Chapter 13: Takes One to Know One
Quick AN: A few days ago, like 7/29/23, I did a few revisions to the earlier chapters and added all the missing italics and bolding since I had copy pasted all those chapters. I fixed up the fanon stuff that I had erroneously used. Adjusted things like Shirou's explanation of his magecraft, if there are any discrepancies I missed please do tell. Anyways enjoy this chapter that took me forever to finish.
Most of the time, the difference between Twilight's memories and Saber's were like night and day. Yet, it was clear that both truly loved their families. Saber's early life with Sir Ector and Kay were some of her most cherished memories. Much the same, Twilight's memories were full of her time with her parents, but more importantly to her, her brother. Shining Armor seemed to spend much of his time with Twilight, even having her hang out with his friend group so they could spend more time together.
Though in those moments where neither he nor their parents could be around there was another important pony in young Twilight's life. A pink pegasus mare named Cadance, who Twilight was always happy to see. Shirou did notice that Twilight wasn't the only one who was happy to see Cadance. The blush creeping up Shining's white coat was quite telling to even someone as dense as him. Rin never let me live down the "clear signals'' Sakura had been sending him as she put it. I still don't get why she'd only get angrier when I said I wasn't so dense anymore.
"Hello!" Blurted out Shining, a nervous wreck. His greeting said, he sped off to catch up to his parents, leaving a deadpanned Twilight and bemused Cadance behind. Shirou's curiosity about Twilight's brother only grew, he wondered how their meeting in the future would turn out. He is quite the character, I do hope he takes the news that his sister formed a magical contract with a complete stranger well. The last thing I need is an overprotective brother misunderstanding this situation and hating me for it.
"Okay Twilight Sparkle! Before we can get to baking cookies and having the best night ever I need you to tell me every little bit you know about your brother!" Cadance held the filly in her hooves, with surprising determination in her eyes. Even Shirou couldn't help but be amused by the level of seriousness she showed at this. Though he had tensed up slightly the moment she had so abruptly turned on the small Twilight to interrogate her.
"You like him!~ Cadance likes Shining!~ You think he's cute~" Twilight sang out causing Cadance to blush in embarrassment. Though she did admit it, it was different when Twilight decided to tease her about it. Shirou smiled at the exchange, recalling how Illya would occasionally tease him about all manner of things. It'd only get worse when Rin joined her to mess with me. To think those two would bond together for that when they'd usually be at each other's throats.
"Yes! I like him! I think he's adorable! Now, will you help me or not Twilight?" At her admittance, Twilight beamed as she pulled out a concerning amount of charts and information about Shining Armor. Watching as the pair bonded over far too informed studies of Twilight's brother, Shirou's smile grew. Even as a filly, she always had the ability to bond when others. It would be neat to meet Cadence in person. It'd be interesting to know if this crush of hers and Shining's actually went somewhere.
After a particularly prolonged amount of time, Shirou had come to learn far too much about Shining and his compatibility with Cadance. Thankfully for him, it seemed things were coming to an end as Cadance asked Twilight to promise to never divulge the events of the day to Shining.
"Of course, I swear!" Twilight declared, looking at Cadance with unwavering determination.
"Would you take the foal school playground oath not to tell?" Cadance responded with equal determination. Shirou raised an eyebrow at the idea of such an oath existing. Only to be amused further by Twilight reciting it with complete seriousness.
"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and bake a cake. If I do lie and spill the beans, you can make me eat sardines." The delivery and context was just too much and Shirou laughed. It was just too adorable. In a way, it was even strangely familiar. I'm sure Illya would've had a wonderful time meeting these silly little ponies. No matter how mature she acted, she was still a kid in many ways. Though she could've curved her occasional murderous impulses.
The rest of the night passed in relative peace. The two mares bonding over various activities. I'm glad she had such wonderful moments. There was a slight sense of melancholy tinting these memories in Shirou's eyes. Now that I think about it, none of us from Fuyuki really had anything close to a normal upbringing. To think this is what we all missed out on. Who knows what lives we would've led had the grail war never existed. I'd probably never exist. Not as I am, for Shirou Emiya was born in those flames.
Despite his morbid thoughts of what could've been and what has been, he enjoyed this precious memory. Both to understand what he had to protect and to have fuel to tease Twilight with. He was starting to get a little angsty with the lack of action and constant hunts. No better way to calm the nerves than a bit of light teasing.
-{/}-
The wonderful smell of breakfast made its way to Twilight's rule. Tickling her nose as she shifted under her covers and licked her lips at the delectable scent. Her brain finally woke up as her hunger spiked in anticipation.
"Mmnn," mumbling to herself she yawned and looked around her room. Once fully awake, she made haste to get ready just to get to breakfast even a second faster. A smile clear on her face as she spoke to herself, "I can certainly get used to waking up like this."
Reaching the kitchen at last, she spotted Shirou once more at work in the kitchen. To her pleasant surprise, Spike was there as well. Keeping to his word, Shirou had begun teaching Spike his cooking methods. They had only done some barebones lessons yesterday morning so Shirou could get a feel for where he was. Didn't help that Shirou was expected at Sugarcube pretty early so it was a bit of a rush.
Fortunately, today he had time to spare and so he'd take the chance to teach Spike how to make some breakfast foods. She stood there for a moment, just watching him teach while cooking. It was relaxing in a way, seeing how every movement he took was calculated and done with such precision. She smiled at how absorbed Spike was, taking in every instruction. I wonder how long it took Shirou to achieve this level of skill.
"Breakfast will be ready shortly, Twilight. You should take a seat while you wait." He spoke to her without missing a beat in his work. Never failing to instruct Spike as he went, providing experienced insight to each process. Spike for his part seemed to soak it all up, much to Twilight's delight. To think he'd put this much thought into learning how to cook. I'm happy he's found a hobby he can be passionate about.
"Sure thing, thanks for preparing breakfast." She took her seat and didn't have to wait long before Spike brought about the pancakes as Shirou finished up the omelets. "Thank you Spike, I'm sure you've found this morning enlightening"
"Absolutely! I'm impressed by how much Shirou knows about cooking. It's just a shame he doesn't know any recipes involving gems." Spike was a little bummed by that, but it was offset by how much he had learned in a single lesson. Despite it being largely the basics, he now had a solid foundation to build off of.
"I'm impressed by how much of a quick study you are when it comes to cooking honestly." Shirou spoke as he placed the finished omelets before them. "Now, let's dig in."
"Yes!" Both Spike and Twilight responded eagerly.
Shirou found tranquility in their smiling faces as they ate up such a hearty breakfast. Though he still felt the ever present need to do something, anything more than just relax. Do I deserve this? It doesn't feel right. Surely there is something more I should be doing, Nightmare Moon couldn't have been a one-off case. Yet, setting out to explore this world would mean leaving Twilight. I can't just leave her, but is it right of me to just enjoy this moment? Dammit, what am I supposed to be doing here?
"Shirou?" Twilight looked at him quizzically, having noted his distant look as he ate.
"Hm?" Brought out of his thoughts, Shirou turned to Twilight. "Did you need something, Twilight?"
"I was just wondering if you were okay, you looked a little lost there."
"Oh," he paused, "I was just thinking about some of things I still have to do today. There's lots of work to be done around town, so I was remembering where to drop by later."
"Alright, well I'm sure you'll do fine. If you need anything, you can always ask me, Spike, or the others for help too." Despite how unconvinced she was by the truth of his answer, she didn't pry, hoping he'd tell her later. "You're not alone, Shirou. We're all here for you as well."
"Thanks Twilight, I'll keep that in mind." He gave her a smile, she never thought she could hate a smile.
"So long as you do…" She knew it'd take time, but she wouldn't let up on helping Shirou. For now, she'd have to ask the others for help.
Breakfast soon came to an end, the trio got their stuff together and went about the rest of their day. With Shirou heading out to work and the other two staying behind to watch over the library.
-{/}-
Shirou's first stop for the day was Fluttershy's cottage; he had promised to help her out with her animals. Though he was curious as to what that may entail. It didn't take him long to make the trek across Ponyville and out to the cottage. This is a pretty small place, even Fuyuki looks like a massive city in comparison.
Knocking upon the door, he heard what might've been a squeak, but chose to ignore it. Soon he heard the clip clop of hooves slowly making their way to the door.
"H-hello?" Fluttershy opened up the door only enough to peer out at her visitor. It was kind of cute, although he felt bad at his presence causing her to feel distressed.
"Good morning Fluttershy, I came to lend you a hand like I promised a little while ago." Shirou decided to get to the point and gave her a friendly wave.
"O-oh! Yes, of course. Please, come in." Fluttershy quickly regained her bearings and opened the door so Shirou could enter.
"Thank you," he followed her lead as she moved through her cozy cottage. He gazed at the many furry, feathered, and scaled inhabitants of the place. It still surprised him how the shy mare could live with so many critters in her home.
"Oh no, I'm the one who's grateful that you've decided to help me out." Fluttershy gave him a small smile. How she managed to be so adorable was beyond him. Hell, he could be convinced she had some minor mystic eyes with how powerful her cuteness could be.
"So what exactly do you need from me?" He asked her, fully aware of the various animals looking at him curiously, though the small, white rabbit was glaring at him.
"I just need some help with getting things set up for the upcoming bunny census. Normally I'd ask Applejack for help, but since you seemed like you really wanted to help and she's probably busy I thought it'd be fine if you could help me." She gave him a sheepish smile, clearly embarrassed even if she didn't need to feel that way.
"If helping you means Applejack has more time for her own work then I think it was the right call. I'm sure she'll appreciate the extra free time." With all that out of the way, they got to the work at hand or hoof.
Fluttershy showed Shirou how to care for her various animals and what she had planned for the bunny census. They spent the rest of the morning caring for the critters and prepping. Due to Shirou's help, she was able to finish all her work far earlier than usual. As such she told Shirou he was free to leave.
He had just left Fluttershy's cottage when he came upon a worrying sight. A large dust cloud billowed behind a stampede of cattle. The bovine herd was moving towards Ponyville and would certainly cause tremendous damage. Their mere approach was already sending the ponies into a panic as he saw them screaming and running around in desperation.
Before he could act, he saw a familiar figure approaching the herd from the side. Applejack, accompanied by a dog, put her expertise to work as she steered the herd clear of Ponyville. It was an impressive sight, to see a single pony exert such control over a panicked herd.
He still made his way over to make sure everything was alright. Though from what he could see AJ was free of injuries and had already calmed down the cows. What truly surprised him was that she was having a conversation with the seemingly sentient cattle. How many animals are sentient here? More questions for Twilight I suppose.
"Hiya Shirou!" Spotting his approach after finishing her conversation with a cow, Applejack waved at Shirou. "What can I do fer ya?"
"Nothing much, just came to check if everything is alright. Couldn't help but make sure no one was injured. Plus I'd like to know what caused this stampede in the first place." He answered as he finally reached AJ and the cows.
"It's just as I was telling Applejack, dear ol' Moo-riella saw a darned snake, which spooked the lot of us." To his surprise it was the cow who answered.
"I see, well did it bite anyone?" He turned to the cow, though he didn't know her name.
"Thankfully none of us were bit, but it did give us quite the fright. Thankfully Applejack here helped us calm down and avoid a greater catastrophe."
"Ah, I was just doing my job to make sure you and all of Ponyville are safe." Applejack took the thanks in stride, as a flash of realization passed in her eyes as she turned to Shirou. "Well I'll be, I darn forgot to introduce you two. DaisyJo meet Shirou, Shirou meet DaisyJo."
"It's good to meet you," Shirou was the first to throw out a greeting, as well as offering his hand for a shake, though he considered withdrawing it after remembering they were all quadrupeds.
"It's a pleasure, though I do wish we had met on more favorable terms. A bit shameful that a stampede is why we met." DaisyJo grabbed Shirou's hand before he could take it back and shook it. "Though I do appreciate the concern hun, it ain't everyday we get to meet such a kind stranger."
"I'm just doing my best to help anyone I can." He was a bit mystified how she was able to 'grab' his hand with her hoof as it felt like a proper handshake instead of him just holding her hoof. I really need to start questioning Twilight about all this stuff. If I'm gonna be a resident in this world I should be aware of the common knowledge.
"Such a wonderful young lad," DaisyJo smiled at him before turning to Applejack. "Well now that the herd has been calmed down, I do believe we'll head back to the pasture."
"Take care and if you find any o' them nasty snakes around there do tell me or the others, we'll make sure to remove them from the pasture." A brief pause, before she added, "all safe and carefully o' course, wouldn't want Fluttershy to worry about us harming a scaly friend o' hers."
Seeing that the situation had been handled and he had no part to play, Shirou waved Applejack goodbye and returned to Ponyville. There was still work to be done today, not to mention more training with Rainbow Dash later on.
"Be seeing you around Shirou!" Applejack waved back, smiling slightly at his retreating form. "Twilight sure found herself an interesting fella." Giving the cattle a last look, she made her way back to the farm. "Still plenty o' apples that need bucking."
Making his way to his next destination, Shirou did note how a bunch of ponies had gathered around. He wasn't able to catch what they were talking about but he did spot some familiar faces amongst the crowd, including Twilight. He figured he could ask what that was all about once he returned to the library.
-{/}-
Once in town, Shirou made a beeline for the hardware store. He thought it'd be good to know where the nearest tool seller was. While he could project the tools he needs for a handyman job, he always preferred having them as proper objects and not projections.
He did find it curious to hear all the ponies talking about how great and helpful Applejack was for steering those cattle away and saving Ponyville. They seemed to be planning to throw her a party in celebration. Which was hard to miss as Pinkie was the one shouting the plan for everypony to hear.
Spotting him passing by, Twilight waved at him. He waved back and decided to walk closer to see if she needed anything.
"Hey Twilight," he greeted.
"Hi Shirou! Did you see how Applejack stopped that stampede?" At his nod she continued, "it was so impressive. Everypony thought so as well and it seems they decided the best course of action would be to throw her a party to commemorate her efforts. I'm a little surprised at how often parties are thrown around here. But with Pinkie around, how could they not want to throw more parties I guess."
"It is nice of them to recognize Applejack for saving Ponyville like that," the strange look he had as he said it, kind of threw Twilight for a loop. But he quickly recovered his usual appearance, "I'm sure that she deserves it, and that you'll let me know about any details. Unless you need me for something right now, I was planning to head to the hardware store to help out Lugnut."
"Thanks for the offer, but I was just gathering some supplies with Spike before all this. Stay safe Shirou and I'll see you later." She was gonna wave him bye, but something compelled her to rethink that. Instead, she gave him a quick, but tight hug. Apparently that was enough to catch him off guard as she could feel him tense briefly before relaxing in her embrace. Though the hug he returned still left much to be desired. Maybe I should set aside some time to teach him how to give better hugs. She giggled to herself, before waving him goodbye.
"See you Twilight, I'll be sure to come back early to prepare dinner." He gave her a wave in return, still a little confused by her earlier embrace. He decided to put it out of mind, chalking it up to the friendly nature of these ponies.
"I'll hold you to it, Shirou." She waved back, watching him as he went. She still had plenty to do at the library, aside from the usual organizing of books. I should set-up some of the equipment for my lab. It'll be nice to have it ready incase I need it, seeing that I'll be here for the foreseeable future.
Content that Twilight would be fine for now, Shirou walked in the direction of the hardware store. He figured it'd be a simple enough job to help out around there. Considering his past experience as an occasional handyman, root knows Rin can't touch anything too technological, those poor blu-ray players. He shook off the shivers from his memories, and spotted the store ahead of him.
Making his way inside, he was surprised how similar it was to those back on Earth. Albeit with less power tools, but it seemed some still existed, powered with magical energy he assumed. Standing by the counter, he saw the proprietor of the store, Lugnut.
"Heya, I suppose you took up my offer to help out around here for a few bits." He asked Shirou, seeing him come in.
"Yeah, I'm something of a handyman, so I figured it'd also do me good to know my way around the tools used here." Shirou did note it would take some maneuvering to use some of the tools, being better suited for hooves than hands.
"Don't you worry your head lad, I can teach ya how we ponies use these tools while you help me out with some errands around the store. Ain't usually busy but there's plenty o' heavy lifting and places where your extra height would be useful." Turning from the counter, Lugnut led Shirou further into the store.
"I'll be in your care then," Shirou simply followed along. Ready to learn a few things while helping someone out.
The rest of the afternoon was a relatively simple affair, with Shirou helping Lugnut out around the store, moving heavy equipment and organizing the inventory. Sometimes having to place tools in high up shelves that Lugnut couldn't reach without a ladder. Overall, easy work, earning him some bits and a few lessons on the safe handling of certain common tools. Most of which were a bit complicated for him to handle properly, he figured he'd trace simple tools if he really needed to. Though it'd be a waste of magical energy to do so, there was merit in getting used to these. I wonder if Twilight would be willing to help me recreate some tools from Earth so I could use them comfortably.
His work done, he saw he still had some daylight to burn. He had promised to train with Rainbow Dash today as well so he decided to search for her once again. Figuring she'd be waiting for him near the clearing from yesterday, he briskly walked there.
-{/}-
Same as yesterday, he found her sleeping in a tree close to the clearing. He hoped she hadn't waited too long for him to show up.
"Rainbow Dash!" He shouted, trying to not spook her like last time.
"Hm?" She gave a groggy reply, slowly blinking her eyes and yawning as she stretched her limbs and wings. It took a few seconds for her to finally awaken fully. Looking down, she saw Shirou waiting patiently for her. "Hiya Shirou! Are you ready for another round of training?!"
"Yup, and I take you're set to go as well?" He responded, looking up at her as she spread her wings and took to the skies, circling over him once to eagerly nod and flew off to the clearing. He found her actions amusing and walked over to the clearing as well.
"So, are you ready to get beat?" Rainbow dash exclaimed excitedly while doing some quick stretches.
"It's been a while since I've had a proper spar," he replied, stretching as well, "but we'll see if you back up that confidence of yours."
With their warm-ups done, Shirou traced his weapon of choice. Considering this was supposed to be a friendly spar, he wasn't going to use his usual blades. No, instead he'd call upon a special sword. One that while not lethal, was surprisingly violent and perfect for spars. With a quick breath, he traced a bamboo sword with a cute, little tiger charm.
"Huh, I didn't expect you to pull out such a weird training sword," Rainbow commented as she saw the bamboo sword. She giggled at the sight of the little tiger charm.
"Considering how fast you are, I decided to use the best sword I have for spars." He held it up, to give her a better look. "Its name is Torashinai, the sword of an old friend who used to train me when I was young. She was something of an older sister to me, even when she was really irresponsible despite being an adult."
"Hah! Almost reminds me of somepony I know," Rainbow responded with a barking laugh, "although she sounds like she at least knew what she was good at."
"That's a good way to put it. If anything, Taiga was a pretty good teacher, especially when it came to sports. She's part of why I learned how to wield a bow and sword." Shirou could still recall his time in the Archery Club and in the dojo at home. He never cared for the attention he got from his skills with the bow, even going as far as leaving the club once he felt he couldn't get better at archery as part of the club. Taiga never stopped pestering him about it either. He felt she may have even vented some of her frustrations when she sparred with him in the dojo of his home every once in a while.
"You're gonna need those skills to deal with me!" Rainbow replied smugly, confident she could take on Shirou in a spar solely through her speed. "Now! Let's fight!"
"Fine, I'm ready when you are." Shirou should've known Rainbow Dash would be more than raring to go. He was surprised at how confident she was in her skills, as flight maneuvers and fighting were two different things. Nothing Torashinai can't help in correcting, he thought.
Needing no further words, Rainbow Dash took to the skies, circling Shirou while picking up speed. Shirou stayed in place, body tensed and ready to respond at the drop of a dime. Soon, Rainbow Dash made the first move, charging in with a hoof outstretched. Surprising her, Shirou quickly reacted, swinging his sword to intercept her attack. She was able to narrowly avoid being hit by pivoting to a dodge, but this just left her open for a follow-up retaliatory strike. Using the moment where her charge became a dodge, Shirou shifted his swing and lunged forward, clipping RD's side before she could escape his reach.
It was a glancing hit, but it still stung, causing Rainbow Dash to wince once she was airborne again. She had been awfully confident she could've got a decent hit in with her speed, but she had underestimated how fast he could react. Her competitive spirit flared, her pride wouldn't let this end without getting a solid blow on Shirou. So their dance began, Rainbow circling around before striking like lightning, sometimes even flying off to gain greater speed for her attacks. Yet each time, Shirou would be able to counter without fail, able to predict her attacks easily as her reliance on speed forced her into a telegraphed strike. Something he'd have to work on helping her with if she was serious about fighting.
Soon Rainbow Dash slipped up, going too fast and having committed far too much to an attack. She was unable to shift her flight path as Shirou aimed for a decisive strike, Torashinai cut through the air. She could've sworn she heard a tiger's roar as the sword swung through the air and struck her torso. The wind knocked out of her, she crashed into the clearing and was left dazed. That blow was the only one either of them had truly landed, but it was enough to end the brief spar.
"Are you alright?" Shirou asked with slight worry, he'd made sure to hold back by limiting himself to just Torashinai, but he wasn't all too sure how sturdy pegasi were. "Should I take you to a hospital?"
"Ugh," Rainbow took some deep breaths to recover from the blow. "I'll be fine, but damn. I didn't expect a practice sword to hurt that much."
"Are you sure? I didn't put too much force into the blow, but you took a hell of a tumble afterwards." Shirou dismissed Torashinai as he crouched next to Rainbow Dash. She couldn't help but think of him like a mother hen with how worried he was over a spar.
"Yeah, it's no biggie." She waved her hoof at him, already recovering. "The blow didn't hurt all that much, I've had worse crashes before. I was just caught off guard cause I never knew a wooden sword could hurt like that. Guess I needed the eye opener, haha." She tried to laugh off his concern, but he still looked at her apprehensively.
"Alright, if you're sure you're good then I won't push it." He relented, letting out a slight huff. "Though we won't be sparring anymore today." Seeing how her mood dropped at that, he added, "I got what I needed from that bout, so I think it's best to work on that before we spar again."
"So…" Rainbow Dash began, a bit anxious to hear his verdict. "How'd I do?" She felt that the spar ending this quick wouldn't bode well for her assessment.
"Well you are certainly fast and that alone can put some good weight behind your blows, but that same speed is working against you." Seeing her puzzled look, he elaborated, "when you're moving that fast it's hard for you to adjust your trajectory which is fine if your opponent can't react to your attack. The issue is that the moment you move to strike, a good fighter will be able to read your attack and counter like I did. You did well early on with those dodges, even if you got clipped more often than not. If you can learn to adjust your flight path just as quickly as you can launch yourself then you'll be a menace on the battlefield."
"So I just gotta pivot and turn better?"
"Something like that, but you also need to work on making your moves less predictable. Using your speed you can fool your opponents into thinking you'll attack one spot while immediately shifting to striking elsewhere. It would be good if you can keep up the pressure on your opponent, you don't want to give them any time to prepare for your attacks. Perhaps you can start by peppering them with glancing blows, forcing them to constantly block or counter. Use that time to learn how they react, then once they start to slip up, or you feel you've gotten a good feel for their reactions, you can force them to react how you want to expose themselves to a solid blow. From there it's rinse and repeat as a hit at the speed you fly would make it easier to land more blows till you finally bring them down."
"Cool, I can't wait to get a few solid hits on you next time!" She beamed in confidence, more than willing to dedicate herself to mastering her speed even further. "Plus, being able to maneuver better while flying fast will be great for my wonderbolt training!"
"Mastering your speed is definitely a goal worthy of striving for. It'll help you out a lot in both combat and flying maneuvers like you said." Content with his analysis of Rainbow Dash's current abilities, he nodded his head. "We still have some daylight, so we can get to work with your training. I'll teach you some ways you can weave feints into your attacks and we'll do more reflex training so you can get used to reacting to things while flying fast."
"Awesome, I'm more than ready!" Flying up as if she'd never been struck, RD was raring to go for some good ol' training. The rest of their afternoon passed with Shirou teaching her some new moves to work on and helping her with similar training from last time. Eventually they had to call it a day as Shirou still had things to do. RD did stay behind to practice on her own, full of energy at the new stuff she'd learned. She did mention that she planned to have AJ join her at some point in the week as she still wanted her form of training in addition to Shirou's.
Shirou said his goodbyes before heading back to the library. He decided upon dinner plans on his way back. He was really considering searching the library for a pony cookbook at this rate, it would be nice to see what dishes could be made for all of them to enjoy. Plus he was sure Twilight would appreciate some more traditional pony dishes.
-{/}-
"I'm back," Shirou greeted as he entered the library. He found Twilight reading a book while Spike enjoyed one of his comics in the living room area.
"Welcome back Shirou!" Twilight happily greeted him, looking up from her book. "How'd your day go?"
"It went well, aside from the stampede incident there wasn't much else of note." He thought a little before adding, "I did get some training in with Rainbow Dash. She seemed quite happy with the results and even stayed to continue training on her own."
"She does seem to be quite the athlete," Twilight responded, "I was never a fan of sports in all honesty. It was interesting to see Shining train when he decided to join the Royal Guard. Maybe I'll make some time to see you two training."
"I'm sure Rainbow Dash wouldn't mind, though I can't guarantee she won't try to rope you into it." Shirou had half a mind to take Twilight for some training. It might be for the best to make sure she's ready for any kind of fighting. It'd be foolish to think she'll live a peaceful life, especially if life has taught me anything about how trouble loves to follow me everywhere I go.
"I think I'm fine for now, the brief time I spent helping Shining with his own training was more than enough for one lifetime." She quickly responded while shaking her head.
"I dunno Twilight, you did get kind of pudgy when you were in Canterlot. Must've been all of the donuts we used to get when you stayed up all night studying." Spike added his own two bits.
"Spike!" Twilight was embarrassed to be reminded of her previous indulgence. "It wasn't that bad, it was just a couple dozen or so…" she reconsidered her defense. "Ahem, nevermind that. So, Shirou, did anything else of interest happen today?
"Hm, well I just helped Fluttershy with her animals this morning before lending a hand at the local hardware store. Neither was really eventful, but I will be dropping by Fluttershy's cottage to help her with the bunny census in a few days." He made his way to the kitchen with Twilight in tow. She was starting to enjoy seeing Shirou work his magic when it came to cooking. It was almost therapeutic with how mesmerizing it was.
"Glad to know she'll have reliable help for that then. She seems quite dedicated to her animals, but with how many she seems to care for I can imagine it's a lot of work." Twilight took a seat on a nearby stool, watching Shirou begin setting up the ingredients and cookware for making dinner.
"She has quite the menagerie up in her cottage and from what I gather, she takes care of as many animals as she can from the Everfree as well." He chopped up the ingredients with speed and precision, before moving on to the rest of the ingredients. "There is something I wanted to ask you, now that I think about it."
"Oh?" Twilight's ears perked up, though she was still paying attention to his skilled movements in the kitchen.
"After Applejack managed to wrangle that stampede I saw a lot of you gathering together to discuss something. I didn't catch what was said, but I thought you might be willing to tell me since I saw you among them."
"Ah! I was planning to tell you, but it must've slipped my mind, thanks for reminding me." She looked a tad sheepish, but cleared her throat and continued. "After Applejack saved the town from the stampede, a lot of the ponies gathered together to talk about how helpful she is. Seems she's known throughout the town for being a dependable pony, and with this recent event, the mayor even decided to throw a celebration in her honor. Everypony was practically gushing at what a wonderful idea that'd be."
"Wow, now that I think about it, I do recall some of those I helped mention how usually Applejack would help them out. Considering how the whole town relies on her so much, I can definitely understand why they would normally go to her for help." The ingredients were prepped and now he began cooking them for tonight's dish. "I do wonder why they asked me for help if they usually go to her. Not that I mind helping, in fact I enjoy lending a hand." To think they would throw her a party in her honor, kind of a stark contrast from how I was treated at Homurahara Academy.
"Now that you mention it, it does seem a little odd. Maybe they just wanted to give her a break or thought it'd help you get used to Ponyville if you got more involved?" Twilight pondered the matter a bit, there was certainly a lot they had yet to understand about Ponyville and its denizens.
"That would be really kind of them, but it does make me feel a bit bad to take her place like that." Shirou would've scratched his cheek if he wasn't busy cooking dinner. A dinner that was starting to smell incredibly appetizing to Twilight.
"I'm sure she'd appreciate the help," Twilight smiled at Shirou to reassure him.
"Hopefully you're right about that. I wouldn't want to step on any toes when we just moved here." Especially if it would lead to problems for you in the future. He thought to himself as he continued cooking.
The pair fell into a quiet lull as Shirou finished up. As soon as he was finished, Twi helped set up the table at her insistence and called over Spike. The three of them enjoyed another wonderful dinner together. Savoring the taste of Shirou's home cooked meals made Twilight and Spike wonder if they could ever go back to their old meals.
-{/}-
Celestia's Sun had set an hour ago, yet a stubborn Earth Pony continued to toil in the Apple Orchards. Her coat covered in sweat, muscles straining, she bucked another tree. Doing her best to ignore how her back legs ached in agony with each buck, she finished up the last batch for the day. Wiping the sweat off her brow, she made her way back to the barn, barely able to haul the apples she had picked.
Finally reaching the barn, she stored the bunch of apples before making her way home. Breathing a sigh of relief that the day was done, she made her way out of the barn and towards home. Only to find her injured brother staring at her.
"Shouldn't you be resting?" She asked him in slight concern.
He simply stared at her for a moment before turning to look at the miles of Apple Orchards. After another beat of silence, he turned back to her.
"Plenty left to go," he remarked.
"Now don't go on nagging about the harvest to me. I just got a little sidetracked earlier is all, I'll make up for lost time tomorrow." She brushed him off before walking past him to reach the house.
"Even when ya agreed to spend time helping other ponies tomorrow?" He stared her down, but her only response was to scoff at him and walk past him. Releasing a sigh, he also made his way back into the house. Stubborn as she was, he still worried greatly for Applejack. Lousy time to get hurt. He thought to himself.
With a huff, he followed along as they made their way back home. Both were engrossed in ideas of how to handle the harvest, though differing in approach. Unfortunately nothing they could do on their own could make any significant improvement so they just had to keep going as things are and hope it all worked out.
I don't need no dang nab help, I can handle this plenty! Applejack fumed in her mind, we've always been able to get the harvest done nice and quick, I just gotta try harder and it'll be done in no time. So what if I'm helping the others with their own things too. I'm more than capable of being a dependable friend for all o' them.
-{/}-
Applejack woke up quite early the following morning, Celestia's sun mostly hidden by the horizon. Ain't no time to waste, best get some apple picking done before I'm off to help out in town.
So began her day, applebucking for a few hours before seeing Applebloom off to school. She figured she'd check in with Fluttershy before heading into town. Ain't nothing wrong with helping out my friends. Quickly reaching the cottage, she knocked on the door. It took a few moments, but she heard Fluttershy making her way to the door soon enough, though a few seconds faster would've been nicer.
"Oh, good morning Applejack!" Fluttershy greeted her with a smile. "What can I do for you today?"
"I was just dropping by to ask if ya needed any help this week, I know ya tend to do the bunny census around this time after all." Applejack shuffled in place a bit.
"Ah, thanks for the offer, but I already have somepony else helping me with that this time." Fluttershy responded, missing the way one of Applejack's eyebrows twitched slightly.
"Not to be too insistent," Applejack began, "but you know I'm the best when it comes to helping ya out with them bunnies. Plus I'm sure that your helper would appreciate having that time back if ya let me help instead."
"Funny you say that, I did tell them that you usually help me out, but they really insisted and I saw no harm in letting them help. They did well enough helping me out yesterday and I figured they would do wonderfully with my fluffy little friends."
"I see, well surely if I speak with this fella I can convince them that it's best they let a more experienced pony handle this sort of thing." Applejack added with a slight edge.
"I don't know, they seemed quite set on helping. Plus they said you'd probably appreciate the break to handle your own work." Before they could continue, a loud crash could be heard from deep in the cottage, causing Fluttershy to turn around in alarm. "Oh dear! Sorry to cut our conversation short Applejack, but I really do need to finish up around here. It was nice talking to you!" She promptly closed the door, leaving a befuddled and slightly irate Applejack standing there.
"Handle my own work? Why I oughta have a few words with this fella. First my brother, now this random stranger, what do they take me for?! I'm more than capable to handle all of this myself!" With a stomp, Applejack made her way to Ponyville.
As much as she wanted to find the pony Fluttershy spoke about, she still had other business to attend to. No point getting all riled up, it's just a bunny census. Though I hate it, I could make use of that extra time. The others still think you're more dependable and this harvest ain't gonna change that!
Her mood soon began tanking as everywhere she went she was met with ponies refusing help. Pinkie said she already had a great cook helping her and the Cakes out at the bakery. Rainbow Dash nearly prattled her ears off with how excited she was about her new training buddy. Even ol' Lugnut expressed his joy at having some help around the shop when she had to pick up some supplies for the farm.
Turns out that the pony she was looking for wasn't a pony at all! It was one of the newest residents of Ponyville and a newly formed friend of hers. Everyone practically sang praises of how helpful and dependable they had been since they started helping out around town. Normally she wouldn't have minded one bit, but it all just seemed to compound with her brother's insistence that she wasn't good enough to harvest all those apples on her own. I'll show them who is more than capable of handling all these responsibilities!
She nearly set off to have a word with Shirou when she realized how much daylight she'd already burned. Reluctantly she trotted back to the farm, figuring it best to let out some frustration by bucking apples. Though the expression on her brother's face and concern on her sister's didn't help her much when she did reach the farm. Prompting her to make a beeline to the orchards.
There was always tomorrow after all.
-{/}-
Shirou continued his role as a jack of all trades as he helped out around Ponyville. The previous day had been little different from the one before it, aside from more ponies asking for assistance after hearing how he'd helped Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Lugnut. He'd assist anyone who needed help and was more than happy to do so. It at least gave him something to do, even if he still felt angsty that this was all he was doing.
"Shirou, are you okay?" Twilight asked, it felt like the dozenth time she'd asked him this question.
"Of course, don't worry Twilight," he replied with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, the same response she received each time.
She was getting a tad fed up with his behavior. Sure he did it because he didn't want to worry her, but he was just so bad at hiding how troubled he was. With a huff she pushed an empty plate away from herself. They had been eating lunch at the library since Shirou had some time to drop by during the afternoon today.
"Shirou, when we agreed to be friends it meant we'd also be more open with each other about our troubles. So stop acting like you're fine when it's clear as day that something has been eating at you these past few days." She crossed her hooves across her chest as she sat there staring at him intensely.
"Well," Shirou began reluctantly, "I just don't feel like I'm doing enough. Don't get me wrong, I am more than happy to help everyone around town with whatever I can. It just doesn't feel like I'm doing enough considering my skills and role as your Servant."
"Shirou, I would normally worry that you've been stretching yourself thin with how much time you spend helping other ponies out. I find it very commendable of you to do so, but you shouldn't neglect yourself either," she didn't miss the way Spike stifled a laugh at that. She shot him a mild glare before continuing, "I may not be the best example since I tend to really become engrossed in reading, but that doesn't make it any less true. Plus I'm sure we'll find something more substantial for you to do if you really want, but right now we're still settling into Ponyville. There is no point in rushing everything." She gave him her best reassuring smile.
"Ha, I know you have a point, but it still nags at me that all I can do right now is just normal chores and jobs. Surely there are things I can be doing out there," he looked out the window into the distance, "helping out more ponies of Equestria. Don't you think we have a responsibility to use our abilities to help as many people as possible?"
"Sometimes I do find myself questioning why the Princess appointed us to Ponyville when there are plenty of other places in Equestria where I can lend a hoof. But I know that not only does she know what's best for Equestria, but also that she wants us to spend time with the friends we've made here. Friendship is incredibly important, Shirou, and we still have so much to learn about it!" She would not deny the idea of learning about a powerful Element like Friendship through firsthand experience was exhilarating to her. Especially after all those years spent in Canterlot learning about all sorts of theories and magical formulae. "And if there is ever a need for our powers, I'm sure the Princesses will not hesitate to let us know. So for now let's just enjoy our time here. If anything we should plan visiting the others soon and getting together to hang out. Oh! Maybe we can have a sleepover or a picnic!"
Seeing her so excited, Shirou couldn't help but feel his mood ease up. Twilight has plenty of good points, I suppose it's been too long since I've had this much downtime. Maybe this land doesn't have things as terrifying or dangerous as Dead Apostles. It sure seems more peaceful from here. I hope I didn't just jinx it. I mean E-rank luck implies I still have 10 times as much luck as the average person. That has to count for something right?
"I get what you're saying Twilight. I'll ask Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy if they wanna hang out next time I meet with them. I can also take some time to ask Rarity and Applejack before I come back for dinner. I'm sure they'd all love to spend more time with you."
"With us, Shirou, with us." She wasn't gonna let him be sneaky. "Look if you really are so adamant about getting something more productive done, why don't we spend some time going over the magic of both our worlds? You did promise to tell me more about it and I finally have things set up around here like I want. Now I'm more than free to see if it's possible for you to adapt to our system of magic. Plus, if the others agree to meet up you can tell us more stories from your world!" Twilight was incredibly eager to learn more about a whole other world, especially with how much knowledge there was to learn that Shirou had hinted at during the banquet at Canterlot.
"Fine fine, you're right though. I did promise to tell you more about magecraft, what little I do know. Sharing the story and abilities of some of the Noble Phantasms I have could also be a good way to prepare everyone for anything we may face in the future."
"Not quite what I was going for, but as good a reason as any." Twilight added cheekily, earning a bemused grin from Shirou.
"As fun as this conversation has been, I do have a few things left to do." Shirou got up, only for Twilight to beat him to picking up the dishes with a quick use of telekinesis. "You win this time, I guess I'll head out now. I'll make sure to let the others know we should meet up as soon as we can."
With a final goodbye to Twilight and Spike, Shirou made his way out the door. He was planning to help Lugnut with a delivery before making his way back to the clearing where he was training Rainbow Dash. I'll tell the others our plans after I finish today's training session. I can also check in with Applejack and see if she's doing alright, since those she talked to yesterday mentioned she seemed frazzled.
He made his way to the hardware store with no problems. Lugnut was glad for the extra help as he had a backlog of deliveries he hadn't made due to handling the store. Shirou set out to deliver them all as it didn't seem that many to him, especially with a little Reinforcement to bolster him.
He finished with just enough time to briskly make his way to the clearing. There he found Rainbow Dash setting up quite the contraption. It seemed to be some kind of massive seesaw, where she had gotten the materials for all this was a mystery.
"Good afternoon, Rainbow Dash!" He greeted the pegasus as she flew around putting the final touches on her machine.
"Oh! Heya Shirou!" She waved at him before zooming down to meet him. "I just finished putting this awesome equipment together," she beamed at him.
"I see that, though I have to ask, what exactly is this for?"
"It's simple really, since you're a pretty sturdy stallion I figured you'd be perfect to use as weight to launch myself with this machine." She pointed to the contraption with pride.
"I'm not sure that's the best idea, plus I thought you wanted some more combat training?"
"I still need to keep up practicing my stunts if I wanna join the Wonderbolts. N-not that I mind the combat training, it's been really useful." Seeing her pointedly avoiding eye contact didn't help her statement. I've earned a break from hearing that bucking roaring sword. How is it even able to do that!
"If you're sure then I suppose I can help you out. You are the expert when it comes to aerial stunts after all." With a shrug, Shirou got to work following Rainbow Dash's instructions on how she wanted him to help out for the stunt.
Once everything was set, he jumped off a platform, making sure to use Reinforcement to brace his body for the impact. It was a novel experience for him, seeing Rainbow Dash shoot off into the sky as soon as he landed on the seesaw. I wonder what kind of stunts these Wonderbolts pull off for this to be part of Rainbow Dash's training.
Assuming he'd get his answer whenever he finally sees one of their performances he just continued helping Rainbow Dash. Said help mostly consisted of just repeating the launches over and over with slight adjustments. How this was helping her train still eluded him. Eventually they had to call it a day.
"Normally I'd say we could've had a spar or two before we had to wrap things up," he missed how Rainbow Dash tensed at this, "but I have something else to talk about. Twilight and I were wondering when you'd be available for a get together with everyone."
"Oh! Well I'm pretty much free most days after my usual day shift handling the weather in Ponyville. Just tell me a time and place and I'll be there." She replied with smug confidence.
"That's great, I'll let Twilight know, we'll probably aim to meet in 2 or 3 days depending on the others."
"Sure thing, I definitely wanna learn more about those cool stories you promised us."
"Twilight said something similar, I'm honestly a little surprised by how eager you two have been about that prospect. I wonder if the others will be the same." He pondered to himself despite speaking it outloud.
"You'll have to figure that out yourself. Oh yeah! I just remembered, Applejack came around yesterday asking if she could help me with my training like usual. I figured she'd be busy since it's applebucking season and I already had you helping out so I declined her offer. Strangest thing is, she practically stormed off before I could ask her if she wanted to train with us after the season was done."
"That does sound strange for Applejack. I'll be sure to ask her if she's alright later today. Maybe I can lend a hand at the farm too if it's a busy season for them." He figured it'd be best to head there after he dropped by Fluttershy's cottage.
"You do that then. Anyways, all this training has me hungry so it's about time I head home. See ya later Shirou!" She waved at him before blasting off into the sky. He could only wave back as she left before he could get another word in.
"No time like the present to ask the others then," he made his way to Fluttershy's cottage as it was the nearest destination.
Soon enough he found himself knocking at the door. He waited patiently for Fluttershy to answer, noting how peaceful the area seemed to always be. She sure knows how to keep this menagerie under control.
"Oh, good evening Shirou!" Fluttershy greeted him, noting that Celestia's sun was nearly done setting with Luna's moon taking its place in the sky. "Did you need something?"
"I just wanted to know if you're free in the next few days to meet up with Twilight and the others. We plan to have a little get together if possible."
"In that case I'll definitely have time after the bunny census is done. Most of my time has been taken up getting everything in order to dedicate the day to counting bunnies."
"Then how does 3 days from now sound? That way we can take as much time as needed in 2 days when the census happens."
"That sounds splendid, and thanks again for agreeing to help out."
"Like I said before, it's no problem and I enjoy helping others out." He thought about it for a second before asking, "you wouldn't happen to know if something is going on with Applejack would you?"
"Applejack?" Fluttershy pondered for a moment, "she did come around yesterday to ask if I needed help with the bunny census, but I told her I already had help. The way she responded did seem a touch charged which took me by surprise, but I was distracted by Angel causing a ruckus so I wasn't able to question her about it." She felt dismayed that she hadn't tried to see if Applejack was doing well.
"I did hear something similar from Rainbow Dash and it seems many of the residents she talked to yesterday felt the same way about her. I'll definitely make sure to check on her asap. I'll see you in a few days then, but don't be afraid to ask for help if you need any before then."
"Of course, thank you Shirou, see you then." They waved each other goodbye as Shirou made his way back to town.
Next stop Sweet Apple Acres, I wonder if they could use some help, been too busy to drop by recently. A shame considering how well they've treated us.
-{/}-
The stare Applejack was shooting Shirou was borderline angry. Which threw him for a loop. What had he done to irritate her to this degree? It'd only been a few days since they'd last seen each other and things were fine then. So what changed?
"Good evening Applejack," Shirou began diplomatically.
"Evening, Shirou," was her gruff response.
"I dropped by to ask if you were free in the next few days to hang out with us in a little get together." It was probably best to cut to the chase.
"While I appreciate the invitation, I ain't got time considering I still got plenty o' apples to buck."
"In that case I could help you out," he realized he had said the wrong thing as her mood darkened.
"I appreciate the gesture, but I am more than able to do all the applebucking needed for a full harvest, thank you very much. Now, I'm sure Twilight wouldn't want me to keep you out longer than needed so feel free to leave now." She shot him a final look before trudging back to the orchards in need of bucking.
He could only stand there in shock. What the hell did I do to piss her off?! I may be an idiot according to Rin, but even I know when to cut my losses. Maybe it's just been a long day for her, I'll try again tomorrow.
-{/}-
Try as he might, he could not get Applejack's standoffish conversation out of his mind. He even asked the others if they knew what was going on with her after asking if they would be free in the following days. Fortunately, both Pinkie and Rarity had some light to shed on the situation. Turns out that Big Mac had injured himself 2 days ago and hadn't been able to help with the harvest.
Why this had turned Applejack so hostile to him was still a mystery. Though they corroborate that she had indeed been in town yesterday offering help only for everyone to turn her down as he had already been helping them.
Could that be the reason she's upset? But why? How could me helping others out cause her to get so mad? Maybe Twilight has an idea of what's going on if I tell her what I know. Wasting no more time, he quickly arrived at the library and set to making dinner. Even in his rush he made sure to take the proper amount of time to ensure the quality of his dishes didn't drop.
Soon the table was set and all three residents sat in comfortable silence as they ate dinner. Twilight and Spike were busy savoring the meal while Shirou was thinking of how to broach the subject. Eventually everyone finished their meal and relaxed in their seats. Best to ask now I guess.
"Hey Twilight," he started gaining her attention, prompting him to continue, "you wouldn't happen to know what's going on with Applejack would you?"
"What are you talking about Shirou?" She looked at him puzzled.
"It's just that I talked to her today and she seemed quite cross with me for some reason I can't figure out. She was also seen disgruntled yesterday after asking around town if anyone could use a hand."
"A hand? Oh you mean hoof." She cleared her throat to get back on track, "That does sound like a strange series of events. Unfortunately we haven't known Applejack for all that long and so I can only guess as to why she's become upset. Maybe something in her life is causing her a bunch of distress. Kind of like when I had exams and wouldn't stop studying frantically right up till the final minute before the test." She blushed at remembering her college days.
"Hm, that might make a lot of sense since I also learned her brother got injured and it seems to just be her handling the harvest."
"What about the rest of her family? We saw she had plenty of relatives around just a few days ago." She shivered slightly at the memory of all those apple themed foods from back then.
"I didn't see any of them around, and I doubt she'd be this stressed out if they were still around. Her little sister and grandma probably can't help out either considering their ages. I did offer to help, but that just angered her instead."
"I'm sorry Shirou, but I don't understand what could've possibly caused her to react like that to your offer. Best we ask her tomorrow to clear things up."
"It'll have to be after my shift tomorrow since I agreed to help Pinkie Pie run Sugarcube corner the whole day."
"That's fine, I'll just meet you at the end of your shift and we can head from there straight to the farm."
"Sounds like a plan," Shirou nodded at Twilight to ascertain his agreement to her proposition. "For now its best we get some rest."
"You two have fun tomorrow with all that then, I'll make sure to take care of the library while you're gone." Spike added his two cents, figuring it'd be the perfect time to kick back and read some comics after the past few days of helping Twilight set things up here.
"Sure thing Spike," Twilight rolled her eyes at his comment in a good natured manner. It wouldn't hurt to let him stay here after all.
With their pieces said, all three bid each other goodnight and headed for bed. There was plenty to do on the following day and some proper rest would help clear their minds for whatever lay ahead.
-{/}-
"Wow! I'm absolutely astounded by you two!" Mrs. Cake exclaimed with glee.
"Ah shucks Mrs. Cake, we just did as you asked!" Pinkie Pie still ate up the praise all the same.
"Indeed, it was no problem to handle things for a day. Especially when you gave us all the instructions we needed to keep things going while you were away." Shirou was removing his cooking apron, having finished cleaning up the last of the dishes used for the day.
It had been a surprisingly busy day at Sugarcube Corner. The morning had started as normal, but as the day went on the number of ponies buying baked goods grew far more than usual. Fortunately Pinkie and Shirou were a skilled duo in the kitchen. To combat the increased demand, Shirou practically entered a trance where he became a baking machine. Pinkie quickly picked up on this and used her boundless energy to receive orders and put the finishing touches on all the goods. With this rhythm going strong they were able to overcome the influx of customers with ease.
"Still, I'd feel ashamed if you didn't take this extra payment as thanks for how well you two handled the store." Mr. Cake chimed in while offering each of them a small bag of extra bits and some sweets.
Reluctantly, Shirou accepted the added payment, knowing he had to meet with Twilight asap and couldn't spend time arguing about who deserved what. Pinkie was more than eager to accept the sweets on the other hand. Saying his farewells, Shirou walked into the small dining area and saw Twilight waiting patiently for him.
"How'd it go?" She asked curiously, having witnessed the end of day rush when she got here.
"Pretty well, definitely got me back in the groove of baking. I'll definitely make some baked treats for you and Spike later. Now we have business to attend to."
Nodding in response, Twilight got out of her seat and led the way to Sweet Apple Acres. They made haste as it was already late in the day. Soon they arrived at the scene of a concerned Applebloom and Big Mac staring at Applejack who looked worse for wear.
"Hiya Twilight! Hiya Shirou!" Applebloom waved at them as they approached. Big Mac just nodded in greeting before turning back to Applejack.
"Has she been like this the whole day?" Asked Twilight, seeing Applejack buck another tree with considerable effort.
"Eeyup," Big Mac responded grimly.
"Applejack only stopped for a quick meal in the afternoon after starting this morning," added Applebloom with concern. "I don't know what's gotten into her. Can you convince her to stop and rest?" She looked at the pair with worry in her eyes.
"We'll definitely get her back to her senses," Shirou tried reassuring Applebloom. The pair moved towards Applejack who was too busy to notice their approach.
"Applejack, we need to talk." Twilight opened the conversation.
"Huh? We need more chalk?" Asked an exhausted Applejack.
"No, we need to talk!" Reiterated Twilight.
"Talk? Talk about what?" She stopped her bucking to look at Twilight fully. Only to notice Shirou standing next to her. This caused her to scowl, her mood instantly souring.
"About this," Twilight gestured at her ragged form. "You're really starting to worry us. I didn't expect to come here and see you in such an exhausted state."
"That's none o' your concern Twilight, much less his either." She scoffed in Shirou's direction.
"Even if it wasn't my concern, it certainly is a concern your family has," Twilight continued. "I don't even understand why you're being so hostile to Shirou either. Look, how about we all head inside and continue this conversation in a more comfortable setting?"
"No can do Twilight, I still got plenty of apples to buck."
"You ain't in no condition to keep bucking," intervened Big Mac. He couldn't continue standing by as his little sister destroyed herself.
"Don't you start!" She growled out. "I am more than capable of bucking all these apples on my own! In fact if it weren't for you," she stared down at Shirou, "I'd also be helping everypony out in Ponyville. But no, apparently they don't need ol' Applejack's help. Not with it being applebuck season and my brother being too hurt to help."
"Then let us help," Twilight tried to defuse the growing tension. Unfortunately she still wasn't the best at this friendship stuff.
"Help?! HELP?!" Applejack shouted in fury, "I don't need help! What I need is to finish bucking these apple trees right now! Then I can prove to all those ponies in town that I am still as dependable as always! That way no one can doubt my capabilities!"
"But Applejack, no one is doubting you," Twilight tried to counter.
"You don't know that!" Applejack's outburst only stopped as she had to take deep breaths to recover. "You don't know why I can't stop!"
"Big sis please! You can't keep going like this!" Hearing Applebloom's pleas brought her rant to a brief halt. Applejack could only feel pain that she had caused her sister to suffer, but she couldn't stop here.
"I can't stop Applebloom, its just not possible." She turned away trying to return to her work.
"Why not?!" Applebloom insisted.
Applejack simply stood silent, unwilling to answer.
"Applejack, you are a dependable and capable pony, at least every pony I've spoken to about you has agreed on that." Shirou finally spoke up, he had started to piece together what may really be going on. "There hasn't been any pony who has doubted your ability to help out and still perform your duties."
There was a gap of silence as they waited for her response, none willing to speak until she did.
"How," she sounded far more subdued, "how could you be so sure? Especially when I can't even handle one lousy harvest while my brother recovers."
"Because it takes a long while for a whole community to agree wholeheartedly on who they can always rely on. Years of effort to help others while never falling behind on your own responsibilities." Shirou thought back to his own time as the brownie of Homuraha. Sure it wasn't to the same extent, but he was well known throughout the school for being willing to help anyone with nearly anything. "But it was never them who doubted you, was it?"
More silence, but this time it seemed Applejack was struggling to admit the true source of her recent behavior.
"N-no," she knew there was no point in dragging this out. I've already made such a mess of things, dammit, it was never supposed to get this bad. "I'm upset, so very upset, but it's not because of everypony else. And I'm sorry, I've been lashing out at you unfairly."
"I don't blame you for it," Shirou responded with a slight smile at making progress.
"Hah, you really are stubborn. I should've known only someone that stubborn would figure me out." At his continued prompting gaze she relented. "I'll admit what really has been bugging me, but I never wanted to say all this in front of Applebloom."
"Hey!" Was her sister's outcry.
"Sorry Applebloom," she took another breath, "it's just I never wanted you to see your big sister like this. Big Mac should know full well why."
The look Big Mac gave her screamed that she best stop stalling.
"I'm just so fed up by all this." She nearly collapsed on the floor as she sat down, her exhaustion finally catching up to her. She waved off their help, preferring to just sit there for now. "I've always done everything I could to be the dependable big sister for Applebloom. It's just that, without our folks around I felt that I had to make sure she could always rely on her big sis to be there for her. Big Mac and I did everything we could to give you the best foalhood possible, with plenty of help from Granny Smith."
"Then why'd you go and do all this?" Applebloom questioned, nuzzling up to her big sister, trying to comfort her.
Applejack stroked her mane tenderly, before answering her.
"I'm not all that sure, honestly. Maybe I'd just put up this strong front for so long that it was high time it broke." She hugged Applebloom close to her. "Seeing our big brother injured and unable to help in this crucial apple season I just felt so desperate, but I couldn't show it. Then to make matters worse I got it in my big ol' head that I just had to try harder to do all the work of two farm ponies. After all, I had helped take down Nightmare Moon just a few days ago, so some extra applebucking should be no problem for me. Or so I thought, but the more I bucked the worse it got. Seeing all those rows of Apple Orchards and knowing I had to buck all of them got to me. Yet, like always I was too stubborn to show any of it. No wonder all that frustration and fear started to boil over."
"How about your anger at me?" Shirou was curious to hear Applejack's reasoning, though he had a healthy suspicion why she'd done it.
"Heh, I'm just a petty ol' mare. After hearing that everypony else was relying on your help instead of mine, my already messed up noggin only came up with the worst thoughts. Made me believe you were somehow taking my place in Ponyville. It sounds so ridiculous now that I say it, but it was so easy to believe when I was already in a haze. I felt that even Big Mac was against me, and that you were no different by challenging my ability to do my job and help others like I always do. I really let my anger at this whole situation get the better of me and I'm deeply sorry for that. I should've known better, that you were all just trying to help me, but I was so caught up in my own frustrations I took it all as an attack instead."
"I'm just glad we were able to stop you before things got a lot worse," Twilight finally chimed back in.
"Yeah! I never wanna see you get this bad again!" Applebloom pouted in Applejack's embrace.
"Don't worry sis, I know better now. Plus I have friends like Shirou and Twilight to look out for me, not to mention you and Big Mac as well."
"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed, happy to see his sister knocked out of her funk.
"Now I'm not sure how I could ever make this up to y'all, but I'm sure we'd love to have y'all over for dinner at least."
"Yeah!" Applebloom looked at Twilight and Shirou.
"Eeyup!" Big Mac felt the same as his sisters.
"We'd love to join you for dinner, but I'll have to run to get Spike real quick since he stayed behind," Twilight responded.
"That's plenty fine, it'll give us time to get the table set up for guests." Applejack stated as she let go of Applebloom. "Now you two go on and tell Granny Smith we've got guests for dinner tonight."
Big Mac and Applebloom shared a smile knowing that things were finally back to normal and did as they were told. Seeing them leave, Applejack tried to stand up to follow them, only to collapse again.
"Oof," she groaned in mild pain. Her body had become overworked and she'd done little to let it recover, figures it'd come back to bite me now.
"Here, let me help." Before she could protest, Shirou grabbed a hold of her with both his arms, carrying her like a large dog laid across his arms.
"H-hey now! This is mighty embarrassing!" Applejack let out an outburst in shame, "Just put me down now, I'm feeling well enough! If I need any help I'll just need ta lean on ya a bit, but ya don't gotta carry me!"
"It's fine, plus it's faster this way, I wouldn't want you to cause yourself any unnecessary stress from moving around in your current state." Ignoring her further embarrassed rambling, Shirou carried her back to the farmhouse. Twilight couldn't help but laugh at the scene in front of her, before finally leaving to get Spike.
Eventually everyone was gathered at the table soon enough. Sharing good food and good company. Twilight felt grateful to take part in such a nice family dinner, even if she felt a tad forlorn that it'd been too long since she'd had one with her own family. I need to send them all an update of my life and see if we can meet soon. I'm sure they'll want to meet Shirou, even if Shining's reaction might be concerning. Problems for another day.
-{/}-
The following day saw Shirou helping Fluttershy with the Bunny Census as he had promised. Which turned out to be crucial with the sheer number of the fluffy little critters. As for Applejack, she was practically forced to rest for the whole day. They even called in Nurse Redheart to convince her that she wasn't allowed to do any bucking that day so she could properly recover after her brief stint.
Being forced to bedrest meant the Apple Orchard would be left unblocked, but that issue was quickly resolved. After the events of the previous night, Applejack was more than willing to accept the help of her friends. Considering Twilight's magical aptitude, it was a surprisingly quick affair to finish bucking the remaining apple orchards.
"Should've figured you'd make quick work of it," was all Applejack could say as she marveled at all the apples Twilight had gathered in a single spell.
"I always wanted to try that, just never thought I'd get a chance to do so." Twilight beamed with pride that her spell had worked so flawlessly. "And it was even nicer that I got to use it to help a friend in need."
"Aye, you really did my family and I a grand ol' favor Twilight. We won't forget this, so never hesitate to ask for our help if you ever need it."
"It's fine, I just wanted to help my friend out," Twilight added though her growing blush betrayed how unaccustomed she was to such being so honestly praised by a friend. "That's what friends are for, o-or so I've read."
"You're right on that account," added Shirou, amused by Twilight's reactions, which wasn't helped when she pouted at him. Does she know that it only makes her look cuter when she pouts?
"Hmph," Twilight turned away from Shirou to face the others in the group who had also come to help out. "Seeing that we've finished early, how about we all have dinner together?"
Sure they had originally planned to meet tomorrow, but as the saying goes: 'no time like the present'.
"I don't see why not darling, I wouldn't be here if I didn't have my afternoon free." Rarity was the first to agree.
"Same here, got nothing else going on so I say we should hang out!" Rainbow Dash chipped in.
"I already fed all my critters and they know how to take care of themselves." Fluttershy was just glad to see Applejack was doing better than last she saw her.
"Oh! How about we have a sleepover!" Added Pinkie Pie in her excitement.
"Maybe another day Pinkie," Applejack interrupted her, "I'm sure we can all clear time for a proper sleepover soon. But for now some grub with friends sounds plenty good."
"Can we at least hear one of Shirou's stories!" Spike had been wondering for a while now what kind of tales Shirou had from his own world. Maybe they had heroes like the ones in my comics, now that would be so cool!
"I did make a promise and I know a story that would be the perfect length for this get together." He figured he could start by recounting a tale close and dear to his heart. We can talk about the other Knights another day, but she was the one who brought them all together.
"Perfect! Then let's get some food and hear Shirou's tales from his world!" Twilight exclaimed as the rest cheered in agreement. It filled her with such pure joy to know that all these ponies considered her a friend. I still have so much to learn, but as long as I have all of them by my side I'm sure it'll be a wonderful journey.