Author’s note: Also, the thing I forgot about in the prologue was that in this fanfic, all the ponies have human-length life spans… just wanted to clear that up. Red Storm is in his late twenties, as are the mane six. Anypony else of significance will be talked about later. Thanks for your support, and read on!

Fluttershy and I trotted on at a steady pace rather quietly, which was just fine. I don’t mind not talking, and it also allowed me to look around to see my surroundings. Call me paranoid, but this also allowed me to mentally mark spots that would be good for an ambush. Perhaps it stems from trauma I suffered living with my father, as he trained me to expect attack anytime, anyplace by… well, attacking me at random points throughout the day. He once attacked me from a pantry. He had been waiting in there for three hours, just so he could surprise me. So much for a childhood…

“Well, here we are!” Fluttershy said, breaking my concentration. I hadn’t even noticed we had arrived at the orchard, let alone the ponies working there. I looked around, seeing the beautiful trees around me, filled with even more beautiful apples of all colours. The most common colour however, was red. So many beautiful red apples surrounded me, I forgot where I was for a moment, indulged in the simple pleasure of being able to behold nature’s splendor. Then, a voice awoke me from my trance… a rather odd one.

“Well howdy there, Fluttershy! Fancy seein’ you here! And who’s this new stallion you got here with you?” I looked down from the tall branches to see a mare standing nearby at the end of the dirt road we were standing on. The mare had an orange coat with a blonde mane and tail, both of which were tied back as ponytails. She also had bright green eyes that shone with a will like I had never seen before. She wore a rather fashionable dusty-brown Stetson hat, and had some freckles. Finally, she wore a Cutie Mark of three red apples on her flank… I stared for a moment. Then I blinked, realizing I had been staring at her flank. This is the second time this has happened, and I really must stop.

“Well howdy to you as well, Miss Applejack," I said, bowing my head and crossing my forelegs, "Nice to finally get the chance to meet you.” I said, mimicking her demeanor in a respectful manner. I understood the root of it as well as the general "country" culture. While I lived in a castle as a noble, I did take trips out to the countryside to oversee the villagers quite often. This exposure taught me many good skills, as well as taught me about the "countryfolk." In response, Applejack smiled.

“Well lookie here. Looks like yer friend here is well-versed in country pleasantries. Ya look like ya know me, but whats yer name?” I lifted my head again to reestablish eye-contact.

“Red Storm's my name. Fine farm you have. Your trees are lookin' healthy and strong, and the fruit of your labor looks to be mighty juicy." Fluttershy raised an eyebrow to my informal speech.

“Why thank ya kindly, Red Storm. Not many ponies appreciate the hard work we put into our farm. Why dontcha come along this way and meet the rest of the family?” As we followed the mare over to a nearby farmhouse, Fluttershy leaned over to me, and whispered:

“How come you never talked like that before?”

“It’s mainly because I wanted to set a good impression on all of your other friends. It’s also because I hardly ever talk that way anymore. I was trained like a dog to be civilized to everypony, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” I whispered back, reverting to my normal, formal speech again. “Although, I like to sneak it in here and there when I get the chance,” I added with a grin. Fluttershy rolled her eyes at me in a rather unladylike fashion as we trotted up to a large farmouse. At the front door stood a tall and very muscular red earth pony stallion. He had the same color eyes as Applejack, so I assumed that they were related. He was dripping with sweat and had clearly been working hard. He had a Cutie Mark of a split green apple, and had a manestyle similar to mine before it was cut, just a dirty blonde colour.

“This here is ma brother Big Macintosh. He does a lot of the heavy liftin’ around here,” Applejack said, gesturing to the red stallion with a nod of her head. “This is Red Storm. He’s new here in Ponyville, I’m jus’ givin’ him the tour of the place,” she said, this time to Big Macintosh. He nodded to me, but was obviously tired and didn’t move otherwise. As we made our way around to the barn, waving to Big Macintosh as we passed, I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye. Soon after, I heard a light “buzzing” noise, not unlike the sound of a fly. I looked to the source of the noise and saw a small wagon with a pair of fillies in it being headed by a scooter with another filly steering. From the erratic movements, I could tell they were out of control, as right when I saw them, the filly driving yelled:

“Lookout! Incoming!” This time, I saw it coming. I grabbed Fluttershy and Applejack, one in each foreleg, and jumped to the left, dodging the careening wagon by a few feet. After the dust settled, the wagon was tipped over, the fillies were dazed in a pile, and the two mares were brushing themselves off. The driver was orange with a purple mane, the first passenger was white with another purple mane (Looking a bit like Miss Rarity) and the final filly was yellow with red a mane, with a matching bow on top. I immediately knew the last filly had to be related to Applejack. The driver of the wagon got up and had a guilty look on her face. The other two untangled themselves and then got up to join the first. I then noticed that none of the fillies had their Cutie Marks.

“Oh man, I am so sorry mister!” the orange filly began.

“We lost control and didn’t see you until the last second!” The white one continued.

“We’re so very sorry ‘bout the whole thing!” The final filly’s accent proved her relation to Applejack. I then shoved my tail in their mouths to tell them to hush.

“It’s fine, really,” I began with a soothing voice. “Was anyone hurt?”

“No,” they all chimed together.

“Then everything’s all right,” I finished with a smile, standing tall again to face the two mares. Applejack stepped forward and opened her mouth to begin:

“Sorry ‘bout that Red Storm. These here are the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The orange one’s Scootaloo, the white one is Rarity’s sis Sweetie Belle, and the yellow one is my little sis Apple Bloom”

“It’s fine, really,” I chucked with a smile, “No one was hurt, and besides, I love little ones. They are all so very cute with their hectic antics,” I added, looking at the three young fillies with a caring smile. Suddenly, a nearby door flung open, revealing a rather irritated looking green old mare.

“Wass all the commotion about?” She asked, eyeing the group, one-by-one. Then she saw me and pointed at me with a bony foreleg. “Who’s he? A trouble maker? A new farmhand? A colt-friend of yours perhaps?” She asked, facing Applejack. The orange mare blushed at this, before saying:

“Naw, Granny Smith, nothin’ like that. He’s new in town, and was just givin’ him the tour. His name’s Red Storm.” The old mare eyed me suspiciously before asking:

“What about all that ruckus that I heard?”

“These three here, Granny,” Applejack said, gesturing to the three fillies. The green old mare gave me one final look before saying:

“Well, all righty then. Nice to meet you, Mr. Red Storm. I’m gonna be heading back inside, holler if ya need anything.” And with that, she left. When I turned around, The “Cutie Mark Crusaders” were already back on their mini vehicle, speeding down the dirt road out of the farm.

“Well, that was interesting, to say the least,” I said to Applejack. “Thank you for showing me around, but we really must be going now. It’s getting late, and we had other plans for the evening…” And so with that, we waved goodbye, and started on our way back into town. Fluttershy looked at me while we walked and said:

“Well now, wasn’t that exciting?” I nodded with a grin. “All we have to meet now is Twilight Sparkle. She lives in the town library, so let’s head over before it gets dark.”

Author's Notes:

Another thing, this may just be the only appearence of Granny Smith for one good reason: I can't imitate her! I sorta winged it here, but it just doesn't seem quite right... oh well. Don't let me keep you.