Applejack looked to the sky as a cyan blur shot to the library, quickly forming into Rainbow Dash. “About time you got here!” she snapped as Dash landed.

Dash shook her wings as she trotted over to Applejack. She looked up at the sky, eyes narrowing. “Sorry,” she said absentmindedly. “Just had to make sure the weather was right.” She held up a foreleg and began pointing at several clouds. “It's sunny skies until the evening, when we've got a brief shower scheduled for an hour.” Her gaze drifted a bit. “I've got some puffy cumulus set up for shade at spots, though.” Her gaze finally settled to a gathering cloud of smoke hanging above the Everfree. “That, however, I can't do anything about”

Applejack blinked. “Beg your pardon?”

There was a pause before Dash looked back down and at Applejack. She shifted a bit. “Well, this is pretty important,” she finally said, glancing away. “It's the princesses, and Megan and her family deserve a nice day.” She looked around. “Hey, where is she? Or her family, for that matter?” She focused on the Princess Ponies. “Who the hay are they?” she asked, waving a foreleg around as a bushwoolie bounced up.

The bushwoolie crossed his tiny arms. “They are Princess Ponies!” he intoned, hopping up and down. “Very important, from distant past. Generations of bushwoolies guard them and castle! Yeah, guard castle!”

Dash eyed the ball of fur as it bounced away. “Okay...” She looked over as a snow-white pegasus trotted over. “Ah, hi?”

Tiffany held a muffin-laden plate in her mouth and leaned forward. “Wanth thome?” she mumbled.

Dash sat back, grabbed a muffin with her front hooves and munched on it. “Whoa, awesome flavors!” She nodded to Tiffany. “Thanks...”

“Rainbow Dash, meet Princess Tiffany, one of the Princess Ponies and from the era of Dream Valley,” Applejack interjected, stepping around and holding her forelegs out. “Princess Tiffany, this here's Rainbow Dash, fastest flier outta' Cloudsdale and the Element of Loyalty.”

Tiffany looked around before placing the plate on a nearby table. “Charmed,” she said, holding out a hoof, but she dropped it to the ground, striking it against the grass. “Wait, Rainbow Dash?” She looked her over. “Oh, of course! Celestia told us about you!”

Dash glanced to Applejack, then back to Tiffany. “Good or bad?”

Tiffany held the hoof to her chin. “Well, there was the sonic rainbooms, rescuing the Wonderbolts and a unicorn during the Young Flier's Competition, helping free Luna from Nightmare Moon. I might be forgetting something.” She held the hoof back out. “So, good!”

Dash chuckled and pressed her own hoof to Tiffany's, shaking it. “Well, glad to meet a fan!” She leaned in close after dropping her foreleg. “Do you know any of the Wonderbolts? Any chance you going to the Grand Galloping Gala and getting me in with them?” She grinned and waggled her eyebrows.

Tiffany stared at her, but before she could respond Pinkie Pie bounced over, wrapping her forelegs around both Dash's and Tiffany's necks and pulling them in for a hug. “Dashie!” she yelled, throwing her head back. She let go of Tiffany, but kept one foreleg around Dash. “I'm so glad you could make it!” She hopped up onto Dash's back on her hind hooves, holding a foreleg to her forehead and looking about. “But where's Fluttershy, or Rarity?”

Dash groaned and shook her body, knocking Pinkie Pie off. “Where's Twilight?” she asked, looking around. “Or Megan or her family?”

Tiffany spoke up. “Twilight is with Megan and her siblings Danny and Molly in Canterlot, meeting Celestia and Luna.” She looked up, focusing on Canterlot far off in the distance. “I hope it's going well,” she half-whispered. She looked back to Dash and Applejack. “Megan's husband and their daughters are in Ponyville at the moment, sightseeing.” She chuckled. “I'm surprised you didn't see them, Dash.”

Dash chuckled and rubbed the back of her head, mussing up her mane. “Well, I was a bit busy with the weather today.” She yawned, stretching out her forelegs. “And I—" she stretched out her legs with a yawn "—didn't get my midmorning nap in, either.”

Applejack snorted. “'Course you didn't, darlin'.”

Dash turned around and motioned at downtown Ponyville. “Well, I know Fluttershy's got a few errands before coming over. Saturdays don't mean animals don't get sick or injured.” She hopped up, wings spreading out as she hovered over the party. “As for Rarity, I'm guessing she's getting all dolled up?”

Applejack groaned. “Knowing her, it'll be hours while she gets all frou-frouy.” She rolled her eyes. “It'll make her gala dress look like an apron and hair net!”

Dash floated back down. “Does she... even know about these Princess Ponies?” She scratched her forehead. “Are there any other guests showing up?” She trotted over to Mister Cake at one of the tables. “Hey, Mister Cake. Who else is on the guest list for this shindig?”

Mister Cake reached back and pulled out the guest list tucked inside his saddlebag and held it out, letting it fall open in front of Dash. She quickly scanned the names, jaw dropping. “King Spykoran the Old? Flutter ponies?” Her head shot up. “Thanks,” she offhandedly said to Mister Cake, trotting back to Applejack and Tiffany. “So we've got the King of the Dragons making an appearance, alongside the Princesses, the Princess Ponies, Megan and her family...” She trailed off as a bushwoolie hopped by, a tray of vegetable slices balanced on his head. “And bushwoolies.” She waved a hoof at it as it bounced up to Royal Blue and Serena. “This is gonna be wild!”

Applejack glanced up at the sun. “I just hope everyone else gets here before the food runs out.” She looked down the rows of food. “Maybe by next week, that is.”

Mike, Michelle and Danielle wandered about Ponyville, Mike keeping close to his daughters. He looked around as various ponies went about their business in the commercial district, some staring at him and others pointedly ignoring them. He held up his hand and waved at a few of them. Some backed up, but more waved back.

They approached the market square and several carts, stalls and tents set up around Sugarcube Corner and several other businesses. Mike paused and opened his bag of bits, letting them dribble through his fingers. “So, what first?” he asked.

Danielle looked around. “Any bookstores?” Movement caught her eyes and she watched as a helmeted pegasus filly on a scooter rode up, towing a wagon with an earth pony and a unicorn inside. “Hi!” she called out, waving at them.

The pegasus' eyes widened and she dropped a hindleg down onto the ground, letting it skid along the dirt and dig up a trench. Her tiny wings spread out and her forelegs hanging on the handlebar turned it, sending it into a slight skid. The scooter quickly lost speed as it approached Danielle, slowing to a stop right in front of her.

The pegasus yanked off her helmet, showing a ragged, pale pink mane. She eyed Danielle, then Michelle and finally Mike. “Who are you?” She leaned back. “What are you? Are you from that hole in the sky where Rainbow Dash punched a hole in space?” She suddenly gasped. “Have you talked to her?!”

Danielle blinked. She placed a hand on her chest. “My name's Danielle.” She motioned to Michelle. “This is my younger sister Michelle, and our father Mike,” she finished, waving back at Mike. “What's your name?”

The pegasus grinned. “The name's Scootaloo.” She waved a foreleg at the wagon, first at the yellow-coated earth pony with a rose-red mane and ribbon tied in it. “This is Apple Bloom,” she said before jabbing her hoof at the unicorn with a white coat and a purple – and – rose mane. “And this is Sweetie Belle!”

Apple Bloom stood up in the wagon and hopped out, trotting over. “Howdy!” she half-shouted, holding a hoof up at Danielle. “Pleasure to meet you! Applejack told me Megan'd have family over, and since she helped save Applejack, that makes you part o' my family too!”

Danielle took hold of the hoof and Apple Bloom shook her foreleg, sending Danielle's arm – and eventually her entire body – swinging. She let go, stumbling back into Mike's arms. “Whoa!” she cried out.

Mike held onto her, steadying his daughter. “You all right?” he asked.

Danielle shook her head and waved her arm about. “I'll be fine... once feeling come back into my arm.”

Michelle walked up to Sweetie Belle and held out her brush. “Your mane is gorgeous,” she said, kneeling down. “How do you get two colors like that? And what do you wash it with?”

Sweetie Belle glanced up and fluffed her mane with a hoof. “Oh, this? Not much, just conditioner and shampoo.” She suddenly leaned forward, smiling. “You should see my sister's mane! It's unbelievable how it looks!” She looked up at Michelle's head. “Hmm, I like your mane, too. It's cool how it falls like that.”

Mike looked the fillies over. “So, what brings you out on such a fine day? Do you have school or... something?” He cleared his throat as they stared up at him. “Sorry, first day in Ponyville.”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle suddenly were by Scootaloo and they all thrust a foreleg into the air. “WE ARE THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” all three shouted at the top of their lungs, sending the three humans reeling from the cacophony.

“We crusade for our cutie marks!” Scootaloo shouted.

“To find our special talent!” Apple Bloom continued.

“And to become good ponies like my sister Rarity!” Sweetie Belle finished.

There was sweet, merciful silence for about a minute before Danielle cleared her throat. She held up her notebook and began writing in it. “Cutie Mark Crusaders?” She walked around and looked at their flanks. “You don't have cutie marks?” The writing intensified. “I didn't get far into my reading of them back at the library. Why don't you have cutie marks?” She sat down on the grass, looking at them with wide eyes and pen at the ready.

The three Crusaders exchanged glances. “Well, we get our cutie marks when we discover our special talent!” Scootaloo said. She jabbed a hoof at her own backside. “And when we do, we get our cutie mark!”

Danielle paused in her writing. “Special talent? Like what? One good thing? A subject? A generalization or specialization?” She scooted forward, right up to the fillies.

Apple Bloom merely shrugged. “We don't know, Danielle! That's why we're crusadin' for our cutie marks!”

Sweetie Belle nodded. “We go out and try lots of different stuff to see if we're good at it, and see if we can earn our cutie marks that way!” She jumped back up. “And we won't stop crusading until we do!”

Mike dropped down to one knee. “Wait, these activities you do, are they just random ideas? Do you do stuff you actually like?”

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo turned and faced him. “Well, we try lots of different stuff,” Apple Bloom said. “It's what Rainbow Dash suggested to me when I started trying to find my cutie mark.”

Mike blinked. “Well, do you go back to stuff you've tried before? You're not gonna be good at something right away.” He chuckled and rubbed his forearm. “I was all thumbs when I first started construction work.”

Sweetie Belle arched an eyebrow. “What's a 'thumb'?” She looked to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, who both shrugged. She looked back to Mike. “Well?”

Mike paused before holding up his right hand with his fingers splayed. “This is the thumb,” he said pointing to it with his other hand. He tilted his head to the side and looked down at the Crusaders' hooves. “Yeah... I guess you three wouldn't know what it is, would you.” He curled his fingers and the thumb around.

Apple Bloom stomped on the grass. “Of course!” she exclaimed. “It's like Spike's claws when he writes those letters for Twilight!” She stepped forward and looked at Mike's hands. “What can you build with those things, Mike?” She stood up and pointed back with a hoof. “We got ourselves a clubhouse for crusadin' that I fixed up, but even with my mouth, tail and hooves it was hard.”

Michelle grinned. “A clubhouse? Cool! Can we see, please?” She suddenly looked to Mike, eyes wide and lower lip protruding. “Can we, Daddy, please?”

Mike shook his head. “Sorry, Michelle, but not this time. I don't want you girls out of contact in such a strange place.” He suddenly held up his hand. “No offense, Crusaders.”

Danielle suddenly reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She slid it open and pointed it at Mike. “Mom said her cell phone still received bars from Earth,” she said. “And cell phones transmit to the cell tower, so...” There was a sudden ringing from Mike's pocket. “Ah, success!”

Apple Bloom walked over and leaned over Danielle's shoulders. “What is that?”

Danielle held it up. “It's a small, portable telephone, Apple Bloom. Like the one in the library.” She stopped and furrowed her eyebrows. “Well, not exactly like the one in the library. It's smaller, for one thing,” she said, chuckling. “And looks like we can still keep in contact even here!”

Mike pulled the phone out of his coat pocket and looked it over, turning it off. “Well, I'll be.” He looked over his shoulder. “Well, there is a cell tower half a block from the house.” He stood up ,sighed and looked back at Danielle and Michelle, eyes narrowing. “Call back in ten minutes or if there's trouble. And by what I would consider trouble, not what you or they would consider trouble,” he stated, waving at the Crusaders. “Got it?”

Danielle nodded and stood up, groaning slightly. “We'll be all right, Dad.” She walked over and stood by Michelle. “Right?”

Michelle nodded and held up her hair brush. “Right, Danielle!”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle piled back into the wagon while Scootaloo hopped back onto her scooter. Her tiny wings buzzed and she drove off, the two girls walking beside them. Mike sighed. “I love you!” he called out, waiting as they turned and waved back. He looked around Ponyville, stomach suddenly growling. “Okay, where to eat... ” He snapped his fingers. “Apples, apples are good. Humans can eat apples as well as horses. And Applejack mentioned an apple stand run by her brother!”

He wandered the commercial district a bit, waving at some of the ponies. One blue unicorn stallion lowered his floating saxophone and waved a hoof at him, and a pony with sideburns, athletic gear and a tennis racket in foreleg also waved back. He walked up to a wooden cart festooned with apple-related imagery, several baskets of apples and small tables with apple-related products set up around it. A bright-red stallion wearing a harness and a smaller stallion with a cream-colored coat stood near a smaller stand with a cash box on top of it.

Mike walked up to the pair, smiling. “Morning, gentlemen... I mean, morning gentle... ponies?” His cheeks reddened slightly. “What would you recommend?”

The red stallion waved a foreleg at the barrels and tables. “Just about everything here is home-grown at Sweet Apple Acres,” he said. He eyed Mike. “Name's Big Macintosh, sir. If I may ask, you any relation to a mare named Megan?”

Mike chuckled. “She's my wife, actually.” He looked at a table of apple fritters and lifted his bag of bits high. “How much for the fritters?”

Macintosh's head swung over to the apple fritters. “Four bits a carton. It's the best deal in Ponyville.”

Mike nodded and pulled out some of the gold coins, laying them on the counter before picking up a carton and munching on some of the batter-fried apple slices. He let out a sigh. “Oh, these are good.”

Macintosh nodded. “Eyup.” He walked around to Mike, standing almost at shoulder-height with the man. “So, what brings you to Ponyville, Mike? A bit o' sightseein' or something else?”

Mike shrugged and leaned against the cart slightly. “My wife used to come to this land a while back.” He held up his hand. “Long, long story on her part, and I'm not even sure of all the details.” He shook his head. “Apparently she used to be able to talk her way out of anything, or kill it if she couldn't do that.”

“Eyup.”

Mike looked to the sky and finished his carton of fritters. “Still can't make a tuna casserole to save her life, though.”

The other stallion whinnied. “Man, I tell you what that's just like mares. Know what I mean?” He paused as Mike and Macintosh looked over at him. “Oh, name's Caramel, I tell you. Macintosh and Applejack are my cousins.”

Mike nodded to him. “Nice to meet you.” He put down some more bits and took a bottle of apple juice from a table, taking a sip and sighing. “Nice.” He stepped back and looked the cart over, noticing one of the wheels propped up against the cart proper and a block of wood stuck underneath for support. “Macintosh, you got a flat?” he said, half-smiling.

Macintosh walked around and lowered his head. “Wheel came off just as we're setting up for today.” He kicked at it with his hoof. “It'll take two of us to fix it, but we need one of us to run the stand!”

Caramel nodded as a pair of young fillies ran up, dropping some apples onto the counter. “Ten bits,” he said. He looked over as the coins floated up out of one of their saddlebags. “Can't afford to shut down, I tell you. Nope.”

Mike nodded absently, kneeling down and looking the cart over. He grabbed a handle and pulled on it, sliding open a drawer with hammer, nails and other tools. He looked at the wheel and the axle hub. “I think I can fix this so at least you can get back to the farm. Won't be pretty, but it'll last.” He looked to Macintosh. “Feel like giving me a hand?”

Macintosh eyed him for a moment before Mike's head drooped. “I mean hoof! Yes, hoof!” He let out a breath and picked up the hammer. “Or at least a strong backside?”

Macintosh chuckled and knelt down, scooting under the cart. He stood up, lifting it up enough for Mike to kick the block out of his way. “Eyup, Ah reckon I can git that much done for you, Mike.”

Mike nodded as he hefted the wheel up and onto the axle hub. Meanwhile, a pale-yellow pegasus trotted over. She glanced at Mike and shied back a bit. “Oh, oh!” She paused as a small bunny sitting on her backside thumped his foot on her hip and jabbed a paw at the stand. “Oh, you're right, Angel.” She walked up to Mike and bowed her head. “Hello, there. My name's Fluttershy.” She suddenly seemed to shrink into herself. “I-I'm sorry, but are you by any chance related to a human named Megan?”

Mike looked over his shoulder at her and nodded. “Yeah, I'm her husband, Mike Richards.” He glanced back at the wheel and shrugged. “Sorry, I'd be more polite but I don't know how long Macintosh can support the cart's weight. Right, Mac?” He looked over, but his expression changed to one of concern. “Mac, you all right?”

Macintosh looked away, his cheeks somehow becoming even redder than usual. His legs, steady before, quavered slightly. “I-I'm all r-right,” he stammered out. “J-just keep on doin' the w-work, Mike.” he looked back, locking eyes with Mike. “Please?”

Mike nodded as Fluttershy bought a carton of apple fritters and a case of apple juice from a smirking Caramel at the coin box table. She trotted back to Mike as he began hammering nails. “It was nice to meet you, Mike,” she said, smiling. “I'll see you at the party later?”

Mike ceased hammering for a second and scooted around to face Fluttershy. “I should be back in an hour,” he said, a smile crossing his lips. He extended a hand to her. “Nice to meet you, Fluttershy.” He glanced at Angel. “You too, Angel.”

Fluttershy stared at the hand for a moment before timidly extending a slightly-shaking hoof at him. Mike gripped it lightly before letting go and she turned, trotting off. He looked over at Macintosh and leaned over. “Got a bit of a crush?”

Macintosh sighed. “Eyup.” he stared at Fluttershy as she trotted off. “She's just so... so nice, and gentle and sweet and loving, but she's not weak either.” He groaned. “Almost done, Mike?”

Mike hammered a few more nails into the hub. “Okay, let's see if it'll hold.” He stepped back as Macintosh knelt down as far as he could and scooted out. The wagon settled and the wheel stayed steady. Mike placed his hands on his hips and nodded. “Yeah, thanks, Macintosh. And if I were you, I'd go up to Fluttershy and tell her how you feel.”

Macintosh snorted. “What'd a filly like that want with an old draft horse like myself, Mike? I'd have nothin' to offer her, not really.”

Mike reached over and patted the horse on his back, rubbing it. “Macintosh, that's what I thought about myself when I first asked Megan out on a date back in high school. What can you offer her? Love, understanding, hard work and being there for her.”

Caramel spoke up as he finished with another sale. “Man, Mike, don't even bother! Macintosh's been pining for her ever since they met, I tell you what!” he waved a foreleg at the pair. “I mean, come on!”

Macintosh glared at Caramel for a moment before turning around. His big head darted this way and that before he settled on one stallion. “Hey, Blues!” he shouted, waving a hoof at the musician. He waited for Blues to wave back before stepping around Mike and up to a furiously-blushing Caramel. “What were you sayin' about pining, Caramel?”

Danielle and Michelle followed Scootaloo and her wagon down the dirt roads of Ponyville, out past the town limits and to the gates of Sweet Apple Acres. They passed through and Apple Bloom waved at an ancient mare on a rocking chair on the barn's front porch. “Hi, Granny Smith!” she called out.

Granny Smith languidly waved a hoof at the group as they walked down to the apple orchards. “Hi, Apple Bloom!” she wheezed out. She leaned forward and adjusted her glasses at the pair of bipeds walking beside the Crusaders. “What the...” She sighed. “Ah, gotta get a new prescription. Thought I saw humans for a second there.”

The quintet walked down through groves of apple trees to the outer reaches of the farm, eventually coming to a clearing by a river. One large tree dominated the comparatively-empty field, a treehouse built amongst the branches. Danielle looked up at it and whistled. “Now that is a treehouse!” She looked back down as Apple Bloom jumped out of the wagon. “You did all that?”

Apple Bloom nodded, grinning widely. “Ayup! I rebuilt it from the bottom up.” She tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes, holding up her hooves in front of her face. “I'm still not sure about indoor plumbin', though.”

Michelle and Sweetie Belle ran up the ramp, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Danielle following. Inside was a table, some chairs, various hoof-drawn posters and other assorted knickknacks. Danielle walked over to a crude map of Ponyville, with each building or natural formation crossed out. She waved her hand at it. “What's this?”

Scootaloo trotted up to it. “Each location we've been to in order to try for our cutie mark.” She looked over at her blank hindquarters and sighed. “But so far nothing we've tried worked!”

Sweetie Belle, sitting at the table and munching on a snack from Michelle's bag, rolled her eyes. “Maybe if we didn't try things that nearly kill us each and every time it wouldn't be so bad!” She placed a foreleg on the table and leaned her head on her hoof, blowing a bit of mane out of her eyes. “I mean, seriously!”

Danielle glanced back at the map and placed her hands on her hips. “Have you tried anything more than once?”

Scootaloo paused. Her mouth worked for a bit before she spoke. “Well... if we didn't get a cutie mark from it, what's the point of trying it again?” She thrust a hoof into the air. “Rainbow Dash told Apple Bloom to try as many things as she could, so that's what we do!”

Danielle looked to Michelle, who sat with her legs scrunched up slightly in an undersized chair. “But...” She groaned and shook her head before continuing. “But if you don't keep at something, you'll never even have the chance to get good at it or see if you like it enough to keep at it!” She threw her hands up into the air. “I mean, come on!” She jabbed her finger at a drawing of a large tree. “What did you do there?”

Apple Bloom spoke up. “We tried kite flying, Danielle.” She scratched the back of her head. “I tried it with Rainbow Dash before we formed the Crusaders.” She looked up to the ceiling and sighed. “It wasn't too bad, until I got tangled in the lines.”

Scootaloo waved her off and stuck out her tongue. “Aw, that's sissy stuff!” She rubbed her hooves together and her eyes gleamed. “Although I was thinking of hang-gliding this afternoon!”

“NO!” Danielle, Michelle, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle all blurted out. They all looked at each other before giggling.

Scootaloo growled and hung her head. “Fine! What do you want to do, then?”

Apple Bloom spoke up. “Well, kite flying might be somethin' nice and simple. No way we can git into trouble or covered in tree sap doin' that!”

Danielle's eyebrows arched. “Tree sap?” she repeated, looking to the earth pony. “You get covered in tree sap crusading?!”

Sweetie Belle shrugged. “Not all the time. Just... some of the time?”

Michelle chuckled nervously. “Maybe just some nice, safe kite flying, then? Nothing too stressful for your guests?”

Everyone in the treehouse turned to Scootaloo, who kicked at the floor. “All right!” she growled out. “But it's gonna be so boring!”

“Yahoo!”

Scootaloo ran along the grassy field, handle in mouth and a rather large kite flying behind her.

Danielle and Apple Bloom stood off to the side, Danielle with a bottle of water from her backpack in one hand and her cell phone in the other. She held it out for Apple Bloom to look at the screen. “And when you touch the screen, it sends commands that can call people, connect to a network of information or take pictures.” She cycled through application icons. “It's a bit hard for me to explain how it works, though.”

Apple Bloom looked at the phone with wide eyes. “I mean, you can do all sorts of things with it that I never even dreamed of!” She sighed and shook her head. “Do all humans have stuff like this?”

“Just about,” Danielle responded. She knelt down and placed it on the grass. “So, when you get your cutie mark, then what? Are you an adult? A teenager?”

Apple Bloom pecked at the screen with the edge of her hoof. “Not yet adults,” she murmured. “It'd be more proper to call me a filly than a foal.” Her eyes widened as the bottom of the phone flashed. She scooted back. “What'd I do? What'd I do?!”

Danielle chuckled and picked the phone up. “You just took a picture.” She held the screen in front of Apple Bloom. “What a lovely picture of grass!”

A sudden gust of wind blew through. The kite picked up speed. Scootaloo dug her hooves in, but the kite dragged her along. Sweetie Belle ran over and grabbed the pegasus by the haunches, but succeeded only in being dragged along herself. She lost her already-tenuous grip, tumbling along. Scootaloo tugged back on the string, but the wind increased. The cord grew taut before the handle snapped out of Scootaloo's mouth, careening up and up until it sailed up past the kite itself, coming down as the kite flew right into a tree.

Danielle, Apple Bloom and Michelle arrived a few seconds later, skidding to a stop. “You all right?” Michelle asked.

Scootaloo spat at the ground. “Ugh, am I missing any teeth?” she asked, opening her mouth wide.

Apple Bloom waved a hoof in front of her muzzle. “Nope, but you could stand to stop eatin' those onions!” she said, smirking.

Scootaloo closed her mouth and glared. “Ha, ha.” She turned and looked up at the kite, lodged in the branches of the tree. “Ah, horse apples!” she swore. She looked at the small nubs of wings on her croup. “Too small to fly.” She groaned.

Danielle looked up and down the tree, rolling up her sleeves. She grabbed the lowest branch and heaved herself up, grabbing the next branch. “I'll have it down in no time!” she shouted.

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle all waved their hooves in the air. “You go!” Apple Bloom shouted. She shook her head. “Man, I wish I had hands now!”

Michelle clasped her hands together and shook them. “Be careful!”

Danielle finally reached a branch above the kite was caught up in and grabbed hold of it, wrapping her arms around it. She inched out, hugging it with both arms and legs as she approached the kite. She reached out with a hand at the kite below her, gritting her teeth. Her fingers waggled a bit in the air before finally grabbing it. She cried out in triumph, but it quickly changed to one of fright as her left arm hit a smooth spot on the branch, slipping.

Danielle's upper body dangled down, her legs quickly losing purchase around the branch. She fell, shrieking and hitting the tangled-up cord, becoming wrapped up in it. She dropped, the cord and kite still tangled in the branch above stopping from hitting the ground.

Michelle's mouth dropped. “DANIELLE!” she screamed as her older sister dropped. She winced as Danielle's descent was halted by the impromptu net. “Are you all right?”

Danielle swayed a bit in the tangled web, looking down at everyone. She groaned and flexed her arms. “I... I'm stuck,” she stated. She kicked her legs, but the cord tightened around them with every movement. “Oh, Mom and Dad are gonna kill me.” There was a pause before she rolled her eyes. “Michelle, call Dad up.”

Michelle pulled out her cell phone and turned it on, but frowned as it chimed. “Wait, we don't have any bars out here!” She looked up. “Danielle, we don't-”

“I heard you,” Danielle interrupted. She wiggled her body to no avail. “This sucks.” She looked to the fillies. “Hey, any ideas?”

Apple Bloom nodded. “Don't worry, Danielle! I got one.” She looked to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie Belle, help me get the trampoline. Scootaloo, you get your machete.” She turned around and galloped off, her friends close behind.

Danielle watched as they galloped off, eyes widening. “Wait, did she say trampoline? And machete?” She looked to Michelle, who nodded. “I am so dead...”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle returned a few minutes later, the former pulling a large trampoline by her teeth and the latter butting it with her head. Scootaloo followed, a machete in her mouth by the handle that was almost as long as her whole body. Apple Bloom slid it under the dangling Danielle. “I think that's right!' she said, glancing up.

Michelle looked around at all the fillies. “You sure she'll be all right?”

Apple Bloom held up her hooves to her eyes and stuck her tongue out of the side of her mouth. “Yeah, got it under her.” She looked to Scootaloo. “All set?”

Scootaloo nodded and dug her hooves into the trunk, her wings beating as hard as they could. After a few minutes, she reached the branch the cord was tangled around and crawled out onto the branch.

Danielle looked down at the ground. “Okay, what's going on?”

Apple Bloom chuckled nervously. “Ah, you sure you wanna know?”

“YES I WANNA KNOW!” Danielle shouted, waving her fists about as much as she could. She suddenly felt the cords around her arm loosen. Her entire body shook as a loud thunk could be heard from above. “Michelle...”

“Scootaloo's cutting you down!” Michelle shouted. “Don't worry, we've got a trampoline set up under you!”

Danielle swayed a bit before the last line was cut, sending her plummeting down. She twisted about, managing to barely get her onto her back and spreading her arms out. She hit the trampoline, bouncing back up and falling back down. After a couple more rebounds, she tucked her legs under her and hopped off the trampoline entirely. She landed on the grass, stumbling a bit before Michelle caught her. “Ugh...

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked up at her, concern in their eyes. “you all right?” Apple Bloom asked.

Danielle breathed out and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I think.” She held up her hand and Michelle let go. She wobbled a bit but remained standing. “Okay, better idea than I thought,” she admitted. She turned around – just as Scootaloo dropped onto the trampoline, rebounding off and careening into her chest, knocking her to the ground.

Scootaloo laid on top of Danielle for a few moments before Danielle spoke. “Scootaloo?”

“Yes, Danielle?”

Danielle's head rose slightly so she could glare at the pegasus. “Ever think of, I don't know, a book reading cutie mark?”

Scootaloo's mouth stretched out in a nervous grin. “Heh, heh... maybe?” Her head cocked to the side. “Or maybe a lion-taming cutie mark!”

Danielle's head flopped back and she looked up at the sunny sky. “How did Mom do this?”