Author's Note

So, if you already read the first chapter and prologue and you're coming back to this, you might want to reread those two. I've done a bit of editing and overhauling since they were first published. nothing in the story has changed, but...it is different. yeah.

Helping Hands

Applejack hummed contentedly as she pulled a heavy apple cart, a rough rope tied to a harness around her shoulders. Her lot in life wasn't particularly glamorous, no Earth Pony's was under Sombra, but she enjoyed it, all the same, especially the sense of routine it brought. Two weeks of the same old chores on the farm, and every third week she'd take a shipment of crops into the city. She'd spend a few days making deliveries, sell what's left at the market, and then head home to the farm and start the cycle over. She was nearly to the city now. She'd see the guards waiting at the entrance, ask Cold Steel how the husband and colt were doing while they check her entry permit, same as always. She'd work her way into town with her deliveries, and finish up her first day at the same old tavern, getting (hopefully) the same old room for a few nights while she was in town.

She was a bit taller than the average mare, but only slightly, and her relaxed posture tended to let other ponies forget that fact. Her body was covered with hard-earned muscles from a lifetime of physical labor. She adjusted the stetson on her head, her only protection from the merciless sun. There didn't seem to be a cloud in the sky today (in fact, there hadn't been one in a few days). She undid the first few buttons of her simple white shirt and rolled her sleeves up to her shoulders, hoping to cool down at least a little as she pulled the cart to the city. She pulled a simple, plain white handkerchief out of her back pocket and wiped the sweat off of her freckled cheeks, and away from her emerald green eyes as she crested a hill, finally making visual contact with the gates of Canterlot. She froze. This was not a sight she was accustomed to. Tents and pegasi were littering the ground outside the city. Some children huddling together for comfort, some crying. Some adults weeping, others just staring off into nothing, like they'd lost track of the world and couldn't find it again. She watched all of them as she made her way to the gate, feeling a horrible twisting in her gut. What had happened to these poor ponies? She continued to pull her cart through this makeshift encampment, all the way up to the gate. She noted guards wandering among them, distributing food and clothing.

"H-hey, Cold Steel, what's goin' on here?" She asked the guard when she'd finally made it to the gate, staring back over her shoulder as she held out her papers.

"You hadn't heard?" She asked, taking the papers and making the checks. It was all a formality. She knew Applejack could enter the city whenever she wanted. Still, Applejack insisted on following the rules and showing her papers every single time. "Cloudsdale's gone. So is King Aegis. And all these pegasi are looking for a place to live. Heck, even their princess is sleeping here to stay with her ponies."

"Do y'reckon Canterlot's got enough room for all a them?" She kept staring, the little voice in the back of her head questioning how they'd farm without weather control going ignored.

"We're making room." She handed the papers back. "Any empty home we can find is going to have as many pegasi as we can fit under its roof. But most of the space we've got is down in the burrows, and some of those shacks need a lot of work before they're fit for anypony to live in."

Applejack nodded, accepting her papers and sliding them into her pocket. She didn't ask Cold Steel about her family. She didn't enter the city. She just stared for a while. Then, she made a decision. She went to her cart and started pulling out a few bushels of apples.

"We've got enough grain to keep them fed for now, Applejack." Cold Steel let her know, but the farmer kept unloading.

"Grain'll keep ya movin', but an apple'll keep ya smilin', Granny always said." She looked at the bushels she'd set on the ground. "I wish I could spare more, but the rest of this already has owners..."

"Alright, alright. Just get going. I'll distribute the apples." Cold Steel said with a sigh. Applejack thanked her for her help and went on into the city. She stopped by stores, bakeries, and restaurants, dropping off load after load of crops. The whole time, the thought of those displaced pegasi kept nagging at her. She'd already given them so many apples, and that would cut pretty deep into her profits from this trip into town. The family would survive, of course. They weren't wealthy, but they had enough to go around, and enough saved up to hopefully make it through whatever drought they might encounter without Cloudsdale controlling the weather.

She finally reached the last of her deliveries for the first day. She tied her cart to a post outside to keep it from rolling away, covered the top of it and trusted the presence of guards to keep it safe as she brought a crate of assorted crops in through the front door.

When she got inside, she saw the familiar sight of the barmaid, Pinkie Pie, dancing on one of the tables, kicking up the edges of her long brown skirt as she treated the patrons to a song. Her white blouse hung down off of her left shoulder, apparently shaken loose by all of her dancing. The ale and food at The Frothy Flagon were alright, but the entertainment and service were what kept so many ponies coming back. It probably didn't hurt that she was easy on the eyes, either. Sure, her mane and tail were a mess of frizzy curls, and maybe she was just a teensy bit on the chubby side, but when she smiled, it lit up the whole room. When she looked at a customer with those wide blue eyes, they'd feel like something missing in their life had finally come back to them, like their heart was whole.

"One bit here, two bits there," Pinkie sang happily, accompanied by the rhythmic clapping of her customers, "Earn enough bits to please your mare! Her eyes do sparkle, her mane does shine--"

"And she's got a thick behind!" Called out one of the more inebriated customers. Pinkie immediately turned toward him, holding her skirt in both hands as she continued dancing to keep from tripping on the edges of the garment.

"I like the way you think, Starry Knight!" She called to the drunk before resuming her song. "She'll hug you once, she'll kiss you twice, she'll steam some peppers over rice! Your mare is faithful, your mare is kind," She paused, leaning forward in an exaggerated pose, one hand to her ear, and the other hand landing on her rump with a light smack.

The whole tavern called out in unison, "And she's got a thick behind!"

Pinkie laughed furiously as she bowed to the tavern, cheers and applause filling the room as a few bits flew up onto the table she'd been dancing on. "Oh, hey! Free money!" She scooped it up happily. "Thank you, everypony! Now, who needs a refill?" She swept around the room with incredible agility and grace as she gathered up empty tankards, taking them back to the bartender. As she waited for new mugs, Applejack walked up and rested a crate of produce on the counter.

"Hi, Applejack!" She gave the farmer an affectionate hug, causing a few of the drunks to whoop in approval.

Applejack rolled her eyes and returned the hug, giving her friend a pat on the back. "Hey, Pinkie. How's business?"

"Super busy!" She giggled, pulling out of the hug and grabbing some filled tankards off the counter, running them back out to the tables.

Applejack took care of business with the bartender, trading crops for bits, renting a room, and buying dinner. She sat down at a table and dug in, quietly remembering the pegasi she'd seen that morning.

"So, Applejack," Pinkie began, startling the farmer from behind. "Can I get you an ale?"

Applejack smirked. "No thanks, Pinkie. You know I do all my drinkin' in cider season."

"Boo," Pinkie replied, still smiling despite the rejection, "Sober Applejack never dances on tables with me!"

The farmer rolled her eyes, her cheeks reddening slightly at the embarrassing memory. "That's cuz sober Applejack knows none of these tables are strong enough to hold two dancin' ponies."

"Pinkie, you can talk to your friend when you're off!" Called the bartender. "We got hungry ponies to feed."

"Right! Back to work!" Pinkie called cheerfully, patting applejack on the back before leaving her to her meal.

"Hungry ponies to feed..." Applejack mumbled, staring down at her plate. She wasn't feeling quite so hungry herself anymore. She left some bits on the table and went to her room. She changed for bed, blew out her candle, laid down, and stared at the ceiling, hands under her head.

She thought for hours about the pegasi, their displacement, their wrecked lives, and she kept coming back to the same conclusion.

"I gotta do somethin' to help..." She whispered.

"Help with what?" Pinkie asked.

After a lot of shouting and falling out of bed, Pinkie lit a candle and leaned over Applejack.

"What're you doin' in here? When'd you get in my bed?"

"I got worried," Pinkie replied earnestly. "You didn't finish your food! You always finish your food! Sometimes you even get seconds and finish all of that! And the boss said I could talk to you when I was off work, and I'm off work now, so I came to check on you!"

Applejack got up, dusted herself off, and sighed. "Pinkie...That's mighty kind of ya, but I need my sleep."

"Okay!" Pinkie blew out the candle, and Applejack sighed again, rolling her eyes.

"Yer still in my bed, aintcha?" She asked the darkness.

"Yeah, I could use some sleep too." The darkness replied cheerfully.

Applejack gave up and climbed back into the bed. Bold as she was, it wasn't like Pinkie would try anything. Heck, it might be kind of cozy, sharing the bed with somepony else.

"Applejack?"

She let out a long breath through her nose, staring at the ceiling. "...Yep?"

"Help with what?" Pinkie finally repeated.

"You heard about Cloudsdale?"

"Oh..." All the joy was gone from Pinkie's voice.

"Yep, there's a whole passel a' pegasi outside the city with nowhere to stay." She closed her eyes, thinking back to the apples she'd given away. "I won't be needin' to go to the market this visit, so I figure...I could help patch up some houses down in the burrows. Guard said they're tryin' to fit 'em all in there, but most of the homes down in the burrows are busted up...I'm pretty good with a hammer, figure I could help."

Pinkie sighed, resting her head on Applejack's shoulder in the darkness. "I wish I could help, but the only thing I'm good at doing with hammers is juggling them."

Applejack rolled her eyes at the unsolicited physical contact but didn't disturb the barmaid. "Well...They got foals out there, in the camp...I'm sure they could use a little somethin' to smile about."

"Oooooh, good idea! Do you have any extra hammers I can juggle?"

"Uh, maybe just sing some songs and play some games with 'em? And, uh, leave the thick behinds out of the songs."

Pinkie snored softly, and Applejack prayed that she'd take her advice, lest a lot of ponies get concussed any time something sufficiently distracting happened. Applejack ran her fingers through her blonde mane and sighed softly. She hadn't brought her tools to town, but she was sure she'd be able to borrow some. She had to do whatever she could. There were ponies in need, and she would help. But somewhere deep inside, she worried that she couldn't do enough.