A yellow blur sprinted across the Apple family kitchen. Applejack jerked herself out of the way, and the fritter in her hooves nearly fell. "Slow down!" she yelled.
"Playing tag! Sorry!" called the blur.
Applejack held the fritter firmly until an orange blur sprinted across her path. "Fillies," she muttered, shaking her head.
Later, Applejack was bucking trees in the orchard when a clattering and squeaking noise made her stop. Streaking down the hill was a boxcar made of discarded lumber, mismatched wheels, and an ungreased axle.
The white filly was driving. She yelled, "How do I stop?"
The orange filly said, "You don't! We forgot brakes!"
The yellow filly shouted, "Go off the road! That should slow us down!"
The white filly jerked the steering wheel, and the boxcar lurched into the orchard. Applejack leaped out of its way. It collided with a tree and shattered, throwing the fillies to the ground. Apples tumbled down on their heads.
Applejack said, "Fillies! Y'all gotta be more careful!"
"We're sorry," chorused the fillies.
That evening, while Applejack was stacking barrels of apples in the barn, a beam over her head creaked. She heard giggling. "Celestia only knows what they're up to now," she said.
A yellow filly wearing a blanket as a cape flew out of the loft. "Sneak attack!" she yelled. Behind her, two more fillies wearing blanket capes flew out. All three landed on Applejack, who was knocked to the floor of the barn.
Applejack stood up and shook dirt off. "Fillies! Y'all have been doin' this all day, an' Ah have had enough!"
The fillies lined up in front of her. "You didn't like it?" whimpered the yellow filly.
"No! Ah don' like gettin' tackled!"
"But we thought it would be fun!" whined the orange filly.
Applejack's eyes narrowed. In a low, tense voice, she said, "Ah know what would be fun. How 'bout we play a game?"
The fillies' eyes sparkled. "You mean it?"
"Yes Ah do. We're gonna play hide an' seek. Are you ready to hide?"
The white filly bit her lip. "Is there something you're not telling us? Because right now you look scary."
"Only that Ah already have a hidin' place for y'all." And Applejack snatched up the fillies and stuffed them in her cloaca.
There was no light inside the cloaca. "Hello?" called a filly. Her voice echoed as if she were in a vast, empty place. She took a tentative step. The floor under her hooves felt like a shag carpet atop well-toned muscle fibers. "Where is everypony?"
The filly took another step. "Can somepony turn on the lights?" There was no answer but the echo. She stepped back. "I can't see anything." She started to step back again, into the oppressive darkness, but she shivered and stopped her hoof in midair. "That's enough! This isn't fun anymore! I'm done playing hide and seek." Again, there was no answer but the echo.
She turned all the way around. Everything was utterly black. "Is anypony here? I'm getting kinda scared." She laid down on the shag carpet and trembled. "Anypony?"