Chapter 2: Honesty

Apple Bloom's heart pounded at a phenomenal pace. Confronting the tycoon had spurred her into action before reason. She was gripped by a weird sense of urgency and haste, forcing her onwards. The filly felt that a few moments' delay would result in the loss of the farm. Adrenalin surged through her body as it kicked into gear, giving her the energy and drive to move faster than ever before. She was galloping at the greatest pace she could muster, her mind numbing with panic and exhaustion. Her eyes darted about in a furious search for her sister. Coming to the top of a gentle incline, she saw her target lying nonchalantly against an apple tree.

"Applejack!" she cried, skidding to a halt in front of the mare.

Applejack regarded the exhausted filly with concern for a moment, waiting patiently for her to continue. Apple Bloom was speaking intelligibly. She was trying to talk and hyperventilate at the same time. As she huffed and hollered, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo came up next to her. They were in a similar state of exhaustion. All three fillies stared at the mare with expressions of urgent panic, unable to say a single understandable word.

"Alright. Take a deep breath. No need to rush. Now what's got you three in such a sorry state?" Applejack drawled with a whimsical smile. She had grown quite used to her sister's unusual questing antics.

"Applejack," Apple Bloom finally managed, "You've got to listen to me. Those ponies that were here to buy the farm – they ain't giving up. They said something about a, err, plant, or something. They're going to destroy the farm!"

"Hold your horses," her sister laughed, "what makes you think they're out to wreck the farm?" her smile faded into a suspicious frown. She stabbed the fillies with cold eyes as she demanded, "In fact, how'd you know they wanna buy the farm in the first place?"

A heavy silence hung in the air while the crusaders racked their minds for a way to talk their way out of a scolding. An escape. In hindsight, they realised that it was probably something they should have figured out before approaching any pony with the news. It seemed silly that they should get in trouble for what they had done. After all, they had more important things to worry about: Sweet Apple Acres was in danger. The other two instinctively looked to Sweetie Belle.

The unicorn smiled up at Applejack and shrugged her shoulders slightly, but the workhorse's face remained cold and unyielding as she studied the trio. "We followed them again," the filly admitted reluctantly, "We're sorry. We know it was the wrong thing to do. But you've got to hear us out. The farm is in danger."

"Now, you're not talking your way out of it this time. I'm surprised at you three for straight up lying to me like that. You said you wouldn't do no more snoopin' around."

"Well, it's just as well we did. Those two ponies are bad news."

"Now don't you change the subject. You can bet I'll be telling your sister about this!"

"Applejack," Scootaloo urged her, "you said we should tell you when something's wrong. Well, something's wrong now. We're trying to do the right thing by you here."

"You've got to trust us on this one. Those fancy city ponies are trouble. We've got to do something to stop 'em," Apple Bloom added finally.

"I've heard quite enough 'bout them city folk. You can't just eavesdrop on some pony's conversation like that. You got to respect their privacy. More importantly, you went behind my back. I thought we trusted each other, Apple Bloom. We're sisters."

"Well then, why didn't you trust me with hearing what them unicorns wanted?"

"Apple Bloom, it's not that I don't trust you. It's just that all this business talk is a bit beyond ya'all. You're just a little filly. You just let the big ponies-"

"Ah am a big pony!" Apple Bloom cried, stomping her hoof in indignation, "if it weren't for me, ya'all still wouldn't trust Zecora. Ain't I proven I'm not just a stupid little filly?"

Applejack opened her mouth to apologise, but hesitated before the words reached her lips. Why was it that her little sister always seemed to turn the tables like that? She closed her mouth and her lips curled into a smile. It was time to retake control of the conversation. Choosing her words carefully, she resumed her lecture in a calm, measured tone.

"Now, no pony's calling you stupid, Apple Bloom. That goes for the two of you as well," she nodded at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, "no pony thinks any of you are stupid. But you ARE young. There's things you don't understand. The business of running the farm is one of 'em. There's no reason for you to worry about it. You can trust your brother, granny and me to make the best decisions. You're kids, and that surely ain't a bad thing. You shouldn't have to worry about this kind of stuff. As you get older, we'll teach you how to take care of this place. One day you'll be the head honcho 'round here. But for now, all ya'all got to worry about is being young. And that ain't much to worry about, believe me. Now go on, get! Have fun with your youth while it lasts. We'll handle the farm until you're ready. Don't you worry about that."

Apple Bloom glanced from Applejack to Sweetie Belle to Scootaloo. Neither of her friends were offering any further protest or quarrel. The mare had diffused the situation. With a disgruntled huff, Apple Bloom gave in.

"I'm sorry, Applejack. We won't have any more to do with these ponies who want to meddle with the farm. I know I can trust you to handle it," she mumbled in apology before turning away from her sister. The trio returned to the cutie mark crusader clubhouse in silence.

"Okay," said Apple Bloom once they arrived at the club house, "what are we going to do with these ponies who want to meddle with the farm? I don't think my sister can handle it."

"We don't know where they came from or where they went. There's not much we can do until we see them again, " Sweetie Belle pointed out.

"I guess we just need to wait for them to make the next move," Scootaloo suggested.

The three fillies considered this for a moment. Waiting wasn't really their thing. They could barely sit still most of the time. Still, the strange unicorns seemed like a serious threat. Apple Bloom was certain that it had fallen upon them to determine the most appropriate course of action and follow it, even if the course of action involved some element of inaction.

"Alright," the earth pony agreed at last, "we'll all keep our eyes and ears open. If any of us find anything fishy going on, snoop it out and tell us all about it."

"Right," her two friends confirmed simultaneously.

Thinking they had made the best decision, the fillies relaxed. The meeting quickly switched its focus to their regular cutie mark crusading. Their plans of outdoor activity were quickly dashed by a storm that was rapidly brewing upstream.

"Now why've the pegasi got to plan a storm just when we're all set to go out and get our cutie marks?" Apple Bloom demanded.

"The weather's important. They don't have time to care about whose parade they rain on," Scootaloo replied defensively.

"Seems everything's more important than us," Sweetie Belle complained with a loud harrumph.

As the ominous storm clouds rolled in from the north, the fillies grew thoroughly bored. The storm was too strong to consider leaving the shelter of the clubhouse. Any hope of doing anything fun or productive with the day was eliminated as it set in with increasing strength and ferocity. All the fillies' plans for questing had been thwarted. Their only option was to weather the storm as best they could before getting on with their lives and making hay while the sun shone.