Shadow's Six Elements

Shadow awoke before dawn the next morning. Another night had come and passed, and it was back to the acres again to hold up his end of the bargain with Applejack. Today, there was a barn roof that needed urgent repairs, and while Shadow had his magic on his side, he was also pretty good with a hammer. As he made his way towards the countryside, he slammed down a stale muffin and some lukewarm Citrus Tea. He had made it to the acres just as Applejack and Big Mac were leaving the family homestead.

“Good morning, apples.” Shadow announced as he opened the front gates to the farm, greeting his employers with a friendly smile and a wave.

“morning, Shadow” Applejack retorted, still groggy. Big Mac, who wasn’t one for words, just greeted him with a simple nod.

“Where do we start, today?” Shadow asked as he followed closely behind Mac and his Sister.

“The barn needs that roof fixed as quick as can be” Mac said, in his deep southern tone. “Y’all should be able to handle that on yer own, right?”

“Course I can.” Shadow grinned proudly.

“and you know where the lumber, is right?” Applejack followed up, stifling a yawn.

“Yes ma’am. Where can I find you if I finish early?” Shadow asked.

“AJ’ll be in the southern field, I’ll be out near the zap apple orchard.” Mac chimed in.

“right then, see you in a few hours.” Shadow said, splitting apart from the siblings towards his assignment.

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In a matter of minutes, Shadow had traversed the empty orchard that surrounded the damaged barn, and found the lumber and other materials stacked haphazardly under the only dry part of the roof. The planks and boards would be easy enough to levitate, but the 25 sheets of plywood, and bundles of shingles and tar paper would be another story.

Looking about, he saw a rickety old pulley system, complete with a length of rope that used to run from the pulleys to the floor below. It was a bit tattered, and seemed to be split apart, but that would be easy enough to fix. Levitating the tattered bit of rope down to himself, he quickly mended and wound it between the pulleys. He then managed to rig up a sort of elevating platform to haul everything up to the loft.

This took the better part of two hours, and Shadow was starting to get hungry. Hunting around for his lunch bag, he found it and sat down for a bite. Examining the roof above, he saw that there were split timbers everywhere, and the hole seemed to have grown overnight. As he was formulating a plan of action in his mind, a familiar southern drawl greeted him.

“Shadow, you in here still?” Applejack asked from the barn doors as she entered.

“Up here, AJ!” Shadow shouted from the loft above.

Looking up, she saw the sweaty red and black unicorn munching on a tomato sandwich. She liked that look on him.

“Best not be slackin’ off up there!” She yelled up to him, starting to climb to the loft herself.

“Course not. What do you take me for, Rainbow Dash?” He yelled back to her as she finally made it into the loft where he was sitting.

“How long do you think it’s gonna take?” She asked him, sitting next to him for a much needed break. She had cleared a quarter of her field in record time.

“Four, maybe five hours at least. Maybe longer.” He said, noticing she sat unusually close to him.

“Why? I know the damage is bad, but I didn’t think it was that bad.”

“I think it may have fallen apart a bit more after we left last night. The hole seems bigger than it was. There’s also the fact that I have to work on a very thin catwalk, while repairing timbers, laying plywood, and then somehow finding my way onto the roof to make sure everything’s even. There are some things a unicorn can’t do with magic.”

“Oh. You better do a darn good job of it. I’m not paying you to halfway it.”

“I know, AJ. I would never dream of doing a less than spectacular job.” Then he notice AJ nearly leaning on him, a dazed look upon her features.

“You OK, AJ?” Shadow asked her, concern heavy in his voice.

“Yeah I’m fine.” She said, stifling a yawn. “It sounded like some timberwolves were having a howling party last night. I didn’t get much sleep.”

“And you were up with the sun again?”

“That’s part of a farm pony’s daily routine. The trees ain’t gonna harvest themselves.”

Shadow noticed her dreamy green eyes were staring directly into his, and she was leaning on him, getting closer and closer. Staring back, they got lost for a moment, and Applejack leaned in the last couple of inches, planting a sweet, gentle kiss on his muzzle.

After the brief contact, they parted and Shadow blinked. “what was that for?” Shadow asked, half amazed, half curious.

“Being a farm pony doesn’t give me much time for other things. Add that to being an element of harmony, and you have little time for dating, or free time in general. It’s kind of lonely. And Big Mac, well, he’s a bit overprotective and intimidating. He won’t let any stallions anywhere near me unless they show no interest. Like you. I just wanted to feel a kiss again.”

“Really? I knew Mac was protective, but not overbearing.” Shadow continued, still partly confused.

“He means well. Don’t get that wrong, now. He’s the only male figure Bloom and I have had in our lives since Ma died and Pa ran off. He’s just trying to keep us safe. Granny’s getting up in years. She can’t protect us as well as she used to.”

“That’s understandable. But wouldn’t Mac be furious if he just caught us…you?”

“That’s why he won’t find out as long as you keep your muzzle shut.” Applejack warned Shadow with a faint hint of malice.

“So what now? Is this going to be a constant thing or was that just a spur-of-the-moment type deal?” Shadow asked, genuinely curious. Sure, Mac was scary, but Shadow wasn’t small himself, and Applejack was cute.

“We’ll find out.” Applejack said, leaving Shadow to his work with a small wink.

Thoroughly confused now, Shadow decided to focus on his work and forget that he might possibly be sneaking around with Applejack. It made him feel dirty, but it felt so right at the same time.

After finally finishing the hole in the barn roof, Shadow made his way out of the loft and into the fields. He noticed that a good portion of the day had passed, and the sun was making its way to the horizon. After finding Big Mac, and being told there was nothing he could help with, he went to go find Applejack to see if he could help her in any way.

Wandering along, he came across Applejack’s field, which was nearly clear of all the apples in the trees. Levitating a forgotten apple off of a branch, he helped himself to a bite of the delicious red fruit, when he heard the steady thunk of hoof on wood. Jettisoning the now demolished apple, he found AJ hard at work, filling up the last few baskets that were strewn about. Watching her toned muscles pull back and spring forth, he got scared for a moment.  A swift kick from either of her back legs was liable to be deadly, or at least extremely painful.

Approaching AJ as carefully as possible without startling her, he asked her if she needed any help.

After another swift kick against her tree, she answered.

“Did you finish that barn yet, Shadow?” She grunted, landing another hard kick against the tree, making the last few apples fall off.

“Certainly did. The whole thing will eventually need to be replaced, but it should hold until next season. If you can come up with supplies, I’ll fix it up for you next year” He offered.

“If we could come up with supplies, it wouldn’t need to be done” She snapped at him, somewhat unintentionally. There was a slight edge to her voice, that wasn’t particularly malicious. She just hated how stupid the exotic unicorn could be sometimes.

“Ok, I’m sorry. The offer still stands if you do manage it. I could even do a little at a time” He offered once again.

“We’ll see.” She grunted at him, bucking the tree that she had moved on to.

“Do you need any help over this way? I exhausted what supplies you had on that roof job, otherwise I’d still be working on it.”

“I’m just fine and dandy, thank’ee much. How about Big Mac? Can’t you see if he needs anything?” She ventured, not necessarily wanting to be rid of him. She just wanted to stop getting distracted. Daylight was burning and she was cutting it close as is. Lack of sleep was also eating at her patience.

“Already asked. How do you think I wound up over here?” He retorted, a playful, almost teasing tone in his voice.

“Then go on home. We’ll see you tomorrow, bright and early.” A final thud of hoof on tree announced that she was done with the conversation.

“Fair enough. Goodnight AJ.” Shadow left, debating whether or not to remind her he used to be a farm pony. He decided not to. She seemed irritated as is, and that particular sentence wasn’t important enough to warrant a buck to the face, or a worse region of male pony anatomy.