My Little Pony: Seeds of Friendship

The next morning I decided to head to Sweet Apple Acres; the farm the mayor mentioned for some seeds so I could start planting while it was still early in the season. I took the old cart my grandparent's used with me to move the supplies I needed easier but the cart was very stiff and hard to move; guess I'm not that strong. As I approached the farm I could see an orange mare in a stetson heading into the orchard.

She saw me as I entered the farm, “Howdy Sage, what brings you here?”

I saw her last night at the party but never had the chance to introduce myself to her,“You have me at a disadvantage, miss...?”

“I'm Applejack, pleasure to meet ya” She said

That name sounds familiar, “Oh yea, your Apple Bumpkin's cousin. She mentioned you last night”

AJ smiled, “Bumpkin said you and her got along well so any friend of hers is a friend of mine” She nodded her head in a manner that seemed to punctuate the sentiment, “So what can I do ya for?”

I unhitched myself from my cart, “The mayor suggested I come here to buy seeds for my farm as well as get advice from ponies with more experience”

She eyed me with a look of suspicion, “Do you even know how to run a farm?”

I lowered my head, “Not really, no. I know a few things from watching my grandparent's but in the end I'm just a city colt who wants to try and be like them”

I glanced up at her and she gave me a reassuring smile,”It's hard work but if you have the patients and the heart for it it's mighty fulfilling” She then raised her hoof, “I think I know something just right for you” She turned and went into the barn then after a few minutes came out with a small sack. She placed it in my cart, “These here are turnip seeds; they grow fast, are easy to care for and are cheap making them good for a first time farmer. Get your hooves wet growing these than you can start planting the more expensive crops once you gain the experience” she patted the sack, “These here turnips will grow to full size in about a week as long as you water them daily. Once harvested you can sell them in the farmer's market or ship them out to other places in Equestria”

I looked at the sack, “If they don't die on me anyway” I said gloomily

AJ smirked, “As I said their cheap which means their fairly common too. While you wont get much per turnip if the entire crop ends up a bust it won't hurt you that much. Gaining experience is the important thing”

AJ spent the next 15 minutes giving me farming advice and tips; all of which was greatly appreciated. After paying for the seeds and saying good-bye I headed back to my farm to start planting; something I was actually starting to get excited for.

After a struggle I managed to pull the cart back to the farm; Pepper had woken up by then and was sunning himself by the house having used the dog door to get outside. After unhitching myself from the cart I went to the tool shed to get my grandparent's plow to start planting. When I opened the shed however my heart sank, every tool was covered with rust. I looked up at the roof of the shed and could see cracks; years of rain had washed down on the tools making them practically useless. I sighed as I removed the tools from the shed, afraid that they would break at the slightest touch. The contents of the shed were the old plow, an ax, a scythe and a shovel; I placed all of them by the field and scratched my mane, “What am I gonna do now?”

After some thought I knew exactly what to do and in a few moments Silver Spanner and I were walking back up to the farm, “Thank you, I feel like such an idiot for not checking the tools earlier”

Spanner waved her hoof, “No worries, lets take a look”

Once on the farm I asked Spanner if she could inspect not just the tools but the old shed, the house and the cart if possible; I don't need anymore surprises. She agreed and set to work looking everything over; I was impressed with her speed as she was quick but methodical in checking for problems then making notes in a notepad she brought in her saddlebag.

After about an hour she approached me, she had a bit of a concerned look on her face, “Okay after a quick inspection here's what I found” She motioned to the tools, “Thankfully the rust hasn't eaten to the core of the tools so they are salvageable” She then motioned to the shed, “The shed on the other hoof is full of dry rot; It's a wonder it hasn't fallen over yet. I'm afraid demolition is the only course for it” She motioned to the cart, “The cart is surprisingly sound though the axle is bent a little”

“So that's why it was so hard to pull” I said, causing Spanner to nod her head.

She then pointed at the house, “The house is stable for now but I did notice a few problem areas. If they are not addressed soon it could lead to bigger problems”

Great. I lowered my head, “How much is it going to cost me to fix everything?” I said in a whisper.

She looked over her list and began to add it all up, “About 460 bits give or take”

I inhaled sharply, I only came to town with 300 bits and after the grocery shopping and seed buying I'm down to 210. This is not good.

Spanner looked at me, her face one of sympathy, “I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news. What do you want to do?”

I looked up at her than raised my head up, took in a deep breath and let it out, “Grandpa always said 'When the cloud under you dissipates, just wing it the best you can'” I muttered under my breath. Spanner heard me and smiled the kind of smile a mother gives when they are unsure but hopes for the best, “I need to fix up the house, I lose it my farming days are over. I also need a way to plant the seeds so the plow is also important” I glanced at Spanner and my ears drooped down, “I have 210 bits between me and broke, can I fix what I need to?”

She nodded, “The house is the most expensive thing so with that many bits I can fix it up no problem with enough left over to repair the plow; I can even fix up your cart if you want me to but that will use every last bit”

I thought about it for a second, “Cart is a convenience, it can wait for now”

Spanner nodded than using her magic levitated the plow, “I'm gonna get started, if that's okay?” I nodded than handed her the bits so she could start repairs.

As she walked off I sighed, “Not a good way to start a farm, is it?”

She chuckled, “Actually most farmers don't have much money either. Sweet Apple Acres makes a lot of money but spends just as much on farm upkeep and shipping costs. So really, if anything your on par with the other farms in town” So being broke was just as much a part of farm life as anything else; I smirked at that.

As Spanner went back to her workshop to start repairing the plow, I headed to town hall to add my farm to the weather patrol list; Applejack told me to it's much easier than trying to water the crops myself. As I entered town hall I saw a familiar face, “Hi, Helia”

Helia glance my direction, “Oh, hey Sage. I thought you would be busy on your farm”

I shrugged my shoulders, “Farm is in need of some repairs bad. Silver Spanner is working to fix what she can so till shes finished I came to get my farm added to the weather patrol route”

Helia nodded, “Yea, that can make things easier for you but it just means more work for us weather ponies” She said teasing than chuckled, “Rainbow Dash is in charge here so go see her to fill out the needed forms... If she can even find them that is”

I found my way to the weather office and saw first hoof what Helia meant; mountains of papers were everywhere, piles of boxes with even more papers hastily shoved in them and a couple of empty soda bottles laying around. I glanced at the desk to see... Cloud Kicker doing paperwork, “Hey Cloud”

She glanced up at me and smiled when she saw me, “Nice to see you Sage” she gestured toward the mountains of papers, “Welcome to the mad house. Here on business” She then did the tiger look again, “Or is this a social call”

I could feel my face heat up again so I just chuckled weakly and tried to change the topic, “Helia hinted that the pony in charge here was not that well organized” I said glancing around the room.

“Understatement of the century” She said rolling her eyes, “Rainbow is all about action and would rather do something than fill in paperwork on it. As her assistant manager it's my job to help her with the important day to day aspects of the weather patrol management”

I grinned, “So basically you do the paperwork so she doesn't catch Tartarus from the mayor”

Cloud groaned, “Yes; You have no idea how intimidating the mayor can get when she's mad”

Just then a blue rainbow maned pegasus came into the office, “Which is why you should finish those papers instead of talking CK”

Cloud rolled her eyes, “Right boss” she said getting back to her papers, “By the way, Rainbow this is Sage Nights; the new guy”

Rainbow looked my way, “Can we help you with something or are you just here to talk to Cloud” She sounded a bit miffed.

I've never been good at dealing with confrontation, “I just came to see about getting my farm added to the weather patrol route, if I've came at a bad time I can come back later” I said as my ears lowered.

Rainbow caught on to her tone, “No it's okay, sorry Sage. It is nice to meet you it's just” She let out a sigh, “I just learned Muffins put a lighting bolt through some ponies roof”

Cloud slumped a bit but didn't look up, “Again?”

I raised an eyebrow, “Muffins?”

“A pegasus friend of ours who owns a delivery business but moonlights with weather patrol duties from time to time” Cloud explained still head down over her paperwork, “She's a sweetheart who means well but everything just seems to go wrong when she's involved”

Rainbow pinched the bridge of her nose, “She was working for us at the time of the incident so an accident report needs to be filled out once she gets back”

Now Cloud did look up, “Gets back?”

Rainbow sighed again, “The house she struck was Firecracker Burst's. She set off a rocket that tangled into her tail as she tried to get out of its way. She's probably halfway to the Crystal Empire by now”

With the help of Cloud and Rainbow I managed to get the correct forms filled in so my farm could be added to the weather route. Needed a name for it so my farm is now called Night Magic Farms; sounds kinds cool really. Rainbow said that someone would be over later to take care of the crop watering. I thanked her and exited the office but as I was leaving town hall I saw a slightly charred gray pegasus mare walk in; her yellow mane smoking.

“Are you all right?” I asked her, causing her to glance at me with a wall eyed expression.

“I'm fine thanks, why do you ask?” she said in a sincere manner.

I pointed to her mane, “You appear to be smoking” I said with as deadpan a voice as I could give.

She brushed her mane with her hoof putting out the smoking bit than smiled sheepishly, “Thanks, it's always hard for me to see things like that” I glance over the mare, her coat was black in patches and she smelled of charcoal. She gave me a friendly smile, “Your the new farmer in town right?” I nodded, “I'm Muffins, nice to meet you” she said holding out her hoof which I took in a hoof shake.

“Sage Nights” I introduced myself, “Are you sure your okay?”

She nodded, “I'm fine, I probably don't look it but this is nothing. To some it might look like I've had the worst day ever but to me it's just Tuesday” She chuckled. After a brief chat with the mare I bid her good-bye and went to exit town hall; as I was leaving I overheard Cloud and Rainbow express relief that she was okay while Muffins said she didn't know what went wrong.

Back at the farm I heard some clatter on the roof; I glanced up to see Spanner working. She was replacing some roofing tiles by the look of it.

She noticed me and waved, “I managed to get your plow back in shape” She pointed toward the field. Right beside it was the plow, all shiny and new looking; I felt kind of bad I was going to have to dirty it.

Before I could even use the plow though I needed to get up all the weeds, so I start weeding the field; a process that takes a few hours. After the weeds are gone I finally harness myself to the plow and break the soil; the dark rich earth just underneath the topsoil is exposed. Than following AJ's advice I plant the turnip seeds 3 at a time so I can ensure 1 will at least take root. By the time all was said and done the sun is setting and I'm standing in the middle of a seeded field.

Spanner finished the house repairs sometime ago and had decided to watch me work. She clapped her hooves together, “Nicely done. Maybe you are cut out for the farm life”

I couldn't help but smile, “Thanks, I can't wait to take a bath but I'm pleased”

As if that was a cue a cloud over head suddenly burst forth with rain,watering the newly planted crops and drenching me at the same time. Once the cloud stopped I looked up to see Cloud Kicker moving the cloud back into the sky; grumbling I walked out from the field while Spanner did her best to keep from laughing.

“One bath and crop watering compliments of the town weather patrol” Cloud said with a grin as she landed beside me. I was still dripping wet and now my hooves were caked in mud from the field.

“That wasn't what I had in mind” I deadpanned, then before she could react with an evil smirk I rubbed my hoof down Clouds face getting mud all down her muzzle. As she wiggled her nose trying to get it off both Spanner and I started laughing with Cloud eventually joining in.