Apples Out and About and Other Warnings (BlueRiver)

[Blueblood]

Ambrosia was caught between the habitual nervousness that all little foals had when introduced to strange adults, and the inward conviction that she was so worth seeing that she should be out in the open.  It all averaged out to where she stayed behind her mama while she talked with the winged stallion, but when Well Read addressed her, she came bounding around, little ringlets bouncing to her step.  "That's me!  Hiya, mister teacher!"  She said with shining eyes, the only worry in her head right now about what exactly Zappers would have said about her.  Big brothers couldn't always be trusted on the subject.

[SteelEagle]

 

Well Read's smile was gentle but energetic at once. He loved little fillies and colts. They were so ready to learn even if they said otherwise and he was proud to be able to help them become the excellent ponies they would. Plus, they were often so adorable and Ambrosia certainly was! "Well, look at you! That dress is super cute. Did you get it from Miss Rarity or is your mom secretly a fashion designer?" He asked as a joke, Applejack rolling her eyes playfully. "We just came from there. You can't imagine how excited Rarity was. Ah feel sorry for whatever future kid she has, Ah reckon it'll be spendin' most of its time as a mannequin," Applejack said as she took a seat and beckoned Ambrosia to sit down.

 

"I bet so," he said as he pulled out some papers. He had Zap Apple's final grades in, ready to be sent to Cheerilee for his movement to her class. He was a good student in all the ways that Well Read cared about and had weaknesses that he would turn to strengths. He was confident! "So, let me see. Ambrosia, I see here that your brother's name is...Z...a...p...p...e...e? Zap-ee? No, no. I think it needed another e. Is that right?" He asked and started tapping his chin theatrically.

[Blueblood]

Ambrosia beamed upon the teacher, fully coming out from behind Applejack.  This teacher sure was smart!  He knew a great dress when he saw one.  "Is from Auntie Rarity!"  She said brightly, clip-clopping cutely over to where she was indicated to take a seat.

 

She had to giggle, though, as he soon proved to be as silly as he was smart.  "No, mister Teacher, his name is Zappers!"  It really was just Zap, but any brother of hers really deserved at least one more syllable to his name.  He was related to the cutest, most adorable filly on the planet, after all!

[SteelEagle]

 

Well Read nodded. "Oh, that's right! Silly me," he said as he overexaggerated a correction on some papers. "There we go. Now I can talk about..." he read it close, "...Zappers Applesauce..." he looked back to Applejack, "without being confused! You've raised a very smart cookie here, Mrs. Apple," Well Read ended.
"Hehe, mah little Ambrosia certainly is the shiniest Apple in the bushel!" She said with no small amount of maternal pride infecting her every pore.

"I bet she is! I'll be excited to go over her in a minute. Zap Apple should be easy enough," he started before adjusting himself and starting up. "Zap is doing well for himself. He is young so there are always things he could improve on. Like many other colts he is distracted, far too distracted far too much, and has issues keeping his energy level intact in the classroom. Less of an issue here...a lot of our lessons are more open-ended than they will be once he is in Cheerilee's class," he started with some weaknesses. Zap Apple was no different than most other students in those ways, but he didn't want to give parent's the idea that their children were flawless students. That set them up poorly, and his job was to set them up for success.
"Yeah, Ah know. He has so much energy and frankly if it ain't 'bout flyin' he doesn't show much of an interest in it," Applejack replied with a sigh. She didn't know sometimes what to do with all that energy when she knew what was planned for him flying wise.

"I'm sure you will find a way, Mrs. Apple. He is a good colt. He has many friends here and isn't shy about being called on or otherwise involving himself in activities. He has a strong social network and in turn is well liked. He gets very high marks when it comes to class participation and friendliness," Well Read followed up.
Applejack beamed. "That does sound like him too, doesn't it Amby? He's got a lot of good friends from his class. That little Zebra friend of his is so polite."
"She is. They are both good students. Here are his academic reports..."

[Hippo]

 

Zap was bewildered that his mother trusted him enough to not just fly away when he went to the playground while she was inside talking to the teacher. Should he wait a few seconds and then take off? There was always a chance that his mother would return to the doorway to say something to him. Zap waited to see if the adults started talking inside, waited a few more seconds, and then spread his wings to prepare to take off for whatever flight camp activites were available. Or at least he would, if he hadn't been halted of his lift by a crystal pony's voice. "Oh Hey, Topaz. Um, my mom is here to set up my little sister for school. I'd rather not be here, the pegasi are doing flight drills near downtown. What are you doing here?"

[Blueblood]

Ambrosia beamed like a pleased little princess...as long as mama and Mr. Teacher were showering her with due praise.  But eventually the conversation moved on to the rather less interesting topic of her big brother.  Still, she tried to stay still like a good little filly, but it was hard.  Her active little mind was growing more bored by the second, and her imagination was beginning to kick into gear.

This was like one of those... whatyamacallits, Galas that orange-mama would sometimes talk about.  A place where ponies grandly gallop, or something like that.  Or, apparently, stand around, talking, waiting for the most beautiful pony at the ball to appear!  Well, no prizes for guessing who that was.  Amby, dressed to the nines as she was, began to picture herself there, posing like a model to show off just how pretty she and her dress were!  And as the conversation went on, the posing grew more and more exaggerated, until she over balanced and fell on her face.  "Ooof!  Ow...."

[SteelEagle]

Topaz looked around at the playground. "I'm just here to hang out. Play. I was playing some tetherball earlier but the older colts left. I guess I was too strong for them," he said with a cocky shrug of his shoulders as he rounded the pole. "I mean, if you're gonna be here you wanna play or something? A lot cooler than some stupid flight training," he said, trying to keep a straight face. Topaz liked Zap Apple but he had to make sure that everypony who was anypony knew who was king of the playground, and he didn't want to get shown up by somepony that just happened to have all the advantages he didn't. Not that he thought about it all the time or got angry about it, but ya know, just something to remember sometimes.

 

Applejack and Well Read discussed a few different subjects as Ambrosia went off into her little daydream. Zap Apple was strong when he could be engaged with others in group projects, which would bode well for him not only in school but in life. He was also very bright- when engaged, he soaked in information very well. Strong at math and language, struggled with spelling and social studies. He was not a self-starter however and that meant he often had little chance to show off the bright young mind he had; not unusual for a colt his age. There were plenty of methods available to help. The discussion was more centered on some funny anecdotes, embarrassing ones hopefully, about the days of Zap Apple as a student. Well Read had enjoyed him.

Applejack was the first to react to her daughter's fall, near immediately scooping her up off the ground and onto her seat, looking over her for life threatening injuries. Or horn threatening. Or cute threatening- okay, that was impossible. She was too precious for that. "You okay there, sugarpie?" She said as she checked her daughter's hair, horn, leg for any serious wounding. "Y'all don't need yerself a new quad of legs now, do ya?" She asked a bit more playfully when she saw that it wasn't too serious. "Or a new face? Naw, yer still too cute for that."

[Blueblood]

Despite the pained whimper which Amby had emitted after impact, the fall wasn't the worst pain she'd every experienced, even in her short little life.  Cute as she was from horn to hoof, not every part of her always worked as good as it later would, and stumbling and scrapes were a part of everyday life for little colts and fillies.

But there was something else about this fall that would hurt worse, something that resulted from a slight snag in the wood floor, catching a bit of the lace on her dress.  Without noticing, Applejack had just pulled her up, resulting in a-

 

*r-i-i-i-p*

 

The sound scraped across her eardrums like steel wool sandpaper, as the little filly suddenly looked down and saw it.  The tear.  In the dress.  Auntie Rarity's precious gift to her little princess, ruined forever!  "*sniff...* It's... dress... AAAAHHHHH!"  She was too little to fully articulate the pain she was feeling inside herself right now, poor thing.  Something precious being ruined, disappointing a generous Auntie, aware that leaking from the eyes and nose was the least cute thing she could do right now... all she could do was cry to her mama, and hope that somehow made it all better.

[Hippo]

Zap knew his boredom would take-over, so any bail-out of his situation had appeal. As Topaz offered to play with Zap, he took a step forward with futile agreement. But before he could muster a verbal acceptance of such an ask, he was stunned by the implication that flight training and stupid could occupy the same sentence fragment. "Uh, what!? Flight training is the tops." Zap jumped up and hovered lightly before dropping to the ground. "All I want to do is fly around. Being able to soar the skies would change everything about, well everything. And it's not just basic flying, its the things you can learn to do while flying, like summersaults, flips and spins, and sonic rainbooms." Zap dropped his offended expression and traded it for one of smugness. "It's ok though. I wouldn't expect a see-through pony to understand."

 

[SteelEagle]

Oh he was so over hearing about how cool flying was from pegasi and so absolutely over how cool magic was from unicorns. Everypony seemed to be so jazzed and excited about what made them special, but you know who was special? He was special. He was a crystal pony. They were epic and cool and ponies traveled from across the world to see them. Did anypony stop and stare at pegasi? No. No one cared except for the trick fliers, like Zap's much cooler mom. As Zap Apple defended flying, Topaz rolled his eyes and mimicked what he was saying as he started the tetherball spin right. Then he was called a see-through pony. His blood boiled and he wanted to turn around and smack that good for nothing, hoity toity, rich Zap Apple.

 

Luckily he had a tetherball. After a few deep breaths he turned around, tossed the ball high, and smacked it as hard as he could around the pole, hopefully hitting that smug look right off of Zap Apple's face. "Here it comes, stank flank!"

*************************************
 

Applejack could feel it before she heard it. All mothers could she reckoned, being so in tuned to the needs and wants of their young that it didn't take much for her to immediately clutch Ambrosia even as the wailing started. She wanted to blame herself but knew better than to do so. No, it was the school's fault for having faulty floorboards. She took a look at the dress. It was a small tear, something even she could fix. Knowing Amby though she would want it fixed by Rarity herself. It wouldn't be perfect otherwise, and Ambrosia deserved perfect. "Awww, lil' Ambrosia, sugarcube," she said as she held her daughter tight and kissed the top of her mane. "Shhh shhh shhh, we'll have it fixed right up sweet thing," she said as she patted her back. "Wipe yer tears, everything is gonna be okay," she said as she continued to smother her filly in love.

 

Well Read just sat there. He wasn't as uncomfortable as he would have been a few years ago. After all, you didn't become good at dealing with younger foals and such unless you got used to awkwardness like this. He gave them there time and sipped from his cup, trying his best to look busy while he allowed mother and daughter to have their moment.
 

[Blueblood]

It took a minute for the sobs to come up and out of little Amby, pouring out her sadness into the ever deep bucket of her mom's patient hugs.  "Sniff... sniff... P-pwomise?"  She looked up at Applejack, little wet and shining eyes looking for the assurance she knew would be there.  Mama always made things better; this she knew in her heart of little hearts.  "Aun-auntie Rarity won't be upset?"

[SteelEagle]

Applejack held her daughter close, showering her with kisses on the forehead. "I promise we're gonna get it fixed an' its gonna be even better than before, alright sugarpie?" She smiled. "Ah bet Auntie Rarity's gonna be jus' fine and if anythin' she'll be excited ta work on it some more just for you!" She said to generate extra good filly excitement. It was all a very embarrassing spectacle for a parent, but luckily the only other pony close by was the one in charge of her daughter's development so really no big deal.
"You will look absolutely darling, I am sure," Well Read said with a broad smile as he finally got back involved, intervening as well as a teacher could to protect the parent from further embarrassment. 
"Ambrosia Apple, I'm very excited to have you in class this year. What sort of things do you like to do? I love to hoof-paint with all sorts of bright colors. Do you like to color or paint things too?" He asked gently as he started to pull out some papers, crayons, and painting supplies. "Or what about reading? Does your mom read you any fun stories?" 

[Blueblood]

Mama might not have been a unicorn, but she sure knew how to work some magic on her daughter.  Like some beneficent ritual, the shower of kisses stemmed the streams of tears, leaving a filly ready to face the day without crying once more.  "OK mama!"  She said, nuzzling Applejack before stepping back out of the embrace.  She was too young to be embarrassed by her emotional displays, so the teacher's reminder of his existence caused no shame to the little princess.

 

Hoof painting, though?  That didn't hold much attraction for the filly.  "I don't like getting my hooves icky, but mama says once I get better with my horn, I can hold a brush with magic!"  Probably in such a way as to splatter paint about the place even more, though.  Hopefully she was encouraged to change into a normal smock when creative time came.
"Oh, mama reads me stories about Princesses!  They're my favorite!"  Of course, Equestria being what it was, only half the stories were about things like tea parties with friends, and the other half were about smiting the bad guys.  She enjoyed them both, frankly.

[SteelEagle]

Well Read didn't stop bringing out the paint supplies, even if they were going to remain used for now. The next set of foals would probably want to play in any case. It wasn't all that rare for a unicorn to not want to get their hooves as dirty as others. Couldn't blame them. Having a horn seemed like a very useful took when it came to painting, so why not take advantage of it. "That makes sense! I've seen some unicorn fillies and colts use their magic to paint and I think you're going to have a lot of fun. Have you had any magical training yet, Ambrosia?" He asked as he started writing some information down. He knew enough about her family to know a little about her through osmosis, but he liked writing down details of incoming students. It helped him prepare to be their very best teacher.

 

"Ooh, stories about Princesses? Those can be pretty cool. Does she tell any about her favorite Princess?" He asked with a smirk. The Princesses were the most popular subject in all of fiction and he knew better than most the appeal. They were legendary heroines in every aspect. Well-Read like most had grown up with endless stories about Celestia, but nowadays there were so many tales and the true events so outstanding that it was hard to separate fact from fiction. "My favorite stories about Cadance. She's so elegant!"

[Blueblood]

"Uh... uh-uh, but mama's gonna have Auntie Twilight give me lessons!"  Though she hated to admit ignorance to what was her rightful unicorn heritage, Amby was pleased as punch that Princess Twilight was personally going to train her magic!  How could anything possibly top that!  Today was a good day again.

 

As to the teacher's second question, she nodded.  "Uh-huh.  Mama tells me about Auntie Twilight all the time.  Those are the best stories, 'cause mama's in them too!"  She paused for a moment, before adding,  "Both my mamas!"  It was hard to remember sometimes that she was the filly of two super-famous mares; Zappers took after Rainbow and was as close to her as Amby was to Applejack.  "But Cadence is good, too... and Celestia... and Luna... oh, and Bluebelle!"

[SteelEagle]

That made sense. After all, if you could call yourself a personal friend of the Princess of Equestria, wouldn't you want to see if you could get her to teach your daughter magic?
"That will be super special! Maybe soon you'll be teleporting around. If you do though, just remember-" he said with a wink, "-no teleporting in the classroom," he said as he shivered. The incident in Manehattan was thankfully just funny now, but he didn't know about aetheric material displacement at the time and thought he had just watched a tragedy unfold in front of his all too young eyes.

"I bet having both moms as super famous super heroines must be pretty cool too, right?" He asked as he gifted a look over to Applejack. Being her humble self, all Applejack could do was look away and blush. "Aww shucks, Ah didn't do anything nopony else woulda done," she asked as she pushed up her hat. "If you say so, Miss Jack. If you say so," Well Read said before his attentions returned to Ambrosia. "Think Rainbow would say the same?" He asked with a laugh. "Ambrosia, what sort of games do you like to play?"

[Blueblood]

Ambrosia was... pretty far from being able to teleport.  Frankly, it was hard to say what level of magical potential she had at this point; there were so few of her kind on either side of the family to indicate the strength of the 'bloodline' as it were.  Not to mention that her current potential was no indication of future growth; even Princess Twilight had famously been a bit of a late bloomer herself.  Still, even if she couldn't teleport right now, no reason to not take credit for showing restrain, right?  "O-kay mister teacher!"  She smiled, bright and happy once more.

 

This stallion was also showing good sense, in that he properly appreciated her mama!  "Yeah, mamas are... uh, awe-some!"  Rainbow used that word a lot around Applejack, so it had to be true.  As for the games she liked to play?  "Uh, I like playing house, dress-up, tea parties..."  Her games and amusements were mostly of the imagination, and very much in the stereotypical filly mold.  The foal of two tomcolts showing the exact opposite trains!

[SteelEagle]

She was a filly who aimed to please. Yep, she would prove to be a wonderful student and probably a huge pain in the flank someday. He always had to assume that, more right than not. Some fillies and colts tried to put their best hoof forward (Ambrosia), others wore their faults and qualities equally and blatantly (Zap Apple), but in the end they were all special and unique. And troublemakers. Every student of his had thrown temper tantrums and refused to work, and each and every one had also bounced away from school calling him the best teacher ever. He preferred the days where the second happened.

 

"Those are fun games. I think there are other fillies in close who would love to play with you," he said, already well aware of that fact. Where you had a gaggle of fillies you would have dressup, house, and tea parties. And probably a colt or two pulled into it against his will. The cycle would never be broken. "I like tea too! A nice jasmine tea to start the day never goes poorly!" he said as he brought out his tea cup. A gift from his sister, who had it custom made with the family emblem on it. He was proud of it and his sister, so much so he didn't tell her that the emblem was reversed. "So, Ambrosia, do you have any questions for me?"

[Blueblood]

Ambrosia really hadn't had the opportunity to play with many other little fillies before, so any friction she was likely to cause in the classroom would be when any of the others wanted their turn to be 'princess'.  It was going to be a lesson for little Amby that the whole world did not see her the same way her mama did.  But, what was school for if not the important lessons in life?

 

She smiled to see the teacup, a stallion of taste, as opposed to her brother!  But did she have any more questions?  No, everything seemed hunky-dory to her.  "Nope, you're real nice, Mr. Teacher!"

[SteelEagle]

Well Read nodded. Not unexpected. Most fillies didn't have much to talk about with him. Colts did sometimes. They seemed more naturally inquisitive at this age. He wasn't sure if that would hold up under study but it certainly fit what he often saw and heard in class. Fillies were more invested in the here and now, the what and when, while colts seemed preoccupied with the how and why. He liked it all. A nice balance for anypony to grow from, both as students and teacher, and as fillies, colts, and stallion. He was already working on her seating arrangement. Had to make sure everything started off perfect, even if it wouldn't last past the first five minutes.

 

"Well Ambrosia, I will be very excited to have you in my class. If you ever have any questions or concerns or just need to talk, I'm there for all my students and friends," he said with a beaming smile before recentering himself towards Applejack. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you about all the back to school sales in town, though I'd avoid Barnyard Bargains for a bit. Heard they're a bit on the low side at the moment," he said before there was a knock at the door. "Ahh, that must be the next one. It has been a pleasure to see you again Applejack, and to meet you Ambrosia! I'll see you both again real soon. Toodles and poodles!" He said with an energetic wave of his hoof.

 

Applejack picked Ambrosia up and on her back. "See ya later teach," she said as she trotted out the door, massaging her way past a rotund stallion and his cherub-portended colt. "Alright Amby, time ta pick your brother up. Ah think both of ya will like where we go next!"

[Blueblood]

Giggling at mister Teacher's silly little goodbye, she waved like a good and polite little filly.  "Buh-bye Mister Teacher!"  Mood thoroughly buoyed, she happily cantered beside her mama as they passed more prospective students on their way out.  "Where are we going next, mama?"  Every place they'd been to today had been so happy for her so far, so what could possibly be next?

[Hippo]

 

Pegasus ponies were naturally aspired to want to increase their hangtime, to the point where they could soar for hours. Zap was at that age where it was often all he thought about, and his urges would convince him everypony tugging him down were in the wrong. He stared at the sky after explaining his frustrations, but only after he heard Topaz's challenge and the whirling of a tether ball, did he instinctively jump up and dodge the tetherball. He landed on the ground. "Ha! Missed me!" Zap was then plunked in the head from behind as the tetherball made another lap.

[SteelEagle]

She smiled. "Oh, I think both of y'all like where we're goin' next, sweetheart," Applejack said as she beamed down at her daughter and leaned in. "Gonna go to the toy store! Get in the cart and be good, alright?" She said before nuzzling and standing back up. She knew better than most that two little ponies in a toy store was a recipe for trouble. She knew better than to pretend she wasn't gonna be buying something for them, but she still had to prepare High Bar's birthday party and only a few days to do it. Besides, they had been good. She turned back to the playground just in time to see Zap Apple get pumped by a tetherball, and engaged mom mode as she started galloping towards him.

 

Topaz was a little let down when Zap Apple dodged the ball instead of it knocking him on his stupid blank stank flank. Play or get lost, loser. Buuuut karma, or something worse, was on his side. The ball came back around and knocked him in the head. 1-0, Topaz. "Head in the clouds, Apples?" Topaz asked mockingly before he looked up and saw his large orange mom galloping towards them. Topaz took the initiative and held the tetherball still while looking concerned. "Zap Apple, are you okay?" He asked as he spoke louder, looking like a concerned little colt as Applejack approached.

 

Applejack reached Zap Apple and bent down, checking his head. Zap Apple was a rough and tumble colt and she had no doubt that he would be okay but her maternal instincts were too strong. She parted his mane and looked for any bruising. "Are you okay, Zappy? How many hooves am I holding up? Spell your name," she said as wanted to make sure he was fine.


Topaz could barely hide his smirk. Zappy...?

[Blueblood]

"Yay!" The toy store!  That wonderful place of... wonders!  The source of her littlest tea set, and most of the dolls and stuffies that attended her regular afternoon sessions of pretend!  Amby should have known the capoff to a wonderful day was a trip to that place, and Zappers would love it too.  It was something both siblings held in common, at least.

 

Speaking of Zappers, it looked like he was getting into a bit of the ol' rough and tumble with another colt.  Amby gave an exaggerated sigh and tossed her mane back, fully intending to display the utter lack of patience fillies had for colts being colts, but her winged brother getting beanballed caused her to wince.  "Is Zappers OK mama?"  She called out, not at all alleviating the teasing Zap Apple was likely to get from his peers over nicknames... not that she would have stopped herself had she known!

[Hippo]

Zap's head was spinning like a top. The cognitive rotation of his mind slowed when his mother came to check on him. She always found a way to be within a few seconds of him, as if she was a unicorn who could teleport to him. One day, he might find it annoying should his baby sister ever find out that it startles him. When Zap was asked questions to test his senses, he looked up and confused. Instead of answering the questions directly, he jumbled them together, attempted to answer them, and then got confused in thought before he could resolve a solution in his head. "Mommy? Am I a zebra?"