Crickets chirped, the very edge of the sun peaking past the horizon over Sweet Apple Acres. In the oldest portion of the land, a gold-coated Earth Pony stepped out of a light green tent set up next to two intertwined trees. Gold looked back at her new shelter with a sheepish grin, not quite sure where she stood on it. After dinner the night before, The Apples offered to let her sleep in one of the few guest rooms they had in the main house. While she was flattered, she declined the offer in favor of continuing to sleep in the orchard. For reasons she didn't properly understand, she just felt more at ease surrounded by the now familiar wild trees. The Memorial Grove in particular brought this feeling out of her the most, the intertwined elder trees producing an aura of sanctity the hadn't felt since she was a foal. Plus, she was more than certain that they would not react well to seeing Skully. As a result, they instead gifted her with a set of camping equipment, complete with a tent and waterproof sleeping bag among other such necessities. She tried to refuse them, but Granny Smith had insisted that she take them or a guest room. As such, with both reluctance and relief, she agreed to the former.

A real shame, she mused, stifling a yawn behind a hoof. Skully tells such great jokes.

A light thud to her left drew her attention towards a pair of ripe pears. Gold rolled her eyes and dug into her offered prizes. Not even the cores were left behind when she was done, a fact that greatly pleased her protector if the pulse of joy she sensed was anything to go by. She chuckled to herself as she made her way towards the more organized portion of the orchard.

"I hope Applejack won't be mad at me," she muttered to herself, her smile falling more with each step. "She didn't seem pleased with the fact that I can't buck apples out of the trees."

She silently mulled over what other tasks she could do to make up for her shortcomings. The animals were a little uneasy around her, so that wouldn't work. Perhaps she could plow the fields. While she was not a mountain of magnificent muscle like Big Mac, she was fairly strong for her size and such a task shouldn't be too difficult. Baring that, she could load and move carts.

"Of course, that is not my call," she sighed. "Hopefully, I won't break my legs this time. I...don't know what they will do if they find out about my...condition."

A shudder ran through her as fragments of memories she tried to forget crept up on her, before she forced them to the back of her mind. The Apples had shown themselves to be nothing, but ponies of outstanding character. A relative rarity in her old life unless there was something to be gained from it. Instead of blackmailing her into service, they gave her a deal that benefited both parties. While this gave her a brighter opinion of the ponies she worked for, she was still hesitant to reveal her curse to them if she could avoid it. As much as she hated to admit it, her options in that regard were very limited. Either risk exposure and have a comfortable place to get her bearings or wander off into the world blind and hope for the best.

"I suppose I could do a bit of gambling," she muttered, a rueful smile spreading across her muzzle as she added, "What's the worst they could do to me? Kill me?"

A bitter chuckle rolled past her lips as she walked, the first few rays of morning sunlight whittling away at the darkness of the previous evening with each step.

***

Applejack stood in the kitchen, the first rays of dawn adding a bit of light to the otherwise dark room. Her face was marred by a tight-lipped frown as she stared into a mug, her thoughts drifting in small circles much like the black coffee before her. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get Gold Vine out of her mind. The mare acted jumpier than a rabbit in a fox den, like she expected an attack at any moment the whole time she ate with them. At first, she thought she was like Fluttershy, but that wasn't quite right. While she was timid at the dinner table, she was absolutely adamant about sleeping in the orchard. When Granny Smith gave her a playful ultimatum, Applejack saw that she treated it as if the elderly mare had put a knife to her throat.

Then there was the way she was talking. While Applejack hadn't spent a long time with the more refined branches of her family tree, she had been around them often enough to recognize formal speech. The fact that Gold spoke it so easily proved that there was more to her than she was letting on. And that was not even touching the fact that Gold said that she apparently asked the trees to drop their apples for her.

She sighed and took a sip from her steaming mug. Maybe she was over thinking this. Yes, the situation was strange, but strange seemed to have a habit of finding Ponyville. Maybe Gold was a rich mare that fell on hard times. Or maybe she was someone like Rarity and was only pretending to be a noble.

"Guess Ah'll find out soon," she mumbled, seeing a gold-coated mare stepping out of the orchard's tree line towards the house.

Sighing, she walked up to the refrigerator, pulled out what she would need, and got to work making breakfast. As pancakes cooked and hash browns and hay bacon sizzled, a single thought echoed through Applejack's mind. This was going to be a very long day. A revelation that became all the more apparent after the rest of her family staggered into their seats at the dining room table. Big Mac and Applebloom looked groggy, but presentable and awake enough to not turn their pancakes into pillows. Granny Smith was there as well, awake more out of years of habit as opposed to any real need to do so besides breakfast. Applejack smiled as she took her seat, her breakfast reaching the table with her after setting everypony else's. It was only slightly dampened by the mare she knew was going to be joining them shortly. At least, that was what she thought.

Fifteen minutes passed and no mystery mare entered the house. This eventually ate at Applejack enough to make her set her fork down and stare in the general direction of the front door. Confused, she got up and made her way towards the front door, sure that she saw Gold making her way towards the house a long time ago. A light push on the front screen door and she was out, the mare in question standing nervously five feet in front of her just off of the porch.

"What're ya doin' out here?" she asked. "Your food's gettin' cold."

Gold blinked at her, then tilted her head and asked, "You....made me breakfast?"

"Yeah?" Applejack frowned, raising a brow. "Why wouldn't Ah?"

Gold looked as if Applejack had just told her that the sky was pink, the golden mare's eyes darting about as she struggled to find her voice. When she did, the mare's head drooped and what she said made Applejack's jaw drop.

"I'm just a worker. I have no right to sit at your table and eat your food."

"Hog wash," Applejack sputtered, earning yet another confused blink from the mare. "Ya'll have been helpin' us for days all on your own. If anythin' we owe ya a lot more than a few meals."

"B-But-" Gold started, only to be cut off when Applejack put a hoof up in a halting manner.

"None of that," she smirked. "Now get on in here. You'll need a full belly for what we've got goin' on today."

Gold opened her mouth to argue, only to think better of it, close her mouth, and nod as she made her way towards the door.

***

With full bellies and full spirits, the Apple siblings and Gold stood at the heart of the orchard around a table. Spread out across it was a map of the farm's layout. Gold noted that the map was covered with intricate grid patterns along with differing colored marks ranging from bright blue to lime green to blood red in a pattern that she could barely make any sense of. Further evidence that being aware of something didn't mean that one could be prepared for it. Gold knew that farm work was more complicated than it looked, but that did nothing to prepare her for what she was looking at.

"Alright everypony," Applejack frowned, pulling everypony's attention away from the map. "Gold Vine's made our load a bit lighter, but that don't mean we can slack off. Gold and Ah'll take the trees in the north east orchard while Big Mac and Applebloom will take the trees in the south east orchard."

Said Apples nodded, the youngest sporting a sparkle in her eyes at the thought of being more helpful to her big brother. Gold simply nodded, her face a blank mask as she stared down at the map. Applejack took that as a good sign as she told everyone what their tasks were. Each of them were going to spend the day harvesting apples, with the exception of Applebloom, who was relegated to basket arrangement and stray apple collecting for Big Mac. The filly was not thrilled about that, but she was happy that she could at least help, even a little bit.

"Alright, we all know what we're doin'?" Applejack asked.

Everypony nodded, Gold in a more nervous manner than the rest.

"Good," Applejack smiled. "Let's head out ya'll!"

Both pairs went their separate ways, one with an ever excited filly and the other with a mare that was steadily growing more nervous with each step. Applejack noticed, each quick glance to her side rewarding her with a view of Gold's mask slowly crumbling away. When they finally crossed the tree line, Gold's demeanor completely changed. With a deep breath, a small smile grew on her muzzle and her whole body became significantly less tense. It was then that Applejack saw more evidence of her suspicions. Gold walked with a subtle kind of grace, the kind that only years of practice could turn into habit. With her head held high, Applejack watched as she examined her surroundings with the kind of scrutiny she had seen Rarity use when she chose colors for her latest design. It was all the kind of actions she'd observed and even had to preform when she lived with The Oranges as a filly. She continued to watch her like a hawk all the way to their sector of the north eastern part of the orchard.

"Here we are," she smirked, then stopped, turned towards her new coworker and with a challenging smile said, "Now, Ah know ya' know how Ah harvest. Show me how ya' do it."

A bit of nerves entered Gold's frame, but she continued to present herself in a refined manor as she nodded. She quickly fetched a few baskets from a nearby cart and set them into the same positions she did each night. Once she was sure that all of the prep work was as it should be, she sat herself down in front of the tree.

She took a deep breath, then with a friendly smile said, "Good morning." to the tree. Naturally, the plant said nothing back, at least, nothing that Applejack could perceive.

"Could you please let your apples down?" Gold asked. "I can't buck as well as Applejack and I-"

Before she could finish, all of the tree's apples fell from its branches and landed perfectly into the baskets below. Applejack's jaw hit the floor, her brain struggling to make sense of what she had just saw. While she did go above and beyond when she delivered a tree to Appleoosa, most of it was a gag at her friends expense. This was a completely different beast. Either Gold was part of a very well arranged prank or she was actually communicating with the trees.

"Thank you," Gold said with a small smile.

When she stood back up and turned to face Applejack, a small nervous smile graced her muzzle.

"That is how I harvest," she said, fidgeting in place. "Is that okay?"

Applejack blinked, then shook her head to rid herself of her shock. She leveled a small frown at Gold as she walked up to her and softly placed a hoof on the mare's forehead. Gold flinched back from the contact, but the apple farmer had already gotten what she needed from that brief connection.

No horn. So she's not a Unicorn tryin' to pull some trick on me.

She nodded to herself, a hard to read expression hiding her confusion as she made her way to the tree. She carefully scanned the branches for any ponies that might be hiding among them, but saw nothing of the sort. Scratching her head, she let out a "Huh", before she made her way back to a nervously fidgeting Gold Vine.

"Ah don't know how you're doin' it, but if it helps us get our work done for the day, then have at it."

"A-Are you sure?" Gold stammered.

Applejack nodded, then smiled as she added, "Just don't talk for too long. We've got a lot of apples to harvest and not a lot of time to do it."

"Yes ma'am," Gold said, bowing her head to the mare.

Applejack just snorted out a laugh at that and said, "No need for all that formal stuff. Just Applejack's fine."

"If that is what you wish," Gold said simply, a shy smile gracing her muzzle as she locked eyes with her employer.

Applejack playfully rolled her eyes at that.

"Well, that's enough jawin'," the farm mare chuckled, setting up a nearby tree for harvesting.

"Of course," Gold nodded, doing the same.

For the next three hours, the two mares worked in relative silence in whatever ways worked best for them. All the while, Applejack continued to observe Gold as she worked. One of the things she noticed was how quickly the mare relaxed when she was talking to the trees. It was almost like watching somepony talking to an old friend. The golden mare even laughed every now and than as if a joke had been told to her. Aside from that, there was nothing she could see that was too out of the ordinary, but she just couldn't shake her feeling that something wasn't right about the mare. Unfortunately, she lacked the social tact that came naturally to some of her friends which only left her with the direct approach. A chance to take said approach came when a triangle rattled in the general direction of the farm house.

"Time for lunch," she smiled, loading a few more loaded baskets onto a cart.

Gold wasn't that far behind her, two full baskets strapped on either side of her barrel when she said that. The golden mare nodded as she loaded her baskets onto the cart, her demeanor timid again this close to the other mare. It was yet another peculiarity Applejack had to add to her growing list. The two were silent as they walked side-by-side towards the home. All the while, Applejack mulled over what kind of questions she should ask the mare. Eventually, she decided to go with a classic.

"So...where'd ya' come from?" Applejack asked.

Gold wilted, eyes falling to the ground as she timidly said, "Canterlot."

"Canterlot, eh?" Applejack smiled. "Makes sense."

"Huh?" Gold blinked, turning her head towards Applejack.

"You move like a rich pony," Applejack shrugged. "Not gonna judge ya'. Just makes some sense to me now."

"Oh. That's good," Gold mumbled, staring back at the ground.

They walked further in silence for a few more seconds before Applejack broke it again.

"We're ya' a noble or a business pony?"

"A noble," Gold sighed dejectedly. "But that is in the past now."

"How come?" Applejack asked, raising a brow. "Got tired of it all?"

Gold chuckled mirthlessly at that and said, "No. I made a series of foolish mistakes and lost everything as a result."

"Bad business deals?" Applejack frowned.

"Something like that," Gold sighed. "Can we please talk about something else? I have no love for Canterlot and would like to avoid talking about that accursed city as much as possible."

"Alright," Applejack nodded, easily picking up on the venom in the mare's tone. "How's about ya' tell me how ya' managed to talk the apples out of our trees."

"Of course," Gold nodded, a wistful smile decorating mer muzzle. "I don't properly understand it myself, but I feel a kind of pull from the trees. It's like they are trying to connect with something inside of me and we form a kind of understanding. I can feel that they can understand my feelings and words, so I try to ask them for help when it's time to harvest from them."

"Ah see," Applejack nodded, mulling over what the mare was telling her. "Can ya' do it with other plants?"

"Not that I am aware of," Gold shrugged. "Grass or any of the plants from the garden do not trigger such feelings in me. I believe I can only connect with fruit bearing plants, but I will let you know if that is proven wrong in the future."

"Only if ya' want to," Applejack snorted with a smirk. "If'n ya' can talk the pumpkins into growin' faster, that'd be a lifesaver when Nightmare Night comes around."

"Perhaps," Gold nodded, chuckling at the mental image. "How exactly do the ponies here celebrate?"

"The same as anywhere else Ah'd recken," Applejack shrugged. "Everypony gets all costumed-up and get candy or try to spook each other. We set up a corn maze and hayride for the foals each year to raise some extra bits for the farm and town, but that's about it."

"I see," Gold mumbled nervously. "Do a lot of ponies from town come here? Not just for Nightmare Night, but in general."

Applejack nodded.

"Mostly just my friends and The Riches, but we'll get the occasional family visit every now and then."

"Are these visits frequent?"

"Why do ya' ask?" Applejack frowned, raising a brow.

Gold remained silent for several long seconds, then, with a weary sigh said, "I....don't trust others with my safety."

Applejack froze, taken so far aback by that statement that she nearly tripped over herself.

"Before you ask, yes, that includes you and your family," Gold frowned, staring at the ground as she came to a stop. "Please understand, it has nothing to do with how you all have been treating me or anything like that. If anything, it all makes me feel guilty for my suspicions."

"What happened?" the apple farmer asked, concern heavy in her tone.

Gold gave a trembling smile as she slowly leveled eyes that held barely contained tears.

"The fact that you care makes my guilt even stronger."

Applejack placed a tender hoof on Gold's shoulder, the mare tensing briefly before she forced her nerves to settle.

"What happened?" Applejack repeated, her tone soft.

"I...I can't bring myself to say," Gold shuddered, tears streaming down her face. "All I can say is that it was the reason I left Canterlot in the first place."

"That's fine," Applejack nodded, letting her hoof fall to the ground. "Ya' don't need to tell me right now. Hay, you don't need to tell me period if ya' don't want to. Just know that for as long as you're livin' here, Ah'll always be there to lend ya' an ear if ya' need it."

Gold's mouth fell open in shock, before an appreciative smile took its place. Sniffling, she wiped her tears away and said something she hadn't said with such sincerity in years. Just two simple words. Yet those two words held just as much, if not more power than her horn use to have.

"Thank you."

Author's Note

Happy Thanksgiving everypony! Now that we've made it to this point, I think it's time I went back to working on Cold Fire for a bit. It won't be for too long though. After I put five chapters into that one I'll come back to this. Until then, keep safe out there everypony. Ciao!