I woke up to the sound the frost alarm beeping. Big Mac did it yesterday so today it was my turn. I climbed out of bed and onto the floorboards of the nearly century old farmhouse.
I slapped my stetson over my matted mane, wrapped a scarf around my neck, then got my flashlight and proceeded out my bedroom door. I tried to be as quiet as I could as I went down the stairs.
"Applejack", said Apple Bloom.
"Bloom, yer supposed to be sleep", I yawned.
"Ah know, but I heard ya and wanted to go with ya", she whined.
"Okay, fine, go get yer scarf and c'mon", I replied.
She quietly galloped upstairs and returned downstairs moments later with a scarf around her neck.
"C'mon, let's go", I whispered as I opened the front door.
Apple Bloom trotted out the door before I closed it. It was cold outside. I could see my breath and I could feel it seeping in.
As we walked to the first wind machine we walked under a beautiful star filled sky on a windless night.
The first wind machine was about five hundred feet from the farmhouse so it did not take long to reach it. It's propeller stood atop a silver pole that was about thirty feet tall which was high enough to reach the inverstion layer. It was on a thick concrete base with seven cubic yards of concrete.
"How do you turn it on?", asked Applebloom.
"Like this", I answered.
I opened the control panel and, checked the fuel which was at about three-fourths of a tank. I turned the ignition and the starter on the old Coltins diesel V8 engine started cranking. It sputtered and spat until it roared to life.
After a couple minutes I engaged the clutch and the propeller started spinning. I then gradually throttled it up to full throttle and it started to pull warmer air down from the inversion layer.
Apple Bloom had watched all of this carefully so I would let her start the next wind machine.
"So that's how ya start it sugarcube now lets get to the next one", I said as I closed the control panel.
"That's cool, Scootaloo would love to see it in operation, she's always keeps asking what it does", replied Apple Bloom.
"Well ya'll can have a sleepover but now let's go start the others", I said trotting off to the next wind machine which was about eight-hundred feet away.
Apple Bloom followed me down the row until we got to the next wind machine. This wind machine was different than the others because it had it's engine mounted on top of the tower instead of at it's base. It was an older model that made a bit more noise than the one closest to the house.
"Bloom, with this one all ya gotta do is turn it on because there's no clutch or anythin'"
"Okay AJ", she said before she opened the control panel and pressed the starter button.
The engine roared to life only after a few cranks. The older engines were more reliable but they were noisy as hell. The older wind machines were built by Apploosa Wind Machine or AWM in Apploosa. The engines were made by Maresville engine company in Maresville.
After that Apple Bloom and I went to start all the other wind machines in the orchard. The thunderous roar could be heard from miles away. A lot of our neighbors who had tree and bush crops that would be affected by the frost had wind machines that they started to.
The ponies in Ponyville would probably be complaining a storm in the morning about the noise because when something that loud is operating from midnight to dawn it's hard to sleep.
****7:00 AM****
I woke up a little after dawn because I was tired from the early morning chore. I slipped out of bed and looked out the window to see Big Mac out in the orchard shutting the wind machines down. The temperature was now above thirty two degrees and it looked like the machines did a successful job because a thin film of frost did not blanket everything.
After a quick shower I slapped my stetson on my mane and proceeded to eating breakfast.
"Good mornin'", I said to Apple Bloom, Mac, and Granny Smith.
"Good mornin'", they all replied.
I sat down at my spot and there was a plate of pancakes with dried apples in them. It was a traditional Apple family breakfast.
"Did the temperature drop below twenty-eight degrees?", I asked.
"Eenope", Big Mac answered.
"Well that's good so the wind machines saved half our crop again".
"Eeyup".
I finished breakfast then planted oats in a field Big Mac had plowed a couple days before. Seeding was a relatively easy chore as the seeder had a lot less resistance to being moved than the plow.
****11:00 AM****
After the morning chores were done I headed into town to go meet with Rainbow. I was just meeting with her alone to discuss something that had been bugging me for the longest time.
"I've been hearing this stupid noise all night for the past week!, I mean I heard it last year about this time of year, but come on, whoever keeps making that noise better quit it before I show them a piece of my mind", complained Rainbow Dash.
"Well Ah'm sure that pony will keep lovin' to keep ya awake", I chuckled.
"I mean, who makes that much noise at that time of night anyway", she continued.
"A farmer who needs to protect her crop", I answered.
"How does that farmer protect her crop with a noise machine?"
"Something about inversion layer, frost, and propellors".
"Well I need to find that farmer and give her a piece of my mind".
"She's right here Rainbow".
"Huh?", Rainbow said looking around.
"And let me tell you something, that apple farmer really thinks yer the prettiest mare in Equestria", I said befor kissing Rainbow Dash.
The End
