Applejack yawned and stretched her legs as she sat up in bed. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she glanced over at the clock on her nightstand and sighed – late again. She hopped out of bed, slapped her Stetson atop her head and trotted downstairs, following the smell of cinnamon-apple pancakes.
“Mornin’ sis,” Apple Bloom said with a yawn from her seat. Big Mac simply gave a wave to her.
“Mornin’ y’all, sorry I overslept again,” Applejack sighed, taking her seat at the table. “Need any help with the flapjacks, Granny?”
“Eh? No, I got ‘em, Applejack, and I don’t blame y’all – this summer heat’s gettin’ to me too,” Granny Smith said from the stove, flipping a pancake in the skillet. “Makes the work a lot harder.”
“Speakin’ of which,” Applejack said, taking a swig of her apple juice. “I ought to get a few trees in while breakfast’s cookin’. Help give us a head start.”
“That’s a good idea, but don’t push yerself too hard now,” Granny said with a kind smile.
Applejack nodded and hurried to the front door. She swung it open and took one step out before she was abruptly stopped by a scaled muzzle, golden eyes, and a cheery grin.
“Applejack!” Autumn Blaze exclaimed, causing the farmer to stumble back to the floor in surprise. “I was just going to knock.”
Applejack blinked a few times before squinting. “Autumn Blaze? What in tarnation are you doin’ all the way out here?” She got to her hooves, dusting herself off.
“Well,” Autumn sounded out, looking skyward nonchalantly. “I was just in the neighborhood, so I figured I’d give my old friends a visit, and see if you needed any help?” She grinned eagerly, eyes sparkling.
“You want to help on the farm?” Applejack asked. “Well, uh, that’d be mighty… well, helpful. Y’all want to come in for some flapjacks?”
“Ooh, is that what the delightful smell is?” Autumn sniffed the air. “Sure!”
“You can meet my family too, we were just sittin’ down for breakfast.” Applejack stepped aside and let Autumn in before shutting the door behind them.
This caused the Kirin to blink in surprise. “Oh, I didn’t… realize anyone else lived here,” she said, before regaining her cheeriness. “Sure, I’d love to meet them.”
Applejack led her back to the kitchen where Granny Smith and the others had just started on their pancakes. When they looked up, their eyebrows shot up at the Kirin standing beside Applejack in the doorway.
“Autumn, this here’s my family: Granny Smith, my big brother Big Macintosh—we always call him Big Mac—and my little sister, Apple Bloom. Apples, this here’s my Kirin friend, Autumn Blaze,” Applejack said, gesturing between them.
“Howdy,” Big Mac said, before taking another bite of pancakes.
“Nice to meet ya,” Apple Bloom said with a beaming smile.
“What’s a Kirin?” Granny asked, squinting.
“Oh, uh, we live out in the Peaks of Peril. We’re a bit of a lot of stuff, I guess,” Autumn explained.
Applejack swung a leg around Autumn’s shoulders, causing the Kirin to blush. “Autumn here wants to help on the farm today.”
“You sure yer cut out for farm work, dearie?” Granny asked, poking a fork at her. “Especially in this heat?”
“In this delightful weather? Sure.” Autumn beamed proudly. “Anything for a friend.”
“Alright,” Applejack said, leading Autumn Blaze over to an acre of fresh soil with Big Mac. “First job’s tillin’ the soil for plantin’ in a few days. Big Mac here’ll show you how it’s done.”
“Sounds fun,” Autumn said. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m gonna go help Granny Smith with the apple trees. You two take care now.” Applejack waved to them and headed for the rows of apple trees on the other side of the fenc surrounding the acre.
“Have fun!” Autumn called, waving back, before turning to Big Mac. “Alright. Big Jack, was it? What do we do?” She grinned.
Big Mac sighed. “It’s Big Mac. Well, first you gotta harness yourself to a plow,” he said, gesturing to one with a hoof.
Autumn trotted over and inspected the plow harness, before finally figuring out how to wiggle herself into it. Big Mac walked over and adjusted the straps for her.
“You sure you don’t want the smaller plow?” Big Mac asked, gesturing to the smaller model next to her plow – hers was the one he usually used.
“I’m stronger than I look. Just tell me what I need to do,” Autumn said, crouching low with a determined smirk, as if to take off in a sprint.
Big Mac sighed again. “Well, all ya gotta do is walk in a straight line – the plow’ll do the rest. Then turn around and do the same thing in the next row.”
Autumn nodded firmly and gave a firm tug forward – and promptly fell flat on her face. The plow was heavier than it looked, and she had barely budged it an inch. She got back up and grunted as she gave a few tugs at it, to no avail.
“Maybe you should use the smaller one,” Big Mac pointed out.
“No. I. Got. This,” Autumn grunted as she tugged and tugged some more. She finally collapsed to the ground, panting. “Ok, maybe it is a little heavy, but I know what’ll fix it – a little Nirik power!”
Big Mac stepped back as she got to her hooves, growling. Her horn suddenly burst with blue-pink fire and her entire body darkened. The same fire licked at her hooves and the end of her tail. She bared her jagged teeth and charged forward.
Slowly but surely, the plow started to move. She stomped and kicked at the ground as she struggled forward, but the plow willingly came with her. “I… got… this…” she grunted, her voice somewhat demonic.
“Watch out!” Big Mac called.
Autumn’s Nirik fire had taken a liking to the harness straps, and licked at them like a knife slicing a piece of bread. Soon the crucial straps connecting Nirik to plow were aflame, halfway through the first row.
“I… can… do… this!” Autumn gave another tug of effort, and that was all it took for the harness to snap.
Autumn went charging forward with all her pent up momentum, running headlong into the fence and breaking straight through. As she lay dazed on the ground, her fire extinguished, turning her back to Kirin.
Big Mac and Applejack ran over from their respective sides. “Are ya hurt, Autumn?” Applejack asked, helping her to her hooves.
“Just a little stunned,” Autumn said, shaking her head clear. She looked back over to the plow and sighed. “Sorry about your plow, Big Pack.”
“It’s Big Mac, and it’s alright,” Big Mac said, walking over and inspecting the damage.
“Yeah, we can fix a harness and a fence, but a Kirin’s a lot harder to fix,” Applejack said with a pat on Autumn’s back.
Autumn flushed and smiled softly, before looking at the ground. “Well, I guess plowing’s out.”
“You could always help Apple Bloom with the chickens,” Applejack said, pointing to the chicken coops. “They’re really gentle, so ya don’t have to worry about them getting all riled up.”
“Well, at least chickens should be lighter, right?” Autumn took a step forward, before looking over her shoulder at Applejack. “One question though: what’s a chicken?”
“So, this is a chicken,” Autumn remarked, holding the clucking blob of feathers in her hooves, turning it this way and that. She sat in the chicken yard, where chickens pecked at the ground around her and eyed her carefully.
“Yep,” Apple Bloom said, stepping out of one of the coops with a basket of eggs. “Yer lucky that’s Henrietta – she likes bein’ held.”
“Well it’s nice to meet you, Henrietta,” Autumn said with a grin, turning the chicken so they were facing one another. Henrietta clucked at Autumn, tilting her head.
Autumn gave her a little pat on the head before setting her down. “It’s amazing that you know all your chickens’ names,” Autumn remarked, looking over the flock. Her eyes fell on a chicken in stark contrast to its white counterparts. “Ooh, who’s that?”
Apple Bloom paused entering the next coop to look at what Autumn was pointing at. “That’s Benedict, he’s our rooster. Lately, he’s been slackin’ off gettin’ us up though.” She disappeared inside the coop with an empty basket.
Autumn trotted over to the rooster, carefully avoiding the other hens. Benedict turned to her, standing at full height to size up the newcomer.
“It’s very nice to meet you, too, Benedict,” Autumn said, plopping down on her haunches before him. Then, she made the mistake of picking him up.
Benedict started squawking and flapping his wings, struggling in Autumn’s grip. Reddish-brown feathers flew until the rooster was finally free, running away to the other end of the yard.
Apple Bloom poked her head out of the coop. “What in tarnation was all that about?”
“I guess he doesn’t like being held,” Autumn said with a sheepish smile.
A lone reddish-brown feather drifted down and landed on the tip of Autumn’s snout. She inhaled slightly, and the very tip of the feather tickled the inside of her nostril. She recoiled back, gasping for air. Apple Bloom had a feeling trouble was coming, so she ducked back into the coop.
Autumn gave a mighty sneeze, shooting out a jet of Nirik fire. It alone was enough to frighten the chickens around the yard, sending them into a panic. However, the fire flickered at the pail of corn Autumn had been scattering for the hens to eat.
The pail erupted with the sound of a dozen of firecrackers, popcorn shooting out of it like a volcano. This sent the chickens into panic overdrive, causing them to bump into each other and the baskets of eggs Apple Bloom had already rounded up.
Apple Bloom poked her head out and sighed at her hard work ruined. “Bless ya,” she said flatly, frowning at Autumn.
Autumn grinned sheepishly again, before dropping her head. She got up and hopped over the fence surrounding the chicken yard while Apple Bloom tried to corral and calm down the frightened poultry.
Applejack came running over. She didn’t have to ask anything – one glance into the chicken yard was enough. She patted the dejected Kirin on the back again.
“Hey, accidents happen,” she said. “It’s ok. Why don’t you go help Granny Smith in the barn? She’s taking inventory of our apples so far.”
“Well, I sure couldn’t mess up counting apples,” Autumn said with a sigh, head hanging low as she dragged herself towards the barn.
Applejack watched her go with a sigh, before returning to her own work.
The sky was clear come evening. The day’s temperature dropped to the chilliness expected of autumn. Applejack walked out on the front porch, looking for the Kirin who had left the table after dinner was over.
She trotted into the apple orchard, and found Autumn sitting in a clearing, staring up at the stars. She glanced over her shoulder as Applejack approached, before sighing.
“I really messed up today, didn’t I?” Autumn asked as Applejack took a seat next to her.
Applejack didn’t answer right away, instead choosing to look up at the starry night overhead. Finally, she asked, “So, why’d you come all the way out here anyway? I have a feelin’ it’s not about just visiting friends.”
Autumn glanced at her, before her ears drooped. “It was… more than just visiting friends, you’re right.” She looked skyward too. “I wanted to help you like you and Fluttershy helped me and the Kirin. You helping… it meant a lot to me.”
Applejack nodded. “And ya did try to help, and I appreciate it. Farm work’s not for everyone.”
Autumn slumped to the ground with a sigh. “I just… wanted to show you and your family I could do this. To try and show you I can help you like you helped me. I just… wanted to show you how much I cared.”
Applejack blinked in surprise, before laying down next to her. “Hey,” she said softly. Autumn looked to her, the sparkle gone from her golden eyes. “How about tomorrow you help me buck apple trees? I’ll show you how we Apples do it.”
Autumn smiled softly. “I’d like that,” she said quietly, her cheeks warm.
“Ya know, I’m sure you tried a lot of things to help the Kirin. Farm work’s the same way. Sometimes, it just takes a helpin’ hoof to get the job done,” Applejack explained.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Autumn said. The Kirin smiled softly, then glanced at Applejack when she shivered slightly. “You alright?”
“Just a might cold out to be stargazin’, that’s all,” Applejack said with a chuckle.
Autumn nodded and set her hoof closest to Applejack alight with blue-pink fire. The two shared a smile.
“Much obliged,” Applejack said softly.
“Happy to help,” Autumn replied.
The two fell into a comfortable silence, lounging together and watching the stars.
Author's Note
Date of Creation (D.o.C.): 08/26/20
I believe the prompt for the contest was "chilly summer/warm autumn" or something like that. One of the things I like to do with Autumn is play with the Kirin's isolation. They've been away from ponies for who knows how long, and something every day to a pony, say a cardboard box or a chicken, might be strange to them. Kind of like Silverstream.
To anyone else who proofread this for the contest, I apologize that I didn't get your names on the list in the long description. I don't remember all of the names went with all of the Google accounts, and I don't want to dox anyone here. If you helped preread this and want your name on the list, just PM me on Fimfiction.
The song I listened to for this one was "You Can Always Come Home" from the game Deltarune.
-yours truly,
The Legendary Bill Cipher, Equestria Enthusiast
