Author's Notes:

Hey there peeps!

So today we get to see Maud at Sweet Apple Acres! Yay!
What crazy things will we discover in today's episode? Let's venture together and find out. Enjoy!

Trixie skipped along through Ponyville happy as can be. She felt so light and nimble. Clarity and comprehension hit her like a ton of bricks. She felt free and open to new ideas. Things she hadn't noticed before popped into view. Like that mare Roseluck who always watched her. She seemed nice enough. Maybe she'd stop by and say hi.

Diverting from her path Trixie skipped over to the rose maned pony. Roseluck was watering her rose garden when she noticed the blue mare approaching. She smiled placing the watering pot to the side and waved to her as she approached.

"Hi Trixie!" she greeted her.

"Miss Roseluck! Wonderful morning we're having, huh?"

"Yes, we are." The cream pony responded. "Can I help you with anything?"

"No, just stopping by to say hi and to finally meet you!" she extended a hoof shaking Rose's. "Trixie has been meaning to stop by after seeing you a few times. You seem nice."

Roseluck blushed averting her gaze. "Gee, thanks Trixie."

"Not a problem. Well, it was nice meeting you but Trixie has to get to Sweet Apple Acres. See you alter Miss Roseluck!" She turned to leave.

The rose maned mare waved to her and went back to her gardening with a smile on her face. "Carrot was right." She said pouring the pot letting the water flow over a rose bush.

***

Maud watched the exchange from afar and was pleased. It was nice to see Trixie opening up to others and making friends. After Trixie began walking away she followed close but kept some distance from her just in case she doubled back. She followed Trixie as she went around Ponyville greeting ponies as she went along. Some were kind to her like a pony Carrot Top, even Pinkie greeted her.

But others like the Cakes weren't so open to her presence. They only allowed her to stay to say hi to Pinkie and then forced her out o f their store. Maud made a mental note to stop by later. After following the blue mare for about twenty minutes Maud came to the outer edge of Ponyville where a large apple orchard covered the hills as far as the eye could see.

She was impressed, though she didn't show it she was truly impressed by the size of the farm. It was humbling to witness the great Sweet Apple Acres in person. The smell was different from her families farm It had a moist and sweet smell to it compared to the dry dust smells of her home. Rows of trees covered the landscape and she took a moment to inspect them closely. Maud realized there were several different groups of trees that produced various types of apples.

"Impressive."

She thought of the time it must have taken to grow this entire farm. It was probably through many generations that made it to what it was today. It was something she could respect. Not many ponies understood the intricacies that came with farming in general.

She followed the path Trixie took deeper into the dense trees and found a small clearing where a house stood with a large red barn nearby. there were several ponies there. All earth ponies except Trixie. One was apparently yelling at Trixie for something. An orange earth pony mare with a brown stetson was yelling at her and waving her arms wildly as a red stallion and a small pink filly watched from the side lines.

Maud approached and slowly parts of the conversation became clear. "- and further more! If you decide to not show up again don't bother coming back at all!" The orange mare said.

Trixie took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and counted to five before exhaling and opened her eyes to look at the mare. "Applejack, Trixie is sorry for not being here yesterday, but she was sick and didn't get better until today. Please understand you left her in bad shape after the fight and the sickness didn't help either." She lowered herself into a submissive bow. "Please, forgive Trixies tardiness."

The orange mare named Applejack took a step backwards but kept an eye on the mare. She glared daggers at her and eventually she relented. "Fine Trixie. I'll let it go this time but if you don't show up again-"

"Trixie understands."

"Don't interrupt me!" Applejack yelled pushing her.

Trixie lowered her posture, the good feeling she felt earlier was now gone. She frowned allowing her to continue speaking.

"I appreciate everything you've done thus far. You're a hard worker that much is clear. BUT!" She pointed to her sister who was now with Diamond Tiara and Big Mac. "I don't appreciate what you've done to mah family." She growled. "They have all but turned on me thanks to you."

Neither said a word after and Trixie turned to walk away when an orange hoof stopped her. "You do the rest of the south field today and then I want you gone. Got it?"

Maud took this moment to hide behind a tree in case things go too rough.

"And here Trixie thought we were finally bonding. Guess we aren't." She said sarcastically shoving past her. "You know, Trixie was in a good mood earlier today and you just had to suck that out of the day didn't you? If you're anything like this all the time its a wonder your family hates you."

Applejack stared at her in disbelief. How dare she of all ponies saw she understood how her family felt! She felt enraged by the mares words, though she could not deny there WAS some truth behind them. She had been rather harsh to her family as of late and they all butted heads especially concerning Apple Bloom. In fact they all agreed to allow Apple Bloom to experiment but Applejack was the only one against it.

But she couldn't deny that Trixie was indeed different from what she once was. Sure she was still arrogant but nothing about her being out for revenge or proving herself to be better than others was there anymore. But that didn't mean she had to like her attitude.

"Trixie, let me be very clear. You-"

"NO, Applejack you listen to Trixie!" The farm pony stopped mid sentence from the interruption. "Trixie doesn't care what you think anymore. If you hate fillyfoolers then that's fine. You hate Trixie. That's fine too. But you don't turn your back on family which is what you have been doing all this time."

Trixie took a deep breath after yelling her sentence without pause. Regaining her composure she continued in a calmer voice. "You love your family Applejack. Other wise you wouldn't be so determined to stop Apple Bloom. But you have to let your prejudice go, less you succumb to it. Then you'll truly be a lost cause."

She turned her back on the mare head towards her designated field disappearing into the trees. Diamond Tiara looked up to Big Mac. "Why does Applejack hate ponies like us Big Mac, sir?" she asked him concerned.

The big red stallion smiled looking down to her. "She's just hard headed and needs something to push her in the right direction. Hmm."

Mac got a distant look on his face donning a small knowing grin. Diamond Tiara looked to him curiously.

"What's wrong Bic Mac?"

"Nothing little filly." He said looking down at her smiling. "What say we get started feeding the animals?"

Diamond gasped happily running ahead of him towards the barn. Over the last few days she'd grown to like the farm life. She even embraced it to a certain degree. Her punishment now turned into a fun hobby.

Big mac took her under his tutelage in the way s of farming. Surprisingly the filly made friends with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle as well in her time here. He truly enjoyed the time he spent with her like she was another little sister. He shook his head as the filly hopped up and down begging for him to follow so she could feed the pigs.

He slowly trotted towards her and she turned to run for the barn.

Maud slowly emerged from the tree she'd been hiding behind and made her way towards where Applejack had gone. It took her e minute but she eventually found the mare deep in the grove bucking some trees. She approached her as she reared up to kick but stopped before hand staring at the new arrival.

The orange mare lowered her legs and smiled at the new pony.

"Hello and welcome to Sweet Apple Acres! I'm Applejack how can ah help you?"

Maud remembered Pinkie writing about this mare. Loyal and honest to a fault as she came to understand.

"Hello, I'm Maud Pie. I'm Pinkie Pie's oldest sister."

Applejack tilted her hat towards her nodding her head once. "Well, nice ta meet ya! Pinkie's been telling us about you since yesterday! Said you were meeting a friend." she said extending her hoof to Maud.

Maud nodded, her blank stare making AJ feel very awkward. "Yes, I came to see my friend, but she was sick with a fever when I got here."

"Well, ah hope that they're alright." Applejack responded pulling back her hoof. "So, is yer friend OK?"

"She's fine now. Working but she's fine now."

"You sure she should be working after being sick?" Applejack asked bucking the tree she'd tried bucking earlier.

Maud smiled slightly as Applejack went to another tree and bucked it. She looked down at the rows of trees with buckets at each ones base. She looked over them and wondered if Trixie did apple bucking like Applejack did.

The orange mare stopped after a few trees noticing Maud was still there. "Rightly sorry. But it's the middle of the harvest season and I was hoping to get this done today. Don't mean to be rude but is there something I can help you with?" She asked politely.

"If you want I can help you." the grey mare replied.

"Huh? Oh, well if you want you can I guess." Applejack said rubbing her neck. "But you're a guest and I don't want you to work if you're visiting. especially if you're mah friends sister."

Maud nodded standing up on her hind legs. Taking a deep breath her face looked calm, collected, devoid of emotion. She shifted into a stance, as though she were in a karate stance. Her front arm extended outwards, almost straight and her other pulled back as if she were readying a punch.

Applejack watched as she shifted her weight to her rear most leg. Something seemed oddly familiar about this to her, but she couldn't place what it was. Suddenly Maud dashed forward punching the tree and it released all the apples from it and into the basket. She then ran down to the next tree and after a few quick jabs, it too released all its fruit.

The orange mare watched stunned by the speed in which Maud ran from tree to tree striking swiftly and truly.

"My... oh my..."She said watching in awe of Maud's strength and speed. "She's fast and... amazing." She took her hat to fan herself. It was strange seeing Maud work on the trees like this it reminded her of the time Trixie did. Then it dawned on her where she saw this before.

Trixie had mentioned she learned this trick from an earth pony friend she knew back on a rock farm. Was Maud that pony? As Maud made her way down Applejack ran after her cutting in front of her along the way, stopping her advance.

Maud lowered herself back to all four hooves with a slight panting. Applejack eyed her suspiciously.

"Pardon me fer asking, but does the name Trixie, mean anything to you?"

The grey mare smiled nodding once. "It does. Trixie is my friend."