My Little Pony: Seeds of Friendship

With the crops planted and the weather patrol watering them, I really had nothing else to do. AJ said the turnips would be ready for harvest in about a week so I needed something to do with the time between growing cycles. As I was low on funds I decided to see if there was any temp. work I could do for some extra bits.

I decided to go see the mayor at town hall and see what she suggested, “As a pegasus you could always help out the weather patrol; a lot of ponies do that in their spare time”

I decided why not and crossed the hall to Rainbow Dashes office. She was sitting at her desk, grumbling about paperwork when she heard me enter. She raised up to address me, “Morning Sage, is everything okay?” She then grew stern, “Is this about Cloud dumping the rain on you yesterday?”

“No,no,no” I said waving my hooves back and forth. Last thing I wanted to do was get Cloud in trouble, “I've got some free time till I can harvest and the mayor suggested I try weather patrol duty till then”

Rainbow seemed to measure me up, “Do you know anything about weather control?”

There was an awkward moment of silence, “Kick the cloud till rain comes out?” I finally said sheepishly. Rainbow's resulting face hoof was audible.

Rainbow was willing to give me a chance so she and I flew up to where the other weather ponies were working. She called out to them as we approached, “Okay listen up, Sage here's going to be shadowing some pony to learn the basics of weather patrol. Any volunteers?” After a moment no pony said anything; guess they didn't want to be dragging around a greenhorn.

“He can come with me” said Cloud after flying to join the group.

Rainbow eyed Cloud suspiciously, “I don't know...”

“Why Rainbow Dash” Cloud said in mock indignation, “I'm your assistant weather manager, if there is any pony who is best to teach the new guy how to buck a cloud it's me” Why do I get the feeling that was a double entrendre or am I reading too much into it? Cloud glanced at me and smirked, “We already get along great so I'm the perfect choice, don't you think so Sage?” I felt my face go red a bit when she addressed me and silently nodded causing Cloud to give me a warm smile.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, “Fine but keep your mind on work during work hours”

I spent the next few hours of the morning shadowing Cloud as she explained the basics of weather control: how to get rain from a cloud, how to avoid lighting, how to spot weak spots in the cloud and other basic stuff. After a bit I managed to get the hang of it and Cloud even let me deal with a few clouds on my own.

By the time noon came around most of the big jobs for the day had been done, “Been a pretty smooth day so far” Cloud said as we hit the ground, “Now we break for lunch and finish out the day” At the mention of lunch I realized just how hungry I actually was as my stomach chose that exact moment to growl loudly. Cloud laughed, “Lets go to the Hay burger place for lunch, my treat”

Once at the restaurant we got our food and began to eat in silence, “Can I ask you something, Sage?” Cloud said after a few moments.

“Sure, what is it?”

Cloud shifted in her seat a bit as if she was unsure of how to word her question, “I was just wondering; Your a pegasus with little weather training trying to be a farmer but also has no farming experience. If you don't mind me asking what is your special talent?”

Ah, that question. I've been asked that question by many ponies since I got my cutie mark and disliked addressing it; Clouds aces in my book though so she deserves an honest answer, “To tell you the truth, I have no idea”

Cloud looked at me puzzled, “How can you not know?”

I shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine. I went to sleep one night and woke up the next morning” I raised my wing and pointed at my cutie mark; a sun with a crescent moon in front of it, “with my cutie mark and no idea how I got it” I slumped down in my seat some, “My parents think I must have realized what my talent was in my dreams but I can't remember what it was I dreamed if anything that night”

We finished our meal and went back to work but the rest of the day seemed a bit off. Cloud and I didn't talk much the rest of the day; the fact I have a cutie mark and have no idea what it means always makes me a bit mopey like not knowing makes me less of a pony or something. It was after the sun started setting when the weather work was done. Rainbow paid me for my time and said I was more than welcome to join them again. I made it back to the farm house okay, my mind still thinking about my conversation with Cloud; I always end up a bit introspective when the topic of my special talent comes up.

As I got to the door of the house I heard some pony approach. I turned to see Cloud land beside me, “Hi Cloud, everything okay?” I said but couldn't help noticing my tone was flat; my mind was still stuck on the cutie mark thing. Cloud walked up to me... and hugged me in a big bear hug which completely caught me off guard causing my face to reddened as she embraced me.

“A special talent or the lack of knowing one does not define you” Cloud said in a soft tone. Cloud was able to read some of my feelings; these thoughts I've had not just for today but for a long time.

“I know” I said then hugged her back, “Thanks”

She smiled sweetly as we let go of each other and before flying off kissed me on the cheek, “Just be you; that's all that maters” She said as she took to the sky. I watched her fly out of sight; the odd sensation I felt lingering for sometime.

The rest of the week flew by pretty fast with me helping the weather patrol for some extra bits and budgeting what I made back into the farm. I was able to have Spanner fix the cart so now it moves with ease; something that would be very helpful when my harvest came around. Sure enough a week after planting the turnips the leafy green tops were visible and ready for harvest.

“Well look at you” Said Apple Bumpkin as she wandered up to join me beside my field, “Your first harvest. Don't go getting a big head, first one is always the easiest” She teased.

I grinned, “Still I have a harvest. I was honestly half expecting them to all die on me”

Bumpkin nudged me in the side, “You need to quit being so pessimistic. Look on the positive side of things” I chuckled then something past Bumpkin caught my attention, she frowned and turn in the direction I was looking. When she saw it was Berry Punch walking up to the farm she smiled, “Hey Berry, how are you today?”

Berry looked at us and smiled, “Hi Bumpkin, I came to talk business with Sage”

“Business with me?” I repeated

Berry nodded as she walked up to Bumpkin and I, “I heard from AJ you were growing turnips, might I inspect the quality of them?”

I glanced a t Bumpkin than back at Berry, “Sure, I was just about to harvest them”

As I began to harvest the turnips and put them in my cart, Berry would inspect their firmness and color; checking a random one over carefully. After I had finished harvesting them I walked up to the cart where Berry was appraising the crop while Bumpkin watched.

After a moment Berry turned to me, “This is a decent crop, I'll give you 200 Bits for the whole lot”

I blinked a few times, “Really?” I said in stun surprise causing Bumpkin to chuckle at me a bit.

“That's a really good deal Sage” Bumpkin said with a smirk, “At the most you probably only get about 150 bits by shipping them and even less at the market. Berry's offer is very generous”

I glanced at Bumpkin, “Oh, I had no doubts as shes a friend. The sudden sell of my entire first crop just took me by surprise is all”

Berry chuckled, “Still getting use to the farm life huh? Instant sells are a good thing, keeps you from having to find someplace to store the harvest”

After harnessing myself to my cart I pulled my cart along side Berry Punch, Apple Bumpkin had some errands to do so we bid her good-bye. After walking in silence for a few moments I thought I would start a conversation, “Are these turnips for one of your drinks?” I asked.

Berry nodded, “Mmmhmmm” I didn't know what else to say so the conversation just died after that.

After a few more moments walking we reached Berry's vineyard. Bushes of different kinds of berries and grapes dotted the fields. Berry motioned for me to follow her to a large shed like building in the middle of the field. She opened the door to revel a large contraption of some kind.

I stood in awe at the machine, “What is this thing?”

Berry grinned, “Awhile back these two unicorn swindlers came to town and tried to out cider sell the Apple family with some fancy cider making machine” She patted a large cylinder on the device, “Silver Spanner managed to get a good look at the thing and I asked if she could make something similar. I use it to make all my brews”

I unhitched myself and watched as she cranked on the machine. It belched loudly as it came to life, “So do you just put the turnips in or...?” My question trailing off.

Berry pointed to a hopper, “Just start funneling them in there, this thing does the rest” I nodded as I began to throw the vegetables into the contraption. It made many different noises as the turnips tumbled inside. After the last one was in I glanced at Berry who was watching a distillery attached to the machine as turnip juice started to trickle out. She took the beaker and added some to a purple liquid than stirred it around.

She sampled some than made a face of pure disgust, “Still too starchy, needs more wildberries” She said as she moved to turn off the machine.

“wildberries?”

She nodded, “Yes, turnips are abundant this time of year so I'm trying to create a spring brew that uses them but they are so starchy that the only thing that works well with them is wildberries. Now I just need to get the ratio of turnips to wildberries just right” She grabbed her saddlebags.

“Need any help?” I offered.

Soon Berry and I were walking through the Everfree Forest; I shuddered a bit as we walked causing Berry to roll her eyes, “Come on now, there is nothing to be afraid of”

I swallowed hard, “I've always heard bad things about the forest” I said as I walked beside Berry.

Soon we came to a large patch of bushes with large multicolored berries, “Here we are. Start picking some Sage” She said placing her saddlebags on the ground. Between the both of use we were picking berries in big heaps, “Wildberries only seem to grow here in the Everfree; I've been trying to transplant them into my fields but have had no success so far” She explained.

After about a half hour both of her saddlebags were full of the berries and we decided to head back. As we where at the edge of the forest both of us heard a low growl, “That's not good” I said quietly. We glanced back to see moving shadows start to surround us. Berry took off her saddlebags and fished around in them then pulled out a small green bottle.

She tossed me her bags, “When I give the signal fly straight up”

I felt my ears wilt, “What?” The fear I was feeling came out in my voice.

“Trust me” She said uncorking her bottle than downing its contents in one gulp. She threw the bottle aside shattering it than stared at the lead creature in front of us. It stepped into the light relieving itself to be a timberwolf; I swallowed hard as my mouth went dry but Berry was unfazed. The timberwolf shifted its weight, “Now Sage! Fly!” she yelled. I hesitated for a moment but did as she said; taking to the air as the pack leader charged; leaping into the air. The timberwolf was on top of her when just as fluid as water Berry rolled to her back than kicked with all four hooves hitting the timberwolf from underneath and sending it crashing into a tree.

The other timberwolves were stunned as the leader staggered back to its feet while Berry took a stance; balancing on her hind hooves with her fore hooves extended. Wait... I've seen that stance before in the movies. Is Berry... is she a martial artist? One of the side wolves jumped at her but again she fluidly dodged it than counter attacked; she then staggered some and hiccuped. Is she using Drunken Mare style?! One by one the wolves jumped at her and she fluidly countered each and every one; words cannot began to describe her movements, it was almost like she was dancing between their strikes and I swear I could hear her sing Patty Cake as she did it.

Battered and bruised the wolves didn't give up till one finally managed to hit her. A claw mark went across her cheek, “Rrrraaaww!” she roared when she realized she was bleeding; that made the timberwolves shrink back. The leader charged her again but Berry was through messing around and with a swift kick the timberwolf became a pile of splinters. She glared at the other wolves who whimpered than ran back into the forest.

“That was the most incredible thing I have ever seen” I said; landing back on the ground next to her.

She smiled at me, “Uuurrppp!” she belched loudly.