https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dLAkMj5lItHWV0TfZNDYEGWfaVQ3magoYjq_NQeKEj0/edit?hl=en#

                                  The Trespasser
Part 1    
   Down in the town, spirits were high as Pinkie Pie held yet another party. "Did that girl ever do anything else." Up on the apple farm, though, one pony was by himself. It wasn't that he wasn't invited (he'd been to couple of them in past), but those wild, sugar fueled hootenannies just weren't his thing. It was okay though; he knew how to keep himself occupied.
   Big Macintosh strolled through the apple orchard, inspecting the crop. It was going to be a big one; he could already hear the jingle of bits in his head. On his way back to the house, the stallion's ear twitched and focused on a sound. A crunching sound. He didn't like what he was hearing. He knew both of his sisters weren't home, so could only mean one thing. Stiffening is chin and furrowing his brow, he tromped off towards the offensive noise.
   Once in the clearing, the sight of the large, brown figure gobbling his fruit confirmed his anger. "An apple rustler," he thought. He wasn't having any this. He puffed up and stomped over to the perpetrator.
   "Excuse me," he said in a commanding voice.
   Gilda heard him. And she ignored him. Just another lame-o pony harshing her buzz. She was getting sick of these dorks. She popped another apple in to her beak.
   "Ah said Excuse me, Ma'am" he snorted to emphasize his point.
   "Well," Gilda said to herself "looks like he's not leaving. I guess I'm going have to make him"
   She stood up and casually turned to face the pest. "Alright, what do you..." she paused "want?”  Wow he was big.
   A griffin? He didn't expect that. He'd heard of them, never thought he'd see one. But that didn't change anything. She was still a no good thief.
   "What do you want, hayseed?" Gilda was nonchalant.
   Big Mac stood resolute. "Would you mind tell'en me why you think you just come on to some pony's property and plunder their valuables?”
   The griffin rolled her eyes. "Gee, I didn't think you hillbillies could count. Like you're really gonna miss a few."
   The stick in his mouth shifted to the other side. "Ah don't like yer attitude, Missy."
   Gilda smirked "Oh yeah, watcha gonna do about it?” She puffed out her chest and extended her wings to make herself look bigger.
   The stallion was losing his patience. He rose to his full size and stood erect. His eyes deadlocked with his trespasser.
   Gilda started to get a little worried. None of the other ponies, not even Dash, stood up to her like this. This guy meant business.
   "Ah'm afraid Ah'm gonna have to ask for some sort of reimbursement and, one way or the other, Ah am going get it out of you." He scowled.
   Momentarily stunned by the intensity of the situation, Gilda was thinking as fast as she could. "Oh Yeah? Well.....you gotta catch me first" Wings shot down with a mighty thrust, and she tore into the sky.
   Unfortunately, she didn't account for the large pony's sudden burst of agility. Quickly leaping forward, he sunk his teeth in to her tail and forcefully yanked her back down. The impact robbed her of the air in her lungs and racked her brain. The world spun as she laid on her injured back. She could barely hear the pony as he bellowed.
   "We don't take kindly to thieves on this farm, little lady. Ah'm gonna have to show how the Apple family deals with your kind."
Grabbing her tail again, he dragged the offender into the barn.


   






   Part 2
   The daylight was slowly washing away as the sun crawled down the sky to kiss the horizon. Soon afternoon would greet evening and wait its turn for tomorrow. But the dwindling hours meant nothing to one pony. Not while he still had work to be done. He had all night, if that’s what it took.
   
   Strolling the path heading to the barn, Applejack was observing how a few things around the farm looked a little different. She and Apple Bloom had been home for about fifteen minutes after leaving Pinkie Pie’s party early. As much as they enjoyed those shindigs, sometimes a pony just needed a break. Honestly, a quiet night at home was all she really wanted. When they got back, however, Applejack couldn’t help feeling like something was a little off. She just couldn’t put her hoof on it. A quick search of the house made the situation more suspicious. “Now where did Big Macintosh go off to”? She knew he had to be somewhere on the farm. He would have left a note if he’d gone in to town.
   When she got closer to the barn, however, the puzzle started to come together. Rounding the corner and walking in, she found that her brother wasn’t there. But there was clear evidence that he had been. The room was an impressive sight. Tools were organized and shelves were dusted.  Cobwebs had been evicted and even the floor was swept. But that wasn’t the best part. Stacks of hay bails neatly lined the back wall. Must be eat least a hundred. All the supply crates and barrels had been moved to a comfortable spot off the side.  Not only were they out of the way, but easily accessible. The whole barn reeked of hard work and sweat. Whoever did this really busted their rear.
   Leaving, she stood at the top of the hill and scanned the orchard. After a second pass, the older sibling’s location was revealed. A quick trot down the trail and Applejack was just close enough to see what he was up to. Big Macintosh was standing off to the side with a stern look on his face. Before him, with her wings tied down and the apple wagon strapped to her back, was the reason for the farm’s tidiness.
   “Apple rustler, just as Ah thought.“ she said to herself. “And what do you know, it’s that jerk from earlier, the one that yelled at Pinkie and Dash.” What was her name; Georgia? Glenda? Gilda? Gilda. Whatever, she hadn’t even talked to her. All Applejack knew was that if what Pinkie and Fluttershy said was true, then she brought whatever her brother was giving her on herself.
   “Wish Ah found her; Ah’d really give her what for.” She gave momentary consideration to lending a hoof to the punishment, but she could see he had it under control. The griffin was clearly exhausted. Sweat poured from her face as she limply gathered stray apples and put them in the overloaded wagon. This round of labor would soon be over. Turning, and heading up the path, she would wait to talk to him when he got back .

   Collapsing in a broken heap on the barn floor, Gilda was finished. She couldn’t take it anymore; her once strong will had been whittled down to almost nothing. Tired, bruised and dirty, every part her body throbbed in aching pain. Even if she wanted to stand, her weak legs and blistered talons wouldn’t support her weight. Laying there facing the wall, she just wanted to fade away.  
   When they returned, there was another pony, a blond one with a hat, standing a few feet away in the side yard. After unhitching the cart, the stallion told Gilda to wait for him inside. After he shut the door, she could hear the two of them talking. The walls however, were thick enough that all she could make out was mumbling. But she knew it was about her.
   “I give up.”
   Minutes had passed: how many, Gilda didn’t know. The door swung open and she heard the heavy footsteps heading in her direction. Once there, her captor grabbed a bucket, turned it over and sat down. Gilda didn’t turn around, she didn’t want to see him. After few a more seconds of silence, he finally spoke.
   “Ah just got done talking to my sister. She was in town at that party. Seems you caused quite a stir down there. You want to tell me about that?”
Gilda huffed. “Why, what’s it to you?”
   “Not much, I suppose.” he responded, “but seeing as how you’re not going anywhere for a while, Ah thought we could talk.”
   “Well maybe I don’t want to,” she meekly shot back.
   Not amused, he gave her a warning ”Well then, maybe instead of us sitting here talking and you taking a rest; you can get up and Ah’ll have ya move bags of grain. It’ll save me work tomorrow.”
   The urge to protest that had quickly built inside of her fell hard. “Fine, I don’t care anymore.”
   There was another pause before Big Macintosh forced the issue.
   “Well?” he asked.
   She sighed and opened up, “The only reason I came to this town just to hang my friend. Everything was great up until” her tired voice then quickly gained emotion ”until that annoying pink one showed up. I go to her stupid party and I get publicly humiliated. The thing next I know everybody’s on my case when I try to defend myself and even my best friend kicks me out.” She was tearing up.
   “Ya know, that’s not exactly how Ah hear it.” he began to lecture. “From what Ah hear, you had all those pranks go off on you by accident and you threw a fit about it at the wrong pony. In fact, she said you were caught misbehaving and being a big nuisance before the party. Stealing things, yelling at folks for no reason, and even scaring mah granny.”
   She winced upon hearing that.
   “The way Ah see it,” he continued “something like this was gonna happen to you eventually. Ah guess it’s just yer luck it happened to be me. See, now that Ah know more about what’s going on, Ah can tell Ah’m not quite done here yet.”
   Gilda closed her eyes and desperately asked “Oh come on, you’re not gonna punish me for that too, are you? I mean, I’m sorry, ok”?
   “Nope,” he said sternly, “ it ain’t mah place to put mah authority on you fer something that wasn‘t mah business.”
   “Then what”? she finally turned to look at him ”what do you want out of me? All that hard work, all the pain I’m in now? Was it all just because of some apples?”
   Big Macintosh remained firm, but calm ”all Ah wanted from the beginning was a sincere apology.” He stopped long enough to that sink in. “But you wanted do things the hard way. If you’d just admitted you did wrong in the first place, then none of this, any of this, would’ve had to happen, now would it? “
   His words weighed heavy on her. With her pride shattered, there was clarity in her thoughts. She knew he was right. There was acknowledgment in her large, sob suppressing sniff.
   A small smile appeared on his lips. Shifting to his usual gentle demeanor, he softened his voice. “Alright, we’ve been talking long enough. Time for you stand up, now.”
   The doe eyed expression on her face pleaded for mercy.
   “Ah know yer hurting, but this last one definitely for yer own good.”  He gave her a warm look ”trust me.”
   Letting out a heavy sigh, she grimaced in sore compliance. Walking to her side, Big Macintosh reached over and grabbed the rope around her waist. With a strong tug, the bindings fell to the floor. Gilda stood there and stretched her wings; it felt good to finally have them free. But she was slightly confused. Facing the large pony, the conversation began anew.
   “Does this mean I can go?”, she asked
   “Well, Ah guess you could try. But you wouldn’t make it very far in the shape yer in.” he pointed out.
   She lowered her head, knowing he was right again. “So what do you want me to do now?”
   “Now, you come with me. We’re going into the house.”
   “For what?”
   “You’ll see.”
   With Gilda in the lead, the two of the them made their way across the yard and on to the porch. Big Macintosh opened the door and ushered her in.
   The house was heavy in the pleasant aroma of a large supper nearing completion in the kitchen. Gilda’s stomach roared angrily as the smells invaded her nose. This couldn’t be what she thought it was, was it?
   “Hey, now” Her attention was grabbed away by Big Mac. “bathrooms over there. Go wash up and be in the dining room in five minutes, okay.”
   She shyly nodded and did as she told.
   When she was done drying her talons, she opened the bathroom door and was greeted by a small yellow pony with a big pink bow.
   “Applejack sent me tah come an’ get ‘cha,” the foal cheerfully informed, “com’on. Food’s all ready and bet’cher hungry after helping Big Macintosh on the farm all day.”
   Gilda wasn’t sure what to say to that. Guess it was good way to explain to the kid why a thief was in their house and having dinner with them. Following her lead, they made to the dining room.
   The table just barely had enough room left on it to accommodate the plates for them to eat off of. The amount of food available here could have fed ten ponies. These farmers must have bottomless guts. The little girl lead her to the seat next to hers on one side. Across from them were the older two; the orange blond’s hat politely absent. The elder pony, the one from town, took her place at the head. They all sat in anticipation for the meal to start.
   Granny turned to her youngest and asked, ”Apple Bloom, would you like say thanks.?”
   The girl nodded yes and with that they all bowed their heads and closed their eyes. Not sure if she should follow, Gilda shrugged and gave in.
   “Thank you Celestia for the sun to grow our crops and warm our days. Thank you Luna for the calm nights so we can get our rest. Thank you Princesses.”  she then hopped up, “Ah’m hungry! Let’s eat.”
   Supper went off without a hitch. Food disappeared quickly (Gilda was hungrier than she thought, she’d never eaten so much) and the conversion was good-natured. No one brought up why she was there or what happened in town. In fact, they happily engaged her about herself; her past, her time in the Junior Speedsters, how she became friends with Rainbow Dash. They even got her to tell about some her embarrassing stunts (like that one time. Boy, that hurt to think about). It was difficult to admit it, but for Gilda, this was the first time in a long time that truly felt selflessly content. But it was bittersweet. The back her mind still nagged at the thought of how she got here.

   On the porch, Gilda sat in reflection. The meal ended an hour ago and, after exchanging pleasantries and helping clean up, she was excused to leave. But she couldn’t. Not yet. The day had been too heavy to simply bolt off without another word said. She needed closure. After a few more minutes, Big Macintosh appeared outside.
   “Digesting?”, he joked.
   “Yeah, don’t want to get air sick” she chuckled.
   It got quiet for a while before she piped up again.
   “Why’d you do this?”
   He rose an eyebrow ”Do what?”
   “Give me food, let me eat with you. “
   He gave her a side glance, “You were done. You’d repaid yer debt, and, well, Ah couldn’t let ya go in the condition you were in.” He gave her a warm smirk, “‘sides, thought you do with some companionship. Nothing a little compassion can’t solve.”
   Gilda sighed. She’d gone through so many emotions today. Now though, after the events of the evening, something became very clear to her.
   She turned to him, “Thanks. I think it was just what I needed.” She paused, then thought for a second “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry about today.”
   Big Macintosh gently nodded,“Water under the bridge. I’m just happy that I could help.“
   Then came something unexpected for the pony. Gilda flashed him a smile and quickly lunged forward, wrapping her arms around his big neck. She appreciably gave him a tight squeeze. Initially taken aback by the unexpected affection, Big Macintosh lovingly returned the gesture. When it was done, she spread her wings and with a mighty thrust, tore off into the sky.
   The red pony smirked and went inside.