Applejack's Little Visitor

As Discord had instructed them, the Crusader’s next target would be Ponyville’s own, little red schoolhouse. Having experienced a day of nothing but rejection however, the Crusaders endlessly planned and rehearsed for how they would confront their beloved teacher, Miss Cheerilee. They didn’t like it, but if Mrs. Cake was any indication, they would have to be firm.

The CMC came to class early. So early in fact, that the only other pony besides Miss Cheerilee was the teacher’s pet, a little yellow filly named…Noi? Maybe that was a nickname. She was the next door neighbor to the Apple family (as in, the neighboring carrot farm), but she and Applebloom rarely interacted.

They sat side-by-side, at the very front of the class. Scootaloo placed her books on her desk…then turned around and walked back outside, much to the confusion of Miss Cheerilee. As the rest of the class began to arrive, Scootaloo rode her scooter down the road and announced to all the stragglers to hurry into class, that something big was going to happen. It helped that this kept her inaccessible to the taunts of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who would be parting the crowd like a celebrity with their bodyguards.

There were still quite a few minutes before class when the seats had all been filled. Noi’s quiet study time was now over, as the classroom had become a noisy forum of younger colts and fillies. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had taken their normal seats, which happened to be to the right of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They merely cast a sidelong glance at them.

Scootaloo removed her helmet and stood in the doorway, “That’s everyone Miss Cheerilee!”

“Why, yes it is!” Miss Cheerilee had taken a mental roll call. She hastily added, “Thank you, Scootaloo…”

“No problem!” Scootaloo slammed the door shut with a grin. She then took her seat.

“Wait,” Noi spoke up, “So, if everyone’s here, does that mean we can start early?”

There were groans from the back of the class.

“No, no,” Miss Cheerilee allayed their fears, “there’s still plenty of time before class.”

“Teacher’s pet…” Diamond Tiara whispered.

“Yeah, but not for long,” Silver Spoon added, pointing at the Crusaders.

The Crusaders ignored her, and took Cheerilee’s announcement as the signal. Now it was time to spring the trap.

“Uh, Miss Cheerilee?” Applebloom took the lead, “Do y’think maybe you could answer us a question then?”

“Oh?” said Miss Cheerilee, “What kind of question, Applebloom?”

“Well, actually,” said Scootaloo, “It’s for the three of us,” she gestured to her right.

“Really?”

“But, here’s the thing,” Sweetie Belle began talking, “we already asked a whole bunch of ponies yesterday.”

“But every time we asked somepony,” Scootaloo continued her thought.

“They just ran away!” Applebloom finished hers.

“Or ignored us!” Sweetie Belle again.

“Or told us not to ask it!” Scootaloo again.

Cheerilee struggled to keep her composure, “O-okay, now is this a personal question? Something ponies might not want to answer?”

“No! All of our pare-uh,” Sweetie caught herself, “parental figures had an answer for it…”

“But they all had different stories!” Applebloom.

“And when I asked some of the other kids,” Scootaloo gestured to the back of the class, “they all had different stories too! Everypony’s lying to us, and we don’t know why!”

“Well-uh,” Miss Cheerilee said, “what is your question?”

They got her. The Crusaders looked at each other and nodded. “Miss Cheerilee, WHERE DO BABIES COME FROM?”

The same look of primal fear as the one Rainbow Dash got appeared on Miss Cheerilee’s face. Except this time, there was nowhere to run.

“Uh-um, girls…” she couldn’t even manage a nervous smile, sweat began to darken her fur, “that’s not…-really a question I should be answering…”

“Why not?” Scootaloo raised her voice.

Sweetie Belle argued, “You’re supposed to be our teacher! Isn’t it your job to enlighten us? Show us the truth and…make us smarter?”

“Especially when our own parents don’t even wanna tell us!” Applejack turned back to the class and spread her hooves, “Don’t you think we deserve to know the truth?”

The class began to murmur, Cheerilee raised her voice, “Girls! Please! I can’t tell you, it’s against the rules! Besides, it’s not appropriate for children your age.”

“Oh! So it’s that old excuse again…” Scootaloo interrupted. “You know there’s a lot of stuff you adults say isn’t appropriate for us. You say we’re not supposed to curse because they’re ‘bad words’, and I get that, but every time Aunt Lofty hurts herself sewing or Rainbow Dash hangs out with her friends, I hear a lot of swearing. And nobody cares!”

“Whenever I spend the night with Rarity or my parents, they’re always drinking wine or beer,” Sweetie Belle again. “So do Twilight and the others, and everyone knows about Miss Berry Punch!” Berry’s daughter sank lower into her chair at the mention. “But every cartoon I’ve ever seen pretends like none of those things happen! What’s the deal with that?”

“And what about death?” said Applebloom, “You tell us all about the different wars in Equestria history, me and my friends play with toy guns and watch those Star Horse movies where people get killed with laser swords or shot with blasters, and even those old Walt Whinny movies have people dying in ‘em. But just like with drinkin’, every cartoon that isn’t a Star Horse cartoon always says someone is ‘gone’ or ‘destroyed’ or ‘sent to the next dimension’, but we all know what they wanna say!”

A brown earth pony colt from behind them began to speak up, “Hey, that’s a good point. If I can jump on Kuroombas in Super Maremmano Brothers and shoot my friends in Overhock…-I mean, if I still played that game…”

Sweetie Belle sighed, “Not now B.M.!”

There came a low chuckle from the back of the room, “Huh-huh! She th’aid BM!” It was a taller light brown unicorn colt. Due to some sort of genetic disorder, he had elflike ears, and a moderate intellectual disability.

“Meh-heh-heh, yeah!” a shorter, more gravelly voiced grey unicorn colt right next to him joined in.

“See that?” Applebloom pointed, “Everyone knows about…P-O-O-P, and we’re 90% sure that having babies is scatological in nature.”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo again, “So what gives? Why can’t we know where babies come from?”

“We know where they come from!” the grey colt spoke up.

Scootaloo ran across top of the desks to the back of the classroom, “You do?!”

“Yeah, Snails told me!” He gestured to the taller unicorn. Snails had been held back quite a few times, but since he hit puberty it was decided he should take the same health class as everyone his age. “Tell ‘em Snails!”

“About what?” Snails wasn’t listening a hundred-percent.

“About the Birds and the Bees.”

“Oh, okay. Well you see…”

“Snails…!” anger crept into Miss Cheerilee’s voice.

“Uh, let’s see…Birds eat bees, right? And bees like flowers. But some bees like other bees, and some birds like other birds. And then there are some bees who were born birds, but prefer to have the body of a bee…”

“No! Not the metaphor version!” the grey unicorn interrupted. “Tell her the REAL version! It’s much funnier.”

“Oh! Okay, so girls have a-Oh wait, you’re a girl! Okay so boys have this thing called a-”

Cheerilee’s yardstick hit the desk like a thunderclap. "SCOOTALOO, SEAT. NOW."

Scootaloo had never seen Miss Cheerilee this angry. She dropped from Snail’s desk and circled back around to the front. Cheerilee followed after in silence. She composed herself and stood in front of the class.

“Now children, I will admit you brought up some good points. There are a lot of things us adults like to pretend you don’t know about that you do know about. But it’s not because we don’t think you can handle it. It’s because we don’t want you to have to handle it!” She gave a pause for her words to sink in. The Crusaders would’ve exchanged glances if they weren’t so scared.

“All of you get to spend this time before you grow up with lots of freedom! You might have to do some things you don’t like: Sweetie Belle, I’ll bet living with your sister isn’t always easy.”

“Eh, there are some…problems,” Sweetie Belle sighed.

“And I bet you like to joke about her to your friends, don’t you?”

“Sometimes,” she said sheepishly.

“Applebloom, you’re an apple farmer. I’m sure your family has plenty of good ones about how hard apple farming is.”

“Well, yeah.” said Applebloom.

“Tell me one!”

“Oh! Uh…” Applebloom then spoke with a snappier voice, reminiscent of her older sister. “It’s like ah’ always say! You can’t call yerself an apple farmer ‘til you’ve climbed a ladder in the rain, and lost your boot in the mud!” This earned a light giggle from Miss Cheerilee and a few other foals.

“Well, it’s the same with adults. When you’re an adult, you have to do a lot of things you don’t want to. Things that are complicated. So, we joke about them. We joke about things like drinking, like getting old, or how much money we make; all because they’re very complex things we have to deal with. It’s the same thing with…baby-making, but that’s one thing you don’t have to deal with! You shouldn’t have to. One day you will, but it will do you no good talking about the unpleasant things in life if you can’t relate to them. Does that make sense girls?”

The Crusaders were at a loss for words. Her argument wasn’t ironclad, but they had neither the time, will, nor advanced reasoning skills that Cheerilee had to continue this argument.

“I guess so, Ms. Cheerilee…” Applebloom said. “But, when will we know?”

“When you turn twelve. By then, many of you will have started to change, feel certain new emotions. We’ll have this thing called ‘health class’, and I’ll be there to answer all your questions. Can you wait until then?” she added with a cherry.

“All right…” the girls said in unison.

“Good. Because today what we do have to deal with, is your multiplication homework. Oh, and class? Let’s keep this discussion between us, okay? You don’t want to worry your parents. Also, even if they’ve told you stories that aren’t true, they probably have good reasons.”

“Well…now what do we do?” Applebloom said, as the CMC were walking away from school for the day, defeated. They had a lonelier, quieter lunch break than usual, so it wasn’t until now that Applebloom had decided to speak.

“Maybe we don’t do anything?” Sweetie Belle expected a more negative response, but her friends were barely surprised. “I mean, now we know why nobody wants to tell us, and we’re gonna learn it like four years from now anyway. So what’s the big deal?”

“Hold it right there! Where do you think you’re going?” the familiar voice of Diamond Tiara came to the Crusader’s ears.

Clearly, she and Silver Spoon had waited until they were some ways away from school, so they could now taunt and tease the Cutie Mark Crusaders with impunity. The Crusaders just kept on walking, but that didn’t stop the pair from flanking them with their typical snotty behavior.

“I did not get the chance to thank you three!” she continued. “I was already having a great day, but I really needed a good laugh. You girls just keep surprising me! Maybe you’ll be getting a Cutie Mark in comedy some day!”

“Oh, I don’t know, Diamond Tiara,” remarked Silver Spoon, “I think you have to actually try to be funny to get one of those! I think they’re just clueless!”

“That’s for sure! Hey Sweetie Belle!” Diamond waved a pointed hoof in Sweetie Belle’s face, “You wanna ask Miss Cheerilee who raises the sun everyday?”

Scootaloo felt like it was her face, “Hey, lay off Diamond Tiara! Don’t you have something better to do?”

“Yeah! At least we actually did something with our day! What do you two ever do?” Applebloom pointed back at her.

“Oh, just sunbathe by my pool in view of all the poor ponies,” said the spoiled filly. “Play my Splintendo games, order around the servants…need I go on?”

“Well at least we don’t need our daddy’s money to have fun!” Applejack clapped back.

“Well at least I actually have a dad!” Diamond Tiara snapped.

Everypony fell silent. Applebloom stopped breathing for a second, and her mouth hung open as her eyes shrank. Sweetiebelle held a hoof to her mouth in shock, then turned towards Applebloom, who was now sitting down and her head lowered. Even Diamond Tiara was shocked at what just came out of her mouth. Diamond gave Silver Spoon a guilty look, and her toady was at a loss for words. The pegasus looked to her friends - Sweetie now clung to Applebloom - then flattened her ears and stared daggers at Diamond Tiara.

Diamond stepped forward, “Okay…look, forget what I said! I just-”

Scootaloo stomped in front of Diamond Tiara, and leaned forward like a hunting dog. “You know what Tiara? Now I can see why you only have one friend!”

Diamond then forgot about her guilt and lowered her gaze at Scootaloo with a scowl. The pegasus pawed at the ground threateningly.

“Alright, that’s enough!” Silver Spoon threw herself between the bickering fillies, shocking Diamond Tiara.

The grey filly then turned to the CMC, “Look, if you really want the answer to your weird question, just go to the library! That’s how I learned!” The Crusaders blinked at that last statement, “There are plenty of biology books that have what you’re looking for—withpictures! Just pick out whichever of them are the biggest or most show-offy, like gold letters on the spine. There’s no age-restriction, and you don’t need to ask any adults for help!”

She then excused themselves, “Well, I believe we’re done here. Where to, Diamond Tiara?”

“Um…” Diamond searched herself, and regained her composure. “Right. Come on Silver Spoon!”

She then led Silver down the street with their heads held high. Scootaloo eased up after the pair went out of sight. She then went back to her friends and gave Applebloom a little hug. The CMC stayed there for a few minutes while Applebloom gathered her thoughts.

A little dragon held open the door to the Golden Oaks Library. “Oh, hey girls!” he said, letting in the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

As usual, one could find the resident librarian floating multiple tomes in a circle above her head as she reshelved them.

“Twilight!” shouted the dragon, “You have company!”

“Just a moment Spike!” she replied as she shelved the last of the books. She emerged from behind the foyer’s centerpiece.

“Hi, Twilight!” Sweetie Belle greeted her.

“Hello, My Little Ponies! What are you doing here today?” The CMC usually had weekly lessons with Twilight, and Twilight took great pride in being some kind of teacher.

“Well Twilight,” Sweetie continued. “We’re here to do some research.”

“What are you looking for?” she asked as she led them further into the library.

“Uh, just some books on biology.”

“Biology? What do you need that for?”

Uh, oh. We didn’t think about that. I can’t say it’s for school; then she could check with Miss Cheerilee! Sweetie Belle racked her brain for an answer.

“Well…!” Scootaloo swooped in, “I wanted to work on my stuntwork, so I figured I could read up on some bio-...bio…”

“Biomechanics?” said Twilight.

“Yeah! That! And Sweetie Belle figured she could make her magic better if she knew some more about biology too. And Applebloom…”

Applebloom took a moment to respond. She was still reeling from earlier.

“Whuh?...Ah! Potions!” she blurted out.

Twilight was perplexed. She looked to the other two in confusion. Scootaloo mouthed the words Diamond Tiara, and immediately Twilight understood. She continued with their query.

“Oh! Well that’s…surprising of you girls. Let’s see what I’ve got for you.”

Twilight led them over to a shelf on the other side of the room. There were plenty of picture books that looked like what Silver Spoon suggested near the bottom shelf, but Twilight just glossed over them and picked out three medium sized books from the higher shelves, along with one paperback handbook. They either looked old or had some really technical jargon on the covers.

“Here Sweetie Belle, I think The Living Arcane would be a good starting place for you. Applebloom,” the filly picked her head up, “since you’re working with potions, for now I’d stick with just reading A Biologist’s Guide to Potioneering. It’s not that I don’t trust you with a beaker…but let Zecora help you with the actual potionmaking, okay?” Applebloom’s mood was not improved by the reminder of her past failures.

“Scootaloo, here’s The Physics of Stunts and Acrobatics. Also, I know you and Rainbow Dash are more about involved learning, so I would recommend taking this one home with you,” Twilight held up the paperback, which read Flip, Jump, Land: A Pocket Companion for Daredevils.

The three fillies all thanked Twilight for the books with the most genuine smiles they could muster (given the situation), then nervously opened the books to find that all of them had extensive forewords and prefaces by old ponies they didn’t even know the names of.

On the other side of the library, Twilight’s dragon assistant retched and doubled over. He then let out a loud burp, followed by a burst of green fire that manifested into a scroll, sealed with a ribbon and a crest.

Twilight trotted over to him, “Who’s it from?”

“Uh, Shining Armor!” Spike stammered.

“My brother!” Twilight took the letter in her telekinesis and unfurled it. Her eyes scanned the text rapidly.

“What’s it say?” asked Spike.

She quickly finished reading, “He says he’s coming to Ponyville for a visit, and he’s bringing Cadence with him! Oh, it’s been so long!”

“Heh,” Spike chuckled, “No guard detail?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Shut up,” she sighed. “Also no, he’s busy this week. We talked about it.”

Sweetie Belle decided to get Twilight out of the room, “Thank you for your help, Twilight! I think we’ve got it from here.”

“Oh. Okay girls!” she nodded. “I’ll be upstairs, just let me know if you need anything!” She looked at Applebloom for an extra bit, then ascended the stairs.

Once she and Spike were gone, the girls set down their books and began combing the shelf for whatever books looked good. They all had simple titles like Biology in big letters. They didn’t really have subtitles, being more like brand-name books than entries in series. The content was much clearer however, and while for decency’s sake there weren’t many real photos, there were lifelike illustrations as opposed to rough sketches or pencil drawings.

The girls skimmed through the parts of each book showing the different parts of pony anatomy: the closeup illustrations of hair growing from the epidermis, the cross section of a pony’s snout showing its nasal passages, the diagram of a Pegasus’s flight muscles that taunted Scootaloo every time she saw it, and the anatomy of Unicorn’s horn that Scootaloo joked was probably covered in The Living Arcane. In each book, they found near the back a section about pregnancy, and there was always a diagram of the inside of a mare’s womb, with the foal curled up like it was sleeping. Sweetie Belle’s eyes lingered on these - and the month-by-month pictures of the mare’s stomach getting bigger and bigger - just a little too long for Scootaloo’s liking.

“Hey girls!” Spike made Applebloom jump. He was holding a large tray with three teacups on it, “I made you some tea.”

“Oh!” Sweetiebelle said, “Thank you, Spike…”

Scootaloo was confused, “I thought we weren’t supposed to drink in here.” She then noticed the pile of pastries, “-Or eat.”

“Well,” Spike said, “Twilight said that as long as you’re careful and don’t get it on the books. Here.” Spike passed around the cups, and handed a pastry to Applebloom. “Hey Applebloom, care for a Perry Mason?”

Applebloom numbly took the pastry in her hoof, then looked and saw a purple horn poking out from the stairs. Applebloom took a courteous bite where Spike could see it.

“It’s good.” she sighed (it was Applebloom’s favorite). Spike’s smile got slightly smaller and he walked away. Perry Masons were Spike’s special recipe, a variation on birnbrot or “pear bread”. They weren’t allowed at Sweet Apple Acres, for some reason.

Whenever Twilight or Spike came back down for anything, the girls made sure they saw they were reading the books Twilight picked out. In reality, they were actually reading the books they picked out inside them. Except for Scootaloo though. She had actually taken a keen interest in the Pocket Companion for Daredevils. That was one more book-shy pegasus Twilight had converted.

The CMC learned some interesting tidbits about equine reproduction. The most surprising of which was the fact that, despite widespread belief to the contrary, ponies can reproduce throughout their entire lifespan. Mares experience a monthly period of fertility known as estrus, or “the heat”, during which they are able to reproduce. Its primate equivalent - represented by the sentient Gizmonkies - eventually ceases due to menopause. Meanwhile, ponies merely have shorter and shorter but persistent cycles. This is how Applebloom’s grandmother, after comfortably cementing her career through the sale of Zap Apple Jam, was able to have her son Bright Macintosh in her mid 40s. She later became a grandmother around the same time as Diamond Tiara’s grandfather, who was himself from a younger generation than her. The thought that Granny could still have a baby if she wanted, was more than a little disturbing to Applebloom.

As for the information they were actually looking for, all of the books they picked out stopped short of mentioning the method of delivering a baby (though as far as they knew it was already a given). What’s more, while they now knew that babies grew from the combination of a mare’s egg and a stallion’s sperm, and that the latter travelled up a tube of some kind to get to the egg in a “uterus”, they didn’t know where the sperm came from. Having seen Twilight pluck their more advanced books from the higher shelves, the Crusaders accurately surmised that the information they were looking for was also higher up.

Applebloom, wanting to be useful, climbed up the ladder and combed through the higher shelves. Twilight descended the stairs at one point, so Applebloom had to quickly avert her suspicions by saying she was just looking for some “extra reading”. Aside from advising her to be careful, Twilight offered - almost pleaded - to select the volumes herself, but Applebloom said she was fine. Twilight decided at length to just set aside her control-freak tendencies, and let people make their own mistakes.

The CMC might’ve called it a mistake themselves. These volumes were tremendously more inscrutable for fillies their age. Only by reading through the denser sections as a group, and referring to a dictionary, were they able to decipher one. While they made a stink in the classroom about having older relatives who swore, or watching media with content above their ascribed age rating, some words just didn’t show up as much because they didn’t have any siblings to bridge the gap with their older ones. Only today did they learn that “sex” could also refer to something that wasn’t a trait, as was common knowledge for children in Equestria. Fortunately for them, as soon as a completely unfamiliar word referring to “reproductive fluid” showed up, there was an entry in the dictionary for that.

Despite all the reading, and the rather explicit diagrams of mare-stallion intimacy (some of them in pencil), they didn’t really understand the process. But their nerves got the better of them, so they were content filling in the blanks with their imagination. The miracle of life was just adults being weird, no magic - or pooping - required.

The Crusaders put all the books they removed without Twilight back where they found them, but left Twilight’s recommendations, bar one, on the floor. After checking out Scootaloo’s book, the CMC waited until they were outside before they had their “walk off into the sunset”-moment.

“So guys, mission accomplished,” said an unconfident Applebloom.

“What did we learn?” Scootaloo asked.

“That adults should just say ‘it’s gross’ and leave it at that?” Applebloom joked. Sweetie Belle giggled at this. Scootaloo waited a second and then started laughing nervously.

After she and the Crusaders spent the rest of their afternoon in town, Applebloom was now walking alone down the road back home to Sweet Apple Acres. She passed the carefully tended rows of apple trees by which her family made their living, and by which they were named. By which her parents were named. She then heard the sound of a tree creaking against a great blow, and Applebloom turned her head to see the silhouette of a solidly built mare with a fedora bucking against an apple tree. Every apple on the tree then dropped into a ring of strategically placed buckets below.

“Hey, Applejack!” Applebloom called out to her sister.

“Well, howdy there, sugarcube. Where were you today?”

Applebloom thought carefully before answering this question, “Aw, we just…did a little readin’ at Twilight’s place.” Please don’t ask ‘what about?’ sis!

“Shoot, pretty soon y’all’ll be spendin’ all yer time over there!’”

Applebloom gave a nervous laugh, “Heh, ah’ don’t know about that. We didn’t really learn much.”

Applejack paused mid-buck, then set her hooves down. “Applebloom,” she stepped forward, “what’s wrong?”

“Well-” Applebloom hesitated, but she realized there was something else that was bothering her. She sighed, “Applejack, what were mom and dad like?”

The mare’s eyes widened, “Where did this come from?”

“Oh, ah’ just made a fool of myself at school today, then Diamond Tiara came by and-”

“Diamond Tiara?! Shoot, that girl…Ah’ outta give her father a piece a’ mah mind!”

“No, she apologized!...Kinda.” Applejack raised her eyebrow, but Applebloom continued. “It’s just, ah’ don’t think anyone’s ever mentioned it like that before and…ah’ don’t think ah’ ever cared.”

Applejack looked down at her with a face of true concern. She bent down and gave her a hug, “Oh, Applebloom. Ah’m real sorry. You really wanna know?”

Applebloom nodded.

As a young one, you’d be forgiven for mistaking Bright Macintosh for his daughter Applebloom, as he had the same color body and mane. He was a big, strong stallion, and - like his children - responsible for much of the muscle work around the farm. Stronger still was his code of honor that he impressed upon them. Applejack inherited his hat(s). Their mother Buttercup was one of those ponies who was an artist with everything she did. She made everything she touched beautiful. What Applejack’s friends knew as the Apple Family’s homestead wasn’t nearly as picturesque before Buttercup came along. Granny didn’t have much taste for interior design, living on the road and in shacks for much of her youth. And Granny loved and missed her like she was her own daughter. She said there wasn’t another pony who could make an apple pie like Buttercup. They believed in their children more than anything. Even with all the farmhands and being the strongest stallion for miles, their father was always willing to let them take a stab at something hard and coach them. This encouraged his children to pick up a lot of skills from an early age, even before Applejack got her cutie mark. Buttercup often tried to encourage them to pursue more artistic endeavors, but the only one Applejack really picked up was guitar playing. One might say the older Apples invested too much of their willingness to learn into them, because after “the perfect pair” was gone, they were put off trying new things for a long time.

Applejack needn’t be so poetic with Applebloom. A simple “they loved you so much and so do I”, was enough to cheer up her little sister. They talked for a bit longer as Applejack continued her apple-bucking, until the sun began to give one last hurrah and Granny Smith rang the dinner bell. It was a cowbell.

“Aw, shoot! What time is it?” Applejack exclaimed, “Ohh, ah’ gotta get goin’! Go on in and eat yer supper, sugarcube!” She began scrambling to put away her gear and unload the last of the apples.

“Zecora’s again?” Applebloom said.

“This’ll be the last time, sugarcube. Honest apple! She’s helpin’ me train for one of the events this week!”

“Oh yeah…which one?”

“Can’t tell ya’, it’s a secret!” Applejack started galloping down the dirt road away from Sweet Apple Acres.

“But wait!” Applebloom shouted after her sister, “Don’t forget about tomorrow!!!”

“Ah’ gotcha’ Applebloom!” Applejack was now headed towards the dark shadow of the Everfree Forest, “Tomorrow it’s just you and me!”

Applejack had slowed her pace as she entered the boughs of the Everfree. She needed to be cautious; even this close to her friend's home, any number of dangerous creatures could be lurking. Fortunately, it somehow wasn’t so inhospitable that they couldn’t have a nice meal outdoors. Zecora was standing in the clearing near her hut, stirring a great bubbling cauldron with her ladle.

The zebra lifted the brew to her lips and gave it a taste. “Hmm,” she immediately felt a slight quake in her stomach. “The brew, it is strong. But it may be too much. Perhaps a few teaspoons of ‘New Mother’s Touch’.” She poured what appeared to be milk into the mixture.

“Hey, Zecora!” Applejack called out as she approached. Zecora looked at her while continuing to stir the pot. “Is everything set for tonight?”

“Yes, that is the case. Everything is almost in place.”

“Y’know, ah’m gonna miss this when it’s all over. It’s actually been kinda nice just getting to know you better, Zecora.” Applejack sounded oddly sentimental. “Ah’ wouldn’t mind it if we…hung out a little more in the future. Would you?”

“Not at all Applejack,” Zecora let go of her ladle and took Applejack’s hoof. “I feel the same way! You’ll see plenty more of me after today. But for now, fix the space. My brew’s almost done!”

Applejack quickly did as she asked, throwing a big white cloth over a stone slab set in the earth. She set many candles around it, then took out a bowl filled with a thick red mixture and began to paint a circular symbol in magic letters. Applejack took off her hat to don a long robe, then lay down on the symbol.

“After tonight, Applejack, it’s just you…” Zecora smiled, “and the bun!”

The candles made a shadow play out of the ordeal. Zecora pulled a great mass from the cauldron with a blacksmith’s tongs, and walked over to the table.

Applejack nervously spoke up, “Uh…you sure ya’ don’t wanna let that-…cool down a bit?”

Zecora’s voice darkened, “If we take any longer, its effects will subside. Listen to this powermonger, and open it up wide!”

Applejack’s shadow went limp on the table’s, an intense crimson glow infiltrated that of the candles. Zecora’s shadow overtook Applejack’s, there were muffled whimpers and groaning sounds. Zecora’s shadow withdrew, and Applejack’s began to writhe in pain. The Applejack wasn’t known to be a screamer, but whatever she was doing, it was damn close.