Hey all, if you finish the chapter, please read my authors note, it's very long but it will help explain what has been going on in these 7 months. And it's a bit interesting. Enjoy the story.

Chapter 21: Of Apples and Family

Edited by AnonJ31

Equestria, Ponyville

In Poyville, a few miles away, an orchard is seen from a distance with the land filled with apple trees.

Applejack is walking towards the kitchen in the house to prepare some dinner for her family, some of the left over apple pie would be nice for desert since everyone was full at lunch. The earth pony ponders on what to make, nothing too big or too little...then she smiles with an idea, some spaghetti and tomato sauce with vegetables "that would be nice, haven't had that for ah long time" she said to herself.

Applejack looks out of the window seeing Luna's moon in the sky, she wipes her forehead "gosh, ah guess ah over worked again...better not tell em'" she gulps and prepares a pan with boiling water "now where's that spice?"

A giggle is heard and a light sound of hooves trots into the kitchen, Applebloom appears and smiles at her big sister "hiya Applejack, whatcha' makin'?" the filly asks while seeing the spaghetti packs in Applejack's mouth "oooh~ Spaghetti! Yummy!"

The mare puts down the packet and smiles at Applebloom "sure are sugercube, ain't had it for awhile so why not? Y'all wanna help set the table up?" she asks.

"Sure thing big sis!" said Applebloom, trotting over for the cover and plates "oh, big brother is gonna go out if you need somethin'"

Applejack thinks for a moment about it "hmm...not that ah can think of? If there is somethin' than ah'll remember when Big Mac comes on down here."

Big Mac appears around the doorway with Granny Smith and smiles at his sister "Hope yer know what because ah'm goin' out now."

The orange mare jumps when her older brother appears and glares "d-don't sneak up on me! Gosh..." she sighs but stares softly "well...ah don't think there's anythin' we need."

Granny Smith slowly and shakily walks into the kitchen as watches the spaghetti boil "how 'bout we invite a friend over? Moe!"

Applejack, Big Mac and Applebloom stare at each other in confusion, wondering who she was talking about "Granny? Who's Moe?" Applebloom asks.

"The pony Moe who fell into a pie!" Granny Smith replies, smiling.

Big Mac rolls his eyes, having an amused expression "yer mean Joe who fell from the sky?"

The old pony blinks and stares at her grandstallion like he asked a dumb question "that's what ah said."

Applebloom giggles at the conversation "but why Granny Smith?"

"Well little Applebloom, yer like hanging around him because he's like another brother or papa, Big Mac likes another guy to hang out with and is a good friend" says Granny Smith, slowly pans to Applejack "and yer sister really likes him a lot!"

The mare's eyes widen and blushes "w-what? W-why y'all sayin' it like that?"

Applebloom gasps softly but smiles widely and dances around her big sister "big sis got a crush~"

Applejack slowly lowers her hat in hopes of hiding her embarrassment, but she is thinking about inviting him over is a nice idea. Rewarding his hard work and spending some time with the Apple family "actually, let's invite Joe...that would be nice ah think, don't y'all agree?"

Big Mac smiles "eeyup."

The little filly claps her hooves together "yay! We can play together!"

Granny Smith stirs the spaghetti "Applejack should go collect Moe, more polite, she can buy anythin' we need."

Applejack smiles and kisses her grandmother's cheek "great idea granny Smith, ya fine cooking?"

The old mare chuckles with a wink "ah may be old but ah can still cook for an entire Apple family now like 50 years ago!" she smiles and hugs Applejack "don't talk to strangers now."

"Ah know, ah know. Thanks, see you two in a few minutes" said the earth pony and walks out of the house to Ponyville.

As she walks down the path towards Ponyville, Applejack takes some time to admire the night and think back 'well...ah never really spent much time just lookin' around at night, the stars are nice tonight as well as the good ol' moon. Actually, it's pretty warm out here, ain't no wind or chilly temperature so we may not need a coat.'

She notices some ponies still up but either at a small restaurant, seeing couples having a romantic dinner, some faces like Bonbon and Lyra are sitting together whilst the others looked like tourists from Manehatten. 'They sure are havin' a nice time...me and...whoa Nelly! Hold on there girl, d-don't think about that. Just ask Joe if he wants to join us all for dinner and spent the night...spend the night...when did ah think of that!?

The earth pony sees Pinkie Pie hopping around, the sound of springs as she lands. Never in her lifetime will Applejack figure how or why that happens but likes it makes her friend who she is, Pinkie Pie "howdy there Pinkie Pie. What yer doing out here?"

Pinkie Pie suddenly appears behind the farm pony and grins "HIYA APPLEJACK! HOW'RE YOU?!I'MGOINGTOAPARTYANDASWONDERINGIFYOUGUYSWANTEDTOCOMEWITHMEANDHAVELOTSANDLOTSANDLOTSOF-"

Applejack gently puts her hoof in Pinkie Pie's mouth which muffles her speech "whoa there sugercube, calm down. What party?" she asks, slowly pulling her hoof out.

Pinkie Pie giggles loudly and bounces "Oh! Oh! A party at Star Dust's! She turned 20! Wanna come? I invited Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Shadow Breeze and I'm gonna find Twilight, Joe, Spike and you! What do you say?!"

"Thank ya kindly sugercube but I was thinking of inviting Joe to have dinner with us at the orchard..."

Pinkie Pie gasps loudly "oh my gosh! You're having a date! WOW! I have another rival!" she grins and giggles.

Applejack's eyes widen and stomps her hoof "wait one minute! I-I...date!? Ah am just...I-inviting him over with mah family! And rival? You too!?"

The energetic pony hugs her friend "yeah, but we all gotta have our own fun so, a one off! Have fun!~" she sings and hops away.

Applejack's mane seems to be messy from the stress and sighs loudly "yeah...ah will never figure her out."

Eventually the earth pony manages to arrive at Twilight's library and gently knocks on the door, a minute later Spike opens the door and smiles "hey Applejack, nice to meet you! Come in!" Spike moves out the way for the earth pony.

"Why thank ya sugercube, y'all a real gentledragon" she rubs his head playfully which makes him laugh.

Twilight Sparkle looks away from her book and smiles brightly "Applejack! Welcome! How're you?"

"Ah'm alright sugercube, thanks for askin'. And how're y'all doin'?" said Applejack.

The unicorn smiles "well we just finished researching some stars that blink and we come up with a solution! Let me explain in detail-"

Applejack chuckles nervously and pats Twilight's back gently "thanks but maybe next time Twilight, is Joe here?"

Twilight nods "yup, he's just upstairs...trying to figure out how to repair a board on the floor that he made when accidentally elbowed the wall. I offered to fix it myself with magic but he insists to fix it himself."

"And how's that goin'?" Applejack asks, raising her brows curiously.

"OW!" a loud yell is heard from upstairs, obviously in pain.

Twilight groans loudly "Joe! Enough! The more you do that the more you're gonna hurt yourself. And if you 'But Twlight' me again...you can help Spike cleaning the mayor's house. She's always looking for volunteer cleaners."

Joe quickly appears next to her with Spike and they shout "WHAT!?"

"But mom! What did I do!?" Spike shouts.

Twilight giggles and winks "what? Just joking~"

Applejack tries to hold her snigger but soon bursts out laughing loudly with Twilight, nearly rolling on the floor with tears in their eyes, seeing the shock in the boys' faces.
Joseph and Spike cover their faces to hide their extreme embarrassment "Joe...we just got made by girls."

Applejack manages (the hardest possible way) to stop laughing and smiles, sniggers a bit "a-ah just wanted to ask ya Joe, me and the folks at home wanna invite ya to have dinner at ours and stay the night?" she says 'there ah go again, when did I decide on that?'

Joe thinks about it and smiles "thank you Applejack, that's really nice. Love to spend time with you all, I'm ready to go I guess!"

Applejack looks at Twilight to which she nods in approval and then smiles at Joe "let's get goin' then."

Joseph gets the cowboy hat and smiles at Applejack, she chuckles "nice, you look the part. See you tomorrow guys and Pinkie Pie is comin' round to see if y'all want to go to a party."

Twilight waves "thank you Applejack, have a good time and see you both tomorrow!"

The human and mare wave back and slowly starts walking to the orchard, even after a few minutes and Applejack notices the town square having less ponies, calling an early night "guess they all are having a nice meal inside or going out..." she said, making small talk.

Joe nods "maybe having an early night because I heard in Manehatten a music concert is going to be played there. Heard some ponies chatting about it."

"Ya don't wanna go and see? Manehatten and a music concert? Plenty of money to do that" Applejack replies.

"True but I'm happy in Ponyville with my friends."

Applejack smiles at him "that's nice...but enjoy yourself from time to time, and we're all gonna make sure you are today. Like it or not sugercube" she chuckles softly "looks like we're nearly there, you like spaghetti with tomato sauce and vegetables? That's our main meal for dinner and some left over apple pie to warm up-...uh...y'all okay Joe? You're drooling when I said apple pie?"

The human quickly wipes his mouth with a handkerchief "n-no...just...nothing."

The mare blinks looking confused 'ah guess he really loves apple pie...heh...well well...I' she thought, smirking slightly "ah'll make sure you get an extra slice Joe, since you like them"

Joseph blushes as he got caught but whispered something else she didn't catch, they enter the house to immediately see Applebloom jumping on the humans chest and falling down. This caused a gasp from Joe as the little filly giggles "howdy Joe! Welcome!"

Applejack chuckles loudly seeing her little sister knocking her friend over and Joe simply stroking the filly's mane with a concerned look, asking does she do it often to others. Big Mac slowly comes over and helps the human up "had a safe trip?"

Joe rolls his eyes "oh ha ha..." he said amused yet annoyed at the joke.

Big Mac chuckles softly "come on over to the table, let's chat awhile."

Joseph blinks, expression turns into a surprised look "this...is the first time we may have a proper long conversation."

Applejack smiles and decides to see how granny Smith is doing with the cooking, she trots inside the kitchen and sees granny Smith snoring loudly "Zzzz...leave mah rock alone...Zzz...yer name is K-HUH!?" her opens shoot open and jumps mid air and lands on the floor, looking around eyes widen "RUN! The ursa's takin' the rocks for dinner!"

"Whoa, whoa! Hold on there granny Smith!" Applejack gently holds her reassuringly "ain't no ursa gonna take yer...uh...rocks for dinner...promise."

Granny Smith quickly smiles at her granddaughter "welcome back! Now let's try out that spaghetti! Have a try!" she said as they both take some spaghetti strings and chews on them.

The farm pony nods "cooked just right! Thanks granny Smith, and the sauce with vegetables?"

"In the oven, ready for servin'" the old mare said with a smile.

Applejack starts getting the bowls to put the food in "ah'll just get these in and bring em' out, ya can sit down if ya like granny Smith."

Granny Smith slowly walks out and greets Joe, saying that the food will be out in a minute. They all take seats and just talk about general things, how life is going, any plans, news, learning human culture. Started to talk about about something new that peaked the Apple family's interest "yeah, that's what Red vs Blue is...I'm missed a lot of episodes and...won't be able to see season 11 but I'm still happy here."

Applebloom asks the human a question "why would a Rooster with teeth create such a strange thing?"

Joe chuckles and gently strokes her head "oh no, RoosterTeeth, they're a company and group of people who made it, I think Gavin is a smart-"

"Nnnope" Big Mac says before Joe finished.

The boy blinks, looking confused "but you don't know what I was going to say, Gavin is intell-"

"Nnnope" Big Mac replies yet again with a blank stare, earning a minute of silence from Joe with bewilderment on his face.

"Alright everypony! Spaghetti n' sauce with vegetables is served!" Applejack bursts out loud, placing the bowls of spaghetti and sauce filled with vegetables.

Nearly everypony stared and drooled, licking their lips as Joe offered to serve them for everyone until Applebloom objected and told him off because the guest shouldn't serve. She has to serve him, causing her family members to laugh.
Soon, after having some spaghetti and sauce on their plate, they were soon eating, the filly made a conversation "mmm...big sis, granny, this is real nice. You two are the best cooks in all Ponyville!"

Applejack smiles "thanks little sis, sorry if it's simple y'all, but it's a little different from what we normally have. Hope ya like it, Joe."

The human smiles as he eats, speaking with his mouth full "tbanks Aprrlejark."

Big Mac grins "talkin' with yer mouth full? That's rude y'know?"

Joe's eyes widen in shock, knowing its true and swallows "sorry!"

The orange mare laughs "guess Twilight's been getting a little off when it comes to eat at the table, oh boy howdy...gotta talk to her bout that. And..." she blushes faintly and whispers "thanks for the compliment."

But she realises Big Mac strikes up a conversation with her human friend "if we can get 20 barrels of Apples down to the train in bout an hour. Could get extra profit."

Joseph nods at him "yes, by getting there early, 5 hours before work in Manehattan...like Manhattan...profits can raise from 20% to 31% adding an extra 2341 bits, not much but better than 17% last week."

Applejack frowns slight and stares at them with one eye "don't y'all use some fancy mathematics on the table, talk somethin' like what's on my mind!"

Applebloom smiles and raises her hoof in the air "oh! Oh! You're thinking about Joe?"

"Well done Applebloom, show em' how it's-wait...ah beg yer pardon?"

Big Mac smiles, laughing loudly at the situation Applebloom has made for Applejack, the pure shock and Joe's blush is worth the entire thing. The human blushes while staring at Applejack "uh...l-let's finish up on our food!" the earth pony suggests, hoping it would drop the subject, which it did. For now.

They soon finish their dinner, Applejack, Applebloom and Granny Smith clear the table as Joe and Big mac offer to help but they all say let them do the work and be ready for some activities before going to bed. The human and stallion sit quietly, not knowing what to say until big Mac spoke "so...y'all thought about my sister Applejack? Ah saw yer face when she coincidently confirmed Applebloom's guess."

Joe gasps "w-what?"

"Joe, ya remember our conversation we had a awhile back? Ah told ya that the girls and Applejack admired ya ah lot. And ya were startin' to realise it wasn't just friendship but love. Now you're thinking about it as they are, ah'll say this. Ah'm takin' a likin' to Cheerilee as much as ah keep it secret, ah'm tellin' y'all because you get along well with mah family. And you're a trusted member. If you do choose Applejack...ah ask and demand you take care of her, or else ah'll be mad." said Big Mac, staring intensely.

Joseph could believe it, Big Mac made a long conversation, this was rarely heard of. The determination and love for his family is ever strong, shown through his words and eyes. The human felt honoured and bonded (with some fear of his threat) with Big Mac, even going far to admit his admiration for Cheerilee, this is something nobody saw coming.
The human slowly nods at the stallion "I...understand Big Mac, thank you for being honest and...my friend."

Applebloom suddenly jumps into Joe's lap, causing him to scream in surprise which causes the little filly to giggle "wow...yer scream sounds like a princess in need of savin'!"

Joseph rubs his face from embarrassment "thank you...Applebloom."

Applejack alongside granny Smith walks in, smiling in amusement "everypony, how bout' we all play a game? Hide and seek! Applebloom's favourite!"

"YES! Hide n' Seek! Oh please Joe and Big bro, please play!" the filly begs, making large puppy eyes to win them over, adding a killing blow by blinking and quivering her lower lip.

Big Macintosh and Joe gasps softly and try and keep it together "a-alright, we're joining" they both said.

Applebloom giggles and snuggles into Joseph's lap and jumps off, running away somewhere "Applejack is it! Hide!"

Granny Smith smiles and slowly walks off with big Mac following suite, Applejack rolls her eyes "ah didn't argree to be it, aw well...ya better hide Joe cause ah'll soon find ya" she grins at him "ah'm pretty good at the game."

Joe smiles nervously at her grin, making a mental note to hide well "alright Applejack...um...about what Applebloom said-"

Applejack closes her eyes with a blush "c-can't hear ya! One! Two! Three! F-Four!-"

Joseph decides to leave the conversation for now and runs off, not knowing the place well so he doesn't want to intrude in their rooms if possible.
Applebloom is settled in her hiding spot with a quiet giggle, now waiting for her big sister. Big Mac, granny Smith and Joe have found their places and are ready when Applejack calls out for 10.

"EIGHT, NINE...TEN! Y'all ready or not, here ah come to find ya!" shouted Applejack and looks around the room for anything out of place and did she find something out place. Her face drops as she walks over, seeing the coat of granny Smith sitting on the floor with a lamp shade on top of her head.

"Uh...granny? What're yer doin'?" she asks curiously.

Granny Smith chuckles "ah'm hiding!"

"But ah found yer granny."

The old mare takes off the lamp shade and smiles "wow...how did ya find me so fast?"

Applejack chuckles and hugs her "lucky guess. C'mon, let's find the others you check in that closet full of boxes and ah'll look in Applebloom's room."

"Sure thing sweetie, ah'll find your big brother like ah to get him in a bath full of rubble!"

"Bubbles, granny" Applejack corrected as she trots upstairs into Applebloom's room.

Applebloom hear her door slowly open and close, she suppresses her giggles and sees her big sister's hooves walking slowly towards her as Applejack speaks out loud "Oh gosh...ah wonder where mah little sister could be?~"

The mare hears soft and quiet giggles coming from underneath the bed, Applebloom, covers her mouth and hopes her big sister never heard it. If only her hopes were blessed as Applejack grins, slowly going closer towards the bed and taps her hoof "hmmm...ah wonder...if my lil' sis is under this bed?"

Applebloom gasps loudly and rushes off towards the door "GOTTA GO!"

Applejack laughs while swiftly picks the little filly up with one foreleg and blows raspberries on her tummy "AHAHAHA! NO! STOP! PLEASE!~" she yells, laughing uncontrollably and flailing her hooves around.

The orange mare stops to smile "got ya~" she hugs her sister lovingly to which Applebloom gives back "let's find Joe together!"

"Sure thing sis!" said Applebloom.

Downstairs, both of them hear Granny Smith shouting up to them "Ah found Big Mac hidin' in the kitchen wanting some spare pie!" she makes a crackle laugh.

"Thanks granny! We're gonna find Joe and then we'll relax outside for a bit" Applejack replies as she eyes at her bedroom door slightly open.

Applebloom trots over, slightly pushing the door in order for them to see better "did he go in your room Applejack?

Both of them walk in, looking around but nothing seeing much, nothing moved or looked out of place, Applebloom even looked under the bed but Joe wasn't there. Applejack went to look in her cupboard then some other places but found nothing but her own things "huh...guess he thought about it and just left mah door a lil' open?"

Little did they know, Joseph Brooklyn is holding himself on the ceiling, looking down at his friends trying to search for him. The human gulps, he actually did hide under the bed before hearing thats where Applebloom hidden before so he had to quickly chose a not so obvious spot. As he learnt Chaj training, Joe's thoughts about tactics came to mind, in New York City, people or in big cities, don't usually look up.
And it was proving well due to the ponies not noticing him above them, the human thought to work on this tactic for Chardonnay and explain it to him. But as Applejack and Applebloom are about to leave, sweat forms on his face. Eyes widen, he panics 'No! D-Don't drop! Don't drop!' he begs in thought.

Sadly, it isn't going his way...the sweat drops from his face and falls down to Applejack who was about to walk out until she felt something gently drop on her flank. The earth pony gasps with a sudden stop, turning around "what in tarnation?"

Applebloom looks up to her big sister looking confused "huh? What's wrong?"

Applejack realises where it must of come from and slowly looks up, wondering if it was water until her gasps turn loud and eyes widen, she sees Joe holding himself on the ceiling "WHAT THE-...Joe!?"

Joseph smiles sheepishly "um...hello" he says meekly.

The little filly makes the same reaction but laughs at the sight she sees before her "Wow! How did you do that Joe?"

"Joe! Get down here! Ah'll catch ya!" said Applejack as she smirks.

Joe gulps and shakes his head nervously "not thank you, I'll stay up here for the rest of my life."

The mare goes to her warddrobe and pulls out a rope "your choice sugercube, come down or ah'll make ya come down."

"O-okay!" the human yelps, gently drops down and lands next to Applebloom.

Applebloom giggles and hugs his leg "found ya~"

Joseph smiles, picking her up in his arms so he can rock her gently "yes...you have."

Applejack was going to tie the human up (in all fun and games) but immediately stopped when seeing her friend rocking Applebloom to relax her like a baby. She heard from Pinkie Pie and Twilight that he actually was good at caring for younger kids when it came to Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake. But seeing this moment for herself, how could she not smile warmly at the scene? Remembering when she was little, her mother and father use to do this for her, even granny smith did. Applejack still does this from time to time for Applebloom, acting like a 2nd mother she barely knows about, seeing Joe acting like a 2nd big brother...even a father figure. The orange mare's feelings are starting to grow stronger than before, but it isn't time to confess just yet.
"Ah...hate to brake it up...but you two wanna join us outside an' relax as we stare at the stars?" Applejack says softly.

Joe smiles, nodding "sure thing, want me to keep holding you like this Applebloom?"

Applebloom blushes and hugs his arm "yeah..."

They all walk downstairs together, staying quiet because they just did not know what to say in the situation. Applejack quietly went to the kitchen and watches Joe slowly walk out the front door holding her little sister, she sighs "gosh...ah haven't seen her happy since...ah first cradled her in mah own arms...I gotta tell him" she says to herself while preparing some apple juice bottles for them all and places them on a cart then pushes to outside.

When she is outside, Joe with Applebloom still in his arms, Granny Smith and Big Mac were laying on the grass talking to each other with a few laughs "apple juice everypony!" Applejack alls out and give them a bottle each and drinks together.

After a few bottles of apple juice and talking about things going on around Equestria, most of them were starting to feel a little tired from today and thought it would be a good idea to sleep early and have another day off tomorrow.
They all walk back inside together, Big Mac says good night to them all and hugs them, giving Joe a bro hoof before he leaves for his room. Granny Smith mentioned something about to sleep tight and don't let the bed slugs bite but Applejack corrected it for bugs, glad to see some things don't change. As Applejack goes to help Granny Smith to bed, Joe decides to help out and carry Applebloom to her own bedroom. The human slowly walks up the stairs and quietly enters the filly's room, walking towards the bed, Joe puts Applebloom down softly, he tucks her in "there you go...all warm and cosy?"

Applebloom giggles at him and she touches his hand with her hoof "Joe...are you gonna leave Equestria? To see your daddy?"

Joseph Brooklyn winced, feeling pain to hear that question. Even though the human made up his mind to stay in Equestria, he always did think about his father and knowing when Joe said his father would understand, it wasn't true. Nearly every father would be absolutely concerned for their child when they're missing "No...I won't" he says, gently holding her hoof.

"My home is here now, Equestria...I have friends and...family that was never truly with me...if I could wish for my father to be here with me I would. But for now, I still stick with my choice" said Joe, gently kissing the filly's forehead.

Applebloom yawns cutely "o-okay Joe...night...daddy..." she whispers, feeling her eyes slowly close, falling into a deep sleep.

The human boy eyes widen slowly and lets go off her hoof then turns the light off "n-n-night Applebloom, sleep well..."

As he quietly shuts the door and breathes out, Applejack appears next to him "hey sugercube."

Joe gasps, jumping slighty at her sudden appearance "A-Applejack!"

Applejack sniggers softly and pats his leg "oh Joe! Y'all crack me up sometimes!...Ah heard the conversation...let's walk to your room."

Finally, this is the best opportunity to talk with Joe alone without interruptions, so she decided to start the conversation "so...hidin' in my room sugercube?" she grins.

Joseph rolls his eyes and blushes faintly "I-I know...I shouldn't of done it but I was running out of time and had no other option."

Applejack chuckles "so...what did ya think of my room?"

The human took some thought for what he will say to his friend "Uh...not what I expected to be frank."

The mare raised her eyebrow "What did ya expect?"

Joe rubs his neck "well...to be more girlish."

Applejack laughs softly, gently nudging the boy "Girlish? Ah ain't no Rarity sugercube, ah like things simple but ah do have some 'girlish' stuff that y'all ain't findin'"

"Like the make-up box from the Carousel Boutique?"

The earth pony gasps with a blush, he found out she DOES like the stuff from time to time "w-w-where did ya find that!?" she stutters.

Joseph Brooklyn gulps but inside, he feels a sense of playfulness "oh! There's my room! N-Night night! Sleep ti-GOTTA GO!" he shouts, running off to his room.

Applejack chases after him down the corridor, they both turn left for a spare bedroom that was never used for much but storage. When the mare explained to her family Joe was spending the night with them all, she emptied the room and made a new bed.
As Joe dashes inside, little did he know, Applejack pounces on her friend and holds him. The human stumples, he can't maintain his balance which makes both land on his bed. The human and mare are in a slight daze but quickly getting their thoughts back together, realising what just happened.

"Gosh...sorry Joe, a-ah didn't mean for this to happen" said Applejack, feeling embarrassed at what she just done.

"N-No, it's okay! Really...I shouldn't of teased you like that...just...thought it would've been fun" Joe replies, feeling like a fool.

The orange pony slowly smiles, gently touching his nose with her hoof "Well, it was fun, actually, the whole day was just fun sugercube. Ah didn't think just hangin' around or playing hide n' seek would be a lot of fun...but...ah'm wrong" she smiles, feeling her heart beat a little faster.

"Havin' y'all around with us, ah think it really made us all happy to have some more company than usual...yer like...a family to us all when workin'...eating with us and...Applebloom really looks up to you ever since you made that speech. And as y'all heard...t-thinks...you like a dad sometimes" she blushes faintly, wondering what Joe's response will be.

Joseph Brooklyn's face turns red but looks at Applejack in awe "you...really...think of me like as a member of your family? Oh Applejack..." he brings her into a hug.

Applejack feels her face getting warm but suddenly, she feels something wet on her face. The mare looks up to see some tears falling down Joe's face, Applejack smiles and hugs his head to her chest "It's alright Joe, ah know what it's like...ah lost my mom and dad a long time ago...but ah'm glad that the family, friends and...you...are part of my life. And Ah'm part of of y'all as well."

Applejack uses her hoof to touch Joe's face and gently bring his view to hers, making them both stare into each other's eyes. Thinking about the time they spent together and interactions, and the most memorable moment when Spike teased Joe what he wanted to say to Applejack but ran away like a speeding bullet. Ever since then, Applejack was always interested in Joe through words and actions...sometimes just to tease him along with the girls, and remembers speaking to Rainbow Dash about this. Both confessing their love for Joe and now...here it is, the moment Applejack had been waiting for, she slowly moves closer to Joe and gently gives a kiss on the lips.
The human boy's eyes widen in shock at the sudden kiss on his lips, but soon as her lips touched his, they parted. It felt warm and a hint of apple flavour, ironically.

"A-Applejack..." Joe says softly.

Applejack smiles shyly and slowly jumps off the bed "a-ah'll see ya in the mornin' sugercube...n-night" she waves with a smile, gently closing the door.

Joseph is deep red, now staring at the ceiling, thinking even more about what just happened and everypony else, they all love him and he had to take it all for when he must eventually come up with an answer to all of it. No pressure.

Applejack leans on the wall and goes deep red 'oh my gosh! Did ah just...kiss his lips!? They were soft and warm...whoa nelly! Keep it together girl!...now ya made yer friend hate ya, why did ah do that!? Ah just wanted to say how ah was feelin' now...ah feel selfish to the girls and Joe...' she thinks to herself while slowly walking towards her room.

'In the mornin' ah'll apologise to Joe...h-he'll understand' with that being said, she lays on her bed, feeling tired from today both mind and body as her eyes slowly droop. Following soft snores.

---

The next morning

The apples are downstairs in the living room relaxing for the day. Big Mac is reading a newspaper on what has been happening around Equestria and sees an article about Cheerilee being voted for best teacher of the month, he smiles with a chuckle.
Applebloom is on the floor drawing on some paper, planning the next stages on getting her cutie mark with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.
Granny Smith is snoring away in her sleep, making some murmurs about some armoured being saving her which Big Mac rolls his eyes, one of those dreams again.
Applejack was making some breakfast, nothing much, just simple apple flavoured porridge for everypony "right...gotta apologise to Joe when he gets down."

"Apologise? For what Applejack?" says a familiar voice that startles Applejack.

The earth pony sighs and sees Joe "Ah said don't do that sugercube! And...f-f-for...last night" she lowers her head in shame "ah'm sorry..p-please forgive me-"

Joseph gently puts a hand on her hat and playfully nudges it down "Applejack, it's okay."

Applejack raises her head up "h-huh?"

"I don't hate you for it, I would never hate you...you confessed to me and it's my fault for not telling you anything but...I-I can't because I need a bit more time to think about this all" Joe said, looking at his friend.

Applejack knew what he meant, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and herself...it wasn't easy for him and must have been in pressure "Joseph Brooklyn, whoever you choose, we'll always and ALWAYS be friends forever" she hugs him, making Joe unable to breath.

"ughk! Air...Applejack..." the human gasps.

Applejack chuckles and let's go "sorry, want breakfast?"

"No thank you, I think I'll...go out somewhere...just for a walk outside of Ponyville. Will tell Twilight of course!"

Applebloom walks in with quivering lips "leaving already?"

Joseph picks her up and hugs her "It's okay, just for a little bit, when I come back, me and Spike will come play with the Cutie Mark Crusaders! How about that?" he smiles.

Applebloom giggles "Yeah! That's sounds nice!"

Joe smiles and walks with Applejack towards the front door , Big Macintosh and granny Smith get up and walk with him to the entrance. The human gently puts Applebloom on Big Mac's back and smiles at them all "thank you for inviting me to stay, I really enjoyed my time here with you all!"

Big Mac nods "Eeeyup, come back any time, see you at work tomorrow."

Granny Smith smiles "bye bye sonny, watch out for birds."

"...huh?" Joe blinks, looking confused.

Applejack chuckles nervously "it's okay...just...keep an eye out right?" she says with another big hug before Joe leaves.

Applebloom waves at him "Bye! See you later on!"

Joseph walks out slowly and waves back to them, smiling widely "see you all soon!" he shouts.

The apples all watch Joe walk away down the path towards the square and smile, like a painting worth doing. Until suddenly a loud noise of tweets and chirps are heard, then a massive amount of birds fly towards Joe "Whoa!" the human shouts surprised.

As the birds fly by, Joe is laying on the floor in shock, not getting hurt or scratched but is quite surprised, he hears Granny Smith chuckle "Ah said watch out for birds sonny."

"I WASN'T EXPECTING THAT!" Joe shouts before sighing into the ground and hearing laughter across the path, he can't help but join in.

---

Earth, New York City

Gregory Brooklyn is sitting in his arm chair, thinking hard and deep about his son...it's been a week and the police could not find him. They could do nothing but give up the search and keep on alert in case they see him or get information elsewhere. This made Greg furious...absolutely furious at Cindy and his daughter...but mostly himself...if only he stayed with Joe or took him with him...this would of never happened. And he would never ever forgive himself for has happened...his son is gone.
"Joseph...my son...I'm sorry...I...had to support you and...I could of taken you with me but...I-I thought...you would never see me much and kept moving...you would hate me...but look...you were here and your mother and sister was doing so much bad, the school bullies. I'm sorry..." he said to himself, wiping tears away from his face.

Cindy staggered slowly into the living room holding a glass of wine and sits next to him "hey honey...who...are you...talking to?..."

Greg didn't make any expression or a word towards her, instead, he slowly got out a piece of paper and a pen for her "sign here" he said lowly, pointing towards the area in which he wants Cindy to sign her name.

Cindy hics, slowly grabbing the pen and putting down her glass on the table, she slowly signs her name, it was crude and a bit messed up due to her being drunk. But it was good enough for Greg, and when she finished signing, she looks up to him "what's...this for?"

Gregory takes the paper and slowly stands up, taking off his wedding ring from when he was 18 and gently lays it on the table "a divorce paper..."

---

Equestria, Unknown

Discord chuckles as he sits in his stone throne, staring down at Lady Tara of the griffins, Eitrig of the diamond dogs, Trixie and across the moon, the mysterious figure is in the Shadows, but visible black shoes "now...you're all here today because we're going to be discussing a very important topic, you help me and I will also help your issues."

Tara stares at him thoughtfully "how can you with your power still not strong enough yet?"

"Oh don't worry about that..." Discord says, snapping his fingers, igniting a wooden made Celestia and Luna "my powers are coming back...very very slowly..."

Eitrig scoffs and grunts at Discord "you say that there's a way to get your powers back to full...maybe even more?"

Discord smiles, snapping again to get himself a drink of soda "ah yes...it will take a bit more time, but if all goes according to the plan which we will all discuss, then your wishes will come true."

Trixie stands up looking angry "The great and powerful Trixie doesn't want to WAIT for revenge! She demands it now!"

Discord glares at Trixie, sending shivers up her spine, Trixie slowly but nervously sat back down on her stone chair. She knows her place when Discord glares at someone "f-f-forgive me my lord..."

Discord resumes his normal manner and grins "oh no worries, just don't ever do that again? Okay? And I promise you this Trixie, whatever plan we create today, you will be able to get your revenge as we do it. Sound fair?"

Trixie's heart skipped a beat, but in fear and excitement "y-yes...it is, thank you Lord Discord" she bows her head.

The mysterious figure speaks up "now...if I have your attention...shall we begin to plan our moves?"

Discord chuckles darkly and sits forward "yes...let's...start with Celestia and Luna first..."

To be continued

Hey guys! What is up!

Okay, it's been 7 months since I last updated...and I really owe you all an apology, I know I did this last chapter but I am being serious here. I should never have waited this long to upload a chapter, and I'm disgusted with myself even as I write this. But please here me out.

As I was explaining to a user about why I haven't been doing anything for these past 7 months is because after the last chapter. Real life things started to take over, the first is that where I went to go for meetings called the Job Centre, they told me that I had to go meet with a group that helps with job seeking for people who have difficulties. When I first arrived there, my step father really got angry at me because it was the start of the school holiday last year because nobody could look after my younger brother until we got it sought out.
And from there, I did not really like the place I was in but I had to endure because the job centre would of stopped my money that I needed to support myself with.

So, it required my full attention, so I ultimately had to postpone my story until I could actually get some time off and focus instead of trying to do two things at the same time. I did start work of this chapter at the start of December but Christmas shopping took over so I could not post for Christmas or my birthday (PS. I'm 21 now)
But then, at the start of January, I got offered to do a work trial for a job for about 3 weeks. So I attended for the 3 week trial for the job placement and I had to wait for a week to see if I got the job...and then one day...I got a phone call to say, I got the job! I didn't know how to feel, I wasn't jumping up and down but deep inside, I felt like I achieved something new, the very first paid job in my entire life. And I have been working there for nearly about 2 months now.

But I never ever forgot about my story or you guys, I said I will always and always continue the story until I finished it. This story means a lot to mean, it changed the way I see stories, characters and writing, and much more. It helped me make friends and hear things from you all, both criticisms and praise have helped me see things differently, thanks to you all.

And thanks UltraMickey for the extra push :D

And I really you all enjoyed this chapter because I decided depending on what you all think of the new way I'm writing this. As you read, you may notice that the mane six characters have more depth and words towards them. I did this because I heard your voices and thought it would be different to try and write the story on their perspective a little bit more while still giving Joe some attention. Hope you liked it.

And now, the next chapter will be based and Spike and Rarity! Stay tuned and I (hopefully) won't drag it out again for 7 months!

Again, thank you all for supporting me even still. We've been on quite a journey haven't we? Let's keep moving forward together!
Please Read and review! Really helps!

And remember...FOR THE BRONIES!