I was running a bit late by the time I arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. I didn't see Applejack, but I did see Big Mac. "Have you seen AJ?" I asked him, to which he gave his customary "Eeyup," while gesturing up a trail with his head. I thanked him as I ran off, not wanting to waste any more time.

When I crested the hill, the sound of tree-bucking reached my ears, and I was able to find the mare in question fairly quickly among the trees. "Sorry, I'm late. Need some help?" I asked.

"Nope. Like I told Big Mac, I've got this," Applejack said. There was an obvious tone of stubbornness in her voice that surprised me. I wondered what had transpired to get her riled up about this.

"You're sure? Because I'm here now, and I could certainly use the bits, and I know you could use the help," I pointed out. Plus I was wearing my nice new overalls. If I was going to dress like a farm girl, I was going to farm, damn it.

"I'm sure, but thanks for the offer, sugarcube," she said. "I'm sure somepony back in town will need your help with something though."

I nodded, and started to head back toward town. I paused when the earth began to shake under me.

"STAMPEDE!" Rainbow Dash shouted from her vantage point in the sky. Without thinking, I began to sprint toward the noise. Ponies were starting to panic as a herd of cows thundered into their village. The cows towered over the ponies, much as I did, the difference being that they were massive quadrupeds, while I merely had a more upright shape. The cows were even a bit taller than me. I was able to outrun them, for the moment, but I knew I couldn't keep up the pace for long.

"Hya, hya!" I shouted at them, closing in toward the leaders as we approached a river. There was a bridge crossing the water, but it wasn't wide enough for the herd, and would never have allowed them all to cross safely. Seeing me got them to start to turn, the whole group following them into a grassy clearing. My job wasn't done yet, though, and I had to push myself harder, circling the group.

When the front runners caught up to the back of the group, they began following them, their herding instinct kicking in. The stampede became a spinning maelstrom, safely contained for the moment as I finally slowed to a stop, catching my breath. Standing near the river at the time, I caught my reflection, my 'mako eyes', glowing much brighter than usual, but slowly fading. Strange. The glow had been notably absent in the mirror since I came to this world, part of the change wrought by the magical brassier, I had assumed. But here it was plain as day, plainer perhaps, as it was bright enough to make out even in full sunlight.

Looking up, I noticed the cows had finally come to a stop, and the leader slowly approached me now.

"Thank you, stranger. If you hadn't turned me, we would have all tumbled into the river!" the cow said.

I blinked a few times, forcing my mind to simply accept the fact that cows spoke here. Ponies did, so why not cows too? Why not bunny rabbits? Really, why not? Angel bunny was clearly as intelligent as some ponies, and communicated well enough in his way, but couldn't speak a word. The only way to survive this world, mentally at least, was to roll with the punches.

"You're welcome. Just did what I saw needed to be done. Now what started all of this?" I asked the cows' representative.

"Begging your pardon, stranger, but Mooriella here saw one of those nasty snakes," she said, the herd jumping a bit at the mere mention of it. "And it just gave us all the willies, don'tcha know."

"The name's Cloud Strife," I introduced, standing up straighter as I proudly pointed myself out with a thumb. "And I'm glad to help, but maybe next time try to steer clear of the town?"

"Daisy Jo, glad to meet you," she returned, offering a hoof for me to fistbump. "We'll be more careful next time, promise! Come on gals!" They headed back out of town at a more sedate pace, trading friendly greetings with the townsponies as they went.

"Sweet moves!" Rainbow said, suddenly beside me. "How'd you run so fast? And what's with the glowing eyes thing?"

I struggled to come up with an answer, but I was drowned out by the sound of cheering ponies anyways.

"Cloud was just, just..." Mayor Mare began.

"Just awesome!" Rainbow Dash supplied.

"Exactly. We must do something to thank Cloud Strife for single-hoofedly saving the town," the mayor decreed.

"I know," Pinkie Pie declared. "A party!"

I would have happily accepted a bag of bits instead, even a small one.

I knocked firmly on the door to the strange building built into a tree. It was a public building, I knew, so I could probably just let myself in, but it was also someone's home, so I didn't want to be rude. "Come in," the librarian's somewhat familiar voice called out, and so I did.

"Oh, hi Cloud," Twilight Sparkle said, as she saw me enter. Her horn was aglow, and books were floating in and out of the shelves, being reordered for some reason. "What brings you here? Coming to check out a book? Need some research done?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you needed any help? Applejack's insisting on doing the harvest on her own for some reason, so I need to find another way to earn bits for now," I pointed out.

"Oh, umm. I actually have my own assistant. Spike! Come say hi to Cloud," Twilight said.

"Hi," a small draconic looking creature said as he entered the room. I got on one knee to share a handshake with him, grinning a bit at the newfound nostalgia of the simple gesture. "'Sup?" he added.

"Not much. Not enough," I answered. "'Sup with you?"

"You know, this and that. Helping Twilight. Trying to figure out what to do for my big date," he said.

Finally recognizing his voice, I nodded, hiding an amused grin behind a hand. "Your big date, huh?"

"Yeah. You wouldn't have any ideas, would you? Twilight's useless for this kind of thing," Spike said.

"Hay, now, I've provided you with a variety of relevant reference materials," the librarian objected.

"I'm afraid I'm not that experienced myself, especially when it comes to dating mares," I admitted. "But I would suggest you take it slow. Be yourself, have a good time, and show her a good time. Ask her about herself and let her know about you. No need to rush headlong into anything." It felt right to me, doubly so because he looked so young, and I knew his crush was still a child herself. Filly, that was the word.

"Are you sure? Because I'm not sure 'myself' is really her type," Spike said, a bit worried.

"If that's true, you don't want it to go anywhere," I pointed out. "If you're going to keep dating, it should be someone who wants to be with you, as you are. It's okay to improve yourself to impress the ladies: work out, hone some new skills, shine your scales and such, but never change who you are for them."

"But several of the books I have on the subject suggest otherwise," Twilight pointed out, floating a few tomes off the shelves.

I gave them a quick perusal, before laughing. "Twilight, these are romantic comedies. I'm betting half the plots are about one or both people pretending to be someone they aren't so that hilarious hijinks can ensue, rather than a healthy relationship."

"But... they all seem to work out in the end?" she said timidly.

Turning to Spike I offered a suggestion. "You can follow that model, if you like the idea of your relationship being a joke. I don't really think you want your life to be comedic relief though, do you?"

"No!" he said emphatically.

"Well, good luck to you. I've got to keep looking for work," I said, bidding them farewell.

I had no idea if Sweetie Belle would actually fall for the little guy, but at least she deserved an honest courting. Or more realistically, an honest friendship.

"Are you sure you don't need any help? It seems like you're super busy," I asked.

"Well of course I'm super busy!" Pinkie countered. "But it's your party! I can't hire you to cater your own party, silly billy!"

"Now Pinkie, don't be ridiculous. This mare's just trying to help. And besides, it's my bakery," a nearby stallion pointed out. "Carrot Cake," he introduced. "Nice to finally meet the Cloud Strife. Even if you can't help with your own party, maybe you can help cover the regular business while Pinkie works on it. Can you bake?"

"I can learn?" I offered.

By the end of the day, I had taken a place behind the counter, collecting bits and handing baked goods to customers, while Carrot helped with the baking. I did the math in my head every hour or so, counting down the time before my wages caught up to what I owed them for the ruined ingredients from my failed attempt to master the kitchen.

"Welcome, everypony!" Mayor Mare began. "Today we are here to honor a pony--"

"Who's not actually a pony!" Pinkie Pie interjected.

"... we can always count on to help in matters great and small. A pony whose contributions to--" the Mayor continued between interruptions.

Rainbow Dash seized the mic for a moment. "Did you see Cloud's slick moves out there? What an athlete! This week she's gonna help me with my new flying trick, and I know it's gonna be so awesome!"

"Exactly. And..." the mayor resumed.

"This week, I get to run Sugarcube Corner for the first time!" Pinkie added.

"What does that have to do with Cloud Strife?" the mayor dared to inquire.

"Oh. Cloud, one of the best bakers ever, is gonna help me. Cloud makes everything great, so free samples for everypony!" Pinkie declared.

I groaned inwardly. Pinkie had dutifully disposed of each of my culinary failures, apparently disagreeing with Mr Cake and I about the quality of the results. I suspected the other ponies would side with Carrot, but for now they were cheering for the free goods.

"Oh-kay, that's great. Now if I could just make a point without being inter--" Mayor Mare attempted.

"Miss Mayor?" Fluttershy requested.

The mayor ignored her. "--rupted. "Ah-ahem. And so, with no further ado, it is my privilege to give the prize, Pony of Ponyville Award, to our beloved guest of honor, a pony of the utmost trustworthiness, reliability, and integrity."

"Who's not actually a pony!" Pinkie interrupted again.

"Ponyville's most capable and dependable friend: Cloud Strife!" the mayor finally finished. The crowd cheered as I took the stage, smiling and waving at the adulation. This was pretty great. Standing up in front of a crowd, being cheered on for my heroics. I gratefully accepted the massive gold trophy they offered me, not letting my disappointment show through. If they would just hand me the bits directly instead of spending them on this garish thing then I could pay back my debts, maybe even have enough left over to start renting a home so I would have a place to put things like this.

Maybe Applejack would at least be gracious enough to let me store it at her place. Come to think of it, where was Applejack?

"Ready Cloud?" Rainbow Dash called up to me.

Looking down from atop the wooden scaffolding, something about this situation felt... upside down to me. Like I should be on the bottom, flying up onto this tower. Of course, that was nonsense. Gravity was quite clear which way I should go. Maybe it was just that the pegasus was so far below me, a distinct change of directions from the norm.

"Ready Dash?" I called back. I was a little worried her wooden contraption might snap when I landed on it.

We exchanged nods, and I jumped, dropping from the scaffolding with considerable speed. I landed with all of the skill my SOLDIER training could muster, going from toes extended to a full crouch as I landed, bringing one fist down into a ground pound as I spread the shock from the landing throughout my body as best I could.

"Alright, yes! Just like that! Only, on the platform," Rainbow pointed out. I had fallen short of the platform by a few yards.

"Right. Just, uh... practicing," I excused. Rainbow gave a knowing look but accepted the excuse as I climbed back to the top.

The next try overshot the landing pad, landing alongside the lever arm connecting our two platforms. "Just finding my range," I excused.

But the third try was just right, and as the force of my landing pushed my side to the ground, it launched Rainbow's side up, allowing her to kick off at incredible speed, even by her standards. I watched as she careened into pretzel loops, tracing out an incomprehensible knot with her rainbow contrails. Ponies stopped in their tracks throughout the street to applause and cheer her own, before she finally zoomed past me, meeting my outstretch hand with a hoof in a resounding high-five.

Even though the applause wasn't for me this time, I could still enjoy basking in the glow of it, not just for my own part in it but also feeling good for my friend.

"Now Pinkie Pie, are you sure you're up for baking the muffins and running the store this afternoon?" Cup Cake, Carrot's wife, confirmed.

"Yes siree bob, Mrs. Cake. Plus, I have Ponyville's prized pony to help me out. Why, she's the best baker ever. Right, Cloud?" Pinkie Pie bragged.

Carrot looked at me skeptically, remembering my earlier attempts differently than Pinkie did. "I'll do much better, this time," I assured.

"Even better?!" Pinkie gasped in disbelief.

"All right. Well, see you later, girls!" Cup said, before the Cakes took their leave. I shuddered a bit in nervousness at what was to come. I just knew I was going to end up even deeper in debt at the end of this. At least I could survive off some of the free muffins, if any of them proved edible.

"Stop with the shakin', it's time to get bakin'," Pinkie Pie declared enthusiastically. I couldn't help but giggle at her antics, my concerns soon lost to the moment.

Mixing the ingredients went well enough, as far as I could tell. I mostly just grabbed things from the shelves as Pinkie listed them off, letting her measure and pour them into the bowl, before I stirred them together. It wasn't until it was time to put them into the oven that things went really wrong.

I placed the first tray of muffins into the oven, closed the door and reached for the dial that controlled the device. When my hand touched, I felt a spark, and everything seemed to dim a bit, except two points of light on the oven's shiny surface, where my face was vaguely reflected. Before I could wonder what this portended, smoke began to pour out of the oven. I opened it quickly, only to find the muffins were on fire.

The fire extinguisher's spray did its job well, but would be a poor substitute for proper frosting.

"Okay, now let's try that again, only this time try not to get them quite so hot," Pinkie advised.

"Not so hot, got it," I repeated, nerves shot as I shakily dared to put the second tray of muffins in where the first had perished. I was focusing on that thought when I reached for the controls a second time, and felt that shift in brightness once again. "Did you see that?"

"See what?" Pinkie said, her face immediately pressed against the glass of the oven. "I can't see anything with all this frost in the way," she pointed out.

"Frost?!" I baked away from the cursed oven, as Pinkie opened it up, revealing the muffins to be not merely uncooked but actually coated with a thin layer of ice.

"Wow, you really know how to keep it cool," she said. "I didn't know our oven could even do that!" She happily snapped into a chocolate chip popsicle, loudly expressing her joy at the treat.

"Maybe you should do the actual baking part," I suggested.

"Oh Cloud!" Fluttershy greeted. "Thank you so much for offering your herding skills for the annual rabbit roundup."

"No problem, Fluttershy," I offered. "You know, I'll take any job at this point. So what are we doing here?"

Fluttershy nodded before explaining. "Well, lots of new baby bunnies have been born, so it's my job to get a count of all the new families. Just remember, these are bunnies we're dealing with, not cows. They're a timid bunch and need to be treated gently."

"Gently, right. Let's get started," I said, moving toward the bunnies. Every time I approached though, they fled, scattering in all directions of course.

"Okay, little bunnies! I need you to all gather here in the middle," she requested sweetly, eliciting at least some cooperation.

"That's right! Let's go, bunnies. In the center. Hop to it," I cajoled, doing my best to imitate a drill sergeant.

"Cloud! Stop! You're scaring them," Fluttershy objected, more loudly then I think I had heard her get up to that point.

"Sorry," I said, sighing and taking a seat. I closed my eyes, feeling the grass and the wind as I calmed myself. It reminded me of Aeris a bit. Fluttershy did as well. Those memories stirred more memories. A date? Had I gone out with Aeris already? No, she'd had some other boyfriend before me, but we had just met...

"That will do very nicely, Mister Strife," Fluttershy commended. Daring to open my eyes, I realized I was in the epicenter of a tightly packed crush of bunnies, quite a few of them atop my legs, hands and shoulders. There was even a couple little ones nestled amongst the spikes of my hair. I sighed anew.

When I got back to the Apple's home that evening, Applejack was nowhere to be seen. I even got a simple "nope" from her brother when I asked if he'd seen her since breakfast. This got me worried, and her family was as well, but Big Mac was injured from an accident still. He couldn't work the fields in his state, though he could still accompany me to look for his sister.

We got out to the fields to find Applejack sprawled on the ground before a basket full of apples.

"AJ are you okay?" I called out as I closed the distance.

"Fine, fine... a bit bushed, but otherwise," she struggled to her feet before posing. "I finished! See, I told you I could do it all by myself. How do you like them apples?" she said, taunting Big Mac.

"How do you like them apples," he countered, pointing behind her as he used more words in one sentence than I was accustomed to.

Applejack was crestfallen as she turned to look behind her, seeing acres of trees left to be harvested. "Ugh..." she sunk to the ground in defeat.

"You did good," I commended. "But for a boss battle like this, you need the help of other party members. Can we help you now?"

"Alright... you win. But what do you mean we?" Applejack questioned. "Big Mac's still injured."

"True, but I do have some other friends," I pointed out. "And so do you."

We traded smiles before I headed back to town to gather the help we needed.