Hippo

Despite the pleasant explanation of the owl creature, Zap was still bewildered at the sound and appearance of the strange bird. "Who." He whispered back. He would casually turn his head to see how long his rotation was, and and he quickly found out he could not rotate very far. And speaking of being able to see all around you, Mother wanted Zap to stay vigilant on her back and speak up about anything that he saw. "Mom." "Mom." "Mom." Zap waited for her mother to stop walking and turn her head so she could make some kind of eye contact with him before he would continue with his concern. He required her full undivided attention. "I see something." He pointed to her left, a fer meters out on the ground was a short branch that fell from the tree above, possibly several days ago. "It's a stick."

Silverstream's excited jitters beat in her mind as her mouth closed to listen to Gallus' explain his confusions and apprehensions. The feathered friend seemed to be second guessing the way that the festivities would go for him when he realized that the first night would also be the wettest night of the week for both of them. Silverstream understood his pause subconsciously, but only responded to the reality of what she knew would probably be the most likely outcome. "Oh, flying is just like swimming! or swimming is just like flying, depending on your perspective, hem. You can't move as fast in the water but neither can anyone else, so its just a lot more considerate down there." Silverstream's shard of the magic pearl randomly sparkled when Gallus mentioned it. He seemed to now be confused as to what kind of spell he was going to be surrounded by, as if he might have a choice. Silverstream snorted as she answered, "No, no. You don't want to be griffon-paddling down there, you're going to want some fins and lose the feathers." Silverstream continued to listen to Gallus' concerns, which was now about the whale singing. When the train stopped and his rant interrupted, she assured him. "We sing with the whales, it's really fun and really easy. Don't you worry Gallus, there's nothing to worry about, everyfin just wants to have fun. You wont need to worry about food, everyone is very generous with offering tasty items. Don't worry about dancing, everyone looks weird underwater when they dance. There is a slight chance that the pearl will turn you into a lobster, but that won't happen. And my family is really to see me and will ask all kinds of questions about Equestria." Silverstream brushed passed the pearl's failure chance knowing it would probably trip Gallus, but she would only tease it. The shard had never failed to work for anygriff ever, so it was unlikely that the blue feathered student would permanently become a bottom feeder. Silverstream hovered with her vacation bag in her clutches as she prepared to exit the train. She assumed Gallus was right behind. Upon exiting the train car, she increased her speed to the nearest travel kiosk, where there were temporary lockers for guests. Before she got to them, she waved pleasantries to the other hippogriffs recognized her as she arrived. Almost all of the hippogriffs and seaponies knew who Silverstream was, either because of her royal lineage, or because of her outgoing attitude, or both. She threw her bag in an unsecured locker and did an air flip. "Come on Gallus! We gotta get to the water before the sun sets!" The sun which was still several hours from setting, reflected the water quite beautifully. The waves were mild and away from the island the water was calm and mirror-like, repeating an upside-down view of the sky.

The explanation of the Everfree's lack of natural light satisfied Zap's growing intellectual mind, but gave his psyche a level of anxiety that was mostly unexplored for a colt his age. As his imagination raced of thoughts of the unknown, his eyes bounced around looking for clues in the shadows of the terrain. Despite his best efforts to discern he could not make out anything that would alarm his need for safety. However, other than the unbreakable bond of his mother's love and care, there were no indications that this was any place for a small pony to roam at his leisure. "Okay," he said softly in angst. As Applejack hopped from one stone to the next crossing the stream, the light jostle would not break Zap's grip of his mother's neck but it would encourage him to clinch slightly harder until both of them had made it to the other side of the water. Through the experience of crossing, Zap wore a worried expression, none of which was due to lack of trust in the strong earth pony he rode. When the short ride was over, his expression lightened to the attitude his mother presented as an achievement. Like the emotional roller coaster a young foal would have during their first brave attempt to go on scary rides at the fair, Zap fell into the trap of enjoying his temporary moment of distress. "Yay! Yeeehaw. Dats, howee doit... on the farm," he stuttered as his relief from the stream ended but his masked fear of the continuing darkness maintained. When Applejack asked about Zap's flying lessons, he wasn't sure what to say at first. "Ummmm." He thought for a moment trying to relive the experience he had with Rainbow Dash a few days ago when they spent the majority of the day in the park outside of Ponyville. "Yeah, Mommy Dash flies really high," Zap expressed himself by holding his hooves high, "and really fast!" Zap hopped off her back and started circling around her, his wings buzzing and his hooves dragging. He didn't really answer his mother's question, but he told his experience by replaying what he felt was his best memory of the event, which was watching his pegasus mother show off her moves. Whooo! An owl interrupted. Zap zipped back onto his mothers back, lightly grabbing onto the blonde locks on her neck. Applejack asked him if he was hungry and having fun. "No. I'm not scared." He said with a nervous whimper, answering a question that wasn't asked.

Silverstream had spent enough time with Gallus, about half a semester of mostly common friendship classes, to know some of the subtleties the griffon possessed. She typically overwhelmed others with her outgoing nature, but Gallus' cool demeanor kept her honest, her outwardly expressions hitting the cap on potential comprehension one of her behavioral illustrations presented. And this interaction was no different. Silverstream was excited for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which was the presence of a friend from school to bring home and share the festivities with! And even though not everycreature understood Gallus' true intentions underneath his thick blue feathers, she would carry with her the benefit of the doubt that Gallus' company with her was welcome. She had gone a long time since that was not the case. She responded to his thanks and his teases with a perky smile, holding her train of thought for only a moment. Silverstream had a habit of always thinking several minutes ahead, always wanting to say things to empty her thoughts, but never able to actually catch up with the race of her mental capacity. And now, her being excited only elevated this sensation. She would have to continually remind herself to speak in the moment in order to keep whoever she was speaking with engaged. "No book? Oh, that's okay. Yeah, I know the whole thing by heart anyway." She said modestly. "And since you'll be with me the whole time, there is no reason to think you'd get lost." Her voice cracked and she chuckled. It was not lost on her how valuable her time with Gallus would likely be, and how it might drastically change her relationship with her griffon friend, probably for the better. And though she was slightly nervous about the challenges that would bring, her nerves were layered over by her never-stopping progression of thought. "The water is where everyone is at right now! The first day is already half over, Gallus. We could join the waves on the third day, but then we'd miss out on the whale-singing and the shell-stringing." She pshawed. "You're not going to want to miss it. Last year, the whales that performed for us were generous to give us an encore. It was a-maz-ing!" Silverstream had noticed Gallus' hesitation about the water, but hadn't been able to address it until she was finished explaining the importance of spending the rest of the current day in the sea. She knew Gallus' catlike instincts prohibited him from voluntarily getting wet, but she hadn't seen him make a huge fuss about it before. Perhaps he just didn't like it until he was already in the water and there was nothing he could do about it. "You're not afraid to get a little wet are you?" She asked half joking, half sincerely.

((Prelude: How to Get a Griffon in Three Minutes)) "What a relief! First, an unfortunate series of events where a mysterious student would sabotage the decorations in the school's main hall originally had us all kept there cleaning up the mess until one of us had confessed. And even when someone did eventually confess, the lessons learned meant that instead of spending the entire holiday in Ponyville away from family, the party would get to spend Hearth's Warming Eve dinner with the professors at the school... and we get to travel back home for two weeks of more holiday! And to top it all off, today is a Tuesday!" Silverstream said as she bounced up and down on the soft jives of the Friendship Express. Sitting across from her was an azure-colored griffin with a flat expression on his face. Gallus was invited by Silverstream to come to Mount Aris with her during the break from school since he had no official holiday to really look forward to in Griffinstone. As Silverstream recounted the events out loud to anygriff nearby that could hear, the train they were riding began to make view of the Aris Heights on the horizon. It glowed a magnificent yellow hue, reflecting the midday sunlight. "I'm so glad you decided to come celebrate the Three Days of Freedom Celebration with my friends and family. You're going to have so much fun! And thanks for taking the train, too." Silverstream sprung from her seat and started randomly dancing to no music. "You're gonna want to save as much energy as possible to get your feet moving for all the dancing we're going to be doing!" It was already the first day of the celebration, the majority of the hippogriffs transforming into their fleeing nature as seaponies, the festivities taking place far below the waves. Because of this, the air traffic normally seen around the mountain was very clear. If it hadn't been for the train full of hippogriffs making the trip to return to their own families, it would have appeared to have been abandoned. As soon as they get off the train, Silverstream would not want to hesitate to make a dash for the ocean and participate in the annual festival. "We need to make break for the ocean as soon as we get off. We can throw our luggage into one of the storage shells. And remember, don't eat the kelp unless it's being sold by one of the seaponies with the turquoise stripe on its fin. They make the best kelp sandwiches!" Silverstream looked at Gallus, remembering his lack of understanding. "You did bring that book with you right? The one Queen Novo made for the Mount Aris board of tourism."

Zap's delightful squeaky melody started to simmer as he stopped singing imaginary lyrics but continued humming the catchy tune. Though his mother complimented his singing, he only responded with more musical noises. While his head bobbed up, down, and side to side, his eyes danced around inside of the dank forest. With the sunlight being more inhibited, his eyes dilated with the adjustment the environment required. His expression fell from entertained to slight concern and he went silent from his bouncy musical mood. His ears clear of his own hum, he could now hear the intricate noises of bugs and mystery animals coming from deeper in the woods. His legs began following the beat of his mother's steps more religiously. When she optimistically presented her opinion of the weather in a question, Zap did not reciprocate. "Why is it dark?" He asked plainly seeing the light escape the shadow of the trees. Upon reaching a stream, the odd noises in the forest were drowned out by the slow rushing of water. Zap wanted to do as he was told and attempted to climb on top of his mother's back. After a few slips of the flank, he unfolded his wings and attempted to hover on-board. It took a few seconds, but leaving the ground, swaying back and forth to manage his own control, and then using gravity to fall where he needed to, his body fell not-so-gracefully onto her back. His feather light body not flinching a single vertebra of the mare's spine. He wrapped his hooves around her neck. He assumed just as if this was similar to when they would play rodeo-pony in the living room.

"Under the stars, huh? You know, I'm thinkin' this might work out a lot better than either of us had hoped. Minus you winnin' of course." Applejack snickered, happy to know that the big bad wolf seemed more interested in being friendly with competitors and had appeared to enjoy his experience spending time with those around him. It surely made whatever deal he had with Discord only the icing on the cake. When Applejack overheard Heart Shield timidly respond to not being invited to Boulder's after-race party, she was quick to grab his attention. "Nonsense, you're a runner just like all of us. You are more than welcome to come hang out with us. Since we just met, you should tell me all about your guard duties in Canterlot. I bet you got some amazing stories." She slapped him on the back. "But not now, let's do it over some cider and tomato sandwiches." She yelled out to everycreature within an earshot. "Alright ya'll, let's all head on over to Boulder Dash's farm. Last one there's made of molasses!" Applejack took a few accelerating trots, but as soon as the pain set in her stiff joints, she slowed to a normal stroll. "Uh, on second thought, let's all just walk there." Applejack would continue talking with others and laughing at jokes and remembering the crazy moments during today's race. She would always remember the day she finally won the running of the leaves, and she would revel with her friends about it until the sun set through the now naked trees.

When Taira revealed everything about his true form, who he was and who he was not, Applejack's mouth fell ajar. She knew that the lead competitor was a bit odd, but she had never expected the kind of finish her primary race adversary would come out as. Was she being pranked? "Wait. You mean to tell me that I not only won the race, but that I beat an immortal spirit-canine who uses magic and is capable of shape-shiftin' to whatever he desires?" Applejack's overabundance of humility was currently being buried by her own realization that she was the fastest pony by a lot, but her extreme effort pushed her to beat a being that won a bet with Discord. With Discord! Who wins a bet to Discord!? Applejack nearly fainted at the idea and was pretty sure she was dreaming, until she saw all the other ponies react in unison to the reveal of the okami and the rush of the finishing results. She shook her head to gain sense. "Well, Taira. You did lose our wager." Applejack chuckled. "But you ain't sleeping in my barn for a month, you're working in our orchard and doing chores that would otherwise be done by Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh. And then maybe if you finish them every day, then you're get to sleep in the barn." Applejack winked, but was she joking? No other expression on her face as she spoke this gave any credence that she was being sarcastic, honesty was always the mare's scariest feature. Boulder congratulated Applejack as did others, and asked about a rematch next year. Applejack had already thought about this. She knew that winning the race was a very important goal in her life, but now that she had done it, she felt like she could focus on other things involving this event. "Actually, I don't think I will run next year. If I do, I'll probably just be on stampede control, maybe we can get even more than 80% of the leaves down. I ran faster than anypony else today. I think next year I'll give that opportunity to somecreature else. Maybe it'll be you." Applejack winked at Boulder Dash, taking a second to think, and then reminding herself of a very important agenda piece. "Hey, when's that hoedown at the Boulder 'Mater Ranch startin'?" She asked loud enough so that everyone could also be reminded of the post-race festivities.

Applejack crossed the finish line and the tape snapped. She felt the tape, but didn't immediately think of what it meant. Everypony was cheering but her intense focus had muted everything but her heartbeat. And she would have seen them if her eyes hadn't been closed for the last fifteen seconds. She started to slow, but was unaware of the impact of the finish, still enveloped in her adrenaline, her psyche attempting to dig herself out of her hypnotic state. When she stopped running, she attempted to gain awareness of her situation, but instead collapsed to the ground because of fatigue. Only until a heartwarming voice squeed over her, would she come to. “Ya won! Applejack, ya won tha race!” It was Apple Bloom. Applejack opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the blurred skewed image of her little sister smiling wide, her face darkened by shadow in front of a blue sky above. "Apple Bloom!" She gasped, still breathing very heavily. Applejack bounced her eyes around to gain her surroundings and her direction of thought. She slowly came to the realization that her streak was over. "Ah... won?" Applejack picked herself up slowly, dusting off her hooves, though in vain of the extremely filth she had all over her. Her emotion continued to elevate. "I won!" When Applejack looked around, she could see everypony who came to see the finish excited to see all the racers cross the line and took notice of a large group of ponies who were all holding flags with her face on it. It seems as though the Apple family rented out an entire section of the stands. She fell back and took a seat on the ground, an ungraceful thump as she spared her strained legs. She cupped her hooves over her face in disbelief, pulled them away and then exhaled contently. "I won." Apple Bloom gave her a hug where she sat, Applejack giving back a loving embrace postured in such a way to prevent extra aches and pains. She pulled Apple Bloom out of her wrap and looked into her eyes. "There ain't nothin' more satisfying in this world, Apple Bloom, than seeing your hard work pay off. And no one can give you that feeling. But we can help create it." Applejack's breathing was still heavy but was starting to catch up to her body's dramatic finish. She picked herself up again. And started walking towards the event podium. While she slowly walked, other racers were dashing through the finishing gate, all of them desperate for water, air, and the little fillies room. Not too much longer, Coloratura trotted through, her expression one of complete exhaustion. Before Ra-Ra could catch her breath, fans surrounded her asking for autographs, and the musical mare was unable to refuse. Applejack then decided to come to her rescue. She gave a side hug to an unsuspecting Ra-Ra, and pulled her away. "Thanks ya'll, the Countess needs a breather." Applejack would not take no for an answer, attempting to block the view of any camera pointed in her direction. She thought it was pretty humorous that even in victory, avid fans would still rather gain the attention of a celebrity pony. "Ra-Ra, you finished!" Applejack didn't think Ra-Ra would be able to finish with as good of time as she did. She knew that other ponies with no athletic experience had finished the run with reasonable effort. But considering the time Ra-Ra made was impressive, she finished among some pretty fast racers! "I'm so proud of you. I know right now you're wanting to forget the pain and suffering, but after you sleep tonight, you'll never forget the time you ran the leaves!" Applejack walked her towards the podium, Ra-Ra limping slightly, but so was she. Neither of them would run for a week. Applejack stood up on the podium, taking the steps to get to the top center. When she reached the maximum height, she felt so accomplished. She had seen first place perspective at rodeos and cider festivals, but she had never seen it here in Ponyville's town center. Being able to be hoisted in this setting made her orange pelt glow golden, her smile radiant with satisfaction, no regret in her expression. As the mayor presented the medals, she reflected on all the friends that helped her get her to this point, in the race, and in life. She was also thankful for the new friends she had made, including this new interesting kirin character Taira, who seemed very on edge. Not everycreature could come to a rest as easy as Applejack. When Mayor came to Applejack, she lowered her head, and hung the medal on her neck, the shimmer of the golden medallion reflecting all of the animated cheering going on in front of her. A tear prepared for deployment. But before she could have another sentimental moment, Taira had a raging fit of sneezing, one that involved a magical spray of nasal excrete. When the mist fell away and the kirin was seen again, he wasn't seen at all. Instead in his place was a much larger creature, something like that of a wolf but with a mane like a princess. A wolf prince? "What kinna kirin are you!?" Applejack yelled, everypony around her also remarking on the creature's reveal. It looked like he had tried to escape, but his constant sneezing would not allow him to control his motion. Pinkie seemed to think she knew all along. Would have been nice for her to share this pinkie sense with her before. "Pinkie, you knew? What else do you know?" She wondered if she didn't actually win the race but was instead hallucinating everything, the best griffon racer speaking Applejack's thoughts into existence. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time she blacked out.

i have a copy of it. not a fan of it. i think the characters are cute, but i despise fighting games

lets see if soundcloud embeddings are still a thing...

So something that might come up that ive seen in previous years doing this event is there is always this feeling of requiring to post in character based on current standings of the race. I would recommend to everyone RP in the running to disregard the points total until the very end. The points should have no bearing on where someone is in comparison to another. (e.g. Applejack and Discord should be able to reply in character next to each other in the race even though they are on opposite parts of the standings.)

Hey guys, long time no see. I am going to participate as well, with 2 time runner-up and all around best pony.

Zap stood in wonder of his mother's explanation of the word danger. "Oooohhh, so owies are dan-ger-ous." Zap had listened to his mom say lots of things with lighthearted kindness, the way the best mothers would. But today, she was very intentional about what she was saying, and Zap reflected the seriousness of Applejack's voice with the stern undivided attention that was so rare for the heart of a foal. That is, until she mentioned getting a bubble bath for being a welll-behaved. "Yay, bubble bath!" Zap followed his mother towards the end of the orchard tree line, where the darkness started to grow. His subconscious was excited about the journey ahead, but his heart was singing a song, literally, out loud, even as the sun was shaded. Zap's songs were his own, and this one was no exception. "Bubble bath, bubble bath Bubble bubble bubble bath Bubble bath, bubble bath bubble bubble bubble bath"

Zap Apple was always going somewhere. He would always be on his way to discovering somewhere he hadn't been before on the farm. It was a big farm! He sometimes went to different places in the Ponyville marketplace when his mother took him there. Even when he was put to bed and encouraged to fall asleep, his mind raced with thoughts about going somewhere new tomorrow. Today, he didn't know why and he didn't know what allowed him, but Zap was going to the Everfree. One time, Zap wondered towards the Everfree from the farm, and it made Applejack put a leash on him for the rest of the day. He didn't know much about the Everfree, other than that walking towards it gave him the first punishment he ever got. The forest was always off limits, and not even big ponies go in there. But for some reason today we were? Zap had so many questions. But mostly he was excited. "When do we go to Ebbafee?" He uttered as Applejack carefully placed materials for trip in her saddlebag. He was in a good mood. He was well fed, full of energy, and pacing the kitchen with eagerness to explore. While waiting, he watched as his strong mother respond to him with a smile and love, continuing to place items in her bag. Mommy was very strong and knew everything. Zap nodded to her, and walked up to the bag to see what was inside. He stretched vertically to get a peak, but the bag was closed before he could see what was inside. Mommy asked commands of Zap, all of them related to following and listening to what Mommy says. "Ok. Ok. Yes." Zap Apple responded with somber. But no because he was sad, but because he didn't know what to think. He just knew he should trust Mommy. "Momma, what's dan-ger-ous mean?" He asked as they walked out the door onto the path that leads to the forest.

Zap Apple was playing in the family house living room. Since his birth, he owned a corner of the room, where a sizable pen was made for his adventures (and his captivity). He has already napped earlier, so he was pretty energetic, playing with letter blocks and rediscovering objects within his terrain. He heard the door creek open and normally a pony would walk in to check on him. He knew there w as something busy going on outside, but wasn't sure what it was. By the frisky bold steps he could hear, it sounded like Mother. It was! "Ay-yay!" Zap squirmed. His body language suggested interest in whatever it was that was going on outside. "Wa-uh!" He said, initiating the simple question that could only be described as 'what do?'

As the monster immobilized Pyro, Pyro could be seen glowing magic from his horn, but also his limps. The rage inside him seemed to grow and illustrate, at least in this dreamscape of a world, that his lack of control was causing him to radiate heat magic from his body. Spits of fire began to fountain slowly from him at first, but appeared to increase. The monster was confused and a little afraid of the increasing amount of heat. But before the monster could even begin to retreat, the fire from Pyro's pelt started igniting the wooden structures that held the concert tend up. Ponies attempted to flee, but as before there was not enough space for them to leave in time. As several wooden panels fell down, and as fire started racing through the auditorium, a hurling could be heard for a second. And with little warning, a blizzard gust of snow and ice coated the inside of the auditorium. The ponies on the ground froze in place, being protected by a very large shielding spell. And the monster, letting go of Pyro's tail, transformed into a small bunny rabbit, leaving a trail of pink dust behind itself before it scurried away behind the stage. Luna walked up to Pyro.

Of course Sweet Apple Acres delivered. Although Applejack and the family failed to advertise that today, it has always been a process in selling apples. Although she did not think delivery would play this much of a role in something like a sale for country kisses as a bonus. Cheerilee put her bits on the table, thanked for the sale, and started walking away. Applejack was puzzled, and refused to let her leave. "Cheerilee! Ain't you forgetting something?" Applejack rested herself on the counter with one hoof to lean on, her face looking to the left, but her eyes fixed on Ponyville's best teacher. Questions? Post your questions and suggestions in the out of character thread here. Kissed 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70

The complexities of Cheerilee's occupation, whether it be pleasure or a hazard, was revealed to Applejack once again. She had seen this before, with Cheerilee being a modest teacher enjoying the privilege of teaching younger ponies as per her purpose in life. While at the same time, sometimes being sidelined by experiences in life that some ponies could probably go without their whole lives with no regret. Diamond Tiara's name came up a few times, and Applejack always wondered if the pseudo-princess filly really was center of attention in the classroom, even for the teacher. Although Applejack wouldn't dare accuse Cheerilee. Cheerilee could sometimes play a victim in the world of parenting politics, and she knew what dealing with the Rich's was like. Apples. Applejack loved them. But talks of purple apples, and other foreign fruits just didn't seem all too natural to Applejack. She was a bit jaded when it came to apple harvesting. And as much as she loved talking about apples, she was way more interested in selling the apples and putting them in ponies mouths. And Cheerilee, having a cemented relationship with the Rich family could only mean one thing. She loved buying things. But unlike the Rich ponies, Applejack had Cheerilee's best interest at heart. "Half and half? Of course you can! What do you think this is, some kind of hostage situation?" Applejack signaled for the half and half order for honey crisp and red delicious. "One bushel is five bits. You need anything else?" Questions? Post your questions and suggestions in the out of character thread here. Kissed 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70

Cheerilee pleaded informal with her title, as she always did when Applejack addressed her. Applejack called her Miss Cheerilee the moment Apple Bloom stepped into the schoolhouse for the very first time. "Nonsense, you teach mah little sis everything there is to know about being a little pony and that deserves highest praise in our house." Cheerilee said Apple Bloom was not in trouble. "Whew!" Applejack wiped the sweat from her brow. "That's a relief, I was afraid Apple Bloom had gone and snuck one of our pigs in class again to chew on Diamond Tiara's mane again. She had just gotten out of the grounding period for that last Tuesday!" Applejack brightened a smile. She was so proud of her little sister. Cheerilee continued on, noting several apples as presents in class. Some things never change. "Hee hee. Students puttin' on the ol' sweet treatment on you in class, huh? Well the good thing is that all of those apples likely came from our farm. Unless these fillies and colts are importing from some distant nation." Applejack dropped her smile to a flat look. "You would tell me if they were, right?" She bounced back a smile to continue talking about apples. "So what'll it be today? Golden Delicious? Granny Smith? Golden Granny Delicious? Oh! How about, our Super Red Delicious?" On the contrary, super red delicious apples were really just normal red delicious apples to most ponies. However, Applejack called them Super because they all came off her favorite tree in the Red Delicious section. The tree's name is Sam. Questions? Post your questions and suggestions in the out of character thread here. Kissed 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70

"I, uh." Applejack paused as Night Glider asked the personal questions. The conversation of one's direction of attraction was a strange one to have at a fruit stand. However, not too strange for a fruit stand with a lip gimmick. Still, Applejack found it difficult to send the right message without ruling out any possibilities for Night Glider, who seemed to be asking a question she would ask someone she trusted to help make big life decisions with. "I'm into whatever qualities a pony needs to have to have a successful family and friendship, and who knows what that might be, but uh, it's like this, if a bee walks into the birds house, and uh." Applejack wasn't sure she knew where she was going with this, so she just tried to make it simple and get back to why Night Glider was here in the first place. "Put it this way. Sometimes the heart wants what the heart can't get. But today, what the heart wants only costs you five bits." "Yeah, you can just come by when you go back to the town, and we'll have a bushel rotated for you. It's nearly impossible for an apple to spoil on our watch. They go so fast and we only pick as much as we need to sell." Applejack saw the coins on the table, but noticed they were not of Equestrian legal tender. She raised an eyebrow, before Night Glider confessed they were old coinage. With the right bits on the table, Applejack signaled to her family to gather a bushel forward for the dark blue pegasus to take once she was done with the delivery of affection. Which was exactly what she was prepared for. Night had her head tilted and her lips puckered. She must have seen this from somewhere. For all Applejack knew, she just saw somepony do it earlier while she waited in line. With the center of attention being the mouth, Applejack felt it was safe to assume that was the target. She acquired the target with a lean forward, shoveling the bits in the chest while doing it, and fell into Night's face where the mares' lips pressed. Applejack noticed right away that her lips had become dry compared to Night's. And Night's mouth, probably due to her nerves and pattern of speech, were well saturated with her saliva. Applejack had seen and felt much worse than pony saliva, so it didn't bother her. But maybe she needed chapstick to loosen up the corners of her trap. This is what Applejack was thinking before she pulled away from Night Glider and smiled. "You can take one now and one later if you'd like. And don't worry about your feelings too much Sugarcube. It's just a kiss. These apples, are worth more than bumpin' noses with me." Next in line was Granola Gracie. She had been quiet nearly the entire time waiting for her turn to buy apples. She was a little puzzled at first seeing a customer or two kiss the orange mare after making a sale. But when she realized no pony was leaving without getting a kiss, Granola started to sweat a little. That flyer wasn't lying. I get a free kiss for buying a bushel of apples? But what if I don't want to kiss her? As soon as the pony in front of her finished kissing, Granola felt it best to speak up. "Um, excuse me. Um, I might be a little shy or something, I don't have to kiss do I? I was just interested in apples, and maybe something else." Applejack saw it a little rude for a pony to step up right as Night Glider was finishing. But efficiency is important! "Why, don't be silly, miss. All of our kisses come with love from the heart of the most loving family in Equestria!" Applejack reared, and Apple family members that were within an earshot reared as well. "Yeehaw! So, don't worry, just let me know what you would like. It's five bits for a bushel, and a kiss comes with that minimum order." Granola was nervous, but her fears were put to rest if she could talk about apples, for the time being. "Oh, OK. Well I do need a half bushel of assorted apples please, and," Granola wasn't sure she would be able to get what she wanted. Apples tasted just fine, but Granola had no serious need for nutrition. Her goal was to find some specimen for apple tree growth. She was a botanist, after all. But she wondered if the Apple family would comply or they would see her request as a threat to their business. Do apple seeds come with patents? "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind parting with some sticks from your trees." Applejack paused and hesitated for multiple reasons. First, she only wanted half a bushel? Who asks for only half a bushel? Was she trying to be offensive? And then she asks for sticks. "Sticks? Like twigs you mean? From our trees? Um. I guess we can do that." Applejack wasn't positive what the customer's motive was, so she just decided to risk the sale and question the client. "What do you need them for?" Granola was afraid Applejack would ask this. She was a little nervous to answer. Mostly it was because ponies don't go out of their way to respect and admire the botanist methods of extracting specimen. It's often distracting and unorthodox to ponies who aren't in the field. But towards Applejack, Granola knew Applejack was the real deal. She was the tree whisperer. She likely knew more about plants than Granola did, and that in of itself was amazing. Granola always told herself never to meet her heroes. "Well, you see. I kinda want to graft some apple trees. I have some good root stock, but I don't have anything to set on it." "Why. Didn't. You. Say that earlier!" Applejack smiled wide. "I would love to help you get a generation of trees started." She lightly slammed her hoof on the counter playfully. "As long as you don't go putting our farm out of business." She laughed out loud. "So what kind of varieties do you want?" Coincidentally, Applejack had a stash underneath the counter of several budding twigs from various trees that produce all sorts of apples. They must have been left there from the last time Applejack needed scionwood using this very stand. "We've got Jonagolds, Gala, Granny Smith, Braeburn, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Ida Red, Cameo, we also got a McIntosh but it's not very healthy. Probably don't want that one. Oh! Here's a good Honeycrisp one, it's eight buds long!" Granola went wide eyed. Applejack spilled several twigs on the counter and she looked at them closely, excitedly examining every bud on every twig of every variety. "Oh that's a good one. This one too! Wow, the cameos are thicker than I thought they would be. How would I even graft that?" "Easy! You just splice the ends and tie them together." "Yes, But I mean, if my rootstock is half the diameter, how am I supposed to splice it properly?" "Well that all depends on how you splice it. You can splice it the standard diagonal, but the cross hatch method works well. But if the stock you're working with is too small, your best bet is to spread the splice from inside. You'd be surprised how well they mend when you do it right." "That's amazing! And they bond in only a few weeks?" "Yes. Except the Jonagolds. Those take two weeks." "Oh yeah, I read that in a book where Jonagolds and some other apple had higher yields because of how well they grow in temperate climate zones mapped by the pegasi. What was the other apple?" "Was it Jonathan?" "No no, but those are good too." "Lady apples?" "No. It was something that started with T... Tuh, tuh..." "Topaz?" "Yes! Topaz! That's it! And they're awesome too because the coolest thing about Topaz apples is that..." "They are very resistant to disease." Granola looked at Applejack with bewilderment. She was amazing. How could have this have gone any better. Granola's reaction could only bring her to one conclusion. "I have to kiss you." Granola slapped down five bits, leaned in, and kissed Applejack aggressively on the mouth. For a split second, Applejack's cheek protruded from it's normal place. She pulled away. "Can I just take all of the ones here?" Applejack was a little stunned at the kiss. But she knew how excited she got when apples were the topic of conversation. "Um, well. Yeah. What the hay! Take them all. And don't forget your apples." Applejack winked. Granola winked back, placed the twigs in her have bushel, slid the bushel onto her back, and happily trotted away. Applejack took a deep breath. "Miss Cheerilee. What a fine day to see you here! Wait a minute. Apple Bloom's not in trouble again is she?" Questions? Post your questions and suggestions in the out of character thread here. 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