the cover up. "Seriously, come feel this."

The girls all circled the bed and gave their sick friend a poke. Sure, they had given the pink mare hugs before, but those were brief or group hugs. They'd never actually felt Pinkie before. Her coat was plush, so very much so that one might call her a stuffed animal if she could not think and speak. It was quite the thing to experience.

The four ponies were so busy feeling their plush friend that they did not see her eyes flutter open. A groan echoed over the sound of the giggles. All of the ponies stopped with their poking.

"Ugh...why do I feel like a pin cushion...?" That got a laugh from everyone in the room.

Someplace To Rest My Weary Soul

"Ah...Ah guess y'all can come stay at mah place for awhile. We do have an extra room..." Applejack put her hat back on and shot all of her friends a look saying 'Ah'm gonna get'cha for this.' "But ya ain't jus' gonna mooch off of our hospitality. You're gonna pull your own weight, ah mean it." Applejack gave a stern, no nonsense look to the jittery pink mare.

"Thank you Applejack! Thank you so much!" Pinkie, in an act of pure Pinkie magic, disappeared then appeared at Applejack's hooves, kissing them as if AJ was Princess Celestia herself. The orange pony looked down at her friend with a one cocked eye.

"Urm...y'all can stop doing that now.."

"We gotta get outta here..." Concluded Scootaloo quietly to her cohorts who were laying beside her on the couch. "Like...now." The other two Crusaders nodded in agreement. Three pairs of eyes fell upon the rather adorable sight of Fluttershy and Big Macintosh gently nuzzling each other. "Okay..now. I mean it, that's gross.." Scootaloo, to make her point, made a gagging sound.

"Agreed. Ah can't stand ta see mah brother all mushy." Applebloom averted her eyes from the sight of her brother kissing the pegasus. "Ugh...get a room..."

"I think they're cute together." Said the little white unicorn dreamily."

"Shut up Sweetiebelle." The two other fillies said in tandem. The unicorn flattened her ears and looked down, clearly learning her lesson about speaking positively of lovey-dovey things.

Both of the older ponies closed their eyes and enjoyed each other's embrace. The mischievous leader of the fillies quietly got up, spread her little wings, and hopped down from the couch silently. Being a pegasus had its advantages, mainly that the winged equines were very light due to hollow bones, making them near silent when doing anything.

Next Sweetiebelle hopped off, her hooves making a soft sound when hitting the ground, but that didn't disturb the two lovers.

Finally Applebloom jumped down. Now earth ponies were the most hardy of the three races, they were built for manual labor and it showed. The yellow filly hit the ground with a small, but mighty, thud. All members of the CMC stopped, their hearts skipped a beat as they all cast a sidelong glance at their foalsitters. Thankfully the two were too lost in each others eyes to even pay attention to the fillies.

"C;'mon..." The orange pegasus whispered as she started silently trotting down the hallway of Fluttershy's cottage to the room that they stayed in the last time they were in the animal caretaker's house. They knew the bed was positioned in such a way that they could hop through a window and escape the cozy cottage prison.

They quickly and quietly opened the door and entered the room in one fluid motion. Thankfully, the bed was still right under the window and ready for climbing! The three adventurous fillies clambered up on the bed, then, just like last time, boosted one another up. Applebloom first, then Scootaloo, and finally the Sweetiebelle.

With that, they were free of any supervision and free to go to the hospital.

Pinkie Pie had been discharged from the hospital only a few minutes ago and had been left in the care of Applejack. Their friends, who had lives of their own to return to, each gave Pinkie a hug and Applejack their condolences. Now AJ and Pinkie were alone in the lobby of the hospital, awkwardly waiting for the other to say something.

"So....uh..." The country mare was the first one to speak. "Can y'all walk, or do ya need mah help...?" Pinkie looked down at her hoof which was now in a splint. The pink mare haphazardly put it to the floor then applied a little pressure.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Pinkie quickly lifted her hoof from the ground and grimaced. "No good, sorry A-" Her next word wasn't even a word, it was more of a squeak. The mare let loose the sound due to a very toned body coming underneath her own and lifting her up. "Ooh, a piggyback ride!" Pinkie gave her traditional grin, her pain already obviously forgotten. "Thanks Applejack!"

Applejack only nodded and started on a brisk trot out of the hospital. "Yer lighter than a leaf, Pinkie. Ah figured ya'd be heavier." It was true, the workhorse barely felt the load on her back, it was as if she was giving Applebloom a ride. She expected a full grown earth pony to be a lot heavier.

"I get that a lot." That was all Pinkie said, no explanation, no defense. Just a simple dismissal. Applejack never really expected an explanation from Pinkie Pie....or an explanation of Pinkie Pie. But one would be nice.

After a few minutes of trotting in absolute silence, Pinkie spoke up. "So, what kinda rules do you guys have at Casa De Apple?" Pinkie rolled over so that she was arched over Applejack's back. It was something she could be doing on most days out in the sunlight. She was basking in the warm glow of the day.

Applejack craned her head back to look at her friend, she looked so innocent in that position, and a lot like a feline stretched out in the sun. Applejack frowned. "Well for one, no lazin' about like ya do. Everypony has chores an' ah'm sure Applebloom would love ta split hers with ya." Pinkie Pie righted herself and gave a shake of her head in the affirmative. "But since ya have that injured appendage, ah'll leave ya to cookin' with Granny Smith until you're feelin' all better. Ah think y'all could learn a thing or two about bakin'."

Pinkie perked up at that. She did love to bake, and the only pony she ever baked with was Mrs. Cake so a change of pace would be nice. Plus, she might actually learn anything from the baking veteran. More silence penetrated the air for the next ten minutes or so. Applejack was concentrating, mostly on what chores she had to do when she got home. Now she had to add making up the guest room onto that list.

Pinkie's mind...well...nopony can ever really tell what Pinkie is thinking. Her thought process is akin to gelatin. It has many things suspended in it, but to the outside eye those things are distorted and only visible if you dive in...something very few ponies want to do.

"Well, here we are." AJ's twangy accent brought Pinkie from her chaotic jello mold of a mind. Before them was the simple country style house with a wrap-around porch and framed on all sides by apple orchards. Pinkie Pie found the house to be boring, it wasn't bright or colorful, it didn't entice the mind into wild imagining. It simply was, and simply being was very boring.

"I think I can walk from here." the pink mare slowly backed off of AJ's back and stood, her bad hoof still only inches from the ground. Applejack just continued walking, down to business as always. It came to Pinkie's mind as she hobbled after her friend, that Applejack was too serious, too uptight. She lacked the ability to have whimsy without her friends starting it. A bit sad.

Applejack, on the other hoof, was thinking about how nonchalantly Pinkie took anything. After all, all she did was prank ponies and start parties. She never had any real work like she would face on the farm. AJ doubted that Pinkie would even last a week before she gave up and decided to go stay with somepony else in town. Laziness had no place on this farmstead.

The orange mare made it to the door first, of course, and held it open for the hobbling pony. Pinkie went inside, and AJ followed, leaving the door unlocked for her siblings as she closed it.

The inside was just as quaint as the outside. Simple, bland furniture bordered the living room with a wooden rocking chair auspiciously close to the fireplace. It worried Pinkie Pie immensely, what if another fire started? What if she couldn't escape this time? What if the Apple Family didn't make it out? She was having a minor panic attack now, her pupils dilated and she started breathing shallowly.

A firm hoof met her shoulder. "Ya alright, Pinkie?" Pinkie just nodded and tried to distract herself by looking around, that's when she noticed something hanging above the fireplace. It was a simple poem.

I desire a place to lay my head,

Somewhere warm and with a bed.

I desire someplace to rest my weary soul,

Someplace loving and never dull.

I desire a place to empty my full heart,

Somewhere maybe a family can start.

All I want is to not feel alone.

Please, oh please, give me a home

First Night In A New Home

Applebloom, Sweetiebelle, and Scootaloo all trotted down the worn path towards Sweet Apple Acres. They had been to the hospital already only to find out that Pinkie had been discharged and put in the care of Applebloom's older sister. The three were quite sad given that they went through all of that trouble just to find out that they had to go right to where they were going to spend the night anyways.

"Stupid Pinkie Pie..." Grumbled Scootaloo.

"Stupid Applejack..." Growled Applebloom.

"Stupid....stupid..." Said Sweetiebelle intelligently. The pegasus and earth pony gave the unicorn a sideways glance. "What? I had nothing to hate..." Sweetie defended her statement with a head held down and ears laid back.

"So y'all got yer stuff for the sleepover?" Applebloom bumped Scootaloo in the flank. The orange pony, who was somehwere deep in thought, jerked her head up.

"Huh? Wha?" Scoots looked at Applebloom. "Um, yeah...my stuff is in the clubhouse. Sweetie?"

"Rarity said she was going to drop my stuff off...I hope she didn't forget." The poor scatterbrained unicorn got a worried look across her face. Rarity and herself had a very tumultuous relationship. The pair were constantly fighting, bickering, and just plain being loud. If Rarity forgot about Sweeite's sleepover materials,,,Celestia help the ears of all within range.

"Ya like that poem, little lady?" The shaky voice came from behind the two mares. Applejack just smiled, Pinkie turned around. It was Granny Smith. The old mare slowly walked in the room with the help of her walker, each step was measured and careful.

"It's nice, ma'am." Pinkie Pie might be a hyperactive, random, party animal, but she still knew that elders deserved every ounce of respect she could give them. After all, they were the ones who allowed this great land to be so...well...great.

"Ah wrote that when ah was nothin' but a filly..." Granny Smith slowly sat down in her rocking chair, her arthritis ridden bones cracking as she rested. "We wandered a lot when ah was young...it was either live on yer own, miles away from help...or live in cramped cities where ya couldn't afford help..." The old mare adjusted once more, Applejack slowly left the room and went to the kitchen, Pinkie politely sat down to listen to the story. "Ah read that poem every time ah felt homesick...or tired...or lonely. It was a little bit of good thought durin' times that were nothin' but bad. It was that there poem that convinced my pa to go to Canterlot and talk to the Princess..." She smiled at the old memory. "Ah suppose that sometimes ya just have ta listen to the innocent and listen to what they hafta say..."

Pinkie simply nodded. "Do you have anym-" Before the pink pony could finish asking for another tale, the front door opened and three little fillies walked in. Upon seeing her, the three Crusaders' eyes all lit up.

"PINKIE PIE!" In less than a second she was swarmed in yellow, orange, and white fur. Said balls of fur knocked Pinkie over and right onto her bad hoof.

Pinkie Pie, on her part, didn't cry or scream. she simply bit her tongue and gave the fillies the biggest grin she could manage at the time. She loved little kids, they were the ponies she connected with the most: they had nothing to worry about, they could still go up to somepony and say 'Hi, wanna be friends?' without coming off as weird....they had it all.

"O-Oh..hey...girls..." The injured mare gulped and fought back the urge to scream. "What's...what's up..?" Pinkie was hugged tightly, the little fillies assaulted her with 'get well soon's and 'how bad is it's. Before Pinkie could ask them to get off or even that she was in pain, Applejack came into the room.

"Hey! Y'all get offa her! She's still hurt!" All three fillies vacated the area on or around Pinkie Pie at the sound of the booming command. After the fillies got off, AJ trotted over and helped Pinkie up. "Are ya alright, Pinkie?" The pink mare nodded, flexing her hoof.

"I'm alright. They weren't hurting me. I promise." The orange workpony gave her friend a disbelieving look and then shot a glare at the fillies.

"Y'all go gather yer things. Sweetie, your things are in Applebloom's room." She shooed the CMC away, and the three started to trot away.

"It's okay AJ, honest. I mean, can't they stick around for another one of Granny Smith's stories..." Her sentence slowed down, then completely trailed off as she turned and realized that the old mare was sleeping in the rocking chair peacefully. "Oh..."

Applebloom and Scootaloo left the house to get Scootaloo's things from the clubhouse. Sweetiebelle had stayed behind and said she was going to help Pinkie cook dinner. The thought of the unicorn cooking almost made the fillies gag, but Pinkie accepted the help happily and insisted that the unicorn learn 'Pinkie Chef Pie's guide to cooking gourmet goodies'. Needless to say, two-thirds of the CMC were not looking forward to dinner.

"So does Ms. Tender Care know you're here? Or is this another escape?" Applebloom was one of the few ponies who knew about Scoots' situation other than Cheerilee. Scootaloo lived in a foster home, the only one in town. The young pegasus took great care in not allowing that information spill over into the general populace. She even went as far as saying her parents sent her to school in Ponyville from Cloudsdale.

"She greenlit this one, don't worry. After last time, I don't want to sneak out again,,," Scoots' voice didn't betray how bad the last time was. Ms. Tender Care grounded her for so long that the next time Applebloom saw her outside of school, three more foals had already gotten their cutie marks in class.

"Good, ya don't want her coming to get'cha again." Scoots nodded in agreement, once again....last time was bad enough.

After that reference, the two just started talking about random things, Mainly school, cutie marks, and colts. Both had decided long ago that colts had cooties and they were never going to get infected. especially after Pinkie told them that there was no known cure.

Within a few minutes of idle chatter, they came upon the old clubhouse resting in the middle of the orchard. they had spent a lot of time fixing it up and making it theirs. Sweetiebelle had even painted the Cutie Mark Crusader symbol above the door in bright gold. It truly was their Headquarters now. Scootaloo ran up the ramp and into the clubhouse, only to come out moments later with a rainbow dufflebag hanging around her neck.

"S'go."

Back at the house Sweetiebelle was standing on a chair, looking over Pinkie Pie's shoulder. The baker was cooking away, throwing seemingly random things into the pot on the stove. Sugar, potatoes, broth, hot sauce, a cupcake, pie crust.

"Umm...Pinkie...I don't think some of those things belong..." Sweetie leaned over the pot in order to get a better look at the 'stew.' It looked fine...but Sweetie still wasn't sure about tasting it.

"Nonsense! Everything belongs somewhere in everything! You just have to figure out where." With a wide smile and a small pirouette, Pinkie threw some celery into mix. "But it needs something else..." Like an artist examining their work, Pinkie closed one eye and stuck her tongue out thoughtfully. "AHA!" With that, the hyperactive pony disappeared.

"This can't be good..." Concluded the small white unicorn. she focused her green gaze on the door through which Pinkie left, only to be surprised whenever Pinkie appeared from out of the stew pot and dropped a whole bag of apple in.

"There we go! Now we just let it simmer." The mare hopped out of the pot and landed by Sweetie, watching the pot intently. "You know what they say, a watched pot always boils!" Sweetie was just about to protest that point with a raised hoof whenever the pot miraculously started to boil instantly. Sweetiebelle's hoof fell, as did her understanding of basic laws of the universe,

Big Mac had left Fluttershy's house about twenty minutes ago. The couple had dinner, snuggled, and watched a short movie before they had even realized that the CMC had gone from their care. They knew that reflected badly on them, but they were still in the 'honeymoon stage' of their relationship. As Twilight had told all of their friends when they screwed up at something, they weren't really responsible for their actions at this point.

But that didn't stop big Macintosh from being angry with his little sister and her friends. They were supposed to stay with them until Big Mac took them home for their slumber party. Of course the little trouble makers had to do things their own way though, and he knew Applejack wouldn't yell at Applebloom was around. That wasn't her style. Sure, she would get onto her and scold her a bit, but never truly get onto her. That was his job.

Without a thought he pushed the door open, he was just about to yell for Applebloom to get her flank in here, only to be surprised at the sight before him. Applejack, Granny Smith, Applebloom, her two friends were all at the table eating. but that wasn't the surprising part, that was the pink mare sitting at his spot at the head of the table. She was telling a story in a very animated fashion and didn't seem to be stopping any time soon.

"Ah'm full..." Said his little sister as she pushed the bowl of what seemed to be stew away from her.

"Now now, Bloomster." Chided the mare that sat in his spot. "Ya gotta finish your meal if you want to be big and strong like your brother there!" His little sister smiled at the cheery pink pony and pulled her bowl back to her and began eating again.

Big Mac could already tell that this mare and himself weren't going to get along.

Pinkie 'Responsibility' Pie

"Applejack? Can I talk to you?" Big Mac's voice boomed across the kitchen even though he spoke quietly. Applejack, who was mid laugh at Pinkie's story, nodded and excused herself like a proper mare. Big Mac went into the kitchen proper, within a few seconds his sister came in.

"What seems to be the problem, Big Mac?" Applejack picked a toothpick up between her teeth and got to work removing any stubborn foodstuff.

"Why's Pinkie here? Ah thought she was in the hospital." Big Mac cast a glance at the door, where a raucous laughter boomed from. Even Granny Smith's laugh could be heard coming from the dining room.

"Shoot, ah missed the punchline..." His sister grumbled and kicked the ground. Then her gaze met his once again. "Pinkie is here 'cuz she needs somewhere ta stay." Big Mac shot a glare at Applejack.

"We're tight on money as it is AJ, an' with winter comin' and profits dwindilin' it's gonna be tough enough without another pony bein' here." It was true, the Apple family always had a tough time during winter since their crops were dead, Cider season had passed and they stocked up bits as best they could, but that well was already starting to run dry.

"Ah know Mac, ah know. Trust me, ah ain't no foal. Ah figured with some of our savin's we can buy some flour and baking things of the such and Pinkie can pull her own weight by sellin' some of her baked goods and earn us some bits..." Applejack smiled at him, tipping her hat back. "Ya gotta trust me this one time, Macintosh. Ah know what ah'm doin."

"AJ, ya know yer supposed to run stuff like this by me first. Ma and Pa gave me the farm, not you. Ah'm the one who runs this place, ya don't have the liberty to decide things like this." Big Mac had the best interest of the farm and family in his mind, that's all he ever wanted.

"Consarnit, Macintosh! Just because yer mah big brother doesn't mean ya know everythin', alright? Fer once, ah know what ah'm doin'! Fer once, ah know what needs to be done!' She pushed open the door to the kitchen just enough to show Pinkie Pie wearing her empty bowl on her head like a helmet. "Ah know that mare needs someplace ta stay and someponies ta take care of her." She let the door swing shut. "If y'all wanna be the one ta go out there and throw her out on the streets, be mah guest. Cuz it's not gonna be me." Applejack huffed and started to trot out, but turned when she was halfway out the door and glared at her brother. "And Pa may have given' you the farm...but he gave me the hat." With that, she left.

Big Mac fell on his haunches, stunned at what she had just said. He respected her commitment to her friend's well-being, sure..but that hat comment. That was a low blow. That hat, the family hat, had been passed from Apple patriarch to Apple Patriarch since Granny Smith's great grandpa. For Applejack to get the hat instead of him, well it's always been a point of contention in the family..and it served as a very, very low blow.

"Pinkie, can y'all take the CMC up to Bloom's room? Ah've gotta talk to Granny Smith alone..." Pinkie looked at the fillies, who all had a bright smiles on their faces at the thought of playing some more with Pinkie Pie. Then the pink mare nodded and hobbled out of the room, the CMC bouncing after her.

"What seems ta be the problem, deary?" Granny Smith gave AJ her knowing and kind smile that reminded the stetson wearing pony so much of her own mother.

"Ah just....well, do ya think it's right to help Pinkie?" Applejack sat down, took her prized hat on, and sat it on the table. "Big Mac says that we don't need the extra load on the family..." Applejack's emerald eyes focused on the hat, mostly it's intricate hoof stitching. It was comforting, the smooth lines and contours of the hat were calming to just stare at.

"Hmm..." Granny leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes to think. "Ah reckon that it's always good ta help a friend in need...no matter the situation. Ah know winters are rough..but we got through worse winters with more ponies in the past..." The old mare simply nodded with her own statement.

"True..." Applejack still remembered some winters when she was young...they were rougher back then. Ma and Pa Apple had to take care of two little ponies, a newborn foal, and Granny Smith. Now had become easier since all members save Granny could work. "Ah just don't want this to cause a rift in the family..."

"Jackie..." That finally made Applejack look up. Very few ponies ever called her that. In fact, the two ponies who did call her that were about six feet under the oak tree out back. "Nothin'....y'hear me. Nothin' will ever come between Apples. Not this, not some silly relationship of Big Mac's." Applejack smiled and nodded, then stopped when she caught the full extent of Granny's words.

"Wait...what about Big Mac and Fluttershy?" Granny waved a hoof dismissively.

"Your brother wants to have that frail little pegasissy move in here. Ah reckon that's why he's upset about your friend being here, it means his mare can't be here..." Applejack's eyes narrowed at that, he got mad at her for bringing in somepony unannounced, but he wanted to do the exact same thing!

"If ah get mah hooves on that no good snake..." An old green hoof rested on her shoulder. She looked up into her Granny's eyes, the only eyes she really trusted. Then the old mare smiled, and Applejack knew what to do.....relax.

"So! What do you girls wanna talk about?" Pinkie pulled a bright pink sleeping bag out of her mane and unrolled it near the other ones on the floor. After it was fully unfurled, she plopped down on it. To her left was Applebloom, who had an old looking apple themed sleeping bag. On her left was Scootaloo who had a rainbow sleeping bag, and Sweetiebelle completed the circle with a white sleeping bag adorned with a music note on it.

"Ooh! How about boys~?" Sweetie's squeaky voice made each of the ponies in the room cringe. Especially Pinkie Pie.

"Ah dunno Sweetie...ah'm not really....comfortable talking about that." Applebloom looked down and fiddled with her hooves nervously. Scootaloo was doing something similar, except that she had a visible blush and her little wings were flared out. Pinkie took that cue, she'd hung around enough pegasi to know what that meant.

"C'mon Applebloom, I saw the way you looked at Pipsqueak the other day." The little earth pony blushed deeply. "And Scoots, you've been hanging around Rumble a lot." scoots only looked down and grumbled something inaudible. Y'know who I like?" Pinkie, not wanting to share in the awkwardness of the other two, decided to indulge Sweetie.

"Ooh~ Who?"

"Well...I knida just started noticing him. He doesn't go to our school..but he is kind of like our age..." Sweetie blushed brightly and looked down at her fuzzy white hooves. "It's Spike." All three pairs of eyes widened and looked at the unicorn. "We sorta hit it off at the wedding...he was just so nice and sweet...but I don't think he likes me." Her eyes narrowed. "Stupid Rarity..."

A spell of silence washed over the ponies, until Pinkie Pie decided to speak up.

"You know who I like..?" All eyes then fell on the only adult in the room. "Rainbow Dash..." A blush came across Pinkie's face at the thought of her crush.

"Well duh you like her, she's your friend...plus she's just plain awesome!" Scootaloo said that of course.

"No, no, no." Pinkie shook her head at the naivety of the filly. "Not like that...like...I really like her." No response. "I...I like like her..." A chorus of 'Oh's came from the three fillies, then Applebloom spoke up.

"Ya mean ya can like girls like that? Ah thought girls were supposed ta like colts..." Pinkie had some stuff to explain.

Nightmare Night

"Wow...I didn't know that..." Pinkie Pie had just given a very tame, yet informative talk about...well...lesbianism to the three fillies. She knew that perhaps they were too young, but she also knew that the fight against ignorance and intolerance could never start too early. It was well known that lesbianism was very common around Equestria ever since the Changeling Invasion of 849 AD which devastated the male populace so bad that it still has not recovered fully. Sadly, some ponies still didn't accept the lifestyle and chose instead to bash those who practiced it.

"So...so Rainbow Dash likes mares...?" Scootaloo was looking at her rainbow sleeping bag sadly. That alone worried Pinkie, she definitely didn't like ponies to be sad.

"Actually, I don't think she does." Pinkie's voice had its own hint of sadness, one that was nearly unnoticeable. Scootaloo perked up at this, obviously she had something against the sexuality.

"But...but you like her." Sweetiebelle looked up at Pinkie pie with hopeful green eyes.

"Yeah...Yeah I do." Pinkie gave the happiest smile she could at the moment, the thought of unrequited love weighing her mind down considerably. "But sometimes ponies won't always love you back, sometimes you have to move on..." Pinkie brushed Sweetie's mane with her good hoof. "It'll hurt, sure...but you just have to move on sometimes..."

"How come you ain't moved on yet?" The country filly leaned against forlorn baker, which only made Pinkie's mood rise.

"I wish I knew Applebloom..."

A few hours later

Applejack had decided to relax in order to calm her nerves. How does a workhorse relax, you might ask? Well, this particular workhorse likes to curl up and read a good book. i know, I know, a bit cliche, but sometimes a good story is just what the soul needs. What kind of story did this particular soul need to unwind? A sappy, and somewhat poorly written, story called 'Dusk' by Steph Neighyer. A lot of ponies hated the book, but the mindless story was just the right thing to take AJs mind off of everything.

The noise in the house had died down some time ago, she guessed everypony was asleep by now. Then she heard it, the awfully loud chortle, then familiar snort of Pinkie Pie. Somewhere deep down, she wasn't surprised that the party pony was still awake.

Applejack had been reading for a good three hours now, she had gotten through a couple of chapters and decided that was enough for the night. She needed to check in on Pinkie and the girls. She quietly closed her tome, sat it on her bedside table, slowly got out of her old creaky bed, and headed for the hallway.

The whole house was quiet, save for a few quiet giggles. Big Macs loud snoring could be heard all around the house, the stallion's snores nearly shook the house. Granny Smith's quiet breathing could be heard, it was gentle and soothing to hear. Then she came to Applebloom's door. It was identical to every other door in the house, except there was a crudely drawn Cutie Mark Crusaders symbol.

The mare chose not to knock and just entered the room. The sight before her both made her smile and cringe. A flashlight was standing up on its end, the beam hitting the ceiling. Around the flashlight sat the three fillies and Pinkie Pie. At the moment Scootaloo was telling a scary story and the other ponies were eating cupcakes....most likely made by Pinkie Pie at some point during the night. They were all laughing, or 'ooh-ing', and even Applejack chuckled at some of the scary' stuff Scootaloo was saying.

"Hey Pinkie?" The pink pony looked at Applejack for her to continue. "Can ah talk to ya out in the hall?" Pinkie nodded and got up mid story, the pink pony left the room first and AJ followed after giving the fillies a smile.

"What's up, Applejack?" Pinkie took a bite out of her cupcake, icing sticking to the fur around her mouth. "Mmm, cupcake?" Her words were muffled by the sugary confection in her mouth.

"It's midnight..."

"So?" Pinkie swallowed loudly. "Nothing like a good cupcake!" She licked her lips to get rid of any remaining icing. "Say, you look pretty with your mane down." That made AJ blush, she usually had her mane tied up but couldn't deal with it at night, so she let her blonde locks hang down. Often times Granny would tell her to let her mane down every once in a while in pubic, but AJ never wanted to do that. It wasn't her style.

"Uh...thanks Pinkie, ah just don't got my tie in, nothin' special." Her own train of thought was starting to derail, but thankfully she caught it before it could go fully off of the rails. "Ah gotta talk to ya about them fillies." Pinkie cocked her head to the side and blinked. "Ah know yer good with foals and all, but you've been with 'em all night, don'tcha think it's a tad much?"

"I'm just doing what you told me to do...keeping them entertained." Pinkie smiled innocently.

"But yer a grown mare, Pinkie. You should be hangin' out with ponies your own age. Ah mean ya coulda caught up with me or even talked with Big Mac." Pinkie's eyes fell to the ground, obviously ashamed. "If y'all are gonna stay here, ya need to act your own age." Applejack gave Pinkie the sternest glare she could manage....then immediately regretted it when she saw Pinkie's lower lip fight a quiver.

"Sorry Applejack...I-I'll go to bed..." AJ's friend sulked off to the guest room down the hall, her head and tail visibly drooping. Before she opened the door, she turned back to AJ and gave a quiet goodnight. None of this was going to help Applejack's conscience.

Smoke filled the room, a terrible, thick cloud of acrid smoke. It was suffocating,, terribly so. it filled Pinkie's nostrils, choking her and making her cough. The more she fought to breathe, the harder it became. the mare stumbled to the heavy oak door, she stumbled and hit the door. The old wood gave way and splintered, making Pinkie fall through it. All of the old house was ablaze, she could hear the screams of the Apple family, burning, suffocating. She tried to block it out, but it only seemed to grow louder.

Pinkie started to cry and scream, she got up and galloped as fast as she could to the top of the stairs. the downstairs was worse than up here, the fire had engulfed everything precious right down to the poem atop the mantle. On top of all that, the smoke was getting thicker and making Pinkie squint her eyes.

She took a step onto the stairs, the old wooden steps gave way and Pinkie fell into the unending inferno below.

Pinkie awoke with a start and a scream. She sat up straight, breathing heavily and sweating profusely. Her blue eyes scanned the room: there was no smoke or flames. Her ears twitched: no screams, just snoring. It was nothing but a very bad dream.

"Pinkie Pie....are ya alright..?" The pink pony looked to the door, Applebloom was standing in the doorway, her own mane was loose as well without the giant pink bow to hold it in place. She didn't look like she just woke up, in fact she looked wide awake.

"Y-yeah...I just had a bad dream..." Pinkie gripped the sheets tightly, she didn't want that bad dream to ever come back for as long as she lived.

"Ah did too..." Applebloom stepped in the room. "Wanna know how I get rid of my nightmares...?" Pinkie nodded. "Come on."

Applejack was sleeping soundly, she was having quite a nice dream about a the Apple Family, specifically two late Apples who AJ missed dearly. Then the door to her room creaked open. The country mare was a very light sleeper, she guessed that was her maternal instincts acting on their own accord. Her emerald eyes slowly opened, when she looked at the open portal, she saw two shadows standing there: one bigger, one smaller.

"Applejack...we...we sorta had nightmares..." That was Pinkie's voice, quite obviously.

"Can we sleep with you...?" And that was Applebloom's. AJ knew better than to turn ponies away when they were in need, so she scooted to the edge of her bed and patted it with a hoof.

Big Madintosh

Applejack felt something quite warm and plush wrapped around her. It was alien to her, at least it was for the past eight years, but it definitely wasn't unwelcome. She embraced the plushy object and snuggled into it: it was comfortable and so very warm. The best part was that it smelled so sweet, like sprinkles and freshly baked cupcakes. Then it giggled.

"Gee AJ, I didn't take you for the cuddling type." Applejack's eyes fluttered open, her emerald orbs taking in the curly tufts of pink hair that blocked her vision. After that, the events of last night flooded back to her in one burst of mental acuity. Pinkie and Applebloom had nightmares and came to sleep in her bed.

"Sorry Pinkie..." Applejack let out a large yawn and let go of her friend. She wasn't embarrassed about being cuddled up to the soft pink pony, why should she be? It was a simple mistake while she was asleep, and not one she immediately regretted, she had slept better last night than any night before. "Ah guess ah'm just not used ta sleepin' next to somepony." Applejack's eyes were drawn to the clock on her wall. 5:15 in the morning, still 15 minutes until the rest of the family was up. "What're you awake for so early?" Applejack drew her hooves away from Pinkie and stretched.

"Well I usually have to wake up and start the ovens this early. It's not like I just sleep all day, silly. I'm not Dashie!" A wide, gleaming smile accompanied this statement, perhaps Pinkie would fit in with the Apple family after all. Well, as long as she's a good worker.

"Alright then. Say...where'd Applebloom go?" The little filly was missing from her place on the other side of the plush pink pony where she had gone to sleep last night.

"Oh, I moved her back to her room earlier. It would be a little embarrassing for her to be seen snuggling up with her big sister by her friends, wouldn't it?" Pinkie snuggled back up with Applejack and closed her eyes. "I think it would be."

"Smart move, Pinkie. Never thought of that..." Applejack tried to pry her friend off, but Pinkie wouldn't budge. "Can ya get offa me? Ah need ta get up." An early start on a day could be very advantageous on the farmstead, it meant getting done faster, even if it was only by fifteen minutes.

"C'mon AJ, ten more minutes." Pinkie looked up with wide eyes and a quivering lower lip, something Applebloom dubbed 'the puppy dog look.' "I weally like laying next to you Applejack." And just like Applebloom, she talked in an overly cute voice.

"Fine..." It seemed like she was going to be saying that a lot around Pinkie.

Big Macintosh awoke with a big yawn, just as he did every day. With a throw of his sheets and a roll to his hooves, he was up and out of bed. The white, apple adorned night cap he wore was taken off and placed on the bed post. Why he wore it was more of a family tradition, plus it didn't look too bad.

He was usually the first one up in the morning, it was his job to get the family up and going. After all, he was the stallion of the house. The mountain of a pony slipped on the yoke around his neck. It was a comfortable weight that helped balance him out while he worked, it was something he adopted early in his life in order to put on the bulk needed to do farm work.

With a grunt and a crack of each of his knees he left his room, quietly shutting the door behind him. The apple red stallion lumbered over to his little sister's door and pushed it open as gently as he could. Inside, the three fillies were all sleeping peacefully, each little chest rising and falling in perfect harmony. Macintosh simply smiled at the sight and shut the door without a word.

Next room was Granny's, he could hear the old mare's snoring from outside the room. Any sounds were good. It means another day with Granny around.

Finally, Applejack's room. He put his ear against the door, nothing, not a single sound. He usually heard Applejack's rather loud and obnoxious snore, but not now. Curious, Macintosh slowly pushed open the door. What he saw inside made his brow furrow. Pinkie and Applejack were snuggled up against each other, smiles plastered on their faces.

"APPLEJACK!" The whole house shook with the thunderous roar, even the birds flew away from the house in fear of the stallion. The two snuggling mares jolted up resulting in Applejack falling off of the bed with a loud crash. Three fillies in the next room over could be heard letting out an ear piercing scream. Pinkie simply sat up, and without even flinching, asked a simple question.

"What's up, Big Mac?" The stallion's blood boiled.

Corruption

"Ah can't believe ya, Applejack. Ah thought Ma and Pa raised us better than this..." Big Macintosh paced back in forth in front of the kitchen table where both Pinkie Pie and Applejack were sitting. Pinkie was happily tapping her good hoof against the table while Applejack laid her head upon it, obviously irritated.

"Macintosh, yer makin' a mountain out of a mole hill..." Applejack still hadn't tied her tail or put on her hat, she was half of her regular self. Halflejack if you will.

"You were sleepin' with Pinkie!" Macintosh's big hoof pointed right at the party pony, who was now balancing a spoon on her nose. "That just ain't right."

"Who cares?!" The orange mare pushed away from the table and stood up, an angry glare in her eye. "Ah've slept with mah other friends, Rarity, Twilight, heck even Rainbow!" Only until she said it, did she realize how bad that sounded. "Ponyfeathers..."

"Ah-Wh-...." The raging stallion couldn't even find the right words anymore, he was dumbfounded, confused, and stupefied.

"Big Mac, it ain't what it sounds like...ah meant like...casually sleep with 'em..." Macintosh's jaw dropped. "Not like that!" Even Applejack was becoming extremely flustered. "What ah'm tryin' ta say is...ah don't like mares like that...ah mean ah've slept in the same bed as mares in the past...and as it turns out...ah'm a cuddler." Big Mac was regaining his composure, slowly. He was starting to understand.

"Well...uh..." He realized his mistake, only too late. He couldn't just back track, he was in too deep already, he needed a cover up. "What if Bloom and her friends saw ya? What would they think? We don't need them bein' corrupted this young." He leaned into Applejack. "Y'all remember what happened ta Apple Blossom don't ya? Once she....figured that out, ain't nopony seen her again." That was an Apple Family horror story. Apple Blossom was one of the distant cousins that went to Manehattan, became....accustomed to city life, and was never heard from again.

"Hey!" A squeaky voice came from behind Big Mac, he turned around and the CMC were crowded around his hooves. "What do you mean corrupted? Pinkie said that mares liking mares was natural." That's when Big Mac decided that today, right now, was the perfect day to let loose all of the pent up aggression he had.

"What...?"

"Yeah, Pinkie told us last night that it was alright ta like mares like she does." Applebloom stood next to her friends, eyes narrowed at Big Mac. Then Big Mac's eyes turned to Pinkie, who was now balancing about fifteen different utensils on her nose.

All was peaceful today, birds were chirping, clouds were passing by lazily, and somewhere Luna was being jealous of her older sister. All in all, it was a pretty typical day. That was until a pink ball of fur was tossed from the Apple Family house and onto the dirt road.

"And stay out!" The call came from the doorstep of the house, more importantly, from Big Macintosh. the door slammed and Pinkie was left out in the road, dazed and confused.

"Whoa! What was that all about?" A multicolored equine floated down from one of the trees nearby and landed right beside Pinkie. "What in the name of Celestia is going on...?" Dash turned to look at the rising sun. "And this early....ugh. darn Apple Family.."

Pinkie rubbed her now sore flank. "I think I got kicked out.....Say, what're you doing up so early?" Ponyville's resident future Wonderbolt was notorious for lazing about, sleeping late, and taking naps everywhere imaginable.

"Had to set up a rainstorm, AJ was complaining to me yesterday about how her orchards needed a good drizzle." The cyan mare offered a hoof to help, which Pinkie happily accepted.

"So, kicked out already huh? What's it been....12 hours? I think Twilight had 12 hours." Rainbow Dash lowered her head and mumbled. "There goes a week worth of pay..."

"Dashie?" Pinkie was just watching Dash as she talked. No matter how many times Pinkie saw her friend, every time she still looked amazing. Wings spread proudly, coat glistening with moisture from the clouds, and a mane that rivaled an artists pallet. It always enraptured the party pony's mind how perfect Dash always looked...at that very instant, from the second Pinkie uttered those words, she decided she was going to tell Dash something that could change their relationship forever. "Can we have a talk?"

[Interlude] I Think I Know What Went Wrong

It's way too early to be up. Five AM felt like hell, even the sky looked like it was on fire with its radiant hues of orange and red. But all of the weather ponies were called out early to set up an early downpour for Sweet Apple Acres. it would be fine if the rainstorm was just for Ponyville, but noooo, the pesky farmers on the far outskirts of town drew every pegasi and their brother away from the soft embrace of a bed of clouds and out to this little patch of earthen hell.

Every one of the pegasi was sluggish and pushing clouds about lazily...well...all but one. One pegasus in particular was laying on a fluffy white cloud, his eyes closed and his body rising and falling steadily. His dark blue coat matched that of the slowly retreating night sky, but his stark red mane resembled the sunrise in the east. Many may call him a slacker at this exact point in time, but when you stay up past 2 AM and are expected to be up and around at this ungodly hour? Well, he's more worn out than he is a slacker.

"LIGHTNING!" His golden eyes bolted open when his name was yelled, then they leveled at the poly-chromatic pegasus in front of him. His boss, the wicked mare of the west, Rainbow Dash. "I thought I told you to go help Cloudchaser wrangle the cumulus clouds from Fluttershy's cottage! You know she's no good at wrangling, remember what happened last time?" In fact, everypony did, not to go too into detail...but let's just say you cant describe it without using the word 'cluster'.

"Ugh..go away Dash...I'm tired..." He rested his head back on the soft cloud and closed his eyes. Which resulted in him getting a hoof right to the snout. "OW! Hey! Uncalled for!" He gingerly rbbed his sore nose and gave his boss a rather cross look. "Fine...I'm up. What do you want me to do?" He stood, now insanely irritated and wide awake.

"You know what? I'm putting you on accident patrol." Dash once again, gave Lightning's head a taste of her hoof and flew away, mumbling something about laziness.

Accident Patrol was the nice way of saying 'Derpy's Foalsitter' in weather pony talk. As of now, it was his job to watch over the klutziest pony in all of Equestria. With a sigh and a flap of his wings, he was off to find his new charge. Where was she and what was she doing? Well it was as simple as following the sounds of destruction across the orchard.

Sure enough, after catching an nice updraft, he heard the sound of wood splintering and a thunderous crash.

"Aaand there she is..." Lightning let out a might groan and followed the sound of klutzy destruction until he happened upon the scene: Derpy, a rubber ball, and an apple tree in splinters. How she did it, Lightning didn't want to know. He knew that it was his job to stop her from doing it again. "Derpy?"

"Huh?" The gray mare raised her head from the blue rubber ball at her hooves, one of her yellow eyes focused on him, the other seemed to be gazing at the clouds forming above. "Oh, hi!" She gave a warm smile and stood up. "I..hmm...I don't think I've seen you before.." She took several steps closer and narrowed her gaze, it came to the point where the mare was coming uncomfortably close, her muzzle nearly touching Lightning's.

"Riiight..." He placed a hoof square in the middle of her forehead and pushed her away. "I'm Lightning, w-" Before he could finish his sentence or push the wall-eyed mare out of his bubble, she voluntarily backed away and looked at the sky fearfully.

"Lightning?! Where?!" Her good eye searched the sky while the other seemed to wander around a bit, looking at a bit of everything. The mare looked genuinely terrified of the clouds gathering above, something you don't see out of pegasi often.

"No, no, no. My name's Lightning. There won't be any actual lightning here for a while..." He stepped closer, while everypony was annoyed with Derpy usually, they still cared for her and wanted her to be safe, hence why she had a watch for her.

"Oh.." The gray pegasus stood uneasily, she was calmer, but one eye still focused on the sky. "Hehe, sorry.." A sheepish smile followed the statement. "I just don't have a very good history with lightning...or clouds...or flying...or the ground...y'know what, I just don't have a good history."

"Oh...umm..yeah." Lightning cast a furative glance at the tree, still curious as to how this transpired. "Hey Derpy?"

"C-can you please not call me that? My name's not Derpy..." Both of her eyes fell to the ground in an odd synchronicity that the two orbs rarely possession. Lightning was about to ask what her name really was when she decided to explain it without prompting. "My name's Ditzy, Derpy is a name that the others gave me because of how klutzy I am..." The mare frowned and closed her eyes. "It's not very nice..."

At that moment, Lightning came to a realization. Derpy-er...Ditzy wasn't an idiot like many ponies made her out to be, she was just a mare with bad luck that everyone vilified. She was simply a sad mare down on her luck, nothing more. It made Lightning feel bad about all of the times he made fun of her with his friends, or commented on her eyes.

"I...I'm sorry. I didn't know.'"

"Yeah...It's okay...not many ponies do."

As soon as Ditzy finished her sentence, rain started pouring down from the heavens. It wasn't a light drizzle as the farmers had requested, it was more of a downpour. The droplets pounded upon the heads of both ponies, Ditzy stood up slowly, and started to fly away. Lightning was ready to follow her when lightning struck and the loud crash of thunder followed. As soon as the bright light reared it's head, the gray pegasus immediately grounded herself and got as close to one of the hulking apple trees as she could.

The blue stallion touched down and trotted over to her. he was fully used to flying or just going around in storms. The rain didn't bother most pegasi, well except for Ditzy apparently.

"You alright...?" He stepped closer, a hoof reaching out to the now quivering mare. Another flash of lightning and crash of thunder caused the mare only to whimper and quiver. "I will take that as a no..." Lightning only sighed and sat by Ditzy. "It..It'll be alright.." Lightning wasn't a very...intimate equine, especially around ponies that were considered social pariahs. his cobalt wing unfurled and rested itself on Ditzy's back.

After another bout of thunder and lightning, the wall eyed pony gripped Lightning tightly and buried her face in his chest in fear. One thing was sure, this was going to be one long storm.

Pinkie's Dashed Hope

The rain started a few minutes earlier, the steady downpour pounded atop the duo's heads. Pinkie's mane somehow retained its curly nature, while Dash's mane was almost covering her eyes, over the years the pegasus had learned how to cut her mane just right so it still looked cool, but didn't obscure her vision while flying. Fashion and function were possible, unlike what Rarity thought.

"Can we get some shelter, Pinkie? I don't want my wings to get too wet..." Dash spread her now sopping wet wings and pouted, out of all of her features, her wings were the most important.

"Sure Dashie, no problem." Pinkie had already planned for this and she had been steering their walk towards the treehouse in the middle of the orchard. It was secluded, dry, and more importantly, it only had one exit that Dash could fit through so Pinkie could make sure Dash heard her out.

As the two entered the clubhouse, Dash sat down in the corner, spread her wings and began preening light blue feathers. Her wingspan nearly touched both walls of the small clubhouse, which only allowed Pinkie to admire the beautiful sight all the more. Pegasi were such graceful creatures in Pinkie's opinion. Nothing could compare to seeing a talented pegasus like Dash flying through the sky with such ease, with such...beauty. It was one of the many miracles of the pony body.

"So...what's up Pinkie?" Dash spoke in between moments of cleaning her glorious plumage.

"Well...I-I sort of wanted to talk to you about something..." Pinkie focused on her hooves, the appendages became more interesting the more Pinkie thought of what she was about to say. It was nerve wracking and ridiculous, it was just plain stupid now that she thought about it. She was going to tell one of her best friends that she loved her! It was one of the few things that Pinkie's mind even questioned.

"Shoot, just let me....get...this pesky..." Dash yanked out long blue feather from her wing and let it hit the ground. "Gotcha, I knew that I was getting some drag...." The pegasus' magenta eyes looked up into Pinkie's sky blue ones. "So, what's up?"

"Well...I...I sort of...have a crush on you..." Pinkie felt her cheeks glow red from embarrassment, she looked up at Dash, who just smiled kindly at her. It gave Pinkie hope that something good was about to happen.

"I know." The pony opposite Pinkie chuckled. "You think I didn't know that? Oh man Pinkie, you're pretty dense, aren't you?" Dash broke into laughter, Pinkie could have sworn she also saw tears forming in her crush's eyes from laughter. Pinkie didn't know how to feel about that, it both hurt and gave her more hope than ever. It was a strange combination.

"Well....do, um...do you like me too?"

"What? No. No, no, no." the blue mare shook her head furiously, water splashing off from it and coating the walls in a light dusting of water. "Are you crazy?" That...that one sentence, broke something. Something deep within Pinkie that usually held all of her joy, all of her hope, all of her....Pinkie-ness. It didn't just break, it shattered. "I mean, first off: I can't have a relationship. They would interfere with my Wonderbolt training, I can't allow that!" It just kept piling up, the hurt. With every word, another ton was added to Pinkie's heart. "Secondly: I'm not into the whole...fillyfoolin' thing Pinkie. If I dated, it would be a colt." That didn't hurt as much as the first one, but it did add more pain knowing that there was another reason. "Lastly: You're an earth pony. No offense, you're my friend. But I would never date another race, that can't keep up with me, they're not worth it." rainbow Dash decided long ago that earth ponies and unicorns weren't worth it, they couldn't revel in her passion with her, they couldn't walk on clouds naturally. It would be like Twilight dating someone who hated reading, it just didn't compute.

That was the last straw on Pinkie's mind. Racism was very rare in Equestria, but it still happened, and when it did...it hurt. It was also the last thing Pinkie expected to hear from Rainbow Dash, saying that love should not only be dictated by gender, but by race as well. It was unheard of!

"Thanks for the talk, Pinks. But I gotta go, I have a job to do." The pony stood, pushed passed the still stunned pink pony, and trotted outside.

As soon as Pinkie heard the flap of wings, she let it all fall. All of her walls, all of the weight that had piled on her heart, it all fell. Collapsed. Tears formed in her eyes, legitimate tears, tears of despair and sadness. All of the water that had collected on her mane finally fell through, soaking it to the core and making it fall flat. Pinkie was devastated.

"Ah don't care what'cha think Big Mac! That. Was. Wrong." Applejack's nose was touching her older brother's. both pairs of emerald eyes were narrowed in anger. The siblings had been arguing for about ten minutes now, Applejack was defending her friend, and Big Mac was defending his decision as Apple Family patriarch.

"She was corruptin' mah little sister! Ah know y'all like ta leave the foal rearin' ta me, but don'tcha think that just fer once ya could think about her?" Big Mac pushed his sister away from him and stole the hat from atop her head. "Pa would be ashamed." With that, the hulking stallion trotted off, ushering Applebloom and her friends to her room.

That left Applejack, not just stunned, but angry. Not the good 'make you work harder' angry. The bad angry, rage. She wanted to buck him in his apples so hard that he couldn't stand. It was one thing to disagree with her, it was another thing to take her hat and bring Pa into the matter. That was like telling Twilight that Celestia thought she was an idiot. It was so far below the belt.

"FINE! You..you good fer nothin'!" She had no insults that could compare, that could even come close to touching Big Mac's pride in the way that he hurt hers. "Ah'm gonna find Pinkie Pie, and she's gonna come back in the house....and...yeah..."Her rage fell as sadness took its place, it overcame her and swallowed her whole.

The farmer budged the door open and stepped into the gloomy rain, today was just going to be one disaster after another, she could feel it in the core of her soul. She trudged through the thickening mud of the dirt road that lead away from Sweet apple Acres. How many times had she walked this road alone in sadness? She could only count two times, both now having to do with her parents, each time worse than the last.

Applejack knew she had to find Pinkie, but she had no idea where to look. Her first thought was Sugarcube Corner, then she remembered what happened to the bakery. Aside from the bakery, Pinkie Pie didn't really have 'hangouts'. The party pony was just everywhere at once. How do you find a pony like that?

Inexplicably, she was drawn away from the muddy trail and into the orchard. As she trotted, she realized where she was going: The clubhouse. It was a place of solace for her, a place for memories. Many years ago, her Pa built it for her...as a place where she could get away from the work and just be a little filly. One of the few memories she had of her father...

Once the rebuilt clubhouse was within sight, a wave a calm washed over Applejack. Something she desperately needed. But, as she drew closer, she heard sobs coming from inside. While it wasn't an oddity to come across a random hobo staying in the clubhouse, it was odd to hear the cry. Something about it seemed...not right. It was almost as if that particular pony shouldn't be allowed to cry...it was something that spurred Applejack all the closer.

"Hey, who's in there?" The call came from outside, a place that Pinkie almost forgot existed. She had become so wrapped up in her sadness. It had not only washed over her, it consumed her entirely. Sadness was a foreign feeling, but not a bad foreign, a good foreign. It was something that one could indulge in, yet hate at the same time. Guilty pleasure pretty much summed it up.

The sobbing pony quickly wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. "I-It's me...Pinkie." Now Pinkie wasn't sure who was coming up, but anypony would be fine. She just wanted somepony to talk to and hug, that's all anypony could ask for during a bad day.

Just Desserts

"Now you three stay in this house and stay away from Pinkie Pie, got it?" Before the three members of the CMC could say anything, Big Mac shut the door and stormed off, his Pa's hat now on his head. He was mad, and there was only one place he went while mad; Fluttershy's. No matter how flustered he was, he could always go to Fluttershy's and she would calm him down.

He walked through the living room, giving a hug to Granny Smith on his way, and out the front door. It was still raining, pouring even, He didn't care though, his hat would keep him dry. Unlike his sister, he didn't need to trudge through the mud, he was big enough to simply power through it like he normally did.

His eyes were drawn towards the sky, dark clouds hung over the sky, lightning strikes could be seen in the distance. He hated these days, it stopped him from working safely, but it also meant Fluttershy would be inside. His mind was drawn to an event that happened a few weeks ago. Fluttershy had went outside during a thunderstorm in order to get some feed for her animals, like most pegasi she had decided to fly...even though she knew it was dangerous, but anything that let her help animals faster was worth it in her book.

At the time, Big Mac had been out in the orchards collecting some buckets Applebloom had left. He saw the small yellow pony being buffeted by the winds above. He knew who it was immediately, the pink mane and tail, slender frame. It was his Fluttershy. She was thrown wide by a rather strong wind, right into a tree. He watched as she fell, hitting the branches as he went. That was the first time he ever really felt....panicked. He was a kind soul that often took it slow, and his movements didn't betray that. But, in this one instance, he ran. Not out of the spirit of hardwork, but out of genuine panic.

When he came upon the scene, Fluttershy was lying on the ground, she looked hurt and broken, but she was still awake. Sure, this scene was terrible, and she shouldve been crying in pain...but instead she was worried about her animals more than herself. It was endearing, but troublesome...that night they stated together in the barn. Big Mac tended to her physical wounds, and Fluttershy tended to his mental ones.

Just that thought alone brought a smile to his face...it was something he needed, someone to listen to his troubles...someone to vent to. She was a truly magnificent pony, one of a kind and truly appreciated.

His bad mood completely disappeared with thoughts of Fluttershy, he was now trotting happily along the dirt path out of Sweet Apple Acres. Fluttershy had completely healed after the incident. Thankfully, pegasi have very fragile bones that mend very quickly. She was alright now, and that made Big Mac a happy stallion.

His thoughts drifted to this and that. When will the apples in the east orchard be ready? How long until cider season? Is Granny in good health? Stuff he normally thought about...then his mind drifted to the cotton candy trainwreck his sister called a house guest. She was taintin' the pure minds of the little ones! How could AJ condone such talk? She was raised with him, she was taught to believe that Celestia made colts and fillies for a reason. If mares were meant to be with mares, they would have parts that fit. It was simple logic! What he didn't understand is why some ponies seem to let that logic escape them.

Simply too dumb for their own good, he supposed.

Applejack trudged up the wooden plank to the clubhouse, her muddy hooves coming down hard on the sturdy planks beneath her. When the pony had said it was Pinkie, Applejack didn't rightly believe it. Pinkie didn't cry...well, not seriously anyways. Every once in a while a comically cartoonish fountain of tears would come from her eyes if she was frustrated or just being random. But sobbing? That wasn't a Pinkie Pie thing.

So, curious as to who this pony pretending to be Pinkie possibly was, AJ trotted right up the ramp and into the clubhouse. Sure enough, right there in the corner of the small clubhouse sat the one, the only, Pinkie Pie.She was soaked to the bone and crying. Not a good look for the normally ecstatic equine.

"Pinkie...?" Disbelief ran through the word like water through a riverbed. "Are y'all alright...?" The pink pony in the corner nodded, but kept her head down.

"Yeah Applejack..peachy." She let out a chuckle that sounded more akin to a sob than an actual laugh. "Get it? Apple? Peachy?" Applejack could only offer a halfhearted laugh and a sad smile.

"Not one of yer better ones, but clever nonetheless." Applejack was never good with...touchy feely stuff. She was a farmpony. She was alive to kick trees and sell apples....and from the look of the situation, Pinkie was not a tree and there were no apples to be sold...so AJ sat beside her friend, looking a mite uncomfortable.

"She said no..." The words came out slowly, calmly. Not like what usual inaudible stream of nonsense came from Pinkie.

"Who said no, Sugarcube...?" That didn't feel right...knowing what Pinkie was made it a tad more awkward talking to her in an intimate fashion. What if Pinkie took 'Sugarcube' or 'Darlin' the wrong way? This could end very awkwardly for her.

"Rainbow Dash..." Pinkie's hoof circled around the damp wood in front of her nervously. "She said...." A hard swallow. "She said she could never be with me...because I'm not a pegasus...or a stallion." Heartbroken. That was the right word to describe Pinkie's voice. It's such a simplistic thing for ponies to comprehend, yet so complex for them to understand.

"Oh, ah'm so sorry darlin'..." And there goes one of those words again. She mentally slapped caution tags on the affectionate words. Use sparingly, she reminded herself.

"I-It's okay...I just..I just don't know what to do anymore, Applejack." Pinkie sighed, a tear fell from her eye and onto the ground below, adding to the moisture that had already accumulated there.It just...something about the whole scene, a soaked and dejected Pinkie made that way by a bigoted Rainbow Dash. It just reminded her of what her brother said...it just...it made her so gosh darn angry!

Applejack stood. Not everyone was going to get away with being a mean bigoted pony today! Nu-uh! Her brother may have something to laud over her, but Rainbow Dash? Ohhh, Rainbow Dash was going to get a piece of Applejack's mind. The honest part of Applejack's mind.

Big Mac was at Fluttershy's now, and calmly resting with his little marefriend on the couch. It was always such a nice feeling, her slender frame against his gargantuan body. He just loved how she intimately trusted him, holding her, hugging her...heck, Applebloom was afraid to let him catch the chickens. Said he might squish 'em flat. So for someone as fragile as Fluttershy to trust him, it really meant a lot.

"Big Mac?" The little sound cam from between his hooves. It was angelic and called to him like a siren.

"Yes?"

"How is Pinkie Pie settling in over at your house?" The voice turned demonic in his hears, that darn name poisoned everything it touched. It was like a Cockatrice in pony form...

"Ugh.." Big Mac groaned as a sneer came across his face. "Discord in pony form, ah'll tell ya that."

Then something happened he wasn't expecting....Fluttershy glared at him.

I Just Wanna Strangle You With Friendship

Applejack stormed out of the clubhouse, dragging Pinkie along behind her by the tail. Pinkie seemed lighter yesterday when Applejack was carrying her, now the mare felt like a lead weight. But Applejack was no slouch, she dragged Pinkie right down that ramp and through the mud leading towards the center of Sweet Apple Acres.

"A-Applejack, where are we going...?" Pinkie was getting covered in mud, she didn't mind...it's kinda like how her heart felt right now. Might as well have the exterior match the interior.

"We're gonna talk ta Rainbow Dash..." Applejack said out of the corner of her mouth. Her voice was filled with righteous indignation, well as much righteous indignation one could have with a pink tail in their mouth.

AJ just kept dragging her friend along behind her, she didn't really care if Pinkie was getting muddy. There were showers for a reason after all. AJ found the mare behind her start resisting her grip, she could practically feel Pinkie's hooves digging into the muddy ground, trying to find their purchase.

"N-No AJ! I can't talk to her!" Pinkie hanged her head. "Not again..."

For Applejack's part, she didn't quite care. She wasn't going to make Pinkie talk to that feeling-hurter. That was her job. Applejack was going to give RD a piece of her mind bigger than the east orchard. Ooooh, when AJ got her hooves on that filly...it was not going to be pretty.

"Why'r you givin' me that look, Suugar pie..?" Big Mac looked into the actually-angry eyes of his marefriend. That look...it took him back to the years when he was just a little colt and Granny would box his ears. That glare made him feel oh so small compared to the pegasus.

"Why would you say something like that, Big Macintosh? Pinkie's a good pony." Fluttershy's voice was stern. He had heard that before when she was scoldin' Angel. Big Mac knew that rabbit was tougher than him, so this was not going to go well.

"W-well..." He was stuttering, sure he had vehemently defended his decision with Applejack earlier, but this was Fluttershy. He couldn't yell at her, that would be like yellin' at a puppy for just bein' rowdy. "She was talkin' to Applebloom 'bout sinful stuff...stuff a filly shouldn't know about."

"Pinkie would never bring up something she wasn't supposed to talk about." Fluttershy vehemently defended her pink friend. "What did she talk about?" Fluttershy knew Pinkie, she also knew the perky party pony would never say anything bad around a filly.

"Well...It was about..." Big Mac could feel his ire rising with each word. The closer he got to the actual subject the angrier he seemed to get. "Her bein' a...y'know...a filly-fooler." There! He said it! He could only close his eyes and hope that Celestia would not smite him for even bringing the subject up.

"Is that it?" Fluttershy felt like a silly pony, kind of like Applejack.She was about to get very stern with Big Mac over his family's archaic beliefs? Oh that was nothing new, Big Mac still thought kissing in public was taboo. "What's wrong with her liking mares? It's perfectly natural."

"What?!" The stallion did not mean to have such an outburst, it just flowed forth. "That ain't natural! Mares belong with Stallions, not other mares! If Celestia meant for 'em to be together they would have parts that fit." Big Mac couldn't believe what Fluttershy had said! Heresy of the highest degree.

"Well...I mean...a tongue sorta fits in-" Fluttershy was about to finish her statement when her coltfriend's hooves when over his ears.

"EEEEEEENOPE! NOT HEARING IT! NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE!"

"Oh my...this is going to be more difficult than I thought..."

"Rainbow Dash, y'all get your flank down here!" Applejack shouted up into the storm clouds. Sure, Pinkie and herself were now covered ears to hooves in mud but she could still be angry!

"No way, AJ. Rain's going to start up again in a minute, that stuff is murder on my mane. No one likes a mare with a wet mane, AJ." Just barely,Applejack could spot a multicolored tail in between two clouds."Plus,I'm busy trying to catch some extra Z's, this training is tiresome."

Applejack had it up to the tips of her ears with Rainbow, stuck-up pegasus. More like a rat with wings if you asked AJ! She should be more loyal to her friend's requests, not to her stupid training schedule! Grrr, this pony could be so concieted.

"Ah said to get down here, ya pigeon!" That did it. Almost immediately Rainbow was standing in front of AJ, her chest puffed out and her wings fully extended.

"What did you call me?" Rainbow was furious, every word dripped with venom and warning.

"Y'all heard me." Applejack stated calmly. "Pigeon." The last word came out barely as a whisper, just loud enough for the pegasus to hear it.

"Why I oughta..."

"Oughta what? Shoot me down like ya did Pinkie? Say how ya can never love somepony jus' because of their race?" Every accusation flowed forth from the farmer's mouth as if it was any slang she had ever used. "Yer the worst kinda pony, y'know that?"

"Me? I cant help it if I want somepony who can do what I love. Plus,I'm not into mares, alright? Not my grind, so mind your own darn business, hayseed!" Rainbow and Applejack's noses were practically touching at this point, both mares' eyes were narrowed and glaring sharp, deadly daggers at each other.

"Ah'm tryin' to help my friend! Ah'm tryin' to be a good friend and figure out why in the hay you were so mean...alright Loyalty?" Applejack tried to lace all of her intentions in that one word, everything she wanted to do to Big Mac was in that one utterance. Every drop of loathing and anger.

"Listen, I can't help if I come across as a bit mean. I mean, what was I supposed to tell her? Yes?" Rainbow pushed Applejack away from her. So maybe I wasn't as nice as I should've been, but you don't just spring news like that on somepony out of the blue!" Dash raised her hooves wildly for emphasis. "I mean, how would you feel if she said that to you? Don't get me wrong, I still want to be her friend, but it will be harder knowing she's thought about plowin' me, alright?" Suddenly, Applejack saw RD's point. Okay, yeah. She should've been more tactful, but it was a pretty big thing to drop on somepony at a moment's notice. Maybe Pinkie could have eased Dash into the subject.

"Alright...Ah see your point. But ya still need to apologize to Pinkie." Applejack pointed to the sulking pink mare behind her, who was now laying in a mud puddle looking more depressed than ever. Applejack knew that it was better to make her happy now rather than later.

"Right..." Dash trotted past the farmpony and looked at Pinkie. The sulking pony's sad blue eyes met her own. Dash wanted to just look away, nopony should have to look into the eyes of a sad Pinkie. It was like seeing a puppy that's been kicked one too many times. "Umm...I'm sorry Pinkie.." Dash's forehoof went to the back of her neck, subconsciously she knew she was just smearing her neck with mud, but it didn't really matter. "I really am, and I still wanna be friends..."

No response came from Pinkie, both of the other mares waited for one...but it did not come. The pink pony only lifted her head, nodded, then let her head fall back into the mud puddle. Applejack and Rainbow Dash simply looked at each other in confusion. This was supposed to work. Pinkie was supposed to pop up and be all smiles or something like that.But why wasn't that happening?

"-But you have to be tolerant, Macintosh." Fluttershy had just given, what she thought was, the best speech ever regarding tolerance of homosexuality. The short version is, you don't have to like or respect it, but you have to recognize that others do and that you can't go around bashing ponies just because of who they love. Whether or not Big Mac actually listened was totally up to him.

"Fine...but ah'm not havin' her tell mah little sister all of that stuff." Big Mac crossed his hooves, his brow was creased with frustration. Why was nopony on his side? Why was everypony siding with Pinkie? it wasn't fair.

"Well then just talk to her about it, set some ground rules. But don't be mean, nopony listens to anger." Big Mac could only huff an agreement. He was going to have to go with this lest he be shunned by his own marefriend.

All It Takes Is One Bad Day

"Umm...girls?" The five mares, who had recently been poking their friend like a big pink button, were now gently hugging their plush friend. She was hugging her friends the best she could with her one good hoof. Once she was through with giving her round of hugs, she spoke, her voice still muffled by the oxygen mask. "Umm...wh-what happened and why am I here...?"

"Oh...oh dear...you don't remember?" Rarity nervously stroked her mane, as was her custom when talking about touchy subjects. Pinkie gave her head a slight shake, her mane bobbing ever so slightly with her movements. "Well dear, you...you had a little fall when you were escaping from Sugarcube Corner." As if on cue, a small green shape popped out of Pinkie's mane, he was wearing an oxygen mask just the right size for a baby gator.

"Oh...right...the roof." All of the mares were silent at Pinkie's revelation. They didn't really need or want to say anything. The tiny gator atop her head gave a small chitter and dove back into her mane, most likely to sleep. "Umm...are...are Mr. and Mrs. Cake alright...a-and the twins?" It was a heavy burden on her mind that she didn't know what happened to her employers or their two foals that she loved so much, she had been too preoccupied with saving her own skin to even think about her adopted family.

"Yeah Pinkie, they made it out 'fore the fire spread." AJ respectfully took her hat off. "They...they didn't think y'all would make it out alive...heck, none of us did." Everypony was silent, most likely out of guilt. "They got outta town this mornin', headed to their relatives out in Baltimare." AJ was a bit of a gossip, truth be told. She was out in the town square most days selling apples, so she heard a lot of things that could pertain to a myriad of situations.

"Oh..." Pinkie looked down, then calmly removed the oxygen mask from her muzzle. "Is Sugarcube Corner...?"

"It's gone, darlin'. Turned to ash...ah'm sorry.." The rest of the girls nodded along with AJ's words. "We all are..."

"Can we please go see Pinkie Pie?" The little unicorn stamped her small white hooves in order to accentuate her question. The two other little fillies nodded, obviously wondering the exact same thing.

"Eenope." The large red stallion shook his head and sat right in front of the door of the small cottage. The cottage itself was barely big enough to hold the monster of a stallion that was Big Macintosh. He visited often, so he was used to having to hunch over or sit almost all of the time.

"C'mon Big Mac! Y'all said wed be able ta see her today!" the little earth pony with the thick accent gave her big brother a mean glare.

"Now girls..." A butter yellow pegasus came into the living room from somewhere near the back of the house. "Big Macintosh said no, and if he said it then he has a good reason..." Big Mac gave the pegasus a kind smile and nodded, which only made the timid pony blush deeply. "A-and Big Mac took time from his day to come over and help me take care of you, so you should listen to him..."

Fluttershy and Big Mac. What a pair. The two, both seldom speakers, had been seeing each other for a few months now. Just a few weeks after the royal wedding they had their first date...which was a mess in it's own right. When you have to shy ponies, not much conversation is had, and not many things are confessed. Thankfully, after a few days, they both finally started talking to each other. When they were alone...frankly, they just wouldn't shut up.

Often times, whenever Big Mac had some time away from the farm and when Fluttershy wasn't busy with her animals, the pair could be seen trotting down a nature trail or sitting in a park. Nothing had to be said because they both already knew how they felt about each other. Many considered what they had 'the perfect relationship'.

"Ugh, so unfair." All three members of the illustrious Cutie Mark Crusaders huffed and plopped their rumps firmly on the couch in annoyance.

"Eeyup..." Deadpanned the yellow earth filly.

"Why is this place so boring?" Scootaloo spread her tiny wings and gave them a few good flaps. "We can't even go outside...reminds me of my house."

Fluttershy trotted over to the red giant and sat beside him, then gently laid her head on his shoulder. In almost a whisper she said. "These three are little monsters..."

"Eeyup..." Came the equally soft, but deep, response.

Pinkie was up and hobbling around. While she could put some pressure on her bad hoof, she couldn't firmly walk on it. Even if her body wasn't up to snuff, her mind still held the same agility that it always had. This included her infamous panic attacks.

"B-But if the Cakes are gone and Sugarcube Corner is gone, that means that I don't have a job...or a home!" She was pacing back and forth, her four friends and her pet Alligator were all watching the mare go. "I can't work anywhere else, I can't. BonBon won't take me back after what happened last time!" everypony winced at that excluding Twilight and the reptile. Most of them remembered what happened there and didn't want a repeat.

"Pinkie...y'all need to calm down." Applejack stepped forward, only to be pulled back by Rainbow Dash.

"I-I'm homeless..." The mare turned on her friends. "I...I can stay with one of you...right?" All of the mares turned away, looking awfully distracted all of a sudden.

"Well the Library isn't exactly a boarding house Pinkie Pie. All I have is my room, and it's cramped enough with Spike there and always growing. Sorry." Twilight bowed out of the conversation to give Gummy some attention.

:"i live on a cloud, don't look at me earth pony." Rainbow Dash held her hooves up defensively. "You can't exactly stay with me." Pinkie nodded sullenly. Out of all of her friends, she liked dash the most. The duo often spent whole days pranking the citizens of Ponyville.

"Yes, well. You know you're my friend and all, Pinkie..." Rarity averted her gaze. "But taking care of you and Sweetie Belle? I do not think I have that stalwart of sanity." Pinkie Pie fully understood, even to the party animal herself even one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders were a hoofful.

All eyes fell on Applejack.

"Darn it..."