The deafening klaxon of the bell signaled the end of the school day and the start of the weekend.

“See you Monday, my little ponies!” Cheerilee called as her students left the schoolhouse.

Apple Bloom stood outside the schoolhouse, pacing back and forth anxiously. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo trotted over to her.

“What’s up, Bloom?” they asked.

“Applejack isn’t here ta walk me home,” she replied. “She’s always here before tha final bell on Friday!”

“It’s OK!” Sweetie Belle said cheerfully, “We’ll walk you home!”

“Ah’m not sure. Applejack might get worried if she shows up lookin’ fer me after Ah’m already gone.”

“Maybe something came up...” Scootaloo assured, “Besides, you’ve walked home with us dozens of times.”

“Well…” she pondered, “As long as Ah’m with you two, Ah don’t see tha harm.”

As the three passed through the farmer’s market and crossed a bridge, they struck up a conversation.

“What should we do today?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Try to earn our Cutie Marks like we always do!” Scootaloo said enthusiastically, “Log rolling? Corn shucking? Skydiving? What do you say?”

“Not today, Scootaloo,” Sweetie replied. “Not after we tried to earn our fire-walking Cutie Marks… My tail still hasn’t fully grown back!” She glanced back mournfully at her shortened tail.

“I said I was sorry!” Scootaloo retorted.

“Actually, girls, Ah was plannin’ on practicin’ mah apple-buckin’ some more…” Apple Bloom replied.

“Fine.” Scootaloo sighed, “Can we at least grab a snack at Sugarcube Corner first?”

They set a course for Sugarcube Corner when a voice suddenly rang out behind them.

“Apple Bloom!” Cheerilee called, racing up the path.

“Yes, Miss Cheerilee?” she asked as she trotted over to her.

“I’m terribly sorry,” she said between breaths as she panted, “It completely slipped my mind. Applejack told me to tell you why she wasn’t able to walk you home today.”

“What happened?” she asked nervously.

“Apparently, Big Macintosh has been out sick all day.”

The three fillies were flabbergasted.

“WHAT?” Apple Bloom gasped.

“It’s not too serious, but he’s definitely too sick to work.”

“Man. That sounds terrible,” Scootaloo said glumly.

“Ah’ve gotta get home and check on him!” Apple Bloom said, wishing a hasty goodbye to her friends before racing off toward Sweet Apple Acres with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo not too far behind.

“Tell him I said hello!” Cheerilee called after them.

After cleaning up the debris from her target practice at the schoolhouse, Impact decided to do a bit of grocery shopping at the market in the center of town. She meandered around the shops and stalls, stopping every now and again to buy something: milk, eggs, lettuce, tomatoes, and other necessities to last her a week or two. As she made her way through the crowds of ponies with her purchases safe in her saddlebags, she passed the spot where she expected Applejack to be with her apple cart, selling everything from apple pies to apple dumplings to just plain apples. However, after doing a quick double-take, she realized that the space was empty, only to turn back around and get a faceful of orange and blonde.

“Watch where yer goin’, ya lousy…,” the startled pony started to berate before she noticed who crashed into her, “Oh! Howdy Impact!”

“Hey, Applejack! What’s new?”

“Just a sec, sugarcube.” She turned back to the vendor, who just happened to be Carrot Top.

“There you are! A dozen carrots. That’ll be fifteen bits, please.”

She pulled the bits out of her coin purse and set them on the counter, then slid the carrots into her bag. “Thanks, Carrot! Have a nice day!”

“You too, Applejack!” she replied.

Her transaction complete, she turned her attention back to her alicorn friend.

“Now what were ya sayin’, Impact?” she asked as they strode through the marketplace together.

“Just saying hi,” Impact replied. “Are you picking up some groceries, too?”

“Sure as shootin’!” the straw-hatted mare said as she gestured to the saddlebags draped over her back, “Just a few thangs for supper tonight.”

“Mind if I take a look?”

“Ah’d prefer if ya didn’t…”

Impact couldn’t resist taking a peek. She saw the aforementioned carrots, a bottle of milk, some herbs, a freshly cleaned chicken, and a bag of… Her eyes widened at the sight of them. No, they couldn’t be.

“AJ… You didn’t…” she said in a horrified whisper.

“Ah have no idea what yer talkin’ about,” she retorted, visibly shaken. She quickened her pace to a brisk trot and continued down the street. She passed the Broken Wing Workshop, Impact’s home and place of business, but the alicorn matched her tempo hoof for hoof.

“I’d expect Apple Bloom to do something like this, but you?” she said in a harsh whisper, “This is almost scandalous!”

“It’s not what ya think!” Applejack replied, now looking visibly shaken.

“Are those…oranges in your bag?” she said with a devious smile.

“SO WHAT IF THEY ARE?” the apple farmer boomed, now fuming.

She locked eyes with Applejack, cast a sinister glare for several seconds, and then burst out laughing.

“Easy!” she said defensively, “I don’t care what kind of fruit you have, Applejack! Oranges are awesome! They help prevent scurvy! From cherries to cherimoyas, fruit is fruit!”

“Ah guess yer right… Wait a second. What’s a cherry-moyer?”

“Cherimoya,” corrected a familiar voice, “the fruit of the Annona cherimola tree, whose soft, creamy texture and sweet taste provide its secondary name, the custard apple.”

“Oh, those thangs!” Applejack said as the idea lantern in her mind lit up. “Mah third cousin Custard Apple grows them cherry-moyers down in the tropics of southern Equestria.”

“Cherimoyas…” the voice corrected again.

Impact turned her head back to see none other than Twilight Sparkle trotting up the street, with her faithful assistant Spike walking beside her.

“Twilight! Spike! Hi!” the two mares greeted simultaneously.

“Good afternoon, Applejack!” Twilight replied with a smile.

“What’s up, Impact?” Spike said, presenting the alicorn with an extended fist, who brought her own hoof up to meet it.

“Did I just hear you use Applejack and oranges in the same sentence?” Twilight said incredulously.

Spike gasped audibly and clutched his chest with his hand, feigning a heart attack.

“Blasphemy! Blasphemy, I say!”

Applejack started to tense up again, but Impact quickly intervened.

“Lighten up, you two. It’s just fruit. Besides, judging by the other foodstuffs, I see fresh-squeezed orange juice and homemade chicken soup in somepony’s future.”

“Ya got that right.”

“Oh no!” Twilight moaned, “Is Granny Smith OK?”

“Actually, Twi’, it’s meant fer Big Macintosh. Ah think he’s got a cold.”

Impact suddenly jolted a foot into the air, as if a bolt of electricity had jolted up her spine.

“Whoa!” she huffed as she landed, shaking her mane furiously and laughing, “Talk about a shocking development!”

Spike groaned at the terrible joke, but he chuckled a bit at the slapstick delivery.

“Very funny,” Applejack replied smugly, “but Ah really gotta get home.”

“Would you mind if Spike and I came with you?” Twilight asked, “I’m sure Big Macintosh would enjoy our company.”

“Ah guess it would be alright, but don’t blame me if y’all end up getting’ sick.”

“I’ll come too!” Impact chimed in, “Just let me put my groceries away. I’ll be back in a minute.”

True to her word, fifty-nine seconds later, Impact was back.

“Okay. Let’s go.”