Chapter 1: Another Day’s Work
I stood just upon the edge of one of the many hills in Sweet Apple Acres gazing upon the thousands of apple trees in my sight. Great...applebuck season, I thought to myself. Another year of stressful work trying to provide ponyville with all the apples I could possibly buck; It wasn't going to be easy, and the best thing is my family is out of town for a week, so I'm going to be doing this all alone. I looked over my shoulder and saw Ironhoof off in the distance getting a swig of cider. He stopped and waved at me. I waved back smiling. Ironhoof was a good pony. He has been a friend to the family for who knows how long. Ironhoof set down something he was holding and started trotting towards me. What could he want? He soon caught up to me and smiled
"Hey, AJ, Whatcha up to?" He said in his raspy monotone voice he always spoke in.
"Oh, well, It's Applebuck Season and I'm applebucking...." I replied.
"Need a hoof?"
"That'd be great, Iron," I said smiling at him. "You can work on that set of tress over there."
I pointed over to a row not too far from mine and he nodded happily trotting over. His horn shined with a bluish-gray tint followed by the apple trees and soon the apples fell from the trees and into the basket. Hell, with his help we might be done with today's work by noon.
"So, Applejack?" Iron asked casually
"Yea?”
"After we're done, do you wanna get some cider?"
I should've guessed this pony would do ANYTHING for cider.
"Of course," I responded
His response was a small squeal followed by a bright smile, which of course made me smile in return. I bucked the last tree on the fifth row and looked over to see how Ironhoof was doing. Holy Shit... He already gotten twice the amount I bucked using that magic of his; I've always wondered how magic worked. It must be fun to be a unicorn, I thought to myself, chuckling.
Ironhoof trotted up to me, looking at the rows of trees and frowned. Once again, his horn lit up followed by the sound of apples falling into the buckets. I stopped and playfully glared at him.
"If you're such a hardworking pony, why don't you handle all of applebuck season?" I said sarcastically.
"Because...I have a job of my own," he responded, shaking another tree down.
I glanced over at his house/smithy. "Then why are ya helpin' me out?"
He looked at me. "I always come in your time of need, Applejack."
Time of need? He wasn't there when mah parents died...
I looked down and walked over to one of the trees that had already been picked clean and slumped down on it covering my face with my steston. If Iron is gonna finish today's deadline, I think I'm gonna take a slight nap. I closed my eyes and relaxed before an apple came falling down on my head, I quickly pulled my steston off, put it back on my head, and looked around, noticing Iron standing in front of me.
"Getting tired, miss 'Jack?" Iron teased.
"Uh...nope. Just figured if you were gonna do my work, I'd take a nice little nap."
He stared down and me, tossing another apple in my direction. I caught it in my mouth and placed it back in the basket.
"Quit that!" I giggled
"Only if you pour us a nice cup of cider," He smirked.
"Bribing me, are you?"
He levitated another apple in the air. "Don't mess with me, miss 'Jack, I'm armed!"
A laugh escaped my mouth. "Okay fine, we can go get some cider."
Iron and I trotted up the hill towards the barn where I kept my secret stash of personal cider. I usually spike it up with a little something extra for an extra kick, but I'll leave it alone for now. We made it to the barn door. I gave it a slight push and the door swung open. The barn was dusty and dark; I guess I forgot to light up the lanterns. The hay on the ground seemed fresh, giving off a nice, crunching sound as my hoof touched it. To my left was an array of tools arranging from hedge cutters to whips, and to my right was a wooden table that we usually use to saw off 2x4s so we can replace the old fence we have in the yard. I walked forward and opened up a cellar door that leads to my secret stash of personal cider. I pointed Ironhoof to the cellar and he gladly walked in, searching for the cider. I trotted over to a barrel and kicked it open with my back hooves, pulling out two glass bottles filled to the brim with sparkling cider. I tossed one of the bottles to Ironhoof and twisted open the cap on the other bottle. I took a sip of the cider and flinched due to the intensity of the alcohol mixed into it. I took another sip.
"Applejack, Thank ya," Iron said taking a large gulp of his cider.
"For what?"
"For the cider!"
"Oh, well, your welcome," I say, setting my cider down on a wooden crate.
"How long is your family going to be gone?" Iron says, having drunk the remaining of his cider.
"Around a week or two, all depends on how things work out in Appleoosa. They're on a family/business trip, determining how many apple trees we're gonna be selling to the Appleoosians this year, then we have to determine how much we profit."
"Oh?"
"Yea, there's a lot more work to applebucking than ya realize."
"Seems like."
The sun was soon setting over the mountainside and that meant it was time for me to catch some Zzz's. Iron stuck around for a few hours and helped me finish off the rest of the field I needed to buck for the day and then we just messed around, talking about how our lives have been since the last time we hung out.
Iron chuckled, "Well that's why ya don't combine baking soda with soda pop!"
I grinned. "Pinkie doesn't care what happens as long as something fun happens"
We both laughed and I sighed, taking another swig of cider. This was gonna be my last cider for the night; I don't think I could've handled another bottle. I chugged the remaining of the cider and threw the bottle away, trotted towards Iron, and gave him a hug.
Iron looked surprised. "Uh..Applejack..whatcha doin'?"
"Giving you a hug.."
"Why?"
"To show you how much I appreciate your friendship."
Iron wrapped his hooves around me and we both let go, smiling at each other. I walked forward and almost lost my balance, I guess the cider was getting to me, but I felt a sharp pain near my stomach and held the spot where it hurt. This wasn't right, I tried to walk forward but instantaneously became dizzy and fell over. Ironhoof ran over to help me back up but I was too weak to stand. He picked me up and slang me over on his back.
"Iron? Where are we going?"
"To get you to bed."
I chuckled a bit.
"Applejack, I'm gonna take you over to my house, I don't trust yourself alone right now."
"Okie dokie," I got out before hiccupping.
Iron carried me to his house. Along the way, I ended up passing out. When I awoke, I noticed I was laying in bed, I looked around, studying the décor. The walls were a light bluish tint with white murals over them. The murals looked like two ponies, Iron's parents, maybe? The floor was wooden and there wasn't much in the room but a dresser and a couple of end tables. There was a small couch or rather loveseat at the end of the bed propped against the wall. I looked over to my left and noticed a clock. It had been a day since I passed out on Ironhoof's back and it was around lunch time. I moved the covers in order to get up but stopped. I felt a unwanted presence in the bed. I continued to move and it became clearer. I looked down and noticed the sheets were wet. Great...I just wet the goshdarn bed!