Truly groaned as she got out of bed. It was too early for the white earth pony to be up and about, but today was the first day of the cotton harvest so they needed all able bodies... and against her protests that even included the plantation owner's daughter. She yawned and stretched each of her hind legs in turn.
The first rays of sunlight were just illuminating the land, and she gazed upon the beautiful colors of the sunrise over the scenic backdrop of their traditional Southern plantation. It was beautiful, but not really worth waking up this early. Hopefully breakfast could change her mind. She decided to skip taking a bath as there was really no point in doing so – she was going to spend the day getting sweaty and dirty, so instead she applied just a basic amount of makeup. She couldn't look her best, of course, but she still needed to look better than the common rabble that comprised the seasonal laborers.
As she sat at her vanity she dolled herself up more than anticipated – one of those temporary workers might be handsome after all. With a big rugged frame, rippling muscles gleaming under the sweat of a hard day's work... She felt a blush creep to her cheeks. A true Southern belle would never be caught gawking at the hired help. She would marry some prissy snob that her parents approved of. She huffed. None of the stallions in her social class were even remotely attractive. They were all wimpy little twigs that would snap in half if they had to suffer through a hard day's work.
She left the bright pink confines of her room and walked down the grandiose staircase to the dining room. Already the table was piled high with pancakes, hushpuppies, cinnamon apple dumplings, grits, hash browns, biscuits, and more. She salivated as the various scents competed for her attention.
"Eat up, Truly, we've got a big day ahead of us."
"Yes, Big Daddy."
Her mouth continued watering until she finally bit into the pancakes – her nose hadn't been wrong, their chef had outdone herself this morning. She ate her fill and smiled contentedly.
"Time t' head out," Big Daddy thundered. Within seconds the family's maids began clearing the table, carefully wrapping the leftovers for later. He rose from the table and his family followed suit. He quickly crossed the ornate dining room and opened the door to find a motley crew of migratory workers waiting for him. Most were stallions, but there were a few mares sprinkled in as well. Several of them looked underfed, but he was prepared to remedy that problem. "Howdy, all y'all, I'm Big Daddy and welcome t' my plantation. The next few weeks are going to be filled with hard work. I'll be blunt, some of y'all are going to find you're not cut out for farm work. But those who can handle it will be rewarded generously. To start things off on the right hoof, my chef has prepared a feast for all y'all."
The maids started serving the workers the leftovers from the family's breakfast and Truly scanned the line of workers as they ate. There was a mix of the usual migratory riffraff and a few down on their luck ponies she knew from town. But the one who stood out to her was a massive pile of muscles. He had a yellow coat, pink and purple hair, and a pair of cacti for a cutie mark. She swooned – there was no doubt about it at all, he was dreamy. He was also somewhat familiar, but she couldn't quite place the face. He wasn't local, but at the same time she was positive she'd seen him somewhere previously.
She spent the next several hours thinking about him while she picked cotton. It was a boring and repetitive chore, but necessary since cotton accounted for over 80% of the plantation's income. Besides, fantasizing about the dreamy stallion made the work go faster. The daydreams had started fairly innocently but had gotten progressively racier as the morning wore on.
The bell on the front porch started ringing, signaling it was lunchtime. She gathered as many baskets full of cotton as she could carry safely and headed back towards the house. As she turned around the corner of the house she ran smack into a wall of yellow. She bounced off and fell to the ground, balls of cotton fluttering around her as the baskets she was carrying spilled.
"Lovely," she thought. "Great way to make a first impression. Not that little ol' me could make a mark on that sculpted body."
"Oh, if it isn't th' mare that bucked me in the face at th' Iron Will seminar. I've bulked up a bit since then, I dare ya to up and try that move again."
So that's where she knew him from – he was the stallion she had come to blows with at the seminar in Hooveston. There were definitely moves Truly wanted to pull on him, but bucking him in the face again wasn't one of them. So she did the only thing she could think of – she apologized. "I'm right sorry 'bout that. It was very unladylike of me. I would be much obliged if you gave me an opportunity to make it up to you."
"'Never apologize when you can criticize.'"
Truly looked the buff stallion up and down. No criticisms were springing to mind. "I...I..."
"You know, I liked you better when you were feisty and argumentative. Where's the mare who had the guts to roundhouse kick a stallion twice her size in the face? Did you learn nothing from that assertiveness seminar at all?"
Truly jumped up and wrapped her forelegs around his neck and lifted herself up to kiss him on the lips. "Is this assertive enough for you?"
He blushed bright red. "That was... very forward of you. Are you always this friendly with your workers?"
"Just the hunky ones." She planted another kiss on him. "And the good kissers. Are you a good kisser?" She traced a hoof along his chest.
"I've been told I am. But I don't even know your name, miss."
"Truly. Charmed to meet you. And you are?"
"The name's Tex."
"Well, Tex, how about we get ourselves some lunch and continue this later?"
"When?"
"Maybe today, maybe tomorrow. Go deep in the woods down the low valley road." She smiled at him.
"Got it."
"Not yet, you don't, sugar." She sashayed away from him. "But you will."
As dusk fell on the plantation, Tex walked down the long valley road. He found Truly waiting for him on the bank of a small stream. "I was starting to think you'd never get here, sugar." As he got closer she slipped into the water, motioning for him to follow, her wet mane clinging to her face. While no one was looking on the old plantation two young ponies followed their hearts. Far out of earshot of everypony else, two young ponies allowed passion to overcome them.
And so it went every day for the next month. After the sun went down the two ponies would slip away to their favorite spot. But all good things must come to an end, and the cotton harvest was soon completed. Tex was getting ready to move on to another job in another town when Truly came to him and said two words he wasn't prepared to hear.
"I'm late."
He started shaking. "How late?"
"Two weeks."
"Do you think..."
"I've been sick every morning for the last week."
"So what now?"
"I don't know. My parents would never accept you as a suitor for me."
"We could elope?"
"I've got no discernible skills and you don't even have a steady job. It'd never work."
"Have you told them?"
"Not yet.
"You have to tell them eventually."
"I'm waiting until after you go. It'll be... easier that way. For all of us."
"I don't want to leave you. We made some bad choices. I'm stallion enough to own up and accept responsibility for my actions."
Truly leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "You're sweet. But the reality of the situation is y'all really do need to go. I'm sorry."
Tex had left that morning with the rest of the temporary workers, but had returned after nightfall. He stood still as a stone outside the house, listening to the shouting match going on inside between Truly and Big Daddy.
"How could you? Which one of those no good stallions did this to you? It was that Tex fella, wasn't it? You two sure were spending a lot of time together."
"I love him, daddy!"
"He's not good enough for you."
Tex felt his heart sink. He knew in his heart that her parents would never approve of him, but it still hurt to hear the rich old stallion say it.
"He's good enough to hire!"
"But not good enough to marry. You should know better. And he should know his place. You've brought shame upon this family, Truly. You truly have."
"I don't care!"
"I'm afraid we'll have to send you away to your sister's for the next few months. Until the foal is born, of course. We've got t' save face, after all."
"I don't even have a sister."
"It's an expression, dear. You know what I'm talking about."
"And then what?"
"You leave the foal at the orphanage and we arrange an adoption with friends of the family. Then we clean you up and marry you to a nice, suitable colt."
"I hate you, daddy!"
"I know, I know. Go to your room and start packing for your trip. Your mother and I will start making the arrangements."
Truly trudged up the stairs to her room. The bright and cheery pink of her room didn't suit her mood so she left the lights off. She opened the window, briefly considering making a break for it, but she saw Tex standing there, watching the house and waiting for something to happen. She sighed and closed the window and then the curtain. She would pack first thing in the morning. Right now, though, she just wanted to go to sleep and forget the world existed.
Tex shook his head and walked on down the long valley road, alone.
Author's Note
Inspired by Bruce Hornsby & The Range's song of the same name.
