Endings, Old and New [END]

[Lux]

The air was thick still with awkwardness as Twilight alternated her gaze between Applejack, Rarity, and Inkbrand. How could one recover from such an admission from the filly? AJ seemed to forget about it, but Rarity looked like she was hit by a house!

"Well, dear. I... feel I should be going," she remarked, turning around to look at Inkbrand. "Thank you for indulging my curiosities, and for... much more," she remarked, turning to Applejack momentarily and nodding before looking back at the stallion. "Should you need anything, I will be at my Boutique in Ponyville. You are always welcome to stop by."

Twilight didn't blame Rarity for wanting to make a hasty exit. If Twilight was in the same situation she's probably would have teleported back to her castle and tried to drown her memories in a book with a cup of tea or a lengthy conversation with spike as the captive audience! 

"Well, it was nice seeing you Rarity. I hope you have a great Hearth's Warming Eve,"  she said putting on a face that nothing unusual happened. As Rarity was making her exit, Applejack suddenly latched onto Twilight like a leech, demonstrating her idea of a "game." The filly was very strong, almost pulling the Princess to the ground!

"Err... maybe you can play that game with your brother."

"Who's hungry?! Apples, hungry? Think you can set up some more of those decorations while you're planning, sweetie? And I'mma get started food. It's Hearth's Warming - gotta have food, and lots of it!"

Twilight welcomed the distraction Inkbrand provided. The more time she spent and got to know him, the more that she started to see he was a good pony trying to make a bad situation ok.

"Sure, Ah could go for some grub. Princess Sparkle, y'ahll wantin' somethin'?" She asked before he gave the request to set stuff up, "sure! Ahn' when it's done, Ah bet tha food'll be set ta go all grubby like,"

"That sounds nice," Twilight replied hoping that the filly wasn't the one cooking as the Alicorn didn't think she could handle her stomach revolting twice in the same day! Now that she was alone with Rarity, she felt that maybe she could add something.

"I'm sure Applejack just got the two types of dates mixed up. If you want to stop by later... in the evening.. to talk... feel free,"Twilight said putting her faith on the fact that most likely the white unicorn would be there.

Spoiler

Zealot, I'm up for a separate thread of Rarity going to see Twilight, like a continuation of this thread. Just let me know.

 

 

[Zeig]

 

Not sure if misheard, or...

 

Well, all the shuffling around he was doing in the kitchen certainly wasn't helping with the hearing matters...buuuut, Inkbrand was pretty sure Rarity had invited him to stop by her boutique whenever he wanted. Which was practically and invitation to stop by an ogle her flank whenever the buck he pleased. 

 

Oh yeah. She wanted him.

 

"Heh. Sure thing, babe. I'm sure I'll be able to find something in my size, there," Inkbrand commented with a wink as he strolled from the kitchen, a mixing bowl held in one hoof while the other went to town with a whisk. Did, Rarity even design clothes for stallions? He could pick the shop out in his mind's eye, knew where it was located and what it sort of looked like, but didn't really know much about what was inside of it. What he'd heard of the designer, though, was all high fashion and cutting edge trends for the most fashionable of mares. 

 

But who knew. Maybe if he stopped by her shop, the white mare would manage to surprise him again.

 

That would have to be for later, however, and Inkbrand gave his goodbyes with a sloppy salute of the whisk as Rarity made her exit before turning back to the task at hoof, the excited ramblings and apprehensive comments from Applejack and Princess Twilight Sparkle, respectively, drowning into white noise as he studied the cook book. Bucking multi-tasking...alright, if he was timing everything correctly...then -

 

- then a blue garland should appear around his neck. Check. And then -

 

- he should stop working on the casserole and start it with the yams.

 

...Actually, buck, he should have done the yams first because they took the longest because they had to soak. Seriously. Now he felt kind of crappy for only getting a one-day spa ticket for his mom as her Hearth's Warming present. She deserved a week-long pass, at the very least.

 

A yelp and a thud from the living room pulled Inkbrand from his thoughts momentarily, and their sources became clear when he poked his head out from the open doorway of the kitchen. "Tch," the tattoo-clad stallion clicked his tongue as he disappeared back into the kitchen, only to reemerge with a small napkin. "When I said decorate, I meant more the holly and tinsel, Applecakes - not blood and face plants." Inkbrand righted the wobbling orange filly, careful not to shake her around too much, as he pressed the napkin against her nose and maneuvered one of her own hoofs to hold it there. 

 

Hmm. First the cocoa stains, now the few droplets of blood. He should, probably get to cleaning those up, at some point.

 

Some point in the future - which actually was something to think about, Inkbrand realized with a small start as he caught sight of the Princess again. He'd kind of assumed the purple Alicorn would leave with Rarity...but that didn't seem to be the case. The grey Earth Pony wasn't sure how to feel about that yet. "So, Princess," Inkbrand started, and took some unnecessary time to take Applejack's napkin and fold it over so that he could press a clean side back to the filly's nose, "are you gonna...you staying for dinner, or what?" 

 

[SteelEagle]

Inkbrand went about cleaning Applejack up, which was might appreciated since she couldn't. She had a hard head but wobbly was wobbly and having somepony there to help pick you up when you couldn't see straight was always helpful. Could a pony not be wobbly after hitting their head? She'd have to get her brother involved in testing on this. Either way it didn't really hurt her. She was a tough little pony! One time she was climbing a tree and fell down and walked away with only a limp because she is the toughest pony ever. She didn't cry or nothing as she bled a bit! Inkbrand must have been totally impressed with her and everything because she didn't make him clean up a bunch of tears that nopony liked to see. After he cleaned her face of the blood- well, as he continued anyway- she kept her composure.

"Sorry ahbout f-fahllin' ahn' such, Mister Inky," she said, taking a deep breath, "Ah'll not be usin' yer doorfrahmes ahn' such like thaht ahgahin," she sighed, her tail wagging of its own accord as she started to try and look past him and towards the food. It sure did smell all good. he was a good cook! Maybe not as good as her parents but nopony was close to that. It smelled all tasty and she was sure it tasted as good as it smelled. It would be a feast! What a wonderful feast it would be. Even with three hungry mouths chomping down on it there would be enough for everypony. And then she'd have another feast when her family came back, so really she was due to gain a few pounds this season that would end up being worked off on the farm. It was a win-win-win for everypony! "Yer cookin' is smellin' mighty nice," she said, ignoring the acrylic, copper smell of her blood.

Of course this all happened after the Princess had told her off, gently and all Princess like of course, that she should quick horsing around and play that with somepony who gave a hoot. Well, okay. No playing with her. Applejack had to be dainty and all prissy like around her, she reckoned, like most other Princesses. Well, there were worse things. "Understood, Yer Highness. Won't hahppen ahgain," she replied evenly, still twitching her nose to and fro from the napkin.

[Lux]

Spoiler

I'm assuming Rarity made her exit. If not, I can edit this easily.

With Rarity making her exit, Twilight made her way back to where the action was on the main floor. She felt a little better about the situation somehow, although logically she didn't know why. She was no way near helping Applejack be a mare again, other than just letting things run their course. Still, there was some comfort in AJ being with Inkbrand. Despite Twilight's typical "fret first, be logical second" approach, Inkbrand wasn't so bad taking in the mare-now-filly. 

She had reached the living room when she heard a thud. There Inkbrand stood holding a bloodied napkin on Applejack's nose! The Alicorn was about to spring into action and help her friend while perhaps dealing a healthy dose of lecturing to Inkbrand about proper foal rearing. But she resisted the urge, watching as the stallion took care of her. 

When I said decorate, I meant more the holly and tinsel, Applecakes - not blood and face plants." 

"He's right Applejack. You should be aware of where you are and everything around you. But thankfully you aren't severely injured." 

Understood, Yer Highness. Won't hahppen ahgain," 

"So, Princess are you gonna...you staying for dinner, or what?" 

"I'd love to stay for dinner if it's not too much of an inconvenience." 

[Zeig]

 

His cooking smelt nice, huh?

 

Well buck, if that didn't make his chest stick out a bit as Inkbrand pulled the napkin away from her nose to inspect the damage. Hah! Him, cooking Hearth's Warming Eve dinner for a little filly and a Princess - and it smelled good! Buck, Mom would be so bucking proud of him right now...and probably find half a dozen ways to make his cooking a lot healthier. But he was trying, and that's all that mattered, and if everyone who ate his cooking went into a coma the day afterwards immediately following the frenzied unwrapping of Hearth's Warming gifts, well.

 

That just meant he'd done it right.

 

In any case, Applejack's snout looked fine. Tough little kid. Inkbrand should've figured a knock on the nose wouldn't have had the orange filly do anything more than twitch in discomfort before she was back to...to, leaping off of barns and tipping over cows, or whatever farm fillies did. Some parents - adults, liked to coddle their foals, wrap them up in blankets and place them in perfectly sanitized bubbles, but buck that. S'why foals were so soft nowadays. Let 'em try, let 'em learn, and if they ended up with a bruise or a black eye or a bloodied nose, well. Lesson well taught. 

 

"You got it, sweetie," the tattoo-clad stallion praised, allowing Applejack to take over the napkin if she so chose and giving her a light slap on the back as he stood up again, ears cocking slightly at the purple Alicorn's words. Okay...alright. Princess was staying over for Hearth's Warming Eve dinner. S'cool, he could deal with it, and he started by spreading his forelegs wide in supplication, one eyebrow raised. "Fine by me," Inkbrand stated unnecessarily, a mischievous smirk tilting up his lips as he glanced down at the orange filly, "though you'll have to ask Apples here. She gets final say on all Hearth's Warming house guests." ...eeeexcept for those farm animals. Inkbrand didn't really think Applejack would turn Princess Twilight Sparkle down for a dinner invitation, anyways, but it was always fun to tease.

 

Er...It was fun to tease now that he was eighty-six percent certain he wasn't going to be disintegrated.

 

...Speaking of disintegration, what was that burning smell?

 

With a body-wide twitch that made it seem like he'd just suffered an electric shock, Inkbrand was dashing back into the kitchen, grabbing the gravy he'd been heating up off of the stove with an alarmed hiss. The grey stallion didn't even have to taste it to know that it was burnt. Inkbrand managed to bite back a sigh as he set the pot a little harshly in the kitchen sink, but this time bypassed his fridge to head straight to the pantry.

 

Buck this 'make-it-from-scratch' stuff, he was busting out the packets. 

 

 

[[ OOC : Thanks for participating in the RP, Zealot! ]]

[RainbowFoxxy]

Rainbow winged over Inkbrand's house just in time to see Rarity enter the door. She had heard of the recent happenings, though it had taken a while to get to her. However, now that she knew AJ had somehow become a filly she just had to investigate. How in Equestria did it happen? Magic had to have something to do with it. Rainbow would help her friend however she could. She pressed open the door and stepped inside.

Her eyes took in the scene in a moment. There was Rarity smiling down at a filly version of Applejack. Something made her heart flutter just a touch. That always happened when she was around Applejack and/or Rarity. She was lucky to have such wonderful friends and it didn't hurt that they were good looking as well. Seeing AJ reduced to a little filly was just so adorable but it certainly made Rainbow hope the effects wouldn't be lasting. She couldn't imagine having the strong and confident farm mare replaced by a filly. So often she had looked to AJ for strength and that would just be missing if she stayed as a filly. 

Then there was Rarity. She was just plain beautiful! Though Rainbow couldn't ever imagine ending up with the white unicorn, it was always nice to spend time with her. She was kind and thoughtful and great to be around. She had seen ponies, mares and stallions, fall all over themselves in front of Rarity and Rainbow got to be one of her best friends! It was awesome.

She glanced at Inkbrand. Rainbow had had run ins with the grey stallion before. He had a certain magnetism about him. Something that made Rainbow feel like she needed to challenge him and at the same time act too cool for him. It was an odd feeling, but Rainbow was used to odd feelings. It seemed her life was full of them all of the time. 

"Hey guys!" She tried to act normal even though the room was full of ponies that gave her rushes of various feelings. "Happy Hearth's Warming!" She smiled and trotted up to Applejack. "Hey there Applejack! I like the hat!" 

After a while she glanced at Inkbrand and gave him a "what the heck happened" look.

Spoiler

Rainbow doesn't know that AJ wouldn't know who she is.  This should be interesting!

 

[SteelEagle]

Applejack took the napkin and made sure to get all the blood all clotted up in her nose real nice. She didn't want to be playing later and it trickle out, getting whatever she was playing with all sorts of messy on account of her being a messy filly. One time she was playing with her big brother and he tossed her and then jumped on her, trying to wrestle her all good like. Well, he ended up breaking one of her legs. Moral of the story? Don't horse around, because you could bleed on your Granny's bed and blood didn't come out so easily sometimes. And how did that relate to this? Well, Applejack took such lessons to heart. She made sure to do most of her bleeding OUTSIDE, where she didn't have to worry about cleaning it. Even if her Ma worried about infections, but she was a silly pony.

Speaking of silly ponies- she'd have to be an awfully silly pony to say no to a Princess, right? She was sure that if Twilight wanted she could just say she was staying for dinner and they'd just have to accept it. And if they resisted(why would they?), the guards would show up and Inkbrand would fall fighting them and Applejack would be taken to the dungeons where she would have to wash the walls forever. or maybe not, because Twilight seemed rather nice for one of them high society types. It was certainly fun to think about though. Applejack thought she could fight off, oh, nine or ten guards! "Sure! Ah've ahlwahys wahnted tah see if royahlty ahte like thah rest of us," Applejack offered off-hoof, but then something amazing happened- another new pony!

New pony overload, cool!
She was this rainbow maned pegasus who seemed to have loads of energy inside of her just waiting to bust out. She had this peppy, coarse voice to Applejack that felt like she was going to take Applejack out to some sort of sporting event. Her mane was real cute and her eyes sparkled and crackled with energy! Applejack moved around the new pegasus, looking her over before touching her wings. "Wow, look at yer mahne! Yer wings are strong lookin'. Ah bet y'all could haul ahll sortsah stuff, or do tricks ahll fahncy pony like. Y'all ever heardah thah Wonderbolts?" She asked, fiddling around with her hat when the rainbow one brought it up.
"Thanks! This haht is pretty cool, ain't it? Not sure how y'all know mah nahme but mah fahmily's pretty fahmous 'round these parts! What's yer name?" She asked, fiddling with the end of a wing..

[Lux]

Normally Twilight wouldn't impose upon another pony's dinner unless invited. Still she felt the need to be there for her now filly friend. The princess could only hope that her presence wasn't unwelcome by Inkbrand. To her relief though he allowed her to stay providing that Applejack was ok by it. Clearly it was a tease towards her, but Twilight was done being upset at him. Inkbrand's friend, however, would be getting a visit by the Princess, complete with a lecture on proper identification and documentation of the components of magical inks.

Sure! Ah've ahlwahys wahnted tah see if royahlty ahte like thah rest of us,"

"Well thank you for allowing me to stay," Twilight said to the filly, "This will be fun having dinner with you."

The door opened, and this time it was Rainbow Dash who made her presence known. Somehow the Pegasus knew what happened to Applejack, although having several ponies becoming fillies wasn't something to stay secret for long. But Rainbow didn't realize that AJ didn't know her fried! Then again neither did the earth pony know about her connection to Twilight as her friend. Time seemed to reverse both physically and mentally for the affected by the spell. That begged the question: when the ink wore off and AJ became a mare, would she remember her time as a filly?

"Happy Hearth's Warming to you too Rainbow Dash," Twilight said, "I don't think that Applejack remembers you visiting her farm once for some apples and saying hello to her." 

She tried to drop the hint of AJ's lack of memory as an adult without upsetting the filly, but would Rainbow get the message?

 

[Zeig]

 

The gravy tasted like cheese.

 

That...that wasn't normal, right?

 

Gravy was not suppose to taste like cheese.

 

Inkbrand glared at the new pot of gravy as if he could intimidate it into tasting like gravy by staring at it hard enough, but in the end it only made his eyes water before his brain forced him to blink. With another pent up sigh, the tattoo-clad stallion disposed of the gravy in the sink and, as before, grabbed another packet of instant gravy, with a quick detour to lower the heat on the candied yams simmering on the stove top. Now that he thought about it, that pot was probably the one he'd used for some fondue the other day - fondue he'd left in nearly all day to periodically re-heat and enjoy all sorts of fondue snacks. If the taste of cheese was so ingrained into that bucking pot, he'd have to throw it out.

 

Or, label it, or something.

 

That would be a quandary for another day though, not bucking Hearth's Warming Even, and the grey Earth Pony went back to attacking various dishes with grim determination, like a warrior slowly fighting their way across a battlefield. The focus on his renewed assault, however, was cut short as he caught an unfamiliar voice speaking from the living room, causing both his head and ears to swivel up and away from his current casserole target. 

 

Yeah...probably a good time to go ahead and lock his front door. With a quick glance around to make sure nothing was liable to explode in the next couple of minutes, Inkbrand wiped down his hands and trot into the adjacent room.

 

...Oh. That wasn't unfamiliar at all.

 

That turned out to be Rainbow Dash, a blue Pegasus he'd had a brief run-in with some time ago. The rainbow mane was what stuck out to him the most - aside from the, 'ya know, Element of Harmony and all that normal stuff. Plus, her attitude had been completely chill and laid-back and filled with exactly none of the condescension and presumptuousness he'd come to associate with the fairer of Ponyville's citizens. Still, there was some cause for concern. The chances of his home being reduced to rubble through sheer will of friendship and love had seemed reduced since Princess Twilight Sparkle's rescinding of her judgement, but with the addition of actual rainbows into the equation, Inkbrand was feeling less than sure. 

 

"'Sup, RD," the tattoo-clad stallion greeted, though the wry grin on his lips spoke a much larger volume as he shot the blue Pegasus an 'are you rotting me right now' look. It wasn't so much annoyance at her or even anyone else, really - more, a resigned acceptance that he'd be spending his Hearth's Warming not only looking after a miniaturized Applejack, but also every other pony that waddled on over to take a look and unintentionally buck things up in an entirely royal way.

 

...Heh. No pun intended - but yeah.

 

"Food's almost ready," Inkbrand cut in pointedly, with a jab of his snout towards kitchen still emitting enticing smells. "Apples, why don't you and Princess Twilight Sparkle get the table ready for eating? If Your Highness doesn't mind it," he added after a moment, gazing at the purple Alicorn with a raised eyebrow. For all he knew, she really did have ponies cutting up her food and tucking napkins under her chin in her shiny castle, who the buck could say? She certainly didn't seem the type to breathe fire at the suggestion of doing some labor on her own, no - but better safe than sorry, eh? Either way, the Princess would hopefully take the hint and remove Applejack from the picture so he could take the necessary time to give Rainbow Dash a rundown of the situation. Again. 

 

Maybe he could just hang up a sign on his front door. 'Welcome to my home, please wipe your hooves, and for buck's sake don't trigger any traumatic memories for the orange filly running around inside.'

 

[RainbowFoxxy]

"Thanks! This haht is pretty cool, ain't it? Not sure how y'all know mah nahme but mah fahmily's pretty fahmous 'round these parts! What's yer name?"

The realization that not only was her best friend a tiny filly but that she didn't even know her name was a little bit too much for Rainbow Dash. She tried to keep her composure, as she would do around any filly, but it was really difficult. She felt her stomach drop. Her AJ, the one that had always been there. To one that had pretty much saved her life. The one who she would always love, no matter what happened. She was a little filly and she didn't know Rainbow's name.

"Oh...uhhhh..." She forced a smile on her face even though for some reason her vision got a little blurry. She blinked back tears and spoke in as cheery a voice as possible. "I'm Rainbow Dash." She was really glad the little filly was playing with her wing tip and not seeing what was happening on her face. It was a little comforting to feel AJ's touch on her wings, but not much. A knot had grown in her stomach.

"Apples, why don't you and Princess Twilight Sparkle get the table ready for eating? If Your Highness doesn't mind it," 

Rainbow nudged the orange filly. "Yeah, go on and help the Princess. I'm sure that will be fun!"

Once they had gone she turned to Inkbrand. Usually she would be so out of sorts. it really wasn't Rainbow' nature. Especially around a stallion like Ink. She had to be cool, that was who she was...right? She took in a deep breath, willing herself to calm down. After wiping her eyes clear she turned to Inkbrand.

"What happened?"

[SteelEagle]

Well, Applejack was sure that some ponies were just more emotional than others. Did the pegasus get all teary-eyed whenever she made new friends? Seemed silly of her. But Applejack wasn't of the judging sort. Somepony wanted to cry all the time then she'd just get a little boat and float down a river of tears until she could give'm a nice hug and put an end to the waterworks. Luckily, she didn't seem that bad. And look at that mane! So colorful! So rainbowy! Did she dye it? Was it because of an accident? Applejack didn't know too many pegasi. Was she from Cloudsdale? That city had lots of pegasi, yep.

"Well, hi there Rahinbow! Ah hope y'ahll cahn stay for din-din. Mister Inky's got something cookin' up fierce!" Applejack added positively, not aware how close to the truth her kind words were cutting into the realities of the kitchen.  She looked around, doing quick math. You had Inky and he was a stallion and stallions ate a lot, if what her pa and big brother did were any indication. Then there was the Princess, and Princesses probably ate a lot because they could and if you could you probably did when they had access to everything they wanted. Applejack was a dainty eater with a small appetite who never caused messes or snuck to the kitchen for a midnight snack. Rainbow Dash looked pretty athletic and athletics ate well. Would they have enough? Probably. If not, they could always chew on the nice grass outside the house. It looked pretty good!

"Ah'll set tha table, sir," she said, deciding to be on her best behavior since there were so many new guests. She trotted into the kitchen and grabbed plates and silverware and then went to the dining room, starting to set up, rinse and repeat several times and she got sets for everypony. Service plate positioned so that patterns of the place face the diner, butter plate placed above the forks at the left hand side of the place setting, wine glasses positioned according to size, and then everypony's silverware tossed all unorganized like on their plate. Real fancy! "Y'ahll set yer tahble up fahncy like bahck i yer cahstle or do your mahids do it?" She asked, curious about the life of a royal.

[Lux]

Whether it was her hint or realizing what happened by listening to the filly, Rainbow got the message. Twilight could see the Pegasus's heart sink. After all, Rainbow Dash and Applejack had been friends before Twilight even moved to Ponyville! She was about to come up with a way to try and corner Dash and explain what happened, but then somepony made her stop.

"Apples, why don't you and Princess Twilight Sparkle get the table ready for eating? If Your Highness doesn't mind it," 

Twilight knew what Inkbrand was planning. He would tell Rainbow Dash what happened, and she would help keep AJ out of trouble. It was his house and his rules, and the Alicorn wasn't going to get upset again. Still there was something that bothered her. Why would she mind setting the table? Maybe Inkbrand assumed that she would have all her meals prepared for her and her table set, even some maids feeding her while she lay like a slug on a couch! Pick your battles Twilight she reminded herself.

"I don't mind at all," Twilight said, "Alright Applejack. Let's set the table."

The filly seemed to do well with placing setting the table, that is until she dropped the silverware in a pile.

"Good job setting the plates, but how about we put the silverware like this," the Princess said and with her magic the utensils floated from the plate and into position, "See, the three forks go on the left, first the dessert fork closest to the plate, then the dinner fork and finally the salad fork! That way when you eat you start on the outside and work your way in. The knife goes here on the right, then the tea spoon and the table spoon. Makes things easier when having a great Hearth's Warming dinner!"

Y'ahll set yer tahble up fahncy like bahck i yer cahstle or do your mahids do it?"

"Well, most of the time I set my own table like this when it's me or my friends eating together. But when there's a big event I sometimes have to get help. Imagine having to set a table for fifty guests!"

[Zeig]

 

Hrk.

 

He could handle a lot of things, true. A brawl in the middle of a bar, an increase in price on his favorite brand of oats, hay, even a stampeding buffalo or two. But crying mares did not make the top of the list, or even feature in the top ten. Partly because, through most of his own experiences, he just failed to understand what about the situation was enough to get them worked up enough to start with the waterworks. A dramatic sniffle or two, yeah, maybe even a lip quibble...but was it really necessary to shed a few tears over a flower petal floating through the wind because you were just so overcome with the beauty of the world?...

 

For Daisy bucking Meadow, apparently it was.

 

But the much bigger part was on all him, so to speak. Hay, most mares didn't even like him getting within a five hoof distance of their entire body - what the buck was he suppose to do to offer comfort? A friendly pat on the back? A full-body bear hug? Both were just as likely to get him a shriek and a hoof to the face as much as a casual misplacement of his hooves was. 

 

Rainbow Dash, though - she seemed like a strong mare, one prone to taking on her problems head on rather than cowering around a bush, and at the very least, Inkbrand could appreciate what he wished others would do, in the rare instances he was overcome with some emotion or another. The grey stallion turned his head to one side, acting as if didn't notice the blue Pegasus wipe away at her eyes, his own golden ones trailing after Applejack and the Princess heading into the kitchen. The purple Alicorn had sounded perfectly fine with helping out, so he could only assume she didn't have those twelve hundred servants peeling grapes for her in her palace. Lucky for him.

 

Though as tactful as he was trying his hardest to be, Inkbrand couldn't help the confusion that slipped over his face at Rainbow Dash's question. "You don't know?" he said, surprised - and then realized, of course, obviously she didn't know. Or only knew part of it. The blue Pegasus hadn't been the least bit surprised to find Applejack a small filly - and she'd wandered inside his home like she'd know exactly where to look for her, too - but apparently she hadn't figured out or been told about the 'doesn't remember anything' part. Ouch. 

 

"Long story short, Apples' a filly," the grey Earth Pony extrapolated, moving to lean against the back of the cough slightly. "Some magic was involved, she's regressed in her memories - that's about all we know." All the other stuff, that - that wasn't important. "She still thinks her parents are alive," Inkbrand continued after a moment, with a pointed look at the mare, "and we're keeping it that way." It wasn't a question. "Princess Twilight Sparkle's trying to figure out how to reverse the...the spell. But until she does, Apples is gonna stay like that for a few months. Should be fine after the spell wears off, though, she'll remember everything again," Inkbrand finished, words coming out rather easily now that he was explaining the situation for the third time. 

 

...Maybe it was time to start thinking of some cliff notes for the 'Apples Situation'. 

 

Might've come in handy earlier, Inkbrand surmised, head tilting slightly as he studied the blue Pegasus. He had no idea how she was taking it...and he really didn't want to be the guy who had to find out. But he didn't really have a choice either. "You okay?" he asked gruffly, awkwardly rubbing one hoof against the back of his neck as he glanced back towards the kitchen, eyes averted in case the Pegasus decided now was a good time to have a long and drawn out cry. 

 

He really, really hoped she didn't.

 

[RainbowFoxxy]

Rainbow turned her head just as the Princess and Applejack went into the other room. She caught the tail end of her beast friend and took in a small breath. What the hay was going on here? Why had AJ been turned into a little filly with no memory of anything from her mare years? Who would do this to her? The cyan pegasus' eyes narrowed, she was suddenly angry. Somepony had to defend her friend! That was going to be Rainbow Dash! There was no way she would let this happen without a fight! She wasn't about to loose her best friend!

 

She whirled around to face Inkbrand. She knew him well enough. They had crossed paths on various occasions. Was this his fault? Was was about to find out!

 

Before she could get her word in he began to explain. Though the explanation had a ton of holes, it helped to disarm her at least for a little bit.  She was going to ask her questions as soon as he was finished.

 

"You okay?"

 

She raised her eyebrows at the question. Though she was now angry, the traces of crying moments before were still evident. "Ummmm, no." She took a step forward. "No! Of course I'm not ok. What in Equestria happened? Who put a spell on AJ? How did she end up here? Why would she come to some stallion for help and not her best friend?"

 

She looked towards the door the pair had exited from. Obviously Twilight was going along with Inkbrand. She was either being forced to or was actually ok with all of this.

 

"I need to talk to Twilight." She whipped around and trotted towards the door.

 

"Twi?" She smiled over at little AJ, trying to keep herself calm for the little filly. "Twilight, we need to talk. Could you come over here for just a sec?"

[SteelEagle]

 

Applejack tried her darndest to try and pay attention to the Princess' detailed description of proper table setting. But who cared muchly about silverware? Ponies tended to eat with their hooves dirty and faces buried in food, at least the ones she knew. The silverware was more of an ad hoc, on-call disaster relief option when things had spinned wildly out of control and you needed some steel to help you. Honestly she never saw the point behind them all, enough gnawing and pulling and hitting could get anything to go down just right. That and a good cup of cider, but she didn't tell her momma about that.

 

But apparently that was strange, because the Princess knew all about proper table setting. Well, she was the Princess after all and a hoity toity sort, even if she was super nice and pretty. 'You can take the pony out of the castle but you can't take the castle out of the pony', was a saying her grandpappy said about them royal ponies. Not derogatory or nothing, just a different way of living. Three forks on the left- dessert, dinner, salad, in that order- and then knife, tea spoon, and table spoon on the right. What? well, at least she did it mostly herself. "Ah know ahll ahbout thaht! When thah Ahpples show up, we hahve ourselves north of fifty!" sh said, not sure if the numbers were right. They certainly sounded right!

 

She was pulled away by the pegasus, who Applejack waved to. She seemed all in a huss and such. Was she some sort of nervous nelly? Speaking of needing to talk, she moved through 'em. Along the way, she patted the forelock of the pegasus. "Y'ahll cahn just relahx and think about some food now, sugahrcube. Yer worked up!" she laughed, bounding her way through them to Inkbrand. She snapped off a salute. "Table set, captain! Whaht next?"

[Lux]

Twilight watched as Applejack tried setting the table. The result was... interesting. So she didn't expect the filly to get it in one lesson, but still it was interesting seeing how Applejack was well-versed in setting the table for her family, friends and even extended family. Still it was a good excuse for the Princess to destress and to let Inkbrand explain to Rainbow Dash what happened. 

 

. "Ah know ahll ahbout thaht! When thah Ahpples show up, we hahve ourselves north of fifty!" 

 

"Exactly! So when you have lots of ponies over, you need help getting ready. Same with me, although I don't think there are that many times I'm getting fifty ponies at the castle at once." 

 

The Princess tried alternating her attention between her filly friend and the conversation in the other room between Inkbrand and Rainbow Dash. She couldn't hear or see what was going on, but knowing her Pegasus friend she probably wasn't going to take it well! Then again it was equally shocking for Twilight, and the Princess had to admit she didn't take it well herself. 

 

"Twi? Twilight, we need to talk. Could you come over here for just a sec?"

 

"Sure, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said practicing her false sense of calm around the filly as she said to her, "Applejack, my friend wants to talk with me, but keep setting the table and seeing what Inkbrand wants you to do next and I'll be right back, ok?" 

 

As she left her hapless friend she waited until the door was closed before saying to Rainbow Dash, "Inkbrand told you what happened, right?" 

[Zeig]

 

Alright, fair enough. Those were all, perfectly valid questions.

 

Ones he really did not feel like answering at the moment, even if he could.

 

Luckily for him though, Rainbow Dash seemed more intent on getting answers from a certain purple Alicorn sparkle Princess than a roguishly handsome tattoo-clad stud muffin of a stallion. Which was fine, it all worked out - especially considering that a friend could probably help the Pegasus deal with...whatever that was, far better than he could. Inkbrand could sympathize, sure, offer a consoling pat on the shoulder and maybe a back rub or three, but there was simply nothing like a marathon of chugging beer and complaining about the unfairness of life with a best friend to either nod along in empathy or mercilessly mock your bemoaning.

 

Because that's what friends did.

 

Before he could too much on inconsolable mares comforting each other, Applejack came bounding back into the living room, deftly ducking between the other two bodies to inform him of the table's status. "Nice work, Apples," the grey Earth Pony praised, reaching up to ruffle the yellow fluff on top of the orange filly's head, "didn't doubt you for a second. Lemme see...table's done, casserole's done...and," he continued, only pausing to take a deep whiff of breath, "smells like the yams are getting done. Sounds like a Hearth's Warming feast to me!" 

 

...Except for the duo of mares currently discussing serious matters inside the kitchen. Probably don't want Applejack walking into that one.

 

Inkbrand floundered for a moment, before taking the orange filly by one shoulder and steering her nearer to the decorated tree, away from the other room. "Listen, Apples," he began, and paused, reaching out to snag a candy cane from the tree and hook it around the filly's ear, just for wont to do something with his hooves. "Look. There's...sometimes, ponies act a little strange, right?" Bucking tell him about it. "What I mean is," Inkbrand ploughed on, "you just...just, don't be surprised if that Pegasus - or anyone else, for that matter - says something weird to you...like, that they know you or that they're your long time best friend, alright? Ponies get a little messed up during the holidays, you know - all that eggnog." 

 

A whirling of his hooves near his temples to emphasis 'crazy' was made for the filly's benefit, but Inkbrand was a bit surprised at how the motion seemed to simulate his own roiling thoughts. It wasn't that he distrusted Rainbow Dash to not blurt something possibly traumatic while Applejack was around, and he didn't think the orange filly in question was any bit suspicious of the various ponies who had reacted strangely to her presence...but she could be shrewdly observant at inopportune times. Hopefully this way, any future meet 'n greets that featured further confusing statements would be waved off as mere eggnog-induced shenanigans.

 

Because the holiday season was the best time to introduce a foal to the wonders of just the right kind of tipsy, naturally.

 

 

[RainbowFoxxy]

Rainbow made sure they were out of ear shot before responding to Twilights question.

 

"Well, he told me something but I'm not sure I believe it. Plus he was super vague! Twi! What the hay happened to AJ?" The pegasus' voice cracked. She had to keep herslef under control. But this was just crazy! 

 

"How could this happen? I mean, can't you just fix it?" She looked deeply into her friend's eyes. She needed Twilight to say she could fix the problem. She needed her best friend back...now!

[SteelEagle]

 

It didn't just sound like a Hearth's Warming Feast, it smelled like one too! He still needed to add the traditional Hearth's Warming fried apple slices and the traditional Hearth's Warming apple cider to some of the broth, but that could be done at the table! Everything smelled so yummy tasty, she could hardly wait. She'd have to make sure to get three plates. One would be for her and she'd nom on it pretty darn fast, but the other two would be for her friends. She'd put the plates outside and call them and then they'd eat it on the outside, and Inkbrand wouldn't be any the wiser that a bunch of animals ate part of the dinner. It was gonna be awesome!

 

She was about to go and snatch the food when Mister Inky pulled her ear in with a candy cane, which smelled good. So good that halfway through him talking she changed positions to start licking it, tail wagging happily. On topic though- yeah, there could be some nutty ponies. She was always told not to judge because you didn't know what was going on in another pony's life, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with sometimes. This pegasus seemed nice, but who knows if she had a hard crash or was sick in some way. She wasn't gonna be mean to her or nothin' because that wasn't the Apple family way. Shucks, she had dealt with ponies like that before! She sure as hay wouldn't go about mistreating one now, and that was the honest truth.

 

"Oh, Ah understahnd Mister Inky!" She leaned in, "mah fahmily hahs one just like thaht. Uncle Blood Orahnge hit his heahd on some kindah mahsheen when he wahs jus' a little colt. Now he tahlks all funny an' sometimes touches things he shouldn't," she nodded, "Ah'll be ahll pleahsahnt-like with thaht mahre, don'tchah worry!"

[Lux]

With Applejack occupied with her getting dinner ready and Inkbrand occupying her, Twilight now had to take care of Rainbow Dash. The Pegasus did get the message, but it still was a lot to take in! She couldn't blame Rainbow Dash as the news of Applejack becoming a filly shocked even the Princess! Well, the only thing now was to tell her without upsetting the Pegasus or letting AJ know something was up. 

 

Well, he told me something but I'm not sure I believe it. Plus he was super vague! Twi! What the hay happened to AJ?" 

 

"I only know a little what happened, but Inkbrand said he found several ponies as foals like Applejack. Now, here's where things get tricky, but please promise me that when I tell you this you won't fly off the handle, ok? Anyway, Applejack asked Inkbrand to give her a tattoo, not a permanent one but a temporary one of her cutie mark, because being a filly she didn't have any. Something happened with the way the tattoo mixed with where her mark should have been, and unlike the other ponies who changed back a short time after being found, Aj is kind of...stuck as a filly until the tattoo wears off. Inkbrand says it might be a few weeks."

 

"How could this happen? I mean, can't you just fix it?"

 

"I tried using my magic to remove the tattoo or turn her back, but nothing works! Inkbrand says he gets his inks from a pony in Manehattan, so if I can't find this ink seller she will turn back eventually once the tattoo wears off. We just have to keep AJ calm and let Inkbrand take care of her like he promised to do, ok?"

 

[Zeig]

 

Well...that worked, he supposed. 

 

Though he really hoped Applejack didn't start treating the blue Pegasus like she was mentally impaired. 

 

...Though it would be kind of cute to see the orange filly carefully leading Rainbow Dash across the street or gathering up as many pillows as possible to make sure she was comfortable.

 

All thoughts to save for another day, and for now, Inkbrand was content to ruffle Applejack's hair up some more in approval. "Good girl," the tattoo-clad stallion quipped, and stood up, preparing to lead the filly back towards the kitchen and the inviting smells coming from within. A few steps in that direction, however, revealed Princess Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash still speaking in low and serious tones, causing the grey stallion to hastily backpedal with a yelped "oops." 

 

Well...rot, that meant more stalling. 

 

Which he could do, no problem. Colts and fillies had the attention span of gnats, wasn't that hard to distract them.

 

As he was casting around for a topic to idly talk about however, Inkbrand's eyes abruptly fell on the three wrapped packages Applejack had come trudging into the living room with earlier, sitting innocently on top of the coffee table. Which, what the hay, was a good enough distraction as any. "By the way," Inkbrand drawling, trotting over to one of the packages to pick it up, giving it a small shake, "where'd you pull these out from? Don't tell me them fell down the chimney," the grey Earth Pony teased, though he was only half joking as he glanced towards the small fireplace in question that was inlaid into the wall across from his couch. Knowing Ponyville, it wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibility that some kind-hearted Pegasus spent Hearth Warming's Eve flying around and dropping random gifts down chimneys. Certainly seemed like something this bipolar town would do.

 

But why three of them? 

 

[RainbowFoxxy]

Rainbow didn't get the answer she was hoping from out of Twilight. It seemed however that the best she oculd do to help AJ was to go along with htings and act happy. Ok! She could act happy...for AJ! 

 

"Ok Twi, I'll do what I can." She flexed her wings, determined to take this on as a challenge. 

 

Rainbow trotted into the room where Inkbrand and Applejack were hanging out.

 

"So what's going on in here?" She smiled. "Are those presents?"

[SteelEagle]

 

Applejack laughed at the idea. Silly, you couldn't get gifts through chimneys! The Great Gift Giver was a silly ol' unicorn who just teleported them in. If you were an especially good pony, he'd even teleport some socks on your hoovesies while you slept! Nopony else believed that but that was how she got herself a new quad of socks every Hearth's Warming Eve. Go to bed no socks. Wake up, four new socks! Ponies could try and tell her it was just her pa finding a funny way to give her the least interesting gift a filly could get, but they were wrong. It was magic! So no silly, no chimneys. Besides, what about the bigger gifts? They'd get all sorts of messy if they went through the chimney! Inky just needed to be a bit more logical about all this.

 

Besides, the truth was even better! "Oh, these gifts? They're from mah ahnimahls!" she said cheerily, waving to that silly ol' pegasus as she came in, "this one is from mah fahvorite lil' cahlf, Arizonah! She got me some boxin' gloves lahst yeahr. She's a reahl feisty, fight sort! Mahrebelline is mah chicken. She's ahlwahys' gettin' me tha most thoughtful gifts a lil' chick could get! Sir Piggles is mah fahv'rite little ol' piggy. He gives mah tha funniest gifts ever! He also tells tha best jokes and he's a reahl hoot! Well, more like a reahl oink-oink. Y'ahll sahid thaht thay couldn't come in so they, they gahve me their presents at tha window eahrlier!" She said proudly. She loved her animals!

 

Then she grew worried. Oh no! What if he didn't want those presents here because they were from farm animal?! She looked at him with worried puppy dog eyes, big and round.  "A-Ah'm allowed tah hahve'm, right?"

[Lux]

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief after telling her side of the story. Thankfully Rainbow Dash didn't freak out, but promised to take care of Applejack as long as the spell still took effect. 

 

"Great. I knew I count on you. I'll keep searching for something to turn her back, but let's head back in to meet AJ again." 

 

Twilight followed Rainbow Dash back into the room to discover something stranger that AJ's malady: presents! She couldn't think of anypony who would drop them off at this hour and before the day of giving out presents. Still it was a welcome distraction from the crazy events. Did AJ just say her farm animals gave her gifts. 

 

"Well whoever gave them to you must have known that you were a good pony this year!" 

[Zeig]

 

Like he was going to say no to that.

 

"'Course you can, sweetie," Inkbrand reassured the filly, because even he wasn't heartless enough to throw out three gifts to the family-lacking Apple. Bucking seriously, who would be? So long as the animals themselves didn't suddenly come crawling down the chimney or bashing down the walls - this glove-gifting, Arizona animal sounded the sort - then hay, they were welcome to give Applejack as many presents as his bucking house could hold. "Gotta wait until tomorrow though - never know when another present is going to crop up," the tattoo-clad stallion said mysteriously, before turning his attention away from the filly and onto his houseguests. 

 

Who were standing around Applejack, so he supposed the super secret kitchen talk was done and over with, eh?

 

"All good?" the grey Earth Pony questioned the two mares, but didn't really bother waiting for a response because one, it was obvious, and two, bucking dinner. "In that case - it's bucking feeding time!" Inkbrand clapped his hooves together, rubbing them expectantly as the smells from the kitchen did their very bucking best to drive him just a little bit insane. "Onward, onward, mush, hyah!" the tattoo-clad stallion crowed, using his head and larger stature to essentially bully and corral all three of them back into the kitchen, where the plates and utensils were already splayed on the table, and mounds of food steaming all along the middle and practically begging to be devoured. 

 

He'd be much obliged, yes indeed-y. 

 

The bountiful dishes and bodies situated around the table felt so natural, so alike any other Hearth's Warming Eve dinner he'd be sitting down with his family for, that Inkbrand didn't even realize he'd clasped his hooves in front of himself until he'd actually done it. It was almost enough to make a faint flush rise against the back of his ears, but the instinct was so ingrained in him that the grey stallion only hesitated a moment more, before 'ah, buck it' decided for him. 

 

"Family tradition," he clarified for any confused faces around the table, staunchly plowing through it with all the grace of a bulldozer. "If you want to eat Hearth's Warming Even dinner, you've gotta say something you're grateful for in the past year." Yup, there was definitely a burning sensation slowly creeping up his neck, but luckily for him, he'd never been much of a blusher - and perhaps even more importantly, if his mom ever found out he'd skipped this tradition the one time he'd missed Hearth's Warming with the family, his flank would receive a whooping it would never recover from. 

 

And that was saying something.